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 :)
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