2017 0628 "Does God love me?"

HELLO HOME!

I hope you enjoyed your time on Trek! I super loved Trek. Did you get to go to Martin's Cove again? Hopefullly Grandpa Wood was able to get all of his projects done on the house while you were away hahaha I love him.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY next week! I LOVE THE 4TH and I hope you all have the best day ever. Something that I was thinking about on Sunday is why I love the 4th of July. I love it because of the BBQ's of course, the fireworks, the music, basically everything.....? But I also love the meaning of the 4th of July. Because of our country's freedom, we have the opportunity to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. July 4th played a part in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. HOW COOL IS THAT? So, when we all see Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson one day, make sure to say thanks. (I haven't been in a history class for awhile sooooooooooooo yeah. It's fine.) We live in a land of freedom and choice because of so many people's sacrifices but it's also all part of God's perfect plan for His children. Okay moving on. 

This week was fine. We are super busy but what else is new....I have so many thoughts I don't know what to do with them all....So here we go. I've been thinking about the book called "You Are Special" by Max Lucedo. (Seagull Book sells it if you want it hahaha) but it's a story about all these little wooden people who put different stickers on each other. The gold star stickers represent all the good things about that person and the grey dots represent all the things wrong with that person. The main character (his name starts with a P and I can't remember it.) he has ALL grey dots. Sometimes people would just put grey dots on him for the fun of it. But he meets another wooden person who doesn't have any stickers on her. He asks her how she doesn't have any dots or stars and she said that they don't stick to her because she doesn't let them. Her advice was to go and see Eli, the woodcarver. He goes and see's Eli and tells Eli about his problem with all the grey dots. Eli tells him that the dots only stick if it matters to you. The little wooden guy leaves as Eli tells him "I love you because you're mine. I made you. And I don't make mistakes." My take-away from this is that we all need to ease up on the self-judgement. Our Heavenly Father doesn't make mistakes. He made us the way that we are for a specific reason. Nothing good comes from being self-critical. I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT. The grey dots only stick if we let them. The book "You Are Special" always makes me reflect on a couple of questions. 

1. Does God love me?

2. Does God know my name? 

3. Does God care?

I feel like a lot of the time these 3 questions cause so much trouble in people's minds in the modern world, but they're the most important questions to know the answer to. IT'S BASIC DOCTRINE. We grow up singing I Am a Child of God and learning about these questions throughout our lives. We know all the answers to these questions, yet it's SO easy for us to forget them-- I have, even as a missionary. In my experience, it all comes down to pride. I have this problem of having a "I know it all" type of attitude AND I DON'T. I don't know all of God's purposes but just as Nephi said "I know that He loveth His children." If you want to feel God's love and see His hand in your life, ask for eyes to see and for your heart to understand. It takes a whole lot of faith and a whole lot of humility. But I know that when we ask to see those miracles and when we ask to feel His love, OUR PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED. We'll come to know that we are SO special to our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that because He loves me, I can be at peace with the fact that all things are in His hands.

I love you all so so much and I hope you have the best week FULL of miracles! 

Love always,

Sister Bain 

2017 06/21 "1 year of being a full-time missionary = best year ever."

Okay hi you're all way too cute and I loved my birthday package ❤ THANK YOU! My new "I can do hard things" necklace has been a great conversation starter. People in Harlem love that saying ❤

AND! Thank you for sending my your favorite picture of Christ. The boys have such solid testimonies (of course I cried my eyes out. I love them.) That was the best birthday present I could have gotten 🎈✌

Also, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the best dad ever. I hope you had a good day! Good thing mom has your back and made over a 100 cookies that morning 😂 Mom is an all-star. I love you all so much❤

Some exciting news for you-- some of my very favorite investigators from Darien, CT and getting baptized!! HOW. COOL. I miss that place. Harlem is still wonderful. Sister Dismuke and I have seen so many miracles this week! Something that I love about Harlem is everyone is so friendly. I've really come to love this crazy place. ❤


Sorry this letter is super short, but I gotta run! ✌But, before I go, I wanted to ask for a favor...
Our mission has set a goal of 50-50-50. We want to have 50 baptisms as a mission for 3 consecutive months. We've all prayed about it and we know that Heavenly Father will bless us for our efforts. But I wanted to ask if each of you could pray for the New York New York North Mission to achieve this goal. I know that there are people here that are prepared to hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
I love you all and I can't believe it's been a year since I've seen you. 1 year of being a full-time missionary = best year ever.

Love always,
Sister Bain 🍍


Ps. Swedish Fish were included in every birthday package I got 😂 Yes, I'm still celebrating my birthday 😍❤

Sisters in the work

Sister Dismuke

Sister Dismuke

Birthday Cake in a Cup

2017 06/14 "BUT HE KNEW MY NAME"

HELLO FAMILY. 

Thank you all SO much for the wonderful birthday wishes. I had the best day ever. SERIOUSLY. My companion and all the other missionaries made it such a special day. (Literally everyone in Harlem knew it was my birthday haha) It was so fun. We had district meeting and Sister Kelly had to pack because she has been TRANSFERRED. Sister Kelly went to Yorktown, New York and my new companion is Sister Dismuke. She is so wonderful. We've been roommates for the last 6 weeks which has been so fun! Sister Dismuke was in the Harlem Family ward so we're combining the Harlem Family ward and the YSA ward! WHAT WHAT WHAT. We have two wards! AAAAHHHHH. SOS. PRAY FOR US. Sister Dismuke is also going to be my new Sister Training Leader companion which will be way too much fun. We are so excited. Sister Dismuke and I were in the MTC together AND we sat next to each other on the plane from Detroit to New York. She's from SANDY and went to ALTA. (Go Diggers!) So on June 22nd, we'll celebrate our year mark together!! WOOT WOOT. She's so much fun. 

OKAY. So I'm the luckiest person in the world. Here's why. On June 11th (the day before my birthday haha) ELDER RASBAND CAME TO HARLEM. That morning, I prayed and literally said "Heavenly Father, tomorrow is my birthday so can I please see Elder Rasband?" We went to church, it was good, we ate lunch (also good), went downstairs AND GUESS WHO I SAW. ELDER RASBAND. WHAT WHAT. He was standing at the elevator with his sweet wife and President Smith. Of course a lot of other people were talking to him, but Elder Rasband and I made eye contact, he smiled and walked straight over to us. He said "I thought I saw two sister missionaries over here." I just smiled and was STAR.STRUCK. PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED. (Remember a couple of weeks ago when I thought prayers weren't answered because I was being a punk? Well obviously I was wrong.) He said "Sister Bain (ps. He didn't even look at my nametag BUT HE KNEW MY NAME.) Are you seeing success?" I said "Of course. We see success every day!" and Elder Rasband had thee biggest smile ever and said "That's the best answer you could have given me, Sister Bain!" Then he left. And I basically cried my eyes out because as he looked me straight in the eyes while he talked to me, I felt the spirit testify to me that Elder Rasband is an apostale of the Lord. Later that night, President Smith called and we talked for a little bit about my experience with Elder Rasband. President said that while they drove to the airport, Elder Rasband was talking about ME BY NAME. (Please let me brag and be prideful for .5 seconds.) He said that I gave him the best answer he's ever heard and that he "felt a powerful spirit" around me. It was such a compliment to have someone liked Elder Rasband say that about me. (and he remembered my name!) This email doesn't even come close to how cool it was in person. BEST. DAY. EVER. 

So anyway. Sister Dismuke and I deep cleaned our entire home and it looks soooooooo good. Mom, can you send me a list of stuff you put in that spray thing to clean the shower? (That was the worst sentence ever. I'm sorry.) I know it has vinegar in it haha We also decorated for the 4th of July today so we're obviously excited! :) 

I hope you all have the best week ever. I really love you all and I hope Jacob has the best 14th birthday ever. HE. IS. SO. OLD. I sent a card today so hopefully it makes it there in time! 

Love always,

Your favorite 20 year old

Sister Bain 🍍

PS: Aunt Jo- does your sister in Brigham City live across the street from a Wilkes family? 

Birthday Treats

It's MY BIRTHDAY!

...did I mention that it was my birthday?

Cafe that was in the movie "You've Got Mail".

2017 06/07 - My birthday is in less than ONE week

My birthday is in less than ONE week so everyone better be in the celebrating mood 💕 make June 12th the best day everrrrrrrrrrrr 🍍🎂🚕☀️🎈🎉🎁✨🇺🇸🍦 Also, don't forget that Jacob is turning 14. WHAT WHAT. One more year and he can DRIVE. He. Is. So. Old. 😢😭 so basically I blinked and 6 WEEKS has gone by. Transfers are NEXT WEEK. How did that even happen? 

I feel like this week went by the fastest and I don't even know what happened. We found soooooo many awesome people this week-- for all the other missionaries to teach 😂 we're all on the same team though so it's fine. But! Sunday was too good. I REALLY loved church this week. Soooooo I wanted to share with you some things that I learned. Wait, before I do that though....i wanted to share something cool. Remember that less active I told you about a couple of weeks ago that paid her tithing for the first time? WELL. She got her patriarchal blessing on Sunday!! HOW COOL IS THAT?????!!!!!???????!!!!!!!?????!!!!!💞🌿🌼✌🍍😀 

OKAY, now this is what I learned.

(DISCLAIMER: This is the gospel according to Sister Bain and it's all just random thoughts that I'm throwing together in hopes that they make sense. So. Here we go.) Remember in all the superhero stories there's a big "come back" story? Where they're in a bad place or down on themselves/their abilities and they come out of it and have this big triumphant moment in the end? I think we like the idea of a "superhero come back story" because it resonates with our eternal beings. Our ability to "come back" is an eternal truth because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I wanna talk about Alma 36 (AGAIN. I'm pretty sure this is my all-time favorite chapter to read in the Book of Mormon. FOR REAL.) Alma the younger is the ultimate example of a great "come back" story. Alma has this vulnerable side that is really inspiring. He allows himself to open up and WANT help. He WANTS to become better. (After an angel appears to him and tells him to stop being a punk haha)  He doesn't want to be in the "gall of bitterness." In Alma 36:12-17 he describes the torment that he went through. He says "I was racked with eternal torment...I saw that I had rebelled against my God....THE VERY THOUGHT OF COMING INTO THE PRESENCE OF MY GOD DID RACK MY SOUL WITH INEXPRESSIBLE HORROR...I was racked, even with the pains of a damned soul." What a bummer, right? He was at his all-time low. He was basically rock bottom. In verse 15, Alma feels a lot of different things. He feels really overwhelmed and undeserving of forgiveness (which is a very human thing to feel.) He wanted to be banished and he didn't even want to see God because he was so ashamed. BUT! In verse 17 he says, "Behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world." HE REMEMBERS HIS DAD BEARING TESTIMONY OF THE SAVIOR and the next thing he does is PRAY. I LOVE THAT SO MUCH. Because at times when I've felt a little bit like Alma did, I've remembered mom and dad sharing testimony of the Savior. And that's my life line. I've held on to the truth that mom and dad know and over time I've come to learn those things for myself. THANKS MOM AND DAD for teaching me about the Savior so in times of trial, I can REMEMBER those spiritual experiences. He goes on to cry out for mercy and as soon as he asked for forgiveness, HE GETS IT. He receives those feelings of joy that he has longed for. "And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" I KNOW THAT THE JOY WE FEEL FROM REPENTANCE IS REAL. And oh how sweet it is. Alma the younger was able to make his come back and he was filled with so much more joy than he could have ever imagined. He gets up and tells the people that he "had been born of God." This kind of come back can happen for all of us. Because of Jesus Christ we can have multiple "come back" stories. I know that Jesus Christ WILL NOT GIVE UP ON ANYONE. There is hope- even when we don't see it. There are so many chances available for all of us. I know there is a "come back" story in everyone's lives. IT IS POSSIBLE. It may not be "all better" right this second, but I know that peace and comfort WILL come. 

<<Alma 36:3>> 

For I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

So basically I love the scriptures and I will forever love Alma 36 ☀️ Repentance is cool and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. The elevator stress is okay. I still get really nervous (terrified, actually.) But I had a cool experience the other day. We were getting into an elevator and going to the 14th floor. I was more nervous than usual and I was just standing there praying. We got on and I had the thought "remember what you've studied about faith." I've been studying faith in Jesus Christ this week and I've learned that faith is to have confidence that God will fulfill all His promises. In my priesthood blessing last week I was promised safety and protection and peace and comfort. Next, I had the thought "do you trust me?" I got out of the elevator with a new goal to trust in the Lord's promises. And I am just fine. ❤ while we were walking home the spirit reminded me of both Mom and Grandma Wood telling me that they put my name on the prayer roll at the temple. THAT brought me sooooo much comfort. THANK YOU!! 💞

Tell Grant congratulations for all his awesome awards!! What a champ. Happy last day of school and happy summer vacation!! How has the school year already ended? What the what. ALSO. I am soooooooo excited to hear all about TREK! I really liked how last time you gave them something every day that would remind them of their trek experience. So do that again. I'm actually really jealous. I LOVED Trek. 

Okay so I love you all and thank you for putting the flag out for my birthday haha that makes me so happy. Also, we get mail on Thursdays so I'll probably get your package at the end of next week. (hopefully...) 

I LOVE YOU!!!

Love always,

Sister Bain 🍍

700 White Plains Rd.
Suite #315
Scarsdale, New York
10583

District picture :) 

2017 0530 - After my little tantrum...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST DAD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD (on Friday haha) I hope you have the best day ever, Dad. I sure love you 💕 It sounds like FHE went well 😂 I'm glad Bryson understands that swearing is the lack of verbal skills 😂 that made me laugh so hard. What would we do without Bryson? 😂 

Also, Happy (late) Memorial Day! I'm glad you all had a fun time. Memorial Day was a regular day for us. We actually forgot it was Memorial Day until 9:00 when we came home and our neighbors were having a BBQ and playing beer pong. But ANYWAY. 

This week was good! We had a lot to do. We get about 10 new members in our ward a week with all the interns and summer coming. So we spent a lot of time contacting all our new members and meeting with them! Ps. We went to Sister Stauffer's apartment last night and guess what. SHE WAS IN MAKAIL'S WARD AT UVU. Hahaha she also knows KC and said he's chill 😂 another sister we visited last night is related to the Anderl family who use to be in our stake. Small world. Anywayyyyyy. 

This week I was so tired- physically and spiritually. Something that I've struggled with this week is faith. (This story has a happy ending so don't panic.) There are things that I really desire as a missionary that I haven't really seen happen yet and there are things that I plead for each night. This week was the last straw as I was praying and praying and praying and I felt like I was being ignored by God. I was kneeling down next to my bed just sobbing because I was basically mad at God for not giving me what I wanted. After my little tantrum (😂) I got into bed questioning whether God really answered prayers. I knew He answered everyone else's prayers, but not mine. So I went the next day just pouting because I was mad (haha don't do that.) But here's the happy part. Yesterday we had interviews with President Smith. Interview days are the best days. I am so so grateful for President Smith. I expressed some of my frustrations to him and asked for his help. He gave me a lot of really good advice and counsel that I'm very grateful for. I told him that I was struggling with seeing God's hand in my life and it was sooooo annoying. I know He blesses me, I just didn't know HOW. President told me that when he came to the chapel that morning he intended on doing interviews in the chapel like he usually does. But when he sat down in the chapel he had the prompting to sit in the Young Women's room. He didn't know why, but he moved to the Young Women's room. As he knelt down to pray before his first interview, a voice came into his head that said "you are going to use the Young Women theme today." He prayed and asked for the guidance of the spirit to know who needed the Young Women theme that day. I'm sure you can guess, it was Sister Bain that needed the reminder that she's a daughter of God WHO LOVES HER. I just sat there crying because that was the first time in a couple of weeks that I recognized His love for ME. It was His hand that guided President Smith to sit in that room so that I could look at the Young Women theme that I had memorized and recited every week on Sundays. I was reminded of a couple of things yesterday. 1. GOD LOVES ME. He is aware of ME and He knows exactly what I need. And 2. God never abandons us. We are the ones that make everything about us and are prideful and WE turn our backs on HIM. So don't do that, okay? Lastly, I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to attend Young Women's. I realized yesterday just how much it has blessed my life. I was reminded of the basics. God IS our loving Heavenly Father. I know that AND I believe that. And I hope that you do too. I hope all the Young Women in the 5th ward really study the Young Women theme. It will bless them more than they know. Well since I'm crying now...

I hope you have a wonderful week full of miracles and tender mercies that help you feel God's love. This week I forgot those spiritual experiences that I've had in my life that showed me God's love so take the time to write down those miracles you see and show your gratitude for those tender mercies you're given. As we show our gratitude for those things, He will bless us with more.

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you!!

Love always,

Sister Bain 🍍

Cough drop wrapper encouragement. I have a sore throat. Please give me the same sympathy you gave dad when he was sick 😂😂😂😂 

Halls - A pep talk in every drop.

2017 0524 "Are y'all the Mormon people?"

What's upppppppp 💕🚕

This subject line is something that people say to us ALL. THE. TIME. Hahaha we say yes and they usually proceed to ask us why we are not wearing white shirts and ties. #HarlemLife ✌

I AM SO EXCITED FOR BRANDON AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH MEXICO IS SOOOOOO LUCKY OH MY GOODNESS I AM SO EXCITED FOR HIM. Let's not talk about how I won't see Brandon for like 4 years??? #MissionsAreCool 🌷 In honor of Brandon getting his mission call, I reread my mission call and I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MY MISSION CALL AND FOR MY ASSIGNMENT TO LABOR. I know this is the Lord's work! 

Alsoooooooo. CONGRATS TO ROOMIE FOR GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL. Maybe now she'll have time to write me or send me some pictures 😉 sooo many awesome things are happening!! 

This week was wonderful🍦I love the time I get to spend in Harlem. This past week I've been thinking a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the sacrament. The Living Christ says "He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice." I love watching the young men break the bread during the sacrament hymn. The church could streamline pre-cut bread if they really wanted to, that would make it a lot easier, but.....that's not the purpose. We see the bread be broken and torn symbolizing Jesus Christ as He performed the Atonement and was eventually crucified. I also thought about the Bishops responsibility during the sacrament. It's Bishop Bain's responsibility to make sure the sacrament is being done correctly for every SOUL that will partake of it. Find gratitude in the trust He has given you, Bishop Bain. (No pressure haha) so, this week I'm working on ALWAYS REMEMBERING HIM. What are you going to do to "always remember Him"? 🌼🍃

**MIRACLE: We're working with a less-active in the area who just moved here from the West Coast (the best coast.) and she hasn't been to church for probably 10 years. She's had a lot of difficult trials recently that have helped her want to come back to church and feel peace. We met her a couple of weeks ago (and we're basically best friends). She's so sweet and I love seeing her change as she's committed to read the Book of Mormon daily. That book really does change lives and if you don't believe me (which you should.) try it out yourself. Read it, then pray and have faith that God will answer you. Anyway. We got a text from her the other day and she told us that she had just paid her tithing for the first time in her life! WHAT WHAT. She said that it was a big sacrifice because money is tight, but she knows she'll see blessings from it. TAKE ABOUT AN ACT OF FAITH. She's so cool. 

You asked about Facebook. It's sooo weird being on Facebook as a missionary. We like to post things on Facebook as a way of uplifting the members in our ward that we're friends with, investigators, and family back home. It's pretty cool that the Lord trusts us with Facebook haha Ps. 

Anyway, I think that's about it from here. I'm glad Kevin's talk went well! I can't believe Keith comes home soon too. What the heck. I'm grateful for cousins. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week full of many many miracles!! 

I love youuuuuuuuu ❤❤❤

Love always,

Sister Bain 🍍

Book Exchange

Book Exchange - Inside (BOM)

Manhattan - South side

Sisters - Send you peace

Skyline from the appartment

Wall art

Rest in the Shade

Harlem tree lined street

2017 0517 - Straight outta Harlem

HEY FAMILY. Long time no see. Oh wait. I saw you 3 days ago. That was a good time and I am so grateful for technology! I LOVE SKYPE AND I LOVE YOU AND I LOVE THAT YOU WERE WEARING YOUR "I LOVE NY" SHIRTS. Aaaaaahhhhhhh you guys are the best. Please send me a video of Jacob's dance. I am still laughing and I miss those cute little boys so much. But I'm serious about the video hahaha 

I wrote in my journal like I told you I was going to. :) BLESSINGS.

WELCOME HOME, ELDER SIRRINE!!!! How in the world has it already been 2 years? It goes by way too fast. HE BETTER EMAIL ME OR I'M GOING TO BE SO MAD. 

Not much has happened since Sunday haha but next week is going to be full of miracle stories! We're all going to have the best week ever! Bummer that you all got SNOW....because we're dying here in the humidity and the 90 degree weather. But it's fine. Happy May!!

I hope you all have the best week ever. I seriously love you so much.

Love always,

Sister Bain