Week 9

It's a little bit weird after a baptism, I've decided. Last week was so full of baptism preparations, and now it's over. But the work moves onward and upward continually, so no time for rest! We had hoped that we were going to have another baptism this week, but the woman who was going to be baptized, Edna, has been really sick. She had a knee replacement a while ago, and then this week she had a kidney removed, so the baptism has been postponed. We went and visited her in the hospital on Thursday before she got moved to a bigger hospital up north.

We have been teaching one of Ashley's friends, like I think I told you a while ago. It is such pleasure to teach this family. They interact with us, they ask questions, they are excited for baptism! In fact, in
our lesson with them this Tuesday, the mom asked us, "So, how do I let you guys know when I'm ready for baptism?" Sister Richardson and I sat there like, "uhhhhhh." No one asks that! Okay, don't worry, we did ANSWER the question, but we were very excited about it. A couple of nights ago, we set up a baptismal calendar with the mom and the oldest daughter (she's nine). We are hoping that we can convince her boyfriend to sit in on the lessons as well, but maybe he will see the blessings come as she starts to live the gospel.

Sometimes, I wonder what our investigators would think if they could see how much they really affect us. I mean, my day really depends on them. My emotions are invested. We are hurt when people tell us that they don't want to change, or they are not interested in learning about the gospel, or they did something that they know is wrong. It really makes me sad. And when someone surprises you, by showing that they do want to change, and they do want to learn more about the gospel... that's when you really feel joy. I felt joy this week with one of our investigators. It's a young woman who has made a lot of bad choices, and she has had a lot of bad influences in her life. But we talked with her about sacrifice, and she said that she is ready to sacrifice some of the big sins in her life that have been keeping her from progressing. We were so happy when we came out of that lesson!

We were tortured some by Ashley this week. She was babysitting the most adorable two week old baby, and we're not allowed to hold kids during the mission!

We found a new investigator this week who is awesome. We decided to go tract a row of government housing that is near to our house. Sister Richardson had never knocked on them before. It had been a while that we wanted to go try them, but we finally got over there on an afternoon where it was raining pretty hard. Umbrellas in hand, we went up one side of the street--and nothing. The only man who answered either said that he wasn't interested in black magic, or he has been practicing black magic, we weren't sure. Then we started on the other side of the street. Nothing... until we got to the second to last house. A woman answered the door. She was on the phone, but she invited us inside anyway (yay!). Her house was cute, clean, and Christmas-y. We talked with her for a while. She has two kids, and she
is currently expecting twins. And she said that she would like to meet with us again! From what she said, she only invited us in because she felt bad that we were out in the rain, so blessings come from tracting
in the rain, I guess!

We also visited some members who have been having health issues: one had hip surgery a while ago, and the other has MS. It was a little tough for me to visit the sister who has MS, because she was basically bedridden and just having a rough time. It reminded me a lot of how Dad was when he was sick. It's actually hard for me lot of times to visit people who are sick, like the woman we visited in the hospital, but it really hit me that day. But missionary life isn't about doing things that are easy, or just doing things that we like. If it was, I certainly wouldn't be knocking at strangers' homes or speaking
spontaneously at ward parties or talking about the gospel to people on the street! Luckily, the Lord has promised us that He will support us, and strengthen us as we strive to do His will. Isaiah 41:10 says,
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." You might recognize that
scripture! I really recommend going through and reading all of the verses to the hymn "How Firm a Foundation." I studied that song recently, and it really took on new meaning. I especially like the
fourth verse:

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

The weather this week has been getting cold! Starting to hit freezing and below. Sister Richardson and I have been breaking out the coats. The next transfer will be December 18. I can't believe that this one
is almost half over already! Time flies out here... except sometimes it also moves super slowly. Mission time is weird.

Love all of you! Keep up the missionary efforts :) and keep me updated!

Sister Barret