North Bay week 2 :)

Hello everyone!!!!

Today starts week 2 of my North Bay transfer. I am starting to get the hang of things and it's starting to get more exciting. Sister Lavatai and I have tracted (knocked doors) everyday. The days have been long. I finally understand what it is like to have the door slammed in your face ALL day! But it is surprising how kind some people are. Sister L said that she's never gotten so many compliments in a day before. So many people tell us that they really admire us for what we are doing and they wish us luck.

I don't remember what I said in my last e-mail, but I will just talk a little bit about the investigator situation currently. We have one progressing investigator who is ready to set a baptism date. Her name is Pierrette. She is a middle-aged woman and is so sweet. The only thing keeping her from setting a date is that she is trying to find the perfect time to tell her sons that she is getting baptized. I am excited to share the scriptures Alma 7:4-5 with her. In them, Alma talks about being baptized and how we have no need to fear. I have only met her twice and I already love her. It's amazing how quickly love and charity come when you pray for someone multiple times each day. Our other investigator is a woman named Tracy. We taught her for the first time yesterday. She was a member referral from a member in Calgary, Canada, who is her fiance. Sister L and I went to her apartment and we taught her all about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She invited us back and we are going back to teach her all about the Plan of Salvation tonight. She lives alone with her cat and is in a wheel chair. From what she said to us, it sounds like she has had a lot of health problems in her life. She lost her leg in April so now cannot walk, although she may have been in a wheelchair before that anyway. She is probably in her late 20s or so and met her fiance on the internet. They've been dating for about two years and hope to be married this summer or fall. The Spirit was strong as we taught her and I am so happy she felt it. It was my first time sitting down and teaching a whole lesson, so it was a great experience for me. As Sister L and I tracted last night we also had college boy named Jacob tell us we could come back today, so I'm looking forward to teaching him tonight too.

There are SO many churches here. The reason most people don't let us in is because they already go to another church (well the real reason is just that they aren't ready to hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ yet. God is still gathering His children and they will all be ready at different times hehe). Church was great yesterday. The bishop was out of town but he had me prepare a talk on Patriotism. Funny that I spoke on that and I am from America, eh? It is Canada day on Thursday, so it will be a fun week. After Sacrament meeting, I taught Gospel Principles about baptism. Then Sister L. and I taught the three young women about personal revelation. They are darling and so strong in the Church. Technically North Bay has a "ward" and not a "branch" because there are a lot of members here. However, only about thirty or less people attend church, so it's more like a branch. We are working with a lot of less active members right now too. We have our first dinner appointments this week and I am so excited. The one we had on Saturday evening cancelled.

Sister Lavatai has been an amazing trainer and companion. I definitely have a lot of worries and I think about a lot of things that I should probably just relax about. She always listens and instead of trying to fix me or tell me to calm down, she gives me words of comfort. She helps me feel that everything is alright. I don't know what I would have done with any other trainer.

The accents here crack me up. There are lots of people that have such a heavy accent I keep thinking they are from Ireland or Scotland or something. The lady at the grocery store asked me if I wanted a "beg" today and it took me like a minute to figure out what she was saying. Oh...BAG!!! Got it. Note-to-self: a beg is a bag, aboot is about, and a washroom is a bathroom. The people here are so great. We are really great friends with the family that lives below us. They are the Jenner Jr.s and their parents are the Jenner Sr.s that live across town :) They like to play pranks on the missionaries. They give us good laughs. I think Sister L and I are going to watch a church movie today with Sister Jenner Jr and her kids.

By the way...I am only going to get mail about twice a transfer! All of the mail goes straight to the mission office and then I don't get it until Zone conference and interviews when the president brings it up. So sorry if you don't get a response as quickly as you would like. I will for sure do my best on P-days to answer everyone back :) It's quite different being here and never getting mail than it was in the MTC where everyone was so close so I heard from others a lot more often.

Hmm....I think that is it for this week. I am sure I will have a lot to write next week because it will be my first full week in North Bay and I will have met a lot more people. You are all incredible and I thank you for your examples to me. I would love to hear from anyone and everyone! Have a wonderful week and remember that you are children of our loving Heavenly Father. We can feel of His love for us every single day if we ask for it!

Love,

Sister Barton :)

First week in Canada.

HELLO from Canada!

Wow! So much has happened since I last e-mailed. I am now in my first area in the great land of Ontario. I will write about it in a minute. I ended my MTC stay on Wednesday and it was great. It was sad to leave, but I was happy to go on another journey. I auditioned to sing and was able to sing "O My Soul Hungered" at the departure devotional on Sunday night. It was a really special experience and I will never forget it. The last week and a half at the MTC, I had many wonderful experiences with music. My companions and I practiced a few songs and would walk all over the MTC singing to missionaries. Our golden song was "Amazing Grace." It was amazing how well we blended. We made many friends as we sang for them and felt the spirit very strongly. I love good, wholesome music!

Tuesday night, my companions and I were called to the travel office. We were told the news that apparently we were supposed to fly to Canada on Monday!!! The travel plans got mixed up and instead, our flights were for Wednesday. My mission president waited at the airport for about three hours and then called to find out that we weren't coming until Wednesday! All of our trainers were waiting for us at the mission home and everything! It was crazy. They tried to re-arrange the flights, but it would have cost far too much money. Because the President was sending 27 missionaries home Wednesday night, he could not pick us up. We got to have a very unique experience and stay in a hotel! There were 14 of us (3 Sisters and 11 Elders). We stayed the night in a hotel and then my mission president picked us up in the morning.

We traveled to the mission president's house from the hotel around 9:00 am. The home is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It is so nice and it was so great to be there. I get a new mission president next week, so it was nice to meet the current one and learn a little bit about him. After each new missionary was interviewed with the mission president, he assigned us companions. My companion is Sister Lavatai. She is from Edmonton, Canada. She has been so incredible so far. We are serving in an area called North Bay right now. It spans about an hour and a half across. It is four hours north of Brampton, so we had a long drive ahead of us. It was so incredibly gorgeous on the drive! It is so green here. It was so nice to have a long conversation with Sis. Lavatai. We learned a lot about each other. She is a singer and writes her own music. She is very talented. I know that my mission president was inspired to put us together. I feel that we have a great work to do and hopefully we can do much of it with music. I am so excited to learn from Sister Lavatai. I am her first trainee, so this is new for both of us.

We are treating part of today like a preparation day because we won't get one until Monday. P-days are changed to Mondays now, so that's when I will be e-mailing. We knocked some doors today and have talked to people on the street a little bit. Knocking doors is hard. Nobody listened. We told them we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and once we said we have a message about Jesus Christ, they held their hands out and closed the door. I don't want to be discouraged, but I can see how doing this everyday could be hard. Those are just the people that aren't ready. The Lord has promised us that "the field is white already to harvest!" We are NOT here to plant seeds for future missionaries. We are here to baptize and bring the people who are ready to Christ. That is who we search out. No wonder we say so many prayers in a day haha. We have a dinner appointment tonight with a member family and then we have a less-active member lesson. I'm excited to get to work since we have spent today as a mini-preparation day.

Keep smiling, praying, reading, serving, and loving! That is my advice for now :) I will write again on Monday and hopefully have some fun stories! Have a wonderful weekend :)

Love,

Sister Barton

A little tidbit about the airport.

One story about the airport. My companions and I started talking to a young girl about 17 years old and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon. We didn't get her name because we didn't think of it, but it was a neat experience. I hope she reads it. She was on her way to her dad's for the summer in Kentucky.

Okay, my time is almost up now. I love you so much. Thank you for your prayers. I pray for you and the rest of the family daily. YAY for missionary work! Can't wait to hear from you :)

Love,

Sister Hea :)

Last week in MTC.

Hello Everyone!

Today finishes week 2 in the MTC and I have had such a great week. It's going by fast and I leave a week from today. I already got my itinerary to leave next Wednesday, the 23rd, at 6:00 am for the Salt Lake Airport. I'm very excited. Thank you to everyone who sent me letters this week! It has been so great to read about what's going on at home.

I had a couple really great experiences that I will share. I am actually just going to type what I wrote in my journal so I can get the whole story in :) Thursday, June 10, I had a great experience that I will never forget. "My teacher, Brother Bunker taught us about learning to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. He powerfully said 'God WILL speak to you!' He continued to teach us about how the Apostles have the title of Elder. As a missionary, I too have the title of Elder. It means defender of the faith. This means I am an 'extended arm of the apostles.' With this calling, I am able to receive revelation for others. God knows my investigators better than I do and as long as I am obedient, He will tell me what they need. After discussing this, Brother Bunker explained the activity we would be doing next. He was going to pair us up with someone that we would share a message with in our District. We separated and had about 25 minutes to prepare. The point of this activity was to pray to receive revelation as to what to teach that specific person. The person I was to prepare for was Elder B. He often has obedience issues (mostly because of his companion) and I knew if I was going to share a message with him, that's what I would teach. However, this was not about what message I wanted to teach; it was about what Heavenly Father wanted Elder B. to hear through me. You can imagine the weight of this activity. We were asking God to give us inspiration right then as to what the other person really needed to hear. However, as a missionary, I have the authority to receive this inspiration. As Brother Bunker took me to my room (with my companions) and explained the assignment a little more, I wondered what God wanted me to teach. Elder B. had made a comment about someone teaching him obedience, but I wanted to be open to inspiration. While Brother Bunker was still in the room, the word 'faith' came to my mind. I thought it was really random and I didn't know how it possibly applied. I said a long, sincere prayer and waited for the feeling from the Spirit. The principle of faith remained in my mind. I began to study in Preach My Gospel about faith. What I leavned amazed me. I was inspired to tell Elder B. that if he will be faithful unto obedience, he will be endowed with power from on high! So the message was about having the faith to know that only when we are obedient can we have power. After about 25 minutes, we paired up with the Elder or Sister we had prepared for. Elder B. shared his message for me first. I was brought to tears as he began. his message for me was about faith! We had prepared and been inspired to teach each other the same topic although neither of us knew that's what the other person individually needed. His message for me was the exact one I needed at this point in my mission. He shared that I need to have faith and not fear. With my faith I will be able to do miracles. Earlier today, I made a goal to have faith and not fear. We learned about street contacting earlier and I had so much fear of man that it was hard to have faith in myself. Elder B. truly was inspired with what to teach me. He told me while he prepared his lesson that he was wishing someone else would teach him the same lesson because that's what he needed. Well, that's what I did! The power of revelation is real. God speaks to His children through the Holy Ghost. This was a sweet experience."

I will share one more experience from this week (Monday, June 14) that really touched me: "Today was absolutely wonderful. My companions and I taught Gloria for the second and last time this morning. We went in with a different approach than our previous teaching experiences. Instead of having a set lesson, we wrote down lots of questions. Our plan was to listen to Gloria, find out her needs, and let the Spirit guide our conversation. The results were incredible. Although she was a reall member just pretending to be an investigator, the Spirit manifested the truth of what we were teaching. I felt Gloria's heart begin to soften and change as the lesson progressed. As we got to the close of our lesson, Sister Brandley read a scripture and asked if Gloria would "prepare herself for baptism in three weeks." This was so incredibly real and I felt so much love for Gloria. She hesitated at first saying 'Wow, you sisters don't waste any time,' but then gave us her answer that she would aim for it. I was filled with joy. Then we asked her to pray. She didn't pray when we asked her in the first lesson. When she said she'd give it a try, I was so happy. Success! We helped God 'gather' one of His children back to Christ. After the prayer, Gloria broke character, asked where we were going, and shared the scripture Joshua 1:9. with us about being strong and having courage. I started to cry. We hugged and I told her how it had been wonderful to pray for her all week. She was my first 'investigator' and I will never forget her. The power of God is real and the Holy Ghost does teach and manifest truth. How grateful I am for this experience!"

Wow, that took us most of my time! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve God and help bring His children to Him! Thank you for the wonderful lives you live :) May the Spirit be with you this week! I love you :)

Love,

Sister Barton

Hello Week 2!

Hello Everyone!

Today finishes week 2 in the MTC and I have had such a great week. It's going by fast and I leave a week from today. I already got my itinerary to leave next Wednesday, the 23rd, at 6:00 am for the Salt Lake Airport. I'm very excited. Thank you to everyone who sent me letters this week! It has been so great to read about what's going on at home.

I had a couple really great experiences that I will share. I am actually just going to type what I wrote in my journal so I can get the whole story in :) Thursday, June 10, I had a great experience that I will never forget. "My teacher, Brother Bunker taught us about learning to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. He powerfully said 'God WILL speak to you!' He continued to teach us about how the Apostles have the title of Elder. As a missionary, I too have the title of Elder. It means defender of the faith. This means I am an 'extended arm of the apostles.' With this calling, I am able to receive revelation for others. God knows my investigators better than I do and as long as I am obedient, He will tell me what they need. After discussing this, Brother Bunker explained the activity we would be doing next. He was going to pair us up with someone that we would share a message with in our District. We separated and had about 25 minutes to prepare. The point of this activity was to pray to receive revelation as to what to teach that specific person. The person I was to prepare for was Elder B. He often has obedience issues (mostly because of his companion) and I knew if I was going to share a message with him, that's what I would teach. However, this was not about what message I wanted to teach; it was about what Heavenly Father wanted Elder B. to hear through me. You can imagine the weight of this activity. We were asking God to give us inspiration right then as to what the other person really needed to hear. However, as a missionary, I have the authority to receive this inspiration. As Brother Bunker took me to my room (with my companions) and explained the assignment a little more, I wondered what God wanted me to teach. Elder B. had made a comment about someone teaching him obedience, but I wanted to be open to inspiration. While Brother Bunker was still in the room, the word 'faith' came to my mind. I thought it was really random and I didn't know how it possibly applied. I said a long, sincere prayer and waited for the feeling from the Spirit. The principle of faith remained in my mind. I began to study in Preach My Gospel about faith. What I leavned amazed me. I was inspired to tell Elder B. that if he will be faithful unto obedience, he will be endowed with power from on high! So the message was about having the faith to know that only when we are obedient can we have power. After about 25 minutes, we paired up with the Elder or Sister we had prepared for. Elder B. shared his message for me first. I was brought to tears as he began. his message for me was about faith! We had prepared and been inspired to teach each other the same topic although neither of us knew that's what the other person individually needed. His message for me was the exact one I needed at this point in my mission. He shared that I need to have faith and not fear. With my faith I will be able to do miracles. Earlier today, I made a goal to have faith and not fear. We learned about street contacting earlier and I had so much fear of man that it was hard to have faith in myself. Elder B. truly was inspired with what to teach me. He told me while he prepared his lesson that he was wishing someone else would teach him the same lesson because that's what he needed. Well, that's what I did! The power of revelation is real. God speaks to His children through the Holy Ghost. This was a sweet experience."

I will share one more experience from this week (Monday, June 14) that really touched me: "Today was absolutely wonderful. My companions and I taught Gloria for the second and last time this morning. We went in with a different approach than our previous teaching experiences. Instead of having a set lesson, we wrote down lots of questions. Our plan was to listen to Gloria, find out her needs, and let the Spirit guide our conversation. The results were incredible. Although she was a reall member just pretending to be an investigator, the Spirit manifested the truth of what we were teaching. I felt Gloria's heart begin to soften and change as the lesson progressed. As we got to the close of our lesson, Sister Brandley read a scripture and asked if Gloria would "prepare herself for baptism in three weeks." This was so incredibly real and I felt so much love for Gloria. She hesitated at first saying 'Wow, you sisters don't waste any time,' but then gave us her answer that she would aim for it. I was filled with joy. Then we asked her to pray. She didn't pray when we asked her in the first lesson. When she said she'd give it a try, I was so happy. Success! We helped God 'gather' one of His children back to Christ. After the prayer, Gloria broke character, asked where we were going, and shared the scripture Joshua 1:9. with us about being strong and having courage. I started to cry. We hugged and I told her how it had been wonderful to pray for her all week. She was my first 'investigator' and I will never forget her. The power of God is real and the Holy Ghost does teach and manifest truth. How grateful I am for this experience!"

Wow, that took us most of my time! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve God and help bring His children to Him! Thank you for the wonderful lives you live :) May the Spirit be with you this week! I love you :)

Love,

Sister Barton

First Email from Sister Barton: Hello Hello!!!

I am on a MISSION! Wahoo!!!! I have been looking forward to P-day ALL week so I could write you. Well, it's been a long, good week! Liz, Sarah, and Julie dropped me off at the MTC and I was crying. Soon after, I was off to find my room and meeting lots of new people. I met my companions when I went to class. I am in a three-some with Sister Alger and Sister Brandley. Sister Alger and I had a class together a couple of semesters ago, so we already knew each other. She is from Milad, Idaho. Sister Brandley is from Vancouver, WA. They are both so wonderful and it has been fun to work with them. I will admit it is challenging at times; things are always harder when there are three people. My district consists of the three sisters and eight elders. Four of the elders are going to Toronto West with us and the other four are going to Seattle. I couldn't believe how close our district was after just a couple of days. There are a couple of people in our district that make it kind of challenging to be unified, but we pray together and try our best. You won't believe what happened the second day of class haha. Some of the elders were asking questions about the schedule and such and I just happened to know the answers because I had already read about it. They started calling me "Mom Barton!" Hahaha. I laughed along with them because I know they are just teasing me. I don't like to be referred to as a know-it-all, but it was pretty dang funny. They called me that until we all read in the white handbook that we shouldn't use nicknames. They still ask me whenever they have a question and I just laugh.

The first few days here in the MTC were pretty rough. I wasn't really homesick, but it was just hard spiritually. I went home feeling discouraged much of the time. Or else I would have a really good first half of the day and a bad last half. The past few days, however, have been much better and my spirits have been high. It started the day my companions and I had our first investigator at the TRC (Teaching Resource Center). Her name is Gloria. She "isn't a member" but her friend is and she is in need of some comfort. Her husband died about a year ago (in real life as well as in her role as an investigator). We brought her a message of God's love and that we know that she will be with her husband again. We teach her again on Monday. We also get a new investigator tomorrow. Her name is Audrey and she has a lot of LDS friends who are really happy. She wants to know more about why they are happy and what brings them joy. My companions and I have found joy in teaching and have felt the power of the Holy Ghost.

Gym time has been fun. My comps and I played frisbee with our district leader and his companion the other day and it was really fun. I'm always looking at the cars that drive by just in case I see someone hehe. My companions and I wake up at 6:00 am each morning to go to a gym class that isn't required. Sometimes I do the workout and sometimes I just read while they do it because I'm tired haha. Sounds like me, eh?

My shoes hurt SO bad the first few days. I had to use duct tape around my ankles and I got blisters. I think the leather is stretching out now though and they are much better. I really wish I had the pair that I took out of my backpack though. They would be nice to have. As far as I know I still don't have room for them though. Oh well :) Maybe I'll buy an inexpensive pair in Canada or something.

Our first Sunday here was fast Sunday and that was a little hard. We eat SO much here and I get so full. I don't think I've ever been hungry except when I first wake up. The food is delicious hahaha. I try and eat some healthy food, but all I can say is that it is a good thing I am only here three weeks.

I have found it to be SO fun to see people that I know here. I know a lot of teachers and have a lot of friends. Sister Crowther (Marsali from choir) lives two doors down from me and we see each other many times a day. She is my angel here :) Sister Haggard (McKenzie, old roommate) also lives down the hall and it is fun to chat with her sometimes too.

We had a devotional last night and Elder Hales came! It was absolutely incredible. He spoke all about obedience, sacricie, baptism, the Holy Ghost and light. It was very powerful. I loved when he said "There is nothing that you gave up of greater importance than what you will be doing for the next 18 months of your life." I know that to be true. I am called of God and am supposed to be here at this time to teach the people He has prepared for me to teach. He also said "When we have the fear of man, darkness comes upon us, and we do not share the light that is in us." I love apostles. They truly are men of God.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day! I love you so much and can't wait to hear from you. You can write me letters, e-mail, and send DearElder letter. I LOVE YOU! May God be with you :)

Love,

Sister Barton :)

It's official...

...about an hour ago Sister Barton entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center)! Check back here each week to get her update.