Hello Everyone!

Hello Everyone!!
Its another pday!! Time seems to be going by faster and faster. One week from now is transfers. Im counting down the days till Jordan enters the MTC!! Im so excited for him. But all is well here, same stuff as usual. I didnt hear about anyone dieing on Halloween so thats good. We have been doing a lot of service the past week and its a lot of fun. Yesterday we cut down a pana tree and we started a coconut tree but we didnt have enough time. We also destroyed a wall at the Mendozas house (the family we baptised) They have been redoing their house and so we have been helping them a lot. But Thanksgiving should be fun, ( it is an american holiday mom, but Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.) Im pretty sure they do the traditional thanksgiving dinner, but probably puertorican style. So there will be a side of arroz y habichuelas and tostones and some other creations. ha ha. And it seems like the whole ward wants us to come to their houses and eat so it should be great. No, i havnt gotten food poisoning yet, but i have gotten used to having diareha, ha ha. So, we have been teaching a few people but they keep falling, so we dont have anything secure right now. Its been really interesting hearing about all the different religions lately. Its pretty funny too. Ive heard a lot about the Jehova's Witnesses, and have talked to a few. Its a really depressing religion. ha ha. We talked to a guy recently that read about the church and wanted to know more so he contacted us and we taught him and gave him a Book of Mormon and then he dissapeared. So that was a drag, we thought he was golden. Oh and a few days ago our house got flooded from the rain one day and our living room and kitchen were full of water, so we spent like an hour sweeping it all out. Its fine now though. But thats pretty much it in my world. Keep the emails and letters and stuff coming, by the way i havent gotten the package yet. Heres some pictures. I love you all so much!!
-Elder Bailey

Short and Sweet

Hello Everyone!!
Thanks for the emails. This week was good. Im going to be short because i wrote this all once but i deleted it on accident. The baptism was good the spirit was really strong and i did the ordinance. The computer im on wont let me download the pictures so ill do it next week. I wasnt able to email on wednesday because it was veterans day and the library was closed, so pres. gave us permission to email today. Money is best if pres. Dewsnup says so. Wow, thats sweet for Aubrey, hope it works out well for her. Ill keep an eye out for Elder Martel the next transfer meeting, maybe ill be his trainer?! Tell the ward missionaries need referals, every member a missionary. Members need to find the people, missionaries teach them to baptism. Well thats all i hope all is well, keep the emails coming and I love you all so much!!!
-Elder Bailey

Trick or Trunk

Hey Everyone!!!
Thanks for the emails. This past week was good. For Halloween we had to be in at 6 because the mafia was going to start killing people. So just normal stuff around here, ha ha. So, we have a baptism this weekend!! Im stoked, im doing the ordinance too. Hopefully we get some more baptismal dates here. Thats crazy how Brooklyn is growing up so fast! She is getting so big. And the rest of the kids too. I have been writing Trevor, im so happy with how well hes doing, hopefully he will serve a mission now. Oh my comp is from Argentina but he has a Brazilian last name because his dad is from Brazil. Elder Pereira Do Carmo. Sounds like Thanksgiving should be a blast. Our ward here is having a Luau for our thanksgiving party. Well, love u all a bunch, thanks for your prayers and your letters! Here are some pictures from Trunk or treat, the puerto ricans call it like trick and trunk and pretty much everything else except the correct way, haha. Oh and when they trick or treat they have like a song they sing at every door, i thought that was interesting.
-Elder Bailey

Happy Halloween!

Hey everyone!!!Thanks for the emails! I love hearing from yall. So, im doing great. I heard about the explosion that happened and we could see a big crazy looking cloud, but we didnt find out until we were like tracting and a guy told us about it. He was like, "Dont you watch tv?" ha ha. The explosion happened in the area of the assistants and the president but everything is fine. So, we found some new people to teach. We have 3 baptismal dates, so were working for those next month. Wow, im sorry about Aubrey, i will pray for her and i hope she gets better. Shes not going to eat bacon again! Well sounds like everyone is sick over there, im glad im here, ha ha. Well thanks for the emails, here are some pictures i told my companion to take while i was driving!! I love you all, have a Happy Halloween!!!-Elder Bailey

Sorry Oct. 13th & Oct. 21st Emails

Oct. 21st Email:

Hey everyone!!So, its the beginning of a new transfer again, wow its going fast. I am still in Caguas! This transfer we will have halloween and thanksgiving. My companion is Elder Pereira Do Carmo, he is from Argentina, and yes that is just his last name, ha ha. He has a year in the mission and he knows english too but i plan on really working on my spanish this transfer. And no i am not senior companion yet, ha ha. So, we have some good plans to find new people, i will tell yall how it goes. The ward has like 80 people i would say i heard it was one of the biggest. My glasses are working out well, my clothes are fine, ha ha. Thats crazy that everyone has the flu overthere! i hope no one else has gotten it. Wow, thats surprizing that Caleb went through the temple and is going to go on a mission, thats great for him though! Grandpa told me about the windows he was installing, it should work really well. Tell grandpa happy birthday for me!! Sounds like a good primary program ha ha. We had one here a few weeks ago, it was funny, they are all the same no matter where u go! Ill try and get some more pictures to yall, its just hard to take pictures all the time cause im constantly doing stuff and we cant look like tourists and i always drive so i cant take them while im driving. But all is well here, there was a protest last week about the governor of Puerto Rico. But everything has calmed down now. Dont hear much about sports or anything really, ha ha, but its all good. Weather is the same here the coldest it has gotten down to is like 76 or something like that, but its mostly like 90 something. Well, i love yall so much, keep me updated on Boise State and everything else thats going on! Keep the letters coming! -Elder Bailey

October 13th Email:

Hey everyone!!Thanks for the pictures and stuff. It was good to see the fam all in a picture. Brooklyn is getting so big!! Wow and Ashlyn too! But everyone else looks the same, ha ha. Well, sorry i dont have any pictures for today. I forgot my camera when i went to the bowlera and stuff last p day, i was so mad! But i will be sure to get more to u, because i wont forget my camera again. So, this past week we went to a funeral, which was good, the member who died was 109 years old! It was crazy. And im emailing yall today because tomorrow is transfers and im getting a new companion!! Im staying in Caguas though, im not going anywhere yet. My companion is heading out to St. Croix, which sounds sweet. He is way excited. Wow im so excited for Jordan! Im so excited for him to leave in December. Then i can write to him in spanish! So, Lexi has braces now, thats a fun time.. ha ha. So, i tried to cut my hair by myself again and i messed up so i had to shave it all off again. ha ha. Well ill make sure to get more pics to yall, keep the emails coming!!-Elder Bailey

Mi Casa!

Tyson's House

Tyson's lovely room

Hello everyone!
So these are pictures of my house, theres one of the bedroom and the plank of wood with a handle on it in the background is to the bathroom which is like 5ft by 5ft its tiny. Then the other picture is of the kitchen its actually pretty nice and we have 2 couches to like the right of where i was taking that picture. We have 1 other room which is our study room that basically just has tables, maps and books so i didnt take a picture of it. Ill send more pictures in the future!!!
-Elder Bailey

Yo tengo fotos!

The Dad was baptized 1st then he was able to baptize his family later.



This is what Tyson learned to cook and makes everyday for lunch

Hey everyone!!
Finally got some pictures, just a few but i will have more next time because we are going to Sizzlers and the Bowlera today! One picture is of the family that we baptized the father got to baptize the rest of the family. They have been doing great so far. Then the other picture is of pretty much what i cook every day. Arroz, habechuelas, y pescado frito. We eat that like everyday for lunch. So this past week was great we are starting to get more appointments and we have a new bapismal date. So one day we were driving and theres usally like one day a week when we have a lightning storm, so it was one of those days and we were driving and we saw a huge lightning bolt like a half a mile away from us or closer and then we felt this huge shock wave it was so cool. Oh and something funny thats been happening is when my companion is saying the morning prayer we will be praying and then i hear a long pause and im like elder wake up. And hes like oh did i fall a sleep again, dang it! It is funny, ha ha. So thats pretty much it for this week. i might need some more money in my personal account i had to use some of it for glasses and stuff. Well this transfer is almost over! It will be interesting to see if i leave or go this time. Well i cant wait to hear back from yall, tell everyone i love them and keep encouraging Brandon to serve a mission! I love u guys!!
-Elder Bailey

Still Lovin' the Mission!

Hey everyone!Thanks for the emails. I love hearing from everyone. So this week was pretty good, we are preparing a family for baptism this upcoming sunday hopefully. and we are trying for new investigators, we havent had any in a while so were working hard to find them. We might have to drop the feminist because she isnt progressing. The next appointment will make or break it. And the 19 year old that has the pastors for parents is having a hard time too. So sound like everything is great in Boise, its good that Aubrey's dating an LDS guy, but he will be leaving on a mission for 2 years so we will see ha ha. Oh and i dont need slacks or anything, actually have too much stuff, im still trying to get through the stuff i bought back home, like toothpaste and etc. So just make sure u dont send Jordan off with too much stuff ha ha. I did email Brandon, i really want him to go on a mission, i cant stress how important it really is, Jordan will know soon, he will feel how i feel. It is a commandment to preach the gospel, i just dont want him to make the wrong decision and miss this chance. Thats so awesome that Jordan gave 2 talks, tell him to brush up on some spanish to prepare for the mtc. Well, i love u all so much and keep the emails coming!-Elder Bailey

Hey Everyone!

Hey everyone!!!Thanks for the emails! So on sunday we had the baptism of the father of the family we are teaching, he wanted to be baptised sooner than we had planned. So the rest of the family should be baptised in the coming weeks, im so excited! We taught the feminist last night and basically she prays to a God & Godess & she aparently didnt like the catholic church so she baptised her own children at home. Shes really interesting ha ha. We will see how she progresses. Basically we get all of the good investigators through references from the members. Knocking doors hardly ever works. Like one day we tracted for like 2 hours and we only got 1 return appointment. Which will probably fall. So references and member work is were it is at. So the 19 year old girl is having family problems now so we delayed the baptism for this upcoming sunday or saturday. So tomorrow we have zone conference and a general authority is coming, Elder Coleman of the seventy. Im so excited. Well sounds like everything is going great, i love hearing from yall.-Elder Bailey

Thanks for the emails!

Hey everyone thanks for the emails!Im doing great here. This transfer were trying for 7 baptisms. Which would be so cool. We have been teaching a family of 5 and they are seriously the coolest family ever! And we are teaching this one girl who has parents that are pastors in the Pentacostle church. When i had my previous companion we were having a lesson with her and it had to be at the church because she hasnt told her parents that she was meeting with the missionaries, but shes 19 so its fine. And my companion commited her to be baptized and then we asked her if she would pray on her knees with us for her to know that the church is true. And i swear we were on our knees for 20 mins. And she started to cry and my companion felt inspired to give her a blessing. So we did and the spirit was so strong, she is going to be baptised this sunday, i am so happy for her. Oh and this sunday we have a lesson with a lady who is a major feminist and has a degree in theology and believes in hinduism and pagan gods. Ill tell yall how that goes. ha ha. So, im not senior companion, my companion has been in the mission for a year. And you can give my address to whoever, im happy to hear from anyone. My spanish is getting better everyday, and im so glad i get to stay here in Caguas. I love watching the investigators progress and build their testimonies. Oh and dad shouldnt have messed with the bee sting. You are supposed to not touch it and if it has a stinger you use tweezers to put it straight out. So dont touch it!! i had a bite on my arm the other day and i scratched it and it started to spread on my arm into a bunch of little bumps and so i left it alone and now its fine. We are told to be really careful here with the bites that we get. Well, email me back, cant wait to hear from yall!!
-Elder Bailey

A new companion tomorrow

Hey everyone,thanks for the emails. I love hearing from yall. So its the end of the transfer and like i expected im staying here in caguas. My companion is heading back to curasou and he doesnt want to leave. So since he is my trainer we call eachother son and dad. Hes my dad. ha ha. So since he is leaving im killing my dad. I dont know its just what they call it. Its funny because now i have like uncles and brothers and maybe ill have a son in the future. ha ha. So yup tomorrow i get a new companion i dont know who it is yet but i heard hes a good missionary. Im excited but nervous because i will have more responsibility now. So thats pretty much it for me, still preaching the gospel and learning tons. I went and bought my glasses today they wont be done till next week. Please try and convince Brandon to serve a mission. I was afraid of giving talks too but the mission pretty much got rid of that because its a whole different story when u have to give a talk in spanish. Doing stuff in english seems so easy now. I dont know why he didnt email me back, ask him about it. Well i love hearing from yall, i love u all so much.-Elder Bailey

I can cook rice!

All of us at the Dominican Republic MTC

Hey everyone,
Thanks for your emails, i love them all!! I just heard from Jordan that he's going to Mexico! Wow, its going to be so cool. Im so excited for him. Well, everything is great here, we have had a lot of heat because of the hurracaine that passed by it sucked up all the clouds and rain so we have had nice weather. So on sunday i baptised an investigator for the hermanas in our district. It was a great experience. So, sending me the prescription for my glasses would work. I dont really need anything else except letters!! I cant believe i only have one week left in this transfer then im not a greeny anymore!! I will most likely stay here in Caguas though. Oh, and tell Brandon i tried the sofrito and it is amazing and actually i have been eating it since i got here and my companion taught me how to cook with it! Well, i love to hear from yall. I love you all so much!
-Elder Bailey

August 19, 2009 Letter

Another Baptism!

Yummy food in the Dominican Republic MTC



Hey everyone!!Thanks for the emails everyone, keep them coming! So this week was great we had a baptism and 2 confirmations, but the bishop does the confirming. And my companion did the baptism on Saturday. The picture is attached. So lately i have been trying a lot of different types of food. I had no idea there were so many different fruits! The best is mango with ice cream! ha ha. I had these skewers of meat too called pinchos & they are so good. Dad & Brandon Read would love them. Plus my companion makes me lunch every day, arroz y habechuelas con carne, its sweet. He makes the best rice i have ever tasted. So lately we have had a lot of rain we had a storm come through and that was the most rain i think i have ever seen. We had a hurricane scare but it turns out its heading north and is going to miss us. Wow, i cant believe this transfer is already almost over. We only have like 2 weeks left. I will for sure stay here in Caguas though, because its my greeny area. So my companion told me that here in Puerto Rico there are mongoose, i havent seen one but we saw turtles and this one time we were tracting and we were walking by this bush and i saw this big black bug flying around and i was like whoa, what is that. And my companion said it was an african bee, and i guess they sting u really bad and the sting swells up pretty bad too. So we have to be carefull around them. So we were parked at a stop light and theres always people who come around and beg for money & one of them his skin was like being eaten away by AIDS it was nasty. So my companion told me that a little while back one of the elders healed a lady of her blindness. Which was way cool, but she wasnt even baptised. I thought it was crazy but when u think about it Christ performed all those miracles and was rejected as well. So i can totally see it now. Well, thats pretty much it, keep the emails coming and letters are good too! Oh and heres a picture of what we ate in the CCM of dominican republic every day and its pretty much what my companion cooks every day!-Elder Bailey

New Pics

Domincan Republic temple!

Hey!! Hey everyone!

Hey!!Hey everyone!! Well its another p day and heres the update for me. So the city im serving in is Caguas. Im not next to the ocean, but we have some really cool mountains. Whenever i drive up into the mountains it feels like were going through a jungle. So its funny because my p day is like my busiest day i have and its supposed to be a day to rest and prepare, but we just do a lot of preparing. Ha ha. The language is coming along well. My companion says ill be fluent in a few weeks. We will see what happens though ha ha. So, so far we have had 3 baptisms, one every week, and we have another this week too. I baptized 2 people so far. Its an experience like no other. So the ward i go to is pretty small, but apparently its one of the biggest wards in the mission with 50 people!! The churches are pretty cool too theres like an outdoor courtyard & the class rooms and everything surround it. Emailing is difficult because i have to go to a library. How is brandon reads spanish coming with his rosetta stone? It would be fun for us to send emails in spanish back & forth. I havent gotten my glasses yet, idk if u have sent them yet, so i thought i would let u know. So, the other day there was a iguana on our fence, i took a picture of it. And this is just a baby one. So i eat rice & beans every day, so now im addicted to arroz y habechuelas. My comp cooks them everyday. Oh, Jordan finally told u guys. ha ha. Yeah i already knew he was preparing. Its the best decision he could make. I wish i could say how much a mission means to me now, & how much ive grown because of it. I wish i could show everyone who is debating on going on a mission how important it is. The only choice a person has to make is whether the chruch is true or not. If they dont believe it is they wont serve. Well, i cant wait to hear back from yall! I love you all so much!! Update me on Jordan's progress.-Elder Bailey

Buen Dia!

Hey Everyone!!
Finally getting out some pictures! So far in Puerto Rico its been great. Missionary work is so much fun! So far every Sunday I've been able to baptize someone. It's such a cool experience. The language is coming good and my companion says that ill be fluent in 6 weeks, so that was good to hear, ha ha. The weather is nice here but its pretty weird sometimes. It will pour rain for like 2 minutes and then dry up and be hot for a while and it pretty much does that throughout the day. My apartment is cool, we only have air conditioning in the bedroom so it gets hot everywhere else. And my companion Elder Centeno is way cool - he's from Columbia and helps me a lot with my Spanish. Plus he always makes me Colombian food and stuff. Well everything is great I cant wait to hear from y'all.
-Elder Bailey

My first letter home...

My Mission President and his wife

MTC Pictures!

My MTC Companion

Elders of our MTC Branch

Hola, todos!

Hey everyone,

Well, its my last week in the MTC, and i am so excited. I only have 4 days left and I'm in the field, wow! It went by so fast! I cant wait to get out there and do some real missionary work. So, i got the dearelder package and idk about the other one but i might be getting it later tonight. But that's the cookies and stuff are great, oh and i forgot to tell y'all that beef jerky is not allowed in the DR. I don't know why but i guess it is. I got it though so i guess they didn't search it. ha ha. Well, this week was great. This has been such a great experience so far. I feel like a completely different person. We went to the university again this week, it was way cool. We handed out 3 book of Mormons and we got 3 references which was our best so far. I cant wait to be doing that all day every day. So today was the last time i get to go to the temple for a long while. But it was good. So i appreciate the emails and hearing from everyone. So here's my mission address for y'all! I love you all and i cant wait to hear from u! oh and i might be sending pictures too!!
-Elder Bailey

Elder Tyson LeRoy Bailey
Puerto Rico San Juan East Mission
Urb Jardines de Caparra
500 Calle Marginal Norte
Bayamon PR 00959
Puerto Rico

Weird

Hey, I don't know if yall got the last email or not. I'm not sure if theyre being put on the blog or not. So, im just sending this to everyone. So, anyways, I'm doing great here and still learning tons. So, i havent gotten the packages yet, butn i did get the letter from Taylor a couple weeks ago. I wrote a letter to her before i got hers, so just let her know i got it. And idk how long packages take to get here, it seems like they take like 2 weeks or so. So dont send me anymore here. Start sending them to the mission address. And i think the reason why i havent gotten the dearelder package is because theyre based out of utah and the packages arent boxed up, so im surprised the order actually went thru. But that would be great if it actually did. ha ha. Anyways, on tuesday we went to the university to talk to people and such. And me and my companion handed out 2 book of mormons. Which was really good. We were so excited! So that was the highlight of my week. I wish i could go there everyday! So, we havent had any real big storms yet. We got a little bit of one, but it wasnt anything big. So, im doing good here, the food is the same as always, some days we get this one soup thats really wierd, it has like bones in it and these wierd potato things. Sometimes i dont really know what im eating. And we sometimes have like those wierd potatoes with this wierd meat that kind of looks like bologna but its not. So yeah it gets interesting. ha ha. But the best is when we have sandwiches. Ive craved sandwiches ever since i got here. I just want like a normal sandwich, but here we have to have chicken sandwiches, they dont eat food that isnt cooked here. Its pretty much always hot, except for breakfast. But anyways everything is great! Its always good to hear from everyone! Well, I love you all, I cant wait to hear back from yall!

-Elder Bailey

Actualizar

Hey Everyone!!!

Well here's another weekly update. I have 3 weeks left here in Dominican! I'm starting to get super excited for the mission field. So we got some new missionaries this week from Latin America. Its pretty crowded in our room now with 4 elders. Theres just not enough room! But its all good because we get to practice our Spanish. So i did get the package, i actually got it like an hour after i emailed y'all. And i loved it its nice to have some normal snacks for once, ha ha. Oh and thanks for the flashlight, ha ha, the power outages aren't that bad because we have generators, they're only out for a few seconds and then they come back on. And if ur going to send me more packages make sure there is enough time for it to get to me, or just send it to the mission address, mom and dad should have it. So ya thanks for everything!! I took some pictures recently and I'm going to try and send them if i can thru email. And if u don't get them its because i didn't send them, ha ha. Well keep the emails coming and by the way I'm not allowed to chew gum anywhere except for my room, so i basically don't have any time to chew it, ha ha. So just send chips, goodies, chocolate, etc. anything American!! ha ha. And to be honest with u I'm not surprised that Carson got stitches again, ha ha, that kid is crazy!! And forward this to everyone who didn't get it or just let them know its on the blog!

-Elder Bailey

Hola Todos

Hey, everyone!!

Well, another week flew by again, so ill update u all on whats going on. Thanks for the emails and the dearelder.com. I haven't gotten the package yet, it will probably take a while I'm guessing on Wednesday next week. They only give us mail on Wednesdays here so i really don't know when ill get it. Thanks for the pics of Brooklyn's b day, she is so cute. Sorry i can't send pictures, the president wont even let us take pictures until like the day before we leave here. And i still have to figure out how I'm going to get them on the email. ha ha. So this week was good, my teacher was late to class one day and he said he was late because a guy got his head chopped off by a machete. So yeah that's crazy. And we do go into the city here. We practice at the university nearby, and were going to the park in a little bit to pick up trash. So, that helps a lot with the Spanish. The food here is getting old, its the same every day, beans, rice, meat. So, I'm hoping my package has goodies in it. ha ha. but if not its alright. Thanks for writing me, i love you all, and miss u all so much!!

-Elder Bailey

?Que Pasa Cabron? -- June 13, 2009

Hey everyone!!
I made it to Dominican and it is crazy! We stayed in the airport last night and we got a hotel room so that was nice. Thanks for the emails and keep them coming. So far this has been way intense over here, it really is a culture shock. Well, i was told i had to be brief so i will talk to ya´ll later. Sorry i dont know how to work this key board yet so i cant do underscores so just forward it to everyone who didnt get it. I love you all!

-Elder Bailey

Hola! -- June 10, 2009

Hey everyone-

Thanks for the emails, I love to hear from u all. So my MTC experience has been great so far and I'm sooo excited to leave for Dominican tomorrow! We have to get up at 3 tomorrow morning but I'm still way excited. We have 9 people in our group and I'm the travel leader so ill be keeping everyone in line, ha ha. i think me and my companion will still be companions but if i get with a native that would be cool too! So the Dominican MTC is so small, its only one building and there's only like 30 people there at a time. And I heard we only eat beans and rice for every meal and there's like power outages all the time and sometimes they would go without power for a couple days. So it will be a cool experience. And i heard we get to go into the city for practice talking to people. So i am stoked! But the Spanish is coming fast, i think this is the fastest I've learned in my entire life. Its nuts. So i will be able to call home when i get to Dallas at like 11ish and again when i get to Florida at like 2 or 3 i think. So make sure u guys are home then or i will have to talk to Jordan again, ha ha. Just kidding! But me and my companion are so excited right now! Oh and when I'm in Dominican the mail system isn't very reliable because people steal mail a lot. So when u send me letters and stuff just cover it in pictures of Jesus and stuff because i heard it gives it a better chance of getting to me. And u might want to write me because i don't think i will have Internet access. Um so i will send y'all another email with my address on it cause i don't have it with me right now! But thanks for the emails and letters and stuff! Oh and i think i want to get some glasses so i will send u my prescription too. I love u all, and keep the letters comin!

- Elder Bailey