Staying in Tucson!

Dear Family,

First of all, my dear friend and companion Sister Hendricks was transferred. She will be serving in the East stake as a Sister Training Leader! YAY! She will do great! My new companion is...... Sister Clark from my MTC district! She is so sweet and one of the most loving missionaries I know. She is a powerhouse and will do amazing here in the YSA 3rd Ward. I hope to help her adjust; she has been out in the middle of nowhere her whole mission. She is going through an even bigger culture shock than I went through. Gratefully we have the Savior and His Atonement to help us change to what we need to be! I feel at peace with this change and know that amazing things will happen! Please pray that our investigators all take it well and that the transition is smooth.

So, J. is getting baptized on Saturday! He has been out of town, but is doing great! His heart is continually softening but some major prayers his way would be appreciated.

K. is also doing super amazing. We have the most spiritually powerful lessons with her because she is so prepared for the gospel. In one of our lessons we taught about the Savior and how he can forgive us. In our last lesson she felt overwhelmed at her past sins and wanted forgiveness and wanted to be able to forgive herself. Then in this lesson we showed a video about Christ called "None were with Him" by Elder Holland. After she said, I had an epiphany! Christ died for my sins! She had heard that all her life, but during this video the spirit witnessed to her that Christ really was her Savior. Lets just say we all had wet eyes during this lesson.

We are teaching two sisters. They are both doing really great. On different levels, but both progressing! I love them both a lot! They both feel the spirit at the Institute so much and cannot be sad while being there. They grin from ear to ear when they are there!

Friday we found out that M. might have cancer again. But I know that the Savior lives and loves each one of us. His strength can carry us through in times of need and when we are in shock. She is such a trooper and is such an amazing example of faith and diligence. Please pray for her. We find out for sure if she has cancer tomorrow. I love her so much!

The Gilbert Temple dedication was amazing! It was so great to feel the spirit of the temple again. There is no feeling like it and there are no words to describe it. It felt like I was home and it was so peaceful and I was filled with love and joy! I also learned some amazing things about our Savior Jesus Christ and how His Atonement makes the ordinances we perform valid and real. I couldn’t stop grinning while I was there. Even though the building is not usually a temple, I know that the stake center literally became an extension of the temple. The feelings there were so powerful. I feel so blessed to have so many temples around and so blessed that I was able to go to the temple so much before I left. What a huge blessing! Oh and the CES broadcast was amazing by Sister Burton, I learned so much!

I am so exhausted, but so happy! The Lord is my strength and my light and my song! Someone compared the Holy Ghost to fire, ok the scriptures do too. But it finally clicked. Fires bring comfort, warmth, light, guidance in darkness, protection, they cleanse and purify. What a perfect analogy for the spirit which brings warmth, light guidance in the darkness, protection, and it cleanses and purifies us. Prophets are so smart!

The thing I learned today from transfer meeting and President's email was that the small things we do each day really do make a difference. So thanks mom! Even though my area of the world is just a tiny little dot compared to the whole world and even though my efforts are only noticed by a few people compared to the whole campus of people. It makes a difference because of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father needs me in this little area of His vineyard and I feel so blessed to be here! I love being a missionary and love each of you! Thank you for all you do! Let me know if there is anything I can do for any of you or anything I can do for anyone around you!

Love, Sister Barnes