Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!!

Dear Family,

On Monday a miracle happened! On a twilight Monday (Monday before transfers that is not a p-day) a few transfers ago, when Sister Hendricks and I were together we had a brand new missionary join us for the day. We experienced many miracles including her placing several copies of the Book of Mormon. One of these contacts was super super awkward. It was bad, but he came out of it with a Book of Mormon. In the awkward contact we asked if he knew any Mormons. He said no.... a few weeks later we find out that one of our wards recent converts was his roommate! At the time of the contact, his roommate was not baptized, and that is why he didn’t know any Mormons! Ha! But he was too afraid to meet with us. Finally, he accepted to have a lesson on Monday! He was asking questions about the veil and the celestial kingdom. We are helping him know that God is real and hopefully he will pray for us this next lesson! Also, fun fact! The same brand new sister came and was in a trio again this week with us because her comp went to MLC! It was fun to have her back!!!

Our great Catholic friend is doing pretty good! We had some other really good lessons with her! She asked us why we don’t drink wine even though Christ did. So we taught her the word of wisdom and committed her to live it! She said she would try! It was a really great lesson! Then we brought her to a baptism on Saturday. She felt the spirit so strong despite all the kids screaming and it not being organized very well. It was a miracle! Also, the Elder who baptized the lady is really skinny. We asked our friend what she thought of the baptism. She said something along the lines of, well I thought that the guy who performed the baptism was super skinny and was about 13. But when he got in the font and said the prayer, I could feel the power that he had! SO cool!!!! We testified of the spirit and the priesthood power performed at baptism! We also came to the conclusion that she knows what we have been teaching is true!!! But, she also believes the Catholic Church is true and doesn’t want to change. But the spirit keeps urging us to keep teaching her, so we will! We are going to have a great lesson with her this week about truth and the priesthood!

We had two ward members teach us lesson 1 this week. They are both preparing for missions. Holy cow, they are so much more prepared than I was. I wish I could have gone out with the missionaries like they get to. They weren’t perfect, but they are going to be great elders! I am fully confident in the future missionaries that will be entering the field! Also a kid in our ward got his call, it was so exciting!!!! He is going to San Diego!

With this being my 1-year mark, I reflected on what has happened in the last year and how I have grown. I have changed so much, and yet become more of myself! It is crazy! Even some of my eating habits have had to change because I am getting old. I can’t eat anything I want anymore, because some things make me feel sick. I have been eating more veggies and fruit instead of meat and carbs because it makes me feel way better! Weird! But good :)

I learned some amazing things as I reflected on my setting apart over a year ago! I will share some insights I had. In my setting apart it mentioned that I would have the ability to be exactly obedient. I have been striving to be exactly obedient my whole mission, but have made a lot of mistakes. I am weak and definitely not perfect. But I realized this week that being exactly obedient does not mean perfect! I know you have all told me this probably a million times, but it finally clicked after a year! I will keep repenting and keep trying, but it is ok that I am not perfectly obedient to everything, only Christ could do that. We just have to try our best! We had an amazing training this week from president and the assistants. They taught us about learning by faith (a talk by Elder Bednar). I learned so much! Faith is really having an assurance, then acting, then having evidence! It was amazing! It also helped me realize something from my setting apart about being known for how I teach. That was my biggest worry coming into the field, was my lack of ability and talent at teaching. I am not so good with my words sometimes. I am still not the most graceful speaker. But I have learned that it is not about what I say, but helping them make connections for themselves and having them learn by faith so they can act on what we teach! I am going to make a more dedicated effort to teach everyone like this, even though it takes more thought, control, and sacrifice!

I believe that the church is true! I have seen the power of Christ work in my life as I live the gospel. I am so grateful to have a chance to be a full time missionary. But I am even more grateful that my service to the Lord is not dependent on what calling I have in the church. I can be an instrument in his hands no matter what my call is. I love you all so much and I can feel the love that Heavenly Father has for each of you. I love my Savior and friend Jesus Christ! I can’t wait to hear from you on Sunday!! Can’t believe it has gone by so fast!!!

Love, Sister Barnes