Dear Family,

Happy Late Easter! Sounds like it was a good one. Thanks so much Sis Boyd and Kelsey for the Easter package, I got the package slip in the mail Sat night, so I had to wait until this morning to get it, but I was very greatful. I'm looking forward to the package from my dear family that I'll probably get today.

Alright, so lets start with the best part of my week! That of course is Saturday night, because that's when the baptisms happen. Travis, aka Big Man, the investigator Elder Hardy and I were working with is now a recent convert :) He was baptized by my dear friend Elder Hardy Saturday night. What made that day even better, was Stephanie Lewis ( A lady Elder badger and I were working with since one of the first weeks of my mission) was able to get baptized Saturday night as well! Stephanie and I had a really close connection when I was in Frayser. She's an older lady, and she had serious problems with alcohol, and tobacco, and she had to make a lot of sacrifices to be baptized. I think Elder Badger and I set 3 baptismal dates with her when I was in Frayser and they all fell through because of the struggles she was having. I wanted her to get baptized soooo bad. When we found out I was leaving Frayser, we told Stephanie and she started crying because she said she was losing a friend. We took pictures and said goodbye. Then I find out I was only moving 10 min away and staying in the ward. So I've seen her a few times since then, but I was soo happy when Elder Badger called me up and told me that Stephanie was getting baptized, and that she wanted me to baptize her :) So I was able to baptize her Saturday, best night of my mission. That baptism meant a lot to me. The spirit I felt was unbelievable.

On top of all that, there were 7 baptisms in the ward that night! Big Man, Stephanie, her 2 kids Fildal and Diamond, a lady named Tomica and her 2 kids Corneesha and Lavelle. It was an amazing night. We have a picture of the 6 Missionaries and 7 Investigators all dressed in white. It was so awesome. Our District is tearing it up, and we're being so blessed, I'm lovin' it.

Alright, back to the rest of my week. last Monday, after I emailed you we went mountain biking, that was a lot of fun. Then, of course, we went to CiCi's and had round 2 of the pizza eating contest. Now what's funny is Elder Hardy was talking himself up all week long telling me how he was going to destroy me, he loves to smack talk, but he's not the best at backing it up, lol, I love it. We get to CiCi's, and by the time I down 30 pieces Elder Hardy is at 19. I stop there because there isn't any competition. Elder Hardy was determined though, lol, so he spent the next 20 min struggling to eat another 3 pieces leaving him with a totall of 22. Then he went out in the parking lot and it all came back up. It was a beautiful night, lol.

Tuesday, I spent a lot of time taking a Defensive Driving Test, to get my driving privaledges back, which sucked because it took almost 3 hours of proslyting time. I'm allowed to drive again, which is good, because Elder Hardy doesn't have a drivers license. President OKed me to drive earlier this Transfer, but Salt Lake was getting upset at the Mission Office because I wasn't suppossed to or something, either way, I had to take that test, and now I'm good. Then we had our weekly Tuesday basketball with the youth, that was bueno.

Wednesday was a crazy day. We went with Bishop to help him with a situation dealing with one of our the recent converts in the ward Jim Garrison. Jimbo is renting out a house in the Triangle area of Memphis, and I guess this Mexican Lady he knows forced her way into his house, and started paying him rent, even though she is still technically trespassing because she's not on the lease and Jim has no legal rights to let her rent a room there. So somehow Bishop got caught up in this and we went there with him to kick this mexican lady out with the Landlord. Either way, it was the worst. She hated mormons, and she had the mouth of a sailor. She used more swear words than I realized could possibly fit in one sentence, it was horrible. What's worse is she had 3 tiny little kids, and she was swearing at them, and swearing at us, and swearing at mormons, and swearing at God. She was like the devil himself. I was helping her move her stuff out of the house while she ranted on about how mormon blanks have no blank standards and I need to find a new church blankety blank blank. I was so heated on the inside, I just wanted to tell her off, or punch her or something, but of course I didn't. It took like 3 hours before we were finished with that. Not fun.

The rest of the week was pretty good from then on, because we actually had full days of proslyting. We did a lot of tracting in the hot sun, and I turned the color of a tomato. We did a lot of good finding that will hopefully turn into some New Investigators this next week.

Elder Hardy often trails behind me when we're walking places and tracting and such, and I'll usually wait for him and try to get him to walk with me, but I wanna walk fast enough to actually get a days work done. I tell him to walk with me all the time but sometimes I'll just keep on walking without him so that we can pick up the pace. This week a Lady stopped us on the road and told us how horrible it looks when we're not walking together and if we're going about Gods business we need to be united. I was greatful for that, because now Elder Hardy walks right next to me, and sometimes I'll slow down a little if I have to, just as long as we're walking together. That lady was cool though.

Another crazy thing that happened this week. We stopped at the Frayser house to eat lunch one day, and I used their bathroom, and I looked over and realized that there was a turtle in their bathtub. lol. First off, missionaries aren't allowed to have pets. Second, There are 2 Zone leaders that live in the Frayser house.... haha, Third, there was a squirt gun taped to the top of the Turtle, and they labled him "Blastoise". For those of you that don't know what Blastoise is, feel free to ask Kelsey Boyd, I know she is very experienced in the subject of Pokemon ;) It was hilarious, lol. I picked him up by his water gun and then he hissed at me so I just put him back. Elder Badger and Nelson were leaving a surprise in the shower for Elder Peay and Fry.

This week was good though. I heard from a little birdie, also known as 2 zone leaders, that Elder Hardy and I are going at least 2 transfers together, so I at least have 8 more weeks with my good friend. We're gonna have some fun together. I love you all so much and miss you.

Thank you for writing me Danielle, it was good to hear from you! Tell your husband I miss him and want him to email me more.

Have a good week everyone!

Love, Elder LeBaron

4.18.11

Dear Family,

I know, I know, I suck at writing letters lately... Don't worry, it's not gonna be an every week thing :) I know you wanna know what's going on. I swear somethings wrong with me though, I can't concentrate when there's noise, and these lady librarians talk so loud on the phone, lol, but I'll do my best to ignore them. First off, congrats mom! on quiting your yob and getting back on the diet, I'll definately send skinny thoughts your way... and I know you love me and want to send me a package, but I don't know my address, I forgot to write it down before we biked to the library, and I don't have it memorized, but Kelsey has it because I sent a letter to her, so could you get it from her? or worst case scenario you could call the mish office, they'll let you know.

This week was good. Yes, my new companion and I are having our struggles. I love Elder Hardy, but my goodness does he get on my nerves, and I thought I was a pretty hard person to upset, but I'm learning even more patience now. I know that we're working together for a reason, and that I'll only grow because of it, I just keep reminding myself the mission isn't suppossed to be easy. It makes me think of a talk by Elder Holland called "Missionary Work and The Atonement" where he talks about how we all have to go through our own Gethsemene, and just a tiny piece of what the savior did, to reach our own exaltation. The Lord won't give me anything I can't handle though... I just need to give Elder Hardy a little kick in the pants and get him motivated and fired up for the work! He's gotten a little lazy from being with his last companion, but I'm not out here to drag my feet. Things are looking up though, we've had some good conversations. Yelling may have been involved but it was all done out of love.

Last Monday was a fun-filled P-day, we went to the Memphis Temple with most of the missionaries in our Zone, and Brother Floyd, that was awesome, I needed that spiritual boost. Then afterwards we went to Kelsey's favorite place ever- CiCi's Pizza, I think that's how you spell it. Elder Nelson, Elder Badgers new companion challenged all the missionaries to an eating contest, and you know me, I like to eat, and I never turn down a challenge, so it was on like donkey kong. Haha, we started off by grabbing plates of 5 and downing em as fast as we could, after like 30 min Elder Nelson and I were leaving all the other missionaries in the dust, but that man can eat, I was a little scared. We ended up slowing down about the same time, we got to 30 pieces and it was hurting. We spent like 5 minutes eating the very last piece and decided we both capped off at 31 and it was a tie. The really funny thing is, Elder Hardy and I had a dinner appointment within the next 10 minutes with the Townsends! Yeah, I know. Here's the best part, you're gonna love this mom. There was no way I could eat any more food, but I couldn't disappoint the Townsends, I had to make room... So we went around the back of CiCi's and the other missionaries video recorded me throwing some pizza back up, I don't know why they recorded it, haha, they're sick, but the throwing up had to be done. Then I went and had another great meal with Brother and Sister Townsend. It was a good night.

Tuesday, was the start of Elder Hardy and I's first bike week together. haha. Elder Hardy hates riding his bike. Anyway, we finish up comp study and we're getting ready to leave, when we come to find out that his bike tire is flat, and we have no pump. It was great, the only thing Elder Hardy hates more than riding his bike is walking! So we headed off to Raleigh on foot. It takes about 15 minutes to get to our area from our apartment... when you're driving there. It's a good 1 hour and 30-45 min walk though. So that was fun. We had a great walk week walking to and from our area, and Elder Hardy loved every minute of it, lol. Half way through the week Bro Floyd gave us a ride to WallMart, and I ended up buying him a new bike tube because he was fresh outta money, but we fixed up his bike. He liked biking a little more after that.

Our Investigator that is progressing the most is named Travis, but he goes by BIG MAN. Big Man is a stud, he has been to church 3 times, he's had all the lessons, and he wants to get baptized, but he has a problem with cigarettes. I was greatful to have some experience with dealing with a cigarette addiction, because Thomas had the same struggle back in Frayser. We've been working with Big Man, and he should be getting baptized this Saturday! pretty exciting! He's a great guy.

We're struggling to get members to work with us in this area, and honestly, that is the best way to do missionary work. We need to get members out, but our ward, in the words of Sis Townsend, is a ward of misfits and jack mormons. It's sad that it's the way it is, but it's true, I would put my money on saying that over half the ward doesn't even know who Thomas S Monson is. Most of them don't understand the doctrine of the church. Jessica, a girl in Frayser that was baptized almost 14 months ago, told me and Elder Badger that she heard we had a prophet in our church from someone, and she wanted to know if it was true... who baptized this girl? yes jessica, yes that's true! If you came to church maybe you'd know. Sister Taylor, a great spiritual lady in our ward told one of the recent converts, Erik (he looks just like Lil' Wayne btw) , that the Book Of Mormon was just the Bible written in Joseph Smiths words... I love this ward, I really do, but it needs some help. I'm glad there are 8 missionaries in Memphis 1st because the Ward sure needs them. There is no home teaching in the ward, because there aren't enough active members that will do it, so there are 5 different sets of missionaries that do all the home teaching every month. There's definately a lot of work to be done.

I'm very greatful for the few strong families we do have in the ward. The Carters are really great members, Sis Carter is like a mom away from home, sometiems she brings food by, offers rides, and makes sure we're doing okay, so I figured you'd be glad to hear that mom.

I was really excited to hear about Ben's mission call! what a stud that guys is, California spanish speaking. That's so awesome! and I'm so glad to hear that B was able to baptize his little sister, sounds like it was an amazing experience, I love that guy.

I can't believe Mothers Day is just around the corner, are you guys excited to talk to me?? To be honest I don't know what time we're suppossed to be calling or anything, but I do know you don't need to get me a phone card or whatever, because we'll just be using our missionary phone! I can't believe I'm already making my first phone call home, I just left. but I'm excited to hear from all of you, and I'd love it if Stephen and Kelsey were there, I'll talk to Elder Badger and see how Mothers Day phone calls work, and see what time you should be expecting it. I'll let you know next week.

Alright, I love you all, I have to go. Today we're gonna do some hard-core mountain biking with my dear friends the Frayser Elders, and then we're going to CiCi's with Brother and Sister Ginn, that's right. Looks like we'll have to have another eating contest, don't worry guys I'll do whatever it takes to win. lol. I'll be looking forward to the Easter Package, send me some good stuff. Love

Elder Justin LeBaron ( or as Brother Presley would say, The Red Baron)

4.11.11 Transfered

Dearest Family!

Hey, I'm sorry to say, like always, I'm pretty rushed. We're heading to the Temple soon and we don't wanna be late but I'll go over this past week really quick.

Wednesday was Transfers! I'm now serving in Raleigh Tennessee... yup, that's right next to Frayser. I used to live and Raleigh and serve in Frayser, and now I live in Bartlett and serve in Raleigh. So not a huge change. I'm still in the same ward, and I still see all the guys I used to live with all the time. My new companion is Elder Hardy, he's a very interesting Elder. He is one of the two black missionaries serving in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission. He's been out 9 months. Great guy. We definately have our diferences, but i'm exciting to serve with him and get some work done here in Raleigh.

Saturday was awesome! Star-neesha, one of the Investigators Elder Badger and I were teaching in Frayser, got baptized! and guess who she wanted to baptized her?? She wanted me to :) So I got to baptize Star on Saturday, it was a really amazing experience... That baptism meant so much to her, she was crying before she even got in the water. She had to overcome a lot and give up a lot to join the church, and her sacrafice was an amazing example to me. That was my third baptism!

Raleigh doesn't have too much going on just yet, It looks like we're gonna have to do a lot of finding and hopefully working through members, but I know the Lord has trusted us with this area, so there's someone here that needs us. I'm excited to be where I am.

I love you family, I'm sorry my letters are getting short, I'll work on it okay. Have a good week!

Elder LeBaron

4.5.11

Dear Family,

Sorry I know it's Tuesday, but the library was closed yesterday, it was something to do with Martin Luther King Jr. I really loved reading all your emails, and especially the pictures that were attached. It's only been 4 months since I left, so why does Sarah look so much older?? lol, It's blowing my mind.

Conference was definately awesome, wasn't it? I loved it. What's even better is we had two investigators that watched it with us! Star and Stephanie both came, and they both got so much out of it! Star was crying in the last session. I think it was... Richard G. Scott's talk? ... where he talked about his wife, and thier marriage, and how she used to leave notes in his scriptures and things like that. I think that really touched Star and Stephanie, because the way people see the Family here in Frayser, and how it should be, is a lot different. It truly is evident that satan is good at what he does, he's destroying the Family, and he's doing a good job. Star and Stephanie both have 3 children out of wedlock, from more than one father, and that's completely normal here. I think conference really opened their eyes to what a Family really could be, and what it should be like, and when its organized properly there are so many blessings that will come from that.

This week was a really good one, A lot of crazy things happened! I wish I had time to tell you, but I don't have like any time to email today, so I'm gonna rap it up, we have to get out and work! This is my last day in Frayser, I wanna say goodbye to all the wonderful people I've met here. Transfers are OFFICIALLY tommorow, I got a call yesterday telling me to pack my stuff, so I'm going somewhere, I don't feel like it's gonna be Jackson anymore though, I think I might be leaving the Zone, we'll see. I'll let you know next week. If you wanna send me anything, just send it to the mission home, they'll get it to me. I just wanted you all to know that I love you and that i'm still alive. You'll hear from me soon.

Love,

Elder LeBaron