Email context: Dylan's dad here. I just wanted to give everyone some context regarding Anziono Bailey's next email. His report date to the MTC in Provo was originally Sept 19th so we were able to secure a date of Sept 14th for the Italian consulate in Chicago so he could get his visa. Because his report date was changed to Sept 12th he had to travel to Chicago after he reported to the MTC. We knew they were going to send him without a companion which is not the norm. This caused Roxanne and I great anxiety knowing he would be traveling to Chicago by himself. Not knowing how he was doing or if he even made it on time was torture. The following email brought great joy to our hearts. Enjoy!
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Hey everyone!
Today was my Consulate appointment. I had to get up at 2:25 am this morning because I got picked up at 3:10am by the Express Shuttle. The driver was super sketchy and it smelled like cigarette smoke. We also had to pick up some other person so it took even longer to get to the airport. Anyways I got to the airport around 5am and my flight was at 6am. I actually got my boarding pass and got to my gate all by myself. I was sitting there reading the missionary handbook and a girl from BYU whispers “elder bailey”. I said hey and she asked what I was doing and we talked for awhile and then we went back to ourselves but it was cool to talk to someone out of the MTC. So I get on my flight and I sit down and I thankfully have an aisle seat. And I couldn’t sleep so I just read my scriptures. The people I was sitting next to were foreign and so I couldn’t talk to them. Anyways I get to Chicago and the church gave me a travel phone. So I used my phone to get a lyft. I had some trouble finding my way to the ground transportation place but I found it and I get to my person and he is a really nice African guy with a cool African accent. We start driving and he asks why I’m in Chicago. I told him I was going to the Italian consulate to get my visa. He asked if it was for vacation. I said no it is for church. He goes “ oh oh! You are a priest!” I said yes technically but we are called missionaries. He preceded to tell me that when he lived in Africa he had missionaries come to his poor town and how they gave him and his family bibles. He said that he was very grateful for me and told me that because I am doing this that I will be blessed. I then told him the missionary purpose and how we are to invite others to Christ and so on and I told him that he would be blessed for accepting the missionaries. It was a really cool experience. It took an hour and 20 mins to get from the airport to the consulate and the guy didn’t do a very good job at dropping me off. He stopped and said “okay, the consulate is in the general area. I was like uh okay thank you and got out. The consulate was no where around so I started walking the streets of Chicago and it is so busy there. As I was walking I started to get really nervous because I was already late to my appointment and I couldn’t find it. All of the sudden I hear in the distance “hi elder!”. And it happened to be just some random members walking around. I was able to ask them where to go and they told and I got there super quick. That really showed me that Heavenly Father is watching over me and is guiding me. The consulate appointment went really well. I had everything that was required and the guy was super nice about me being late. Once I was out I had to figure out where to be picked up. And the lyft app was giving me all these different locations but I’m by myself and have never been to Chicago so I had no idea where to go. I ended up asking a random tourist and he told me where to go and I was able to get picked up. I had to go right back to the airport because it was 12pm and my flight was at 2pm. And traffic in Chicago is absolutely nuts. Same with the drivers. My lyft driver was cutting into lanes super fast and taking stupid shortcuts that weren’t even shortcuts. But it took an hour to get back to the airport and I was again able to get everything for my flight and got to my gate. There were quite a few members at the gate and they greeted me and asked what I was doing. Members are so nice! Anyways the flight back took so long. It was 2 hours and 50mins but I was running on 3 hours of sleep and I had done a lot of stuff already. I got back to Utah and had the express pick me up. And we also again had to take another person home. But she ended up being Mormon and the driver knew of elders so we were able to talk about what I was doing. So it was nice. That drive took forever too because we took her first so it was like 1 hour and 20mins drive. I finally got back to the MTC at 6:30pm and got the last pieces of pizza for dinner. I was so hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything all day so I was starving and I’m still starving. But my comprega is taking care of me with snacks. Anyways I got back in time to only have missed 3 hours of class because Friday is our Pday. But I kinda learned how to pray in Italian today so that was cool. Overall today was long and tiring but I’m back and okay. This was more of a story than a letter but it was the easiest way to say it all. Love you guys and hope everything is going well!!
Today was my Consulate appointment. I had to get up at 2:25 am this morning because I got picked up at 3:10am by the Express Shuttle. The driver was super sketchy and it smelled like cigarette smoke. We also had to pick up some other person so it took even longer to get to the airport. Anyways I got to the airport around 5am and my flight was at 6am. I actually got my boarding pass and got to my gate all by myself. I was sitting there reading the missionary handbook and a girl from BYU whispers “elder bailey”. I said hey and she asked what I was doing and we talked for awhile and then we went back to ourselves but it was cool to talk to someone out of the MTC. So I get on my flight and I sit down and I thankfully have an aisle seat. And I couldn’t sleep so I just read my scriptures. The people I was sitting next to were foreign and so I couldn’t talk to them. Anyways I get to Chicago and the church gave me a travel phone. So I used my phone to get a lyft. I had some trouble finding my way to the ground transportation place but I found it and I get to my person and he is a really nice African guy with a cool African accent. We start driving and he asks why I’m in Chicago. I told him I was going to the Italian consulate to get my visa. He asked if it was for vacation. I said no it is for church. He goes “ oh oh! You are a priest!” I said yes technically but we are called missionaries. He preceded to tell me that when he lived in Africa he had missionaries come to his poor town and how they gave him and his family bibles. He said that he was very grateful for me and told me that because I am doing this that I will be blessed. I then told him the missionary purpose and how we are to invite others to Christ and so on and I told him that he would be blessed for accepting the missionaries. It was a really cool experience. It took an hour and 20 mins to get from the airport to the consulate and the guy didn’t do a very good job at dropping me off. He stopped and said “okay, the consulate is in the general area. I was like uh okay thank you and got out. The consulate was no where around so I started walking the streets of Chicago and it is so busy there. As I was walking I started to get really nervous because I was already late to my appointment and I couldn’t find it. All of the sudden I hear in the distance “hi elder!”. And it happened to be just some random members walking around. I was able to ask them where to go and they told and I got there super quick. That really showed me that Heavenly Father is watching over me and is guiding me. The consulate appointment went really well. I had everything that was required and the guy was super nice about me being late. Once I was out I had to figure out where to be picked up. And the lyft app was giving me all these different locations but I’m by myself and have never been to Chicago so I had no idea where to go. I ended up asking a random tourist and he told me where to go and I was able to get picked up. I had to go right back to the airport because it was 12pm and my flight was at 2pm. And traffic in Chicago is absolutely nuts. Same with the drivers. My lyft driver was cutting into lanes super fast and taking stupid shortcuts that weren’t even shortcuts. But it took an hour to get back to the airport and I was again able to get everything for my flight and got to my gate. There were quite a few members at the gate and they greeted me and asked what I was doing. Members are so nice! Anyways the flight back took so long. It was 2 hours and 50mins but I was running on 3 hours of sleep and I had done a lot of stuff already. I got back to Utah and had the express pick me up. And we also again had to take another person home. But she ended up being Mormon and the driver knew of elders so we were able to talk about what I was doing. So it was nice. That drive took forever too because we took her first so it was like 1 hour and 20mins drive. I finally got back to the MTC at 6:30pm and got the last pieces of pizza for dinner. I was so hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything all day so I was starving and I’m still starving. But my comprega is taking care of me with snacks. Anyways I got back in time to only have missed 3 hours of class because Friday is our Pday. But I kinda learned how to pray in Italian today so that was cool. Overall today was long and tiring but I’m back and okay. This was more of a story than a letter but it was the easiest way to say it all. Love you guys and hope everything is going well!!
Anziano Bailey
Sent from my iPad