September 7, 2010.

Happy Fall everyone!

Wow, this week was great. Sister Lavatai and I experienced so many miracles. Quick update on investigators: Nancy's boyfriend Marshall called last Monday and said they would be out of town for three weeks. Random. I'm not sure if it is true, so we will be calling Nancy this week to see what's up. We went to Kelly's on Tuesday. She is the one who thought she was a member because her mom told her that she was baptized. Well, we got the records back from the church and she was never baptized!!!!! So exciting! So Sister Lavatai and I can start teaching her as an investigator. She came to church on Sunday and brought her two young girls. She even bought an outfit for church since she didn't really own anything appropriate. I am so grateful for Kelly and her desire to learn more. It's going to be a couple of weeks until we can teach her because school is starting and being a single mom of four is a little hectic! Jenn is still doing amazing. She will be baptized on September 25th. She had been praying for weeks that her mother's heart would be softened and that she would come to Jenn's baptism (her mom originally told her she wouldn't go). Well, in our lesson over the phone with Jenn on Sunday (she moved to Ottawa for school, so each Sunday we teach her over the phone), she said that her mom called asking if she could go to the baptism!!!! The power of prayer and fasting is SO real. I have seen the miracles from them so much in my life. We are working hard to find new investigators. It is hard to go tracting for three hours and only talk to three people, but I know that as we are diligent and work our hardest, God will provide.

Wednesday was a great day. We had lots of adventures :) First of all, we met a guy named Mike and taught him the first lesson on the doorstep. Sister Lavatai was reciting the first vision in Joseph Smith's words and said "I saw a pillar of light, exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun..." and at that moment, the clouds parted and the sun beamed through. Mike said "oh, like that?" YES! Thank you Heavenly Father! Miracle! It was SO perfect. Sister Lavatai and I laughed all day about it later. Shortly after that we met a witch. Yes, that's right. A witch. She told us she practices witchcraft. She was very nice, but just a little...intense?! As she walked away, she gave a loud cackle and threw her head back. It was definitely an experience to remember hahaha. When we were walking home for dinner, we were about two blocks away from home when we felt a rain drop. Within five seconds, it was pouring down buckets. I openeed the umbrella and it broke right away. So we jogged home in what was practically a swimming pool. It was so funny. We took pictures afterward.

Funny story...I finally applied to get a health card here and got a letter back saying there was a gender discrepency. I figured there was a box checked wrong or something, so Sister Lavatai and I headed to the health center again to get it taken care of. After over five people had looked at it previously....my visa says that I am a male! I was dying laughing. So I had to mail my visa off to Alberta and am awaiting a new visa with the proper gender on it. At first, the Toronto airport said that I would have to go there in person to fix it, but we have worked it out so I could mail it. It was pretty funny.

Okay, now for P-day yesterday. I had a great day at the Jenner's house out in Bonfield. Much of their family was visiting for Labor day weekend. It was fun to laugh, talk, and relax with some of my favorite people. Sister Lavatai came home in the evening and started tracting. It is beginning to be difficult to work after about 8:15 pm because it is dark. When we knock on doors, the barking dogs wake up the sleeping children and that doesn't look very good! Plus, it's just kind of creepy to have two stranger girls show up on your doorstep in the dark. We had an appointment with a member at 8:00, but she cancelled. Anyway, it was about 8:10 pm and Sister Lavatai and I decided to see if we could contact on one of the main streets hoping to talk to college kids since school starts today. We went out to the street, looked back and forth, and then turned back around because nobody was there. As we walked back toward our car, we met three college guys named Tom, Carl, and Greg. As we approached them, in my mind I thought "Great, three guys that are going to laugh at us and make fun of us." I was wrong! We stood there and talked to them for a few minutes about God and the Book of Mormon. They had questions and seemed genuinely interested. We asked if there was another time we could teach them more and they said they had time right then and lived just a few houses down. So we walked to their house. I couldn't believe it! We sat down and basically taught them all about the restoration of the Gospel, the importance of prophets, the priesthood authority being restored, etc. They asked questions and we were able to answer them. As we were teaching, about four other guys showed up, but they were just in the kitchen (drinking beer-HA). We thought Tom was the one who was really interested, but by the end, it seemed that Carl was the one who really understood. We gave them both Book of Mormons. Sister Lavatai asked if we could pray. I didn't know what would happen or if they would say no, but this was the best part. The guys in the other room asked if we were praying and I said "Yeah, do you want to join?" So there Sister Lavatai and I were, KNEELING with seven college guys from the hockey team, praying. It was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me (maybe). We left their apartment and it was pouring rain. I didn't have an umbrella, but it was SO much fun to run in the rain. Heavenly Father blessed us to be able to share the Gospel and our testimonies. The timing was so perfect for everything and I am so grateful for this fun missionary experience.

Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He loves us individually. How eternally grateful I am to be part of his royal army, to fight for the truth. Righteousness will conquer. Be valiant. Be courageous. Do what is right! Stand for truth! I love you all! Have an amazing week and look for the Lord's tender mercies. He gives so freely to us; let us take time to give to Him. :)

Love,

Sister Barton