November 8, 2010.

I survived my second week in Brampton!

It's been a great week. Sister Stanbrough taught lots of lessons and were able to find many new people to teach for this coming week. The best part of this coming week is knowing that on Sunday, Sandra will be BAPTIZED! Wahoo! She is so amazing. She even told us in a lesson earlier this week that she can see in her life how Heavenly Father has been preparing her to know the fullness of His truth. She loves coming to church and the ward has been really great at fellowshipping her. She is so sweet and always gives us treats at the end of our lessons. I'm excited to send pictures of her baptism next week.

We had a couple of lessons with a boy named Gideon. The first lesson was pretty rough because he was trying to prove us wrong using the Bible. In the second lesson, something amazing happened. Although Gideon would come up with a new question each time we would anser the previous one, he could not confound us. We spent the whole lesson testifying of truth. This isn't just a Gospel or a Plan of Salvation that we teach, it is something we know to be true. Nobody can deny the power of the Holy Ghost. I love Galations 5:22-23, which talks about the fruits of the Spirit, such as love, peace, long-suffering, joy, gentleness, etc. I don't have my Bible with me right now, but the last line of these verses says "Against such there is no law." There is no law on earth that can prevent one from feeling the Holy Ghost. Even in a country where there is no religious freedom, if one seeks God, they can find Him. No one can ever tell me that what I know is not true. I have felt it. I know it. I cannot deny it. The Holy Ghost can teach us all things if we will allow Him to. That is the key!

I read a really great talk that Sister Stanbrough has called "Why 1820?" It talks about why the Church of Jesus Christ began to be restored in the year 1820 and not before. I really love what the speaker said at the end of the talk, speaking about who we were before we came to this earth. He said "If you knew who you were before you got here, it would scare you. Do you know what that means? It means that we don't have the right to do all the dumb stuff that a lot of other young people in the world are doing? Why? Because we know too much. Why? Because we are here because we were somebody before we came here and the Lord has sent us here to accomplish some great task. And that task is to take and exhort the reality of the fact that the Gospel has been restored." We did not begin when we were born on this earth. We lived with Heavenly Father before and because we are His children, we have divine worth. You were somebody great among the hosts of heaven and because of that, You have a great responsibility on this earth. I cannot imagine what life would be like without the knowledge of the greater plan. That is why I am on a mission...to help people know who they truly are in God's eyes and the divine potential they have.

I feel like I have rambled on and on haha. These are just my thoughts of the week. Thank you for being the good people you are. You are all amazing! Have a fantastic week :)

Love you lots,
Sister Barton

P.S. Since I have Zone Conference next Monday, I won't be e-mailing until Tuesday, so look for my update then!