2017 09/27 "CONFERENCE TIME IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dear home,
First of all, I am DYING because of Bryson and the bacon story. I love that boy. Oh my goodness. ALSO. Dean's home-teaching companion, Nikita, is engaged to my bff Ivis. Yay. I took the Emergen-C on my own and used my agency to do it THANK YOU VERY MUCH. As I was drinking it and gagging because it's awful, the spirit said "Remember when dad told you to warm it up?" It changed from being the most vile thing ever to Christmas in a cup. Thanks, dad. You're pretty smart! ❤😉

CONFERENCE TIME IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!! 3 more sleeps, kids! I am SO excited. Wasn't the women's conference just the best???? Instead of explaining the thoughts in my head, here's a list of things I loved:

Sister Eubank:
- Distinct and different: in happy ways!
- Integrity is more valuable than visibility.
- Righteous does not mean being perfect
- Practice living the gospel before the emergency.
- "Sisters, will you be righteous?"

Sister Marriott:
- Priority sifting: Some things matter, some things don't. Some things last, some things won't.
- WHAT MATTERS MOST?
- Sacrifice your personal agenda
- Simple love, honestly expressed, brings hope and value to all of God's children 💗💗💗
- "Will you please give me a portion of your love so thst I can love her too?"

Sister Jones:
- I have value as an individual (YOU DO TOO)
- God created me with value and purpose. (YOU TOO)
- We have the capacity to become like God
- Why not me?
- Comparison is the thief of joy
- Let's not be confused about who we are

President Uchtdorf:
- Don't let others opinions bring you down
- You are not a victim (Be an agent for change! -President Smith)
- Don't let others control your feelings
- Remember who you are
- Don't surrender yoir happiness to others
- I am responsible for my own discipleship
- Let go of things you can't control

We went and watched conference at the Manhattan Temple chapel and all the women in the stake were there as well. It was interesting to see how nobody was paying attention when President Eyring and President Uchtdorf walked in. Nobody listened to the music. People were still talking even after it had started- chatting and catching up with friends. What's your focus when you watch conference? What's most important? YOU CAN CHAT WITH YOUR FRIENDS AFTER CONFERENCE OKAY. I love conference because it's a time for me to review my goals and revise them with the counsel the prophet gives. Have you written your conference questions down?? I hope so! Refocus and open your heart to the spirit. I know God talks to man on the earth. President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. 💗 How grateful I am for this time.
I love you!

Love always,
Sister Bain 🍍

Story time

Train ride Selfie

Note: We went to IHOP while Makail and Deena went to the Womon's Conference. Bryson loves bacon but ordered a waffle for dinner. Jacob's dinner came with bacon and he shared a bite with Bryson. Bryson took a bite of the bacon and apparently did not like the taste of it and proclaimed "Well that pig died in vain". 

2017 09/20 "Good job, Madeleine!"

Yooooooooooooooooo what's up 👋
I hope Jacob survived his 22 mile bike ride 😂 That honestly sounds awful but it's fine 😂 That's like biking the whole island of Manhattan 😂 (SOUNDS LIKE DEATH.)

Sidenote before I forget: there's a town in New York called "South Bainbridge". Joseph and Emma were married there! Also, I'm getting over this little cold thing or whatever and I literally have to pray for help to sneeze 😂 it is so pathetic.

Okay, last random thing: Do Grandma and Grandpa Wood know a Russell or Reid McKenna? Brother and Sister McKenna in our ward sent you that picture of us on Sunday and they're from Logan! Brother McKenna has 2 brothers that live right by Grandma and Grandpa! (We looked it up on Google maps 😂😂😂)

Well ANYWAY. This week was GOOD. Madeleine is officially a member of the church! 💕 She was SOOOOOOOO happy on Saturday and Sunday. And the ward just adores her. She was asked to share her testimony, which she was very excited to do, but ended up just crying the whole time because she felt the spirit so strong. After, the ward provided a little lunch and while I was talking to her she said "Sister Bain, I couldn't even get the words out because I've never felt the spirit like that before. I felt like Heavenly Father was standing there hugging me and telling me "Good job, Madeleine!" It was such a sweet moment for me and to see her so happy was the best ever. 💗 My heart is so full 💗
Nothing super big to report on this week besides Madeleine's special day! We've been able to meet a lot of cool people and haven't had anyone bring alcohol to church so that's a win! 👌

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve my Heavenly Father. As the days have started to go by faster and faster, I've reflected a lot on all the special moments and the special people that I've met on my mission and looking forward to meeting so many more incredible souls in the coming weeks. I seem to end up crying every time I do that, because the people I've met in CT and New York hold such a big part of my heart. The miracles I've seen have changed me and I've been able to more fully recognize the hand of my Father in Heaven in my life 💞 I know that God truly is my loving Heavenly Father and I know that He loves each of us, individually.

I love you all and hope you have the best week ever.

All my love,
Sister Bain 🍍

Sisters in Zion

Break time, which means it's time to take another selfie.

2017 09/13 "Remember when I would throw a fit"

Remember when I would throw a fit when I had to drink that Emergen-C stuff? And I always threw an even bigger fit when dad told me to warm it up? 😂😂😂 Well, turns out dad was RIGHT and it's better warm 😂😂😂 but that's all I'm going to say about that 😂😂😂.

We didn't do anything special for 9/11 (Happy Birthday, Kyle!!!!!!!) But we were able to see the remembrance lights from downtown. It was so beautiful. The City definitely had a different vibe that day. ❤

This was the best week of my life because I love my companion, Harlem was nice to us 75% of the week, AND PRESIDENT NELSON CAME TO TOWN. Woot woot. He winked at me and told me I play beautifully on the piano so yay for that 👍Thanks for the piano lessons, mom. You're THE BEST 💗 So, basically I wish you all could have been here with me and my friend President Nelson because he is just too cool. We had the opportunity to hear from his wife as well at a women's conference and Madeleine was able to come with us!! 💕 President and Sister Nelson came, Elder Gong from the presidency of the 70 and his wife, Bishop Waddell the presiding bishop and his wife, and Elder and Sister Buckner from the 70 were there as well (they live in the Manhattan 1st Ward so I've been in a general authorities apartment before so 👍👍👍) Okay now that I'm done bragging.....😉😂

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this weekend:

☀️Sister Nelson--
Come to terms with things you cannot change
Move forward with total faith
You can't say "lead me, guide me" and then say "just kidding"
The world is a spook alley so ya better be careful kids!
So the church built Heber Valley Girls Camp. Yeah, the church loves the YW so much they bought them a mountain. So, there's that.
Premortally, you were awesome.
You have 16 million people praying for you. You are never alone in this work.

☀️President Nelson--
Tell your family "thanks" from Brother Nelson for supporting you & praying for you
Wow, it's like it's my birthday or something! Oh wait, it is my birthday! And there's nobody else I'd rather spend it with than you!
Repent and move on. Go forward with faith.

Another WONDERFUL part of this week was at the women's conference when I saw Sister McMullin and Sister Davis from DARIEN!!!!!!!! MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!! ❤❤❤ They told me that Bridgette, our recent convert who was baptized when Sister Sam and I were there, blessed her baby in church on Sunday AND her non-member husband and parents were there!!! Sister McMullin's husband blessed him and Bridgette specifically asked Brother McMullin to bless him that he would serve a mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM LITERALLY CRYING RIGHT NOW JUST TYPING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💖☀️🤗😊👍💕💗💓😍😁😊☺🙄😋 I AM SO HAPPY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I AM DYING 😊☺😍😁😋
Also, Madeleine is getting baptized this week and we are SO excited. She is just too wonderful. She tells us every day how grateful she is to be part of the "Mormon church of Harlem". She is the absolute best 😊

Well, that's about all from here. We're just living the life here in Harlem 🤗
I love you!


Love always,
Sister Bain 🍍

Madeleine, Sister Bain, & Sister Holmes

President & Sister Nelson with the NYNYN mission

2017 09/06 "God is so good and He will always come through"

HEY FAM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDMA WOOD TOMORROW!!! WOOT WOOT #25YearsOld AMIRIGHT? Love you love you love you Grandma!! 

The remodel is looking SO good. I'm glad Grandpa Wood will be comfortable when he comes to visit hahaha I love him. 

This week was good! We had transfers.....so.....yeah. I'll be finishing my mission in Harlem because........I'm training a new missionary again! Her name is Sister Holmes! I picked her up YESTERDAY and she is just too wonderful. I super love her already. Dad, who was your trainer in Japan? What did you love about him? 

The theme of the last couple of weeks has been "I can do hard things." We had MLC this week in Scarsdale and that's what we talked about. It was all about accomplishing hard things through Jesus Christ. It was fun to reflect on all the times that dad has said that to me. IT'S SO TRUE. I thought about Nephi and how he NEVER complained against the Lord because he was asked to do something hard. Right after MLC, President Smith called me into his office and told me the Lord had called me to be a trainer and I literally just started to cry because the first thought that came to my mind was "Training is so hard though." HAHAHAHAHA President just smiled and said "Well Sister Bain, you can do hard things." hahaha it made me laugh because I pictured dad standing in front of me telling me that hahaha Mom and dad, thank you so much for teaching me and loving me enough to help me overcome hard things. I am so grateful for you!

Madeleine is doing well. She's still on date to be baptized on September 16th!! We are so excited for her. We taught the word of wisdom this week and at the end we said "Madeleine, will you live the word of wisdom?" and she looked at us and said "Ugh. Sisters! Why would you even ask me that? Do you think I wouldn't want to live that? OF COURSE I will live the word of wisdom". hahahahaha IF ONLY IT WAS THAT EASY TO TEACH EVERYONE IN HARLEM. We love our Madeleine. She's taught me so much about trusting in the Lord in ALL THINGS. She always says "Sister Bain. Quit your worrying. God is so good and He will always come through." I am so grateful for Madeleine and the love that she has the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it's all true and I know that our Heavenly Father wants us- His children, to succeed. And that's why He gave us the gospel of Jesus Christ. #BLESSED. 

I am so grateful for this time that I have to be a missionary! It's the best full-time job anyone could have. I have loved every second, even the hard times, because I know that through Jesus Christ WE CAN DO HARD THINGS. And I know that in the end, we'll look back and realize that it wasn't really that hard. It could be a lot worse, but with Jesus Christ we can always overcome. I KNOW THAT THAT'S TRUE! 

I love you all and I know that you will be able to overcome hard things this week as you rely on the Lord and His love and grace.

Love always,

Sister Bain 🍍

Ps. Will you have Jacob read 2 Nephi 2:2 and email me what he liked about it. Please and thank you!

Cute Sister Brooklyn Holmes from Cedar Hills, UT! She is the sweetest ever. Also, when you see her in person...she looks exactly like Melissa Mitchell. (Ps.Tell Melissa I love her.)