Week 1

I think that I'll send you snippets from each day from my journal. Ready?

9/24

Today is my first day out of the MTC! Woohoo! Except for the fact that I've been awake for forever... we had to wake up at 3AM. We grabbed our stuff, walked over to the Travel office, and stood around waiting for our bus.... I felt my first stirrings of anxiety about thirty minutes before we landed in Missouri. I was starting to get sweaty palms and such. By the time we headed to baggage claim, though, I was feeling ok again. We got met by President Morgan and his wife. They are awesome.

9/25

I'm in the field, I'm serving, I'm doing it. I've been assigned to serve in Poplar Bluff 2, in the Poplar Bluff ward, with Sister Richardson (my trainer) and Hermana White (she's a visa waiter, heading to Argentina)... We drove to grocery store, got some things (groceries, bedding. I had to buy a pillow and blanket!). Went to our apartment. Apparently it's a pretty new area, so the walls and such are pretty bare. I got to unpack all my stuff, get a little settled in. Then we stopped by an investigator's house, Amanda. She's got a baptismal date, but still has some stuff to work on. Then we went to Priesthood Executive Council. I met the ward's elders there! I'm overwhelmed--but excited.

 9/26

My first full day as a missionary is over! And boy, I thought days in the MTC seemed long... Well, everyone says that the mission flies by, so maybe I should be cherishing these longer days.

Spiritual thought of the day: Genesis 18:14: "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" and Luke 1:37: "For with God nothing shall be impossible." These scriptures bring me a lot of comfort. It reminds me of something Elder Bednar taught. It can be summed up like this: "I can't; but with God, I can." There are things in life that we feel like we can't do. And we can't. Honestly, I couldn't do this mission by myself. But I know that, with God's help, I can.

9/27

Today was a little weird--we got off to a bit of a slow start because of weekly planning. It can take two hours! Actually, I'm a little amazed by how much autonomy we have as missionaries. I mean, we're three young women, who could be totally slacking off. Instead, we're up at 6:30, studying, and working. We recognize that we're on the Lord's time now. I think that I might be experiencing a little culture shock. People here are poor. Poorer than I expected. Lots of smokers. It's not unusual for a seventeen year old to be living on her own, with her kid (or kids). Lots of government housing. We helped a family move and they were living in a house that was falling apart.

 9/28

What a day. I suppose I should feel a little disappointed, because we stopped by so many houses and not many people were home or interested in talking, but I'm not! Maybe because it's only my first week. Tonight was also the Relief Society Broadcast. The ward's sisters got together at the ward building and ate dinner together and watched the broadcast together. It was nice. Baked potato bar and great desserts. We got some leftover potatoes!

 9/29

Four investigators came to church today! Yay! Three were from one really nice family. Altogether, with some less actives and other people, we filled an entire pew with people. We had lunch and dinner at some members' homes, which was nice. The ward choir is TINY-- 9 members, and 5 of them are missionaries :)

 Love you all! I hope that you are getting all of my emails... They've been kind of spread out. 

Send me recipes! Dump cake, No Bake Cookies, Banana Chocolate Chip. Anything else delicious :)

I hope Lyv's hair is cute :) I hope Quinn is having a good time in yearbook, and has given his phone number to more than two people. I hope Chelsey's job is good, even though she only goes in 3 times a month. I hope Mom isn't working too hard (I know it's a futile hope).

 I love Missouri. I love Poplar Bluff, living on the wrong side of the tracks, living in a bare apartment, being eaten alive by mosquitos, missing people, teaching investigators, helping people move and pack (I've helped one family move in and one family pack already!), working harder than I ever have in my life, almost every single person I've met... I don't know why I love it, but I do. This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But it's worth it. There is nothing better than waking up in the morning thinking about building the kingdom of God, and going to bed that night knowing that you've done your best.

I love you all. I miss you. I think about you frequently. I have figured out the other reason missionaries are desperate for letters. Each day here feels so long, because it's so jammed pack. So by the time a week passes, it feels like I haven't heard from you in a month.

 I think we have to leave soon. Got to go grocery shopping!

Love, Sister Barret