Mission Minded Family

President Kyle Baird& Sister Melanie Baird

In December of 2017, Kyle and I were called to serve as Mission President and Companion in the Trinidad Port of Spain Mission.  We were very humbled by this calling and felt overwhelmed as well as excited! 

I must admit that when I read the location of our mission, I had no idea where it was located and had to grab a map.  Our Mission covers 6 Countries: Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, and Guyana

 and 4 different languages: English, Dutch, Spanish and

Papiamento . 

Kyle served his mission in his younger days in the Netherlands so he is brushing up on his Dutch and I took a couple of years of Spanish (way back in high school) so I'm praying for the gift of tongues.  

I'm writing this blog, both as a history for our family and as a way to keep in touch with our friends and family and let them share in our mission experience.  This will not just be a "travel log" with pictures and fun stuff (although I will include that) but it will include my feelings and testimony along the way.  That's just who I am.  The gospel of Jesus Christ makes me who I am today.  It is in every fiber of my being and fills me with such joy I can't help but want to share!

A Mission Minded Family

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.  In a "nut-shell"  We have a very deep love for our Savior Jesus Christ.  We believe that after His death and subsequent death of the apostles that many of the basic pure truths of His doctrine were lost through many translations of the Bible.  There are so many interpretations, opinions, and confusion in the world today that we do not believe that the Savior would let us wander in darkness and confusion.  We believe that He has restored His Church to the earth today. We have the Book of Mormon, another ancient record, that along with the Bible, testifies of Jesus Christ and clarifies many of His doctrines.  We also have living prophets and apostles on the earth today to help lead and guide us in the direction the Lord wants us to go to prepare for His Second Coming, for we know that He will come again.  We have been given a charge by our Savior to share this with All of His children. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."(Mark16:15) That's what missionary work is all about.  Sharing His message, serving wherever we can help and Loving everyone as the Savior would.

These young Elders and Sisters leave their homes at 18 - 26 years of age, pay their own way, and serve for 18 months for young women and 2 years for the young men.  They don't choose where they go and many serve in strange countries and learn a new language.  This never ceases to amaze me.  They put off education, jobs, leave family and friends to go and selflessly serve at a time when most of their peers are doing very selfish things.  There are also many "senior" missionaries that serve as well.  In our particular mission we have about 100 young missionaries with 8 senior couples serving.  It's our job as Mission President and companion to train and look out for these missionaries. So, when you see these young missionaries on the street or on their bikes with their white shirts and name tags....please be kind.  Give them a smile.  They are just trying to spread the Love of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

This family picture was taken the week we left.  Our youngest son, Brandon, had just returned from a mission in Uruguay.  This was the first family picture we had taken since the fall of 2012 right before our kids started going on missions.  They all overlapped with their time so it had been a long time.  Such a wonderful reunion to all be together.

 Kameron, Marissa, Brandon, Kyle, Melanie, Alexa, Jayson

Kayla, Trevor (baby Owen), Katrina, Talon (Sage)

 Missions:  Kameron - Wisconsin, Brandon - Uruguay, Kyle - Holland, 

Alexa - Finland, Jayson - Texas, Kayla - Montana, Trevor - Utah, Talon - Chile

My wonderful Parents set a great Example by serving in Argentina (Neither spoke Spanish before they left) And my Dad served as a young man in New York. 

Kyle's parents Served in New York, Palmyra mission.