Week 34

Good morning everyone!!!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood... okay, not so much today actually, it's pretty cloudy and windy, but yesterday was perfect weather. Low 70s, sunny, slight breeze... perfect day for tracting!

But anyway, this week...

We kicked off the week last P-day by heading off to the St Louis Zoo! World-class, and best of all, free! Who doesn't love a free zoo? It was pretty cool. I don't really remember going to the zoo much, so I enjoyed seeing all the animals. Don't know how much you can see, but this is in the butterfly house. It had sooooo many butterflies, it was really cool. They would just fly around you.

  

I got a souvenir for Quinn at the zoo, but I'm holding it ransom for a letter.

Anyway. This week, one highlight was that everyone in the ward decided to feed us. Maybe they felt bad because they saw that we only got two meals last week? But this week we had dinners six out of seven nights, which was pretty nice. I hardly have to buy food this week now!

Of our investigators, we invited a young single mom to be baptized this week. She has three kids and is Bosnian. She didn't say yes, but she also didn't say no... she said that talking about baptism made her kind of have a scared feeling, which Sister Nelson and I decided meant was a good sign. She was feeling something! Apprehension, anticipation, whatever, it was something!

Lots of less actives we worked with this week... and some active members that the ward council asked us to work with. Tends to be the focus of our work in this area, because there aren't very many investigators. So, we visit a lot of less actives, and we tract, and we try to contact people.

Tracting this week, we actually found a really good potential! Her name is Dawn, and she said that we could come back this week, hopefully that works out. We weren't too hopeful, because she had one of those Catholic statues in her yard, and the rest of the neighborhood had been either Catholic or Muslim, but she listened, accepted a Book of Mormon, and accepted a return appointment, so that was exciting!

I'm working on the art of selfies, it's a work in progress. So if you're wondering why I'm always way off to one side, that's why!

On a more spiritual note, I am all the way up to Alma 50 in my reading of the Book of Mormon for our zone challenge of reading the Book of Mormon by the end of the transfer! It is a lot of fun to read the Book of Mormon this quickly, it really helps to see the bigger picture of all the stories.

And I really enjoyed reading through the missionary accounts in Alma this time, especially for the sons of Mosiah. My favorite missionary, I think I've mentioned this before, is Aaron. He spent most of his first while with the Lamanites being persecuted, being tossed into prison, smitten, starved... and having very little success outwardly. Then they have to wait for Ammon to come and save them. But then after that, it says:

"And it came to pass that the Lord began to bless them, insomuch that they brought many to the knowledge of the truth."

This part really stood out to me. It's a lesson I'm learning over and over again on my mission, but really, this is the Lord's work! It will happen on His timing. Aaron and his brethren... Abinadi... Alma in Ammonihah... these were very righteous missionaries, who certainly were doing everything in their power to bring others closer to Christ. And you can bet that they were doing quite a bit. But they didn't baptize everyone in sight, because the people they were teaching had their agency, and the Lord sent the missionaries there for a wise, but unseen reason.

Then, for Aaron, after all that tribulation, the Lord began to bless them with investigators. It happens when the Lord sees fit! So, different areas, different reasons that missionaries are sent there. We have to cry repentance, sometimes because people desire baptism, and sometimes because that's that person's chance to accept or reject the gospel.

Anyway, you should all remember, open your mouth! Can't be as bad as it was for Aaron!

Or Abinadi, for that matter. Wish me luck, by the way! I'm giving a talk on Sunday!

Love you all!

Sister Barret