August 13, 2010.

My dearest friends and family!!!!

What a wonderful week and a half it has been since I last wrote. My mission is changed. My life is changed! Okay, I will give a few updates or stories I have. One super funny thing happened on August 4th. Sister Lavatai and I were walking down the street, and a man stopped his van in the middle of the street, turned his emergency lights on, and got out of his van. I thought maybe he was coming to tell us we dropped something. He came storming over and said "What Gospel are you preaching?" and Sister Lavatai said "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" with a big smile on her face. Then he said "You're not handing out Book of Mormons are you?" and I smiled big and said, holding mine up "Yeah, we have one right here :)" Then he said "The Book of Mormon is garbage!" Sister Lavatai told him he didn't need to get out of his van to tell us that and he said that he did and that we should be reading the Bible. He stormed back off to his car and I said "We do read the Bible :)" It was SO funny! We have been laughing about it for days. It just shows you that this is the true church. If it wasn't, Satan wouldn't work so hard to destroy it (he's never going to win, so I don't even know why he tries!). But just the fact that a guy would stop in the middle of the road to tell us that was unbelievable.

There were two days this week when it started pouring rain in the middle of tracting. I had an umbrella both times, but it didn't really help. I felt like Heavenly Father answered my prayer to help me be positive because normally, if I got soaking wet and my shoes were wet, I would not be happy. But honestly, I was laughing and smiling and I thought it was really fun. I hope I can be like that all the time when I encounter difficult situations.

Pierrette was BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!! It was so wonderful. She was baptized on Saturday and received the Holy Ghost on Sunday. Sister Lavatai and I spent Saturday morning cleaning the font. There were huge spiders all over it. I took a video of us killing them with a broom, and I was laughing my head off. Only on a mission...:) It was great. The baptismal service went really well and Pierrette's two non-member sons came! It was so good to have them there. The confirmation on Sunday was so touching. Pierrette and I were both crying. The Spirit was strong. She is so happy. I was reminded of the importance of the Holy Ghost and how much joy He brings. I could not live my life without Him, not even for a day.

Leadership Conference was AMAZING!!!! It was lifechanging! Sister Lavatai and I drove down to Brampton (about 4 hours away) on Sunday night and came home Wednesday night. We got to stay with the Brampton sisters, Sister Olsen (INCREDIBLE missionary!) and Sister Brandley (one of my MTC companions). It was so great to be with them. I have a testimony that President Brower is called of God. When he enters the room, I am flooded with the Spirit. He is pure and the most charitable man I know. I will never forget his kindness and example to me. He puts everyone else before himself and has so much respect for Sister Brower. This conference was the first leadership conference ever. It is a new revelation from the First Presidency to hold the conference and it truly was inspired. We were taught from on High for three days and each night we went out in Brampton to apply the things that we learned. My companion was Sister Olsen each night. Monday night there was a baptism! I was able to play "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" on a VIOLIN! It was incredible to play the violin. It has been so long, and to have the opportunity to play it for a baptism is something I will never forget. Tuesday night was a miracle night. I tried to follow and learn from Sister Olsen and I learned so much! We taught three people on the street, gave them Book of Mormons, and commited two of them to baptism. The Spirit was our constant companion. One of the main points we learned from leadership conference is that our role is to Find, Teach, and Baptize!!!! Baptism by the proper priesthood authority is the gate into Heaven and back to live with our Heavenly Father forever. We MUST have the ordinance or we cannot have eternal joy. Aside from learning how to be a much better missionary, I had a lot of fun at the conference meeting missionaries. It was all of the District Leaders, Zone Leaders, Trainers, and 10 of the 12 sisters. I made a lot of friends and I learned something from each person. Leadership conference will be every two months and President is still debating on whether or not to invite the sisters to come every time. I definitely think we will be going to the next one.

Yesterday was my first day working back in North Bay after the conference and it was also a day full of miracles. We had an appointment with a member and she wasn't home, so we tracted a street by her house. On the last door we knocked on, we were able to teach a girl named Ally about the Restoration, give her a Book of Mormon, and invite her to church. She had so much faith and I am excited to teach her again. Sister Lavatai and I also experience miracles as we taught our investigator Jenn. Jenn had told us last week that she will be baptized before the end of the year. Sister Lavatai and I prayed about her being baptized on September 11th and told her we knew she would be ready. We will fast for her this Sunday. Sister Lavatai bore a powerful testimony that as Jenn puts her trust in the Lord, He will work everything out. Jenn wants the support of her mother the most, which is wonderful. We know that as she puts her trust in the Lord and takes this step of faith, she will receive countless blessings and the strength she needs. I am SO excited for her to pray about the date. More to come on that later! We are excited to teach Nancy again today and will be committing her to baptism. Heavenly Father is preparing His children to hear the Word and to come unto Him and I will be forever grateful that I can be a part of it. I know that as you give your burdens to the Lord, He will carry you. D&C 84:88 ...Angels will surround you to bear you up!!!! I know that is true. Heavenly Father loves each one of you and desires to bless you as you come unto Him. I love you all as well and am grateful for your prayers and your examples to me. Have an amazing week and look for missionary opportunities!!!

Love,

Sister Barton