What I Wish I Would've Known

soooo shoutout to my girl, the one and only Bella in Berlin aka BELLA BAKER!! She's my fav (:

so this email is gonna be a lil different. last week my home ward bishop, Bishop Broadbent, emailed and asked me a bunch of "What I Wish I Would've Known" questions sooo i asked my district leader if  we could have our district prayer and talk about it. long story short i ended up instructing at district meeting about it. IT WAS AWESOME. i have sooo much stuff....so I'm probably gonna make it a couple emails about this over the next few weeks and keep adding to it. I'm really excited. Also...my girl Kylie Myers and I made some really funny videos about the gospel lately....so stay tuned on facebook for those (; hahaha the things you do when you are on your way back from the temple...in oklahoma city...3 hours away...anyways!!

HIGHLIGHTS OF DA WEEK:

MONDAY: we played settlers of catan, it's a sweet board game, for FHE. then i asked the members son which ward he was in and it got really awkward and he told me he was no longer a member #GOME i love when that happens...hahaha but i got over it.

TUESDAY: we had an AMAZING lesson with GINA!!!! omg and i got pics with the possum and i almost started to hyperventilate when it was crawling all over me...we have another lesson with her tomorrow. PRAY that we can convince her to go out of her house....yeah #OKIEPROBS

oh and that night i had my first experience with REAL SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN. OMGosh....sooo good!!!!

WEDNESDAY: definitley that night we were at the church of activities.

jeananne (the one that teaches us to crochet) taught the activity days girls!!! how cool!! she looked like a member!! after we were all talking about how excited we were to go to the temple and she asked soo many questions. IT WAS SO AWESOME!! also...it's a long story but i arranged for a member to donate Mickey (our recent convert) a SICK SUIT!! he wore it on sunday and looked sooo fly! it was soo cool(:

THURSDAY: we had SISTER'S CONFERENCE in Tulsa so I got to my Sister PETE <3 <3 it was the greatest, i love her so much. at lunch, everyone gathered around us and we were telling stories and just going back and forth...it was sooo funny. geez, i love that girl. keep her in your prayers..she's having a rough time<3 Love you gurrrrrl!!

FRIDAY: WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE WITH JONI AND KYLIE AND THE PHILLILPS (i adopted them as my parents...they're so funny) we had an amazing time and I got to spend a few minutes in the celestial room...it was so good!! ahhhhhhh(: (:

SATURDAY: we had an amazing lesson with MICKEY!!! IDK...LATELY...our lessons just flow...not to mention we taught 35 lessons last week and 34 this week. TAHLEQUAH IS BOOMING!! (usually we teach likeeee 20 soo yeah, ROCK ON) also we had dinner with my other set of adopted parents...the WARRENS. they're the funniest people i've ever met...actually. like for real, we had a blast. someday ya'll will know this amazing people in my life and it'll be great!!

fun fact: i accidentally wrote a poem while taking notes at sister conference:

it goes like this:

you won't become perfect on your mission,

but you've got a head start,

this is your foundation

HASTEN YOUR HEART<3

cute, right?

and i totally wrote it on accident. love when that happens...

WHAT I WISH I WOULD'VE KNOWN:

• long before you leave on your mission, actually START  RIGHT NOW,  study Preach my Gospel and the missionary white handbook. first time i read that was in the MTC...also study ALL the chapters in PMG, not just chapter 3 that has the standard missionary lessons. that's a good start but we teach soooo much more than those. plus there's a whole chapter about the book of mormon andddd about findind people to teach! USE ALL YOUR TOOLS
• having a job with customer service + interacting with people was SO HELPFUL
• take mission prep and LEARN HOW TO TALK TO PEOPLE. i mean, i've definitely learned a ton thus far, but the beginning was really hard. plus, there's a lotta awkward missionaries. DON'T BE THAT MISSIONARY.
• go out on splits with the missionaries around you. if you don't know them...FIND OUT and love them and take them places and ask them a million questions...WE LOVE IT
• save as much of your own money as you can for you mission, i've heard it makes you a lot more driven ( i wouldn't know...i'm super spoiled by my daddy and grandparents :)
• ask your family that has gone on missions for advice, stories, tips etc.
• go to college!!! i'm forever grateful i had a year at USU before my mission, i learned how to grocery shop and do my laundry and take care of myself #YOUNGESTCHILDPROBS
• when you go teach with the missionaries like i told you to, being an ACTIVE member, don't just sit in the corner and twittle your thumbs..you are there for a purpose
• develop SOCIAL SKILLS! hahaha i kind of already said this but i had to put it in again, b/c my district leader kept yelling it out while i was instructing hahaha
• learn how to play the piano....i hate hate hate that i took piano for how many years mom? and i can only play a few hymns...(sorry to lorna for never practicing...) but i'm learning again!!
• develop a testimony of church attendance. i didn't have one coming from utah, where we always go...just because...andddd we invite people to come all the time sooo you need to understand why it's important.

SHOOT!! WE HAVE TO GO.... i have soooo much more...but i'll send it next week!!

i love you people!! the church is true!!!

all my love,

sister bay

hi i'm sister bailey. some call me sister bay. or sister nellie.

hahaha shoutout to my dad for sending me my converse and favorite sweatshirt!!