Week 35

And so, today actually, I got to go to the temple!!! YAY! It was really unexpected. Let me explain how this all went down...

So, the temple attendance policy is that you can attend the temple twice on your mission, once at the half-way mark and once at the end (more if you have recent converts going through, but that's another story). Well, I thought that meant that if you hit half-way you get to go no matter what. Not necessarily. Sister Nelson told me that if you are in a further out area, you have to wait until you get closer in to the city. So, transfers are coming up, I'm coming up on my half-way mark, and I thought... "What if I get transferred to Illinois or something and stay far away from the city the rest of my mission?" Nope. Not taking that risk. Well, in order to get permission, you have to ask your district leader, who then runs it up the chain of leadership. So I ask my district leader Sunday if I could go, hopefully before the end of transfers. I was thinking next week, because you have to switch your P-Day to do it and all that. Well, I don't hear back all yesterday... I text him and he says he hasn't heard anything... Then this morning, he calls us at 7 AM and says, "Ok, Sister Barret. Good news, you can go... but they want you to go today. In two hours. With these two other sisters who are going today." 

I was expecting a little more preparation time! But hey, I wasn't about to miss my chance! So, change of plans for the day... and I headed to the temple!

And it was really great. I am so glad I got to go. I miss getting to go to the temple as frequently as I did at home. It was actually really neat, because there were several members from the Oakville ward at the temple too, so I got to see quite a few people that I knew!

In other news...​I was getting a little tired of my hair color...

​So...

We dyed!

​

I realized that I don't have any "after photos" so this is as good as you're getting for now... you totally can't tell in this photo haha but I went red again! Mom, you should be happy. I will try to get a better picture of my hair this week!

I almost went and cut my hair short too, but I stopped myself! It's just a mid-mission crisis :)

We went to the City Museum on Monday, which was a lot of fun. And crawling and climbing and squeezing. We only got lost in the caves a couple of times...

In more spiritual news... actually, the temple's pretty spiritual. Never mind. 

We did a lot of contacting and tracting this week! Good stuff. Tracting is tough, I'm not going to lie, because very few doors are receptive. But we have to find those people who are receptive somehow! And we definitely meet a lot of really great people tracting. And we get a tan. Bonuses! I have a fantastic watch tan line!

In my personal study, I am almost at the end of the Book of Mormon. I just finished reading about the destruction of the Nephites, and now I'm on to the destruction of the Jaredites. One scripture that stood out to me was Mormon speaking to us in the latter days, particularly the Gentiles. He says, "For I know that such will sorrow for the calamity of the house of Israel; yea, they will sorrow for the destruction of this people; they will sorrow that this people had not repented that they might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus" (Mormon 5:11). 

I love that Mormon basically says that he knows that we'll care that his people were destroyed. To some people, it is just an interesting story, with a lot of war and a lot of destruction. But if we read and know for ourselves that the book is true, we know that these people really lived and died! And this time, as I read about their destruction, I really did feel the sorrow that Mormon described. I felt his pain as he described the sins of the people, and how they failed to repent and thus enjoy the blessings of the gospel.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true! These people were real!

I love you all! I hope you all are praying for missionary opportunities :)

Shout-out to the new Skyridge Middle School ASB President, Mr. Quinn Barret!

Love

Sister Devynne Barret