Week 30: Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

This is the Easter egg I decorated at a less active member's home. It is super cool! They got fake eggs that you can dye/decorate like real ones, except the crayons work way better :)

One more pictures for the week...

Springtime in Missouri! The trees are blossoming everywhere. This type of tree is super popular, it feels like they are everywhere.

Also, everyone admire my wonderful parking job... Yes, I parked that white Ford. Don't mind me :)

Won't be doing much more wonderful parking anymore, because my new companion, Sister Nelson, will be driving! Yes, that's right, just as I have finally adjusted to getting in on the driver's side :) haha. We got transfer calls on Saturday night, and Sister Esterholdt is leaving Oakville and heading to Illinois, while I am staying here and getting a new companion! 

This week had some really great things happening! On Tuesday, we had two lessons with investigators with members there. We love when members come because they can connect with investigators so well. For example, one of the investigators we saw is Catholic, so we brought a member who converted from Catholicism. She was able to testify to him that the Church has really blessed her, and she understands many things in a much deeper sense now. It definitely struck him to see someone who has been in his position. 

Funny story from the week! So, we do weekly service sometimes at a place called Feed My People. And one of the things they do is have us take leftover food from catering events that restaurants donate and package them in smaller containers that they can hand out. And then we label them and date them, so each container says something like "potatoes 4/21/14". Well,  I open up this one container of food, and I swear, it looks like tofu rolls. Or something. They were cylindrical, whitish with brown flecks, and soft looking. And they didn't smell like anything. Mystery food at its finest! Well, I poke it. I package it. They're super squishy. I suspected that it was some sort of pudding or something. Well, I was wearing gloves and finally I just caved and tasted some that had stuck to my gloves. And it was sweet! Some sort of dessert, juts a really weird looking one! haha. Sister Esterholdt thought I was crazy to taste it :)

On Saturday, we made cupcakes that we later decorated and handed out to some people for Easter. That was fun. 

On Easter, we actually visited quite a few people! We saw three members and an investigator. Cupcakes open doors :) Actually, I'm pretty sure it was because they were people that Sister Esterholdt wanted to see before she headed out of Oakville. 

We had Easter dinner (lasagna! Not ham!) with some members, and had a good time there. They also gave us Easter baskets... I should have taken a picture of those...

Spiritual thought of the week!
So, it being Easter weekend of course, I have to recommend the video "Because of Him" on mormon.org and lds.org. It's really a great video. If you have a chance, check it out! But from my personal study, I have been reading in 2 Nephi 9. And as I mentioned, I've been being pretty darn slow with the Book of Mormon this time through because I've been studying the footnotes (all of them) and there are a LOT in 2 Nephi 9. It's a packed chapter. Today, I was reading in verse 40: "I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken." 

I love this scripture! It reminds me of a General Authority, I think it was President Eyring but I'm not sure. He taught us that all truth is part of the gospel. It doesn't matter the apparent source of the truth--the scriptures, science, philosophy, whatever. All truth is ultimately from God, and as such is part of the gospel. We should welcome all truth, and we need not fear it. When we cannot see how something new fits in to the overall picture, we need to be patient, and we will eventually learn. Love the truth, don't fear it.

I love you all! Hope that you had a wonderful Easter. Summer is coming!

Love,

Sister Barret

Week 29

So, the amazing news from this week doesn't actually come from my area... but it comes from Poplar Bluff.

Do you all remember the family that I taught while I was there? A dad and his two kids? Well...

They are getting baptized!

AHHHH!

Here's how I found out! So, we were eating district lunch on Thursday after district meeting (we went to a Mongolian buffet. It was pretty good). And we got a phone call, and Sister Esterholdt handed the phone to me and said, "It's Sister Reed." To which my reaction was, huh? But the reason she was calling me is because they set a date with the family! Which is incredible! They are getting baptized on April 19, which is this Saturday. It sounds like they are quite excited.

On Monday, we had our zone p-day, and Sister Esterholdt and I got there on time... which meant that we were the first ones there and the ONLY ones there for about fifteen minutes.

After everyone else got there, we had an Easter egg hunt and watched a movie! Ephraim's Rescue! It was pretty good, about the Martin handcart company. Probably the only non-Church produced movie I'll see this year until Christmas!

Other exciting things this week... We taught our Bosnian investigator again. She says that she likes when we come because she gets good feelings :) which was great.

Then, I was craving pizza because it had been forever since I'd had pizza, so we got some Domino's pizza. Then, literally two nights in a row, members fed us pizza. After no pizza for months! There was a point where out of my last four meals, three had been pizza. Not healthy. Not healthy at all. oops!

We had some good lessons with members this week. One of the things that this bishop believes in strongly is having the missionaries help build the members. He believes that this helps build the kingdom, and baptisms will follow. Which seems to be working well for them!

The most exciting lesson this week actually happened last night. We set up an appointment with a less active member, and when we showed up, her non-member "boyfriend" was there. Except we think they got married? so her non-member husband. He is an ex-pastor, on disability now. So, we started talking (he enjoys talking) and we invited him to take the missionary discussions... and he said yes! He's not officially an investigator yet, because we weren't able to set a return appointment, but he seems very willing to learn. He has a lot of history with religion, and was obviously a pastor, so he might be an interesting person to teach, but he knows when he feels the Spirit! And he's had positive experiences with Mormons in the past.

As far as General Conference... I'd been hearing a lot about Elder Oaks' talk in Priesthood, so I went back today and read it. Wow! I liked this quote, of course: "When a woman—young or old—is set apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function."

I don't have the priesthood, but I have authority from God, to have power given to me by God, to preach the gospel. Heavy stuff! But great. It is amazing how God allows us imperfect people to help in His great and marvelous work. But then, He has always used imperfect people. I think that that can comfort us, and it reminds us that we DON'T have to be perfect! Thank goodness. I feel like as a missionary, there is a constant pressure to improve and become better. Which is great! But sometimes, when I hear that message, I feel like I need to be better so the work will go better. But it's not my work, it's the Lord's. And if I am doing all that I can, no matter how short I fall of perfection, the Lord will direct His work. The stone cut without hands will roll forward to fill all the Earth.

Paraphrasing Elder Bednar, "We need to appreciate that the Lord desires to strengthen us, heal us, enable us... It is not our job to carry along through sheer grit."

I hope you all have a lovely week, and that you have wonderful missionary opportunities!

Love,

Sister Barret

Week 28

This week has been so crazy busy, I can hardly believe it. I'll do my best to talk about everything, but we'll see how much I get through!

Tuesday, we did mission president interviews and district meeting. It went really well. It's always a great opportunity to actually sit down and talk to President Morgan for a few minutes (about 15-20 or so). It's a pretty rare opportunity--only about once every three months--but it's really nice. He's a pretty straightforward guy.

After interviews, we had a lesson with a potential investigator who was a Catholic nun for a while. She was really neat! She's struggling with her testimony of God, and she doesn't have a huge interest in learning about the LDS faith, but we testified and she said she'd take the Book of Mormon with her on her vacation.

Wednesday was our Zone Leader Training and the start of exchanges. After ZLT, it started pouring and lightning/thunder... It was pretty intense. We ate as a district at Olive Garden, and when we came out we got soaked. That was when we started the exchange. It was good, but man, it's tough to run an area after you've only been there three weeks! I had plans, back-up plans, and back-ups to those, but sometimes you run out of things to do! but we kept overall busy :)

The crazy storm system continued overnight into Thursday, and that was a rough morning. The sister I was on exchanges with woke up at 4:30 (to use the restroom) but it woke ME up, and I thought that I missed the alarm... so I rolled out of bed onto my knees. Luckily, I check the time, and realized, nope, not time to wake up. Less than an hour later, I was woken up again by tornado sirens! At 5:30. I do not like missing sleep!

We had an interesting dinner that night. We and the elders were at a member's home, and one of the elders was ill, my companion got ill during the dinner, and the tornado sirens went off again. Poor members! haha

I ate my first gas station hot dog on Friday. It was alright. Chelsey would have hated it, of course!

Funny moment of the week: we were tracting, and ran into someone who would actually talk to us. A man, maybe in his 50s, very chatty. Not super interested, but he said that he would check out mormon.org. Well, at the end of us talking, he held out his hand to shake, and then totally went into a bro hug. Awkward! But even funnier was Sister Esterholdt's reaction, she was totally shocked.

Highlight of the week was of course General Conference! It was so good. "missionary spring break"

some of my thoughts:

Elder Holland started with a bang! That's for sure! I'm glad that the only person who ever spat on me was two! But I loved what he said, discipleship isn't all just encouraging and teaching, it's also worrying, warning, and weeping. As I've studied the Book of Mormon on my mission, I realize more and more that the missionaries in there, even though they are very righteous, have a lot of sorrow. It is not easy to be a true disciple of Christ; he is not a comfortable god.

I felt like some of the themes of this conference were courage, God's law does not change, defending your faith; but also, service, love, and reaching out to those around us.

I have more thoughts, but we have a Zone P-day today (Easter egg hunt and watching a movie, Ephraim's Rescue! Woohoo!) so I have to be speedy! Maybe I'll write more next week about Conference :)

Love you all!

Sister Barret

Week 27

Big news from this week, I finished my journal! 200 pages in 200 days. Now I'm starting my next journal, which is pretty enormous (340 pages, 8.5x11). So that'll probably take me through the rest of my mission. Anyway...

We kept pretty darn busy this week. Although, Tuesday, it seemed like no one wanted to open their door :P That's fairly normal for missionaries, though.

I'm excited because I got some news from Poplar Bluff! Sister Reed emailed me and said that some good things are happening there! They set a baptismal date with a younger investigator, for April 12! That's amazing!!!

Other news...

We taught many less actives, of course.

We found a new investigator! We met her at Hooters. Haha, not really :) we met up with her outside of Hooters, because it was near her apartment complex, but it's fun to say.

We had a great lesson on the plan of salvation with the recent convert here. His family is so great. We're trying to help them to understand why it is so important that they become an eternal family though. They'll get there! And then they'll get to the temple!

On a more spiritual note, the General Women's Meeting was great! I hope that all you women had a chance to watch it. And participate! I loved all of the singing. And this video made me cry, of course. Actually, I practically cried through the whole thing. I think it was all the emphasis on sisters. Made me miss my sisters!!! I mean, "To be sisters implies that there is an unbreakable bond between us." Geez.

But overall, good week. I'm just not very wordy this week! Sorry :) Next week I'll write more!

Love you all!  I'll try to remember to take more pictures!

President interviews, zone leader training, exchanges with the sister training leaders, and general conference all coming up! Busy week ahead!

Sister Barret

Week 26: Hello Oakville!

With Sister Richardson at transfers

Sorry for the abrupt cut off last week! I did not expect to get booted off the computer. But hey, what can you do? I guess I could try to type faster... or something. Maybe try to have less eventful weeks? :)

This week was busy busy busy as well. Let's see... Last Monday, we had a dinner with members (we have a dinner calendar here!). It's definitely a different culture in the city than down in Poplar Bluff. Not better, not worse, just different! 

Tuesday, we had a busy day. We had a lesson with a new investigator, who is actually a former investigator that we picked up again. She is Bosnian. There's apparently a fairly large Bosnian population in St Louis, which I didn't know at all. I've learned that I cannot speak Bosnian one bit, that you take your shoes off at the door, and they like to feed you. For example, on Tuesday, she fed us a GIANT PIECE OF CAKE at 10 in the morning. Oh my goodness. It was a homemade Bosnian cake, absolutely delicious, but holy cow. I cannot eat that much sweet that early, I thought I was going to be ill. The communication barrier is pretty big, but we're going to hopefully look for ways to overcome that. No more cake though, I hope. Or if we have cake, let's make it in the afternoon.  Hoo boy.

Wednesday, we went and did service at a place called Feed My People. It was really good. We helped do things like organize food donations, mark cans, bag cabbage... Tiring, but really good. We taught another investigator this day, and a member came with us. We love it when members come with us, because it shows that there are real people who go to our church that can be their friends. It's not all wide-eyed, young missionaries!

We had a really great lesson with a member Wednesday night, with some really amazing fruits. We shared a message with her, about the Restoration, God's love, and the blessing of the gospel with families, and then challenged her to share it with someone she knows. Well, she decided to go share it with her cousin, who's not a member and who's in hospice. On Sunday, she shared the experience in Relief Society. She went and shared it, and they had a really powerful experience. Then she asked her cousin if she could do her work for her in the temple after she passed away, and her cousin said yes! It was a great example of missionary work.

Thursday, we had district meeting. Sister Esterholdt gave a good training on  recognizing the Spirit. 

We had a lesson with "Julie"! Julie has a pretty amazing story. She called the missionaries, and asked them to bring her the Book of Mormon, copies of the pamphlets, and a Book of Mormon study guide. Wow, that doesn't happen much. But she's great. She's already read to 3 Nephi 11, and she loves it. Sadly, she didn't make it to church this week... That's our next step with her. 

On Friday, we visited a less active member who survived, in the last year, neck surgery, which led to a heart attack and a stroke, another stroke, shingles, and breast cancer. Yep. That was a lot to go through in a year!

So I've decided to never get old. That's the plan, at least :)

Saturday was surprisingly busy. Usually Saturdays are a little slow, but not this week! We had a good lesson with our recent convert. And Sunday, my first Sunday in the new ward! Other than last week's stake conference, that is.

We had a lesson with an 81 year old woman who is a piece of living history, let me tell you. She is also a fantastic storyteller.

Oakville is a great area, with a lot of good stuff going on. It's part of St Louis, but it's more suburb than real city. Has real stores though, so that's different! We have a Target! And I'm getting better at driving, that's for sure. It was really that transition time that was the hardest. The ward is great, from what I've seen so far. Our ward mission leader is very involved and excited about the work, which is great.

We live in another apartment complex, which has a gym! Hooray! We've been working out there, and I have realized just how out of shape I am. Holy moly, this is what happens when you haven't lifted weights in six months. Not good, trust me. But I'm getting there, I'm getting there...

This week, in my personal study, I finished Isaiah! I've been working my way through the Bible, and I slowed down quite a bit at Isaiah, because I wanted to understand as I read. Obviously, I didn't understand everything, but I did love Chapter 53 again: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed." What a beautiful reminder of the strength and power and relief we receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! 

I love you all! Hope that your week is nice and restful :)

Sister Barret

Week: 25 Goodbye Poplar Bluff!

Well, it's official. I'm out of my first area, and into my second. And I am senior companion! I'm follow up training Sister Esterholdt. Lots of change, so I've been a little overwhelmed, as I am sure that you can imagine. Also, I have like no pictures from the last few days... I've got to change that.

Anyway! Monday was mine and Sister Reed's last P-Day together. That was sad, but we had plenty of fun to make up for it...

This is the mannequin FORMERLY known as Jezebel. She has a name! It's Julia. She stands on a corner on a main street in Poplar Bluff, and it was a goal of mine for the last six months to get a picture with her. I feel very accomplished now.

Tuesday was my very last day in Poplar Bluff. So strange! I was surprisingly calm though. We got to see quite a few people for the last time. Good-bye, my investigators! I'll miss you! But seriously, even though I was ready to leave Poplar Bluff, I am definitely going to miss so many of the people there. They are GOOD people, who really have a strong desire to follow the gospel. And small towns are fun :)

Wednesday was transfer meeting. My very first day on the mission spent proselyting OUTSIDE of Poplar Bluff! We woke up at six to pack up the last bit of my stuff (gosh, packing is the worst), then drove and drove. We got to the meeting early, which was lucky, because we were SUPPOSED to be at the meeting early, because Sister Reed got called to be a trainer. So I got to see people... especially Sister Richardson, my mission mommy. The actual transfer meeting was fun, as always. The highlight is seeing all the new missionaries.

Then, after the meeting, I got together with Sister Esterholdt and it turned out... they drove to transfers! So 1. we live close enough to the mission home to drive there and not have zero miles left, and 2. AH I'm DRIVING! After six months of NOT! I was a little worried, to say the least. But I bucked up, warned Sister Esterholdt not to be terrified (haha, there was no way around it), and drove to Oakville. CRAZY.

Once we got to Oakville, we actually got to have a couple of lessons. One was a member feeding us dinner. The other was a part member family. It went okay, he's very stubborn though! He did not want to pray at all.

Adjusting to a new area is rough! It's rough for both companions. The one who stayed has to basically run the area alone for the first week or so, and the new companion has to try to shove all this new information in their head as quick as possible. Plus adjusting to driving for the first time, and being senior and everything... I felt like I barely had a second to think for the first three days or so. And so much is different in our schedule here than in Poplar Bluff. The teaching pool here is smaller, and we do a lot of work with less actives.

This ward has seen a lot of success though this year! Three converts in the last three months. I'm excited to work here!

On Thursday, we had district meeting and met our new district. It's small, just two sets of sisters and a set of elders.

We taught a new investigator, Anne. She's a very nice older woman, and she's very active in the Church of Christ, so we'll see what happens there.

On Friday, I met our recent convert! He's a young, married man. His wife was less active and then they started meeting with the missionaries.

I have to go! They're kicking me off…good luck…love you

Pray! Read the scriptures! Go to church!

Sister Barret

Week 24: 6 Months!

Wow. I feel like I've already said this quite a bit. But... I'm leaving Poplar Bluff! And I'm heading to the Oakville 2 area.

I have a lot of emailing today, so this email probably won't be that long, even though we're at the community college again (thank goodness!). Plus I have to pack and shop and do all sorts of things today! Geez, leaving is so complicated! But I have lots of pictures this week, so I'll send a handful.

That's me with my birthday present stuff :) haha. Thank you so much Mom and Lyvia and Quinn and anyone else who wished me happy birthday. I really appreciated it! I wore the scarf yesterday, so it'll be in lots of pictures of good-byes. I've used a lot of the stuff already, actually. I made some cupcakes with some of the mint chips for the greenie who's coming into Poplar Bluff. (Sister Reed is training)

 

 Dress swap day! I'm going to miss Sister Reed's dress...

 

Sister Reed after we got transfer calls... She was a basket case. Haha for puns!

I'm taking lots of pictures with members/investigators, so I'll probably send some of those as well soon!

Highlights from the week...

We helped our recent convert prepare for her husband coming home. We helped clean out her father in law's trailer... and I have never smelled anything worse than that sink. I was literally gagging every time I got a good whiff of it. I cleaned dishes for two hours and I felt like I made barely a dent, geez. But we got the trailer looking a lot better, so that's good!

We went to a Relief Society service project on Saturday with a member, and helped make things for women's shelters and hospitals. One of the things was tote bags, so Sister Reed and I got to melt the ends of the draw strings so they wouldn't fray. Don't worry, we did it outside... no open flames in church buildings!

I had a lovely birthday on Sunday. We went out to dinner the night before, at a Mexican restaurant in town. Then I ate leftovers + eggs for a breakfast burrito, delicious. I made myself a dump cake. Waffles at a member house for lunch. Teriyaki and cheesecake at a member house for dinner. Lots of great food! Big day at church though, with it being my birthday and my last Sunday. Lots of happy birthdays/goodbyes. I'm definitely going to miss so many people here!

 In my personal study, I've been reading a lot in Isaiah lately. Crazy, right? But once again, my Book of Mormon reading and Bible study have coincided, so I reached Isaiah in both places at the same time. I will say this: Isaiah is tough to understand, yes. But I understand it SO MUCH better this time around than last! I don't know if it's just because I'm older, or because I've been immersed in the scriptures for the last six months, but wow, I am understanding so much more than before. Still not that much, haha, because it is Isaiah, but much better than before.

I liked this scripture from Isaiah 10:15: "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood."

It reminds me of a scripture from The Book of Mormon: "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." (Alma 26:12)

We really are just tools in God's hands. When we try to set ourselves up to be more than that--when we feel that we are the ones causing miracles, or we're the ones converting people--we are completely wrong. I myself am nothing. I am a tool in God's hand. My job as a missionary is to work my hardest so that God can work miracles through me. This transfer's theme is Miracle Madness, so here's going :)

Love you all! Only a couple of months before we get to Skype again, time flies!

Sister Barret