This blog post is titled in honor of the fact that I remembered planning out a really great post and then completely forgot what I was going to tell y'all. My deepest and most sincere apologies.

But yeah...wow. My emails recently have been short.

So! Missionary work! It's awesome! Everyone should serve a mission! But seriously. It's the best experience ever. And I'm telling myself that it's never going to end, because that's true, right? Right?

Fun facts: I may have unwittingly become the new primary pianist in the ward I'm in. They asked if I could play one Sunday and I agreed. I then received a list of all of the songs for the primary program and what songs would be practiced on what Sundays...We'll work on getting that sorted out. I'm also definitely the pianist for Relief Society, and baptisms, and there was a period of time in St.Catharine's when I was the pianist for sacrament meeting as well...Moral of the story: Kids, when your parents make you practice the piano, do it. Because it's a lot less embarrassing to be forced to play the piano and play it well than it is to be forced to play the piano and suck at it.

Other news...not much. S.Mak and I are tearing it up in Bayview. But that's a given. To make up for the shortness of this post, I'm sending pictures! Yay! Enjoy!

Love you all and keep being awesome!
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱雷姐妹

Keeping this short since we have a funky email situation this week since all the libraries closed on P-day.

• I'm staying this transfer in Bayview!
• I'm back with my "baby" Sister Mak!
• Our Zone Leader who we thought was dying this transfer somehow managed to pull an extension! How that happened, I have no idea!
• Had a great Easter teaching lessons and living a pretty usual missionary life. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And that is all. Sorry it's so short!

Love you!

Sister Makena Bauss

I'm trying to think of what I should share with all of you today...I had a good week! Last P-day we went to the Royal Ontario Museum (The ROM) and it was amazing! They had a huge special exhibit all about the Forbidden City, and so in honor of my Chinese-speaking-ness, we went. It was wonderful. They even had a sign about missionaries in China back in the day, and I can't remember if I got a picture by it. I forgot my camera today, so pictures will have to wait. My deepest apologies.

We got a new investigator this week!  The mother of our investigator Joanna recently came here to visit, and will be staying in Canada for two months. We are now teaching her along with her daughter! And they are living in a member's home! And they both came to church! I am a very happy missionary.

Our investigators 杨婆婆 (Yang Popo, aka Grandma Yang) and Jacky are progressing amazingly! We were so worried about them and the Word of Wisdom, since Chinese people love tea. Like, they love tea more than I do (don't worry, I only drink herbal), and seriously guys, that's saying a lot. But they totally accepted it hands down! They are SO excited to get baptized and it just makes me so happy! Watching the gospel change people and give them hope is just the happiest thing ever!

And so that was my week. It was good. Introduced my companions to bubble tea. They loved it. It made me happy. Today I'm taking them to a Chinese mall. I cook them Chinese food. Now I'm trying to teach them some Chinese. It's so much fun! Yes, I do love everything Asian. :)

Hope you all have an amazing week! Take care! Read your scriptures! Pray daily!

Love,
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹

3/31/2014
This week has hands down been the hardest week of my mission. I won't explain why. At least, not yet. But I have been brought to my knees in prayer, fasting, and tears pouring my heart out to God begging for strength. And I testify that my prayers have been answered.

I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and powerful. I know that He suffered in Gethsemane, died on the cross, and was resurrected three days later all for our sins and for our pains. I know that He stands beside us with open arms to heal us and to strengthen us. To change us.

Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ understand us intimately and individually. We, each and every one of us, truly are God's children. He knows our needs. Our wants. Desires. Fears. And because He knows these things, He is here to guide us. To help us find our way when we are lost and confused. To give us the words to say, the acts to do, all so we can find "peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come." (D&C 59:23)

The words of Isaiah are always a source of strength to me as he speaks of the Savior in Isaiah 53:3-5:

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Our Savior loves us. He loves us so much and so does our Heavenly Father. As it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

This week "my God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh." (2 Nephi 4:20-21)

I know that the power of Christ's Atonement is available to each and every one of you. It is not an exclusive gift, but one that is extended freely to all who will accept it. This is my prayer, that each of you will chose to accept this gift. It is the key to true peace and happiness. It is a promise of comfort and companionship given to each of us by God. We all can have this blessing in our lives. May we each day seek the humility we need to be able to bend on our knees and find Christ's grace.

I say these things, in the name of my Lord, Savior, and most intimate friend, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sincerely,
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹

4/07/2014  And...breathe.

Hey y'all! Hope you missed me last week! I wrote a post but waited on sending it out until I could calm myself down enough to explain it. Basically, last week was the hardest week of my mission yet and I needed time to deal. But! Things are on the up and (while stressed) I'm doing good. :) My companion had to deal with some really hard stuff and it was really really hard watching someone I care about so much go through trials like that. And then at the beginning of this week she headed home so she could deal with all of it without the extra stresses of missionary life attached as well. She'll be back, but I'm missing her a lot in the mean time.
And so now I'm in a tri-panionship again! I'm staying with the Don Valley West sisters for the rest of the transfer. I packed up my stuff and moved to the other side of Toronto! But no worries, I'm still serving in Bayview. We're just covering two areas between the three of us. My new companions are Sisters Hennessey and Reitz. Both are from Utah. Sister Hennessey is currently training Sister Reitz (she's only just finished her fourth week in the field), so I'm a "foster mommy"! It's fun to be training again.
My companions have been such a support to me over the past week, and it has just been wonderful serving with them. It's hard since neither of them speak Mandarin, so most of the teaching, setting up appointments, working with members, etc. responsibilities fall on me. In terms of the work aspect of missionary life, I'm pretty much running an area on my own and that's...hard. But in terms of life, I couldn't have more support right now. My companions do everything they can for me, the best of which is make me laugh. We have so much fun together. And then the Elders I work with are just so willing to do whatever they can to help lighten the load. My zone and district leaders (aka the Chinese elders) are even considering going into my area one day and spending some time trying to find new investigators for me. They are the best and I have no idea how I would handle all of this if it wasn't for their help. The gospel is true and these missionaries around me live it!

But the greatest support has by far been the Savior. I have felt so much strength as I've knelt down and prayed. I asked the elders this past week for a blessing and as they laid their hands on my head they addressed every prayer I think I've said on my entire mission. While they don't know this, it's true. Our Heavenly Father knows each of us individually and that blessing showed that to me on such a deep level. He truly has sent His Son Jesus Christ to succor us, or in other words run to us, in times of need. The power of the priesthood is real. The truth of the gospel has been restored. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

And with that, 再见！
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹