E-Mail #65 Hello ALLLLLLLL!!!!!

E-Mail #65

September 10th, 2012

 

 

 

Why hello family and friends!!

 

I hope you all have had a wonderful week! I cant believe its already september. I cant believe tomorrow is september 11th. Man, time just flies. We were talking with someone yesterday and talked about how everyone remembers exactly where they were that day 11 years ago!! So crazy! My prayers go out to those that are affected and reminded of that sad day that they lost loved ones! Im sure missionary work in that area BOOMS every year around this time. haha. Hopefully it does anyways, all those people deserve to know the truth of eternal families!!!

 

 

Well we had our baptism last week!!! WOOHOO!!! Edward got baptized! It was such a spiritual baptism! It was great. The best part is they are really good friends with another couple, who the girl is a member and the guy is not. But he has been coming to church since the temple open house!! Well we finally asked him if we could teach him a week ago sunday and this baptism was his first he went to. So we asked him how he liked it and his response was 'I CANT WAIT FOR MINE!' 'I wish i could go do it right now' ............................. yea.................thats what he said!!! Needless to say sister park and i again were completely silent, and had no idea what to say. Finally i asked him if thats something that he really wants....to get baptized. and he said yes! So we asked him to think about what day he would like to get baptized on and we will talk about it at our appointment. Well our appointment later in the week went AMAZING! The spirit was so great!! I was so thankful for it! He is now preparing to be baptized on sept 22nd!!! WOOHOO!! Its going to be such a wonderful baptism! I love seeing miracles!!

 

 

Also this week we taught a women who has also been coming to church since the open house at the temple. We taught her and it was also AMAZING. She told us she didn't feel that she needed to pray about Joseph because she knows he's really a prophet!! Yea....again....complete silence. I've never had anyone tell me no to a prayer because they already knew it was true. haha. Pretty awesome. So she is preparing for baptism on Oct 23rd! woohoo!!

 

 

Miracles are falling from the sky! I am so thankful to be a part of all this! Its pretty awesome! It has been a very great week. We have been able to visit lots of people and talk with them and help them come closer to recieving to gospel.

 

 

Oh and the couple that we teach every week, we taught on saturday and it was such a wonderful spiritual experience!!! We finally were able to share the first lesson, about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Man, the spirit was amazing. It was tough, they had a hard time understanding the apostasy, but it was great! Because the spirit told me to testify of the Book of Mormon and when i did the spirit was sooo strong, it testified so strong to their hearts. You could see it in their spirit and in their countanences that the spirit was telling them what we were saying WAS TRUE!!! SO GREAT!!! I love moments like that as a missionary!!

 

 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week. I am looking forward to another great week, and another week that brings us closer to general conference! I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! :) It will be a GREAT WEEK!! But before then, we have more baptisms and they will be GREAT!!!

 

 

Stay tuned for more miracles.....same time, next week!

 

Sister Barnum

 

 

 



E-Mail #64 Another Emergency Trip to the Dentist...Why?!?...Because I am a BARNUM!!!!

E-Mail #64

September 4th, 2012

 

 

 

 

Hello Family and Friends!

 

I hope you all have had a great Labor Day weekend. Mine was great, i did missionary work....pretty sweet right!?

 

Well this week was super tough, but super awesome at the same time. I think thats how it ALWAYS is in missionary work! But really its been pretty sweet, and STINKY. Well lets start with the stinky so then we can end with the MIRACLES that have happened!

 

STINKY: Tuesday night i did not sleep AT ALL.....why?!...because i am a BARNUM, and BARNUMS have BAD TEETH....At least they look pretty right?! Well i was up allllll night with a major tooth ache, the longest amount of sleep i got straight was one hour, the rest was just 20 minutes here and there that i would pass out and then wake back up in pain. I kept going into the bathroom to cry so i wouldnt wake up sister park, and i just kept praying that Heavenly Father would provide a way for me to get to the dentist the next day because i couldn't handle this for a couple days until a dentist had an opening. Well Heavenly Father ROCKS, so the next day i got up and started making calls to get to a dentist. THANKFULLY there is a dentist who is a member in Liberty that sister park served in his ward and he had me come in there. So we went in there and guess what?! I SPENT OVER 2 HOURS getting ONE tooth worked on!! YEP...ONE TOOTH....2 HOURS!!! Crazy right. So i told them what tooth it was and they took xrays and told me i already had a root canal on that one, so i was like WELL WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! they said they need to re-treat the root canal. It turned out there was a curve at the end of the root that was super easy to miss and IT was infected!! So he had to drill and dig and drill and dig and DRILL and DIG!! Well this root was super crazy and curved way bad so he got to it, cleaned it out STRAIGHTENED the root and was about to finish up when he was looking at my xrays to make sure it was all fixed and he found a 3rd root in a tooth that NORMALLY only has 2....so then he was like uh-oh we need to look at this, so then he DRILLED and DIG and DRILLED and DIG....realized he couldn't get to the root so treated what he could and sent me on my merry little way. Needless to say it has not stopped hurting. Yesterday i asked for a healing blessing to get help with it, because if it doesn't heal he is going to have to pull the tooth, and i refuse that because it is in smile range and i dont want to smile and have a tooth missing. haha. Anyways, so that was the events of this week as far as the stinky parts go. But i survived and am slowly starting to feel better.

 

Now lets roll onto the MIRACLES!!!!!

 

Well this week we taught a guy that we have been teaching for a while, he has had SEVERAL missionaries and has been coming to church for 6 years since his wife converted, but has not done so himself. Well in our appointment this week he kept saying he wasn't going to argue with us (because he ususally does) and he was being humble and at one point in the lesson he said that he thinks God is going to tap him on the shoulder and say 'this is true' we asked him what he would do and he said 'i'll get baptized' both sister park and i were SHOCKED! Then at the end of our prayer at the end of the appointment we all got up and he said, ' i am going to get my answer this week' again sister park and i SHOCKED!! I shook his hand and said 'THATS FAITH!!' i know you will get your answer!!! so we are way excited to teach him thursday and see if he indeed got his answer! I pray he did because if he didn't oh man, i worry he will be resentful, but i have faith he will get his answer! Who knows after 6 years, this might finally be it, he might get baptized!

 

We also had another really great appointment with a couple we are teaching where the husband is not a member. We read the intro to the Book of Mormon together. It was great to be able to help him understand where it comes from and why its so important. It was such a spiritual appointment and i truely feel that it is his time to join Christs church. I know he is going to get his answer this week also when he prays. I know he will, so i am super excited about our appointment this week with him to see what happened in his prayers.

 

Another miracle, you know how in the Book of Mormon alma the younger is converted by and angel showing up and calling him to repentance. Well and angle didn't show up, but the same thing happened for a member. There is a member who is amazing who has had some personal struggles for a while, well he got a blessing this week and it was AMAZING!!! He is a completely new person. He literally had an experience like alma the younger where he felt Gods presence super strong and he had his struggles literally taken from him. We had dinner with him 2 days after this experience and he shared some super sacred and special things with us from his experience. And let me just say, i was speachless. Both sister park and i were so shocked and amazed to know how strong the spirit can work when it comes to an amazing son of God who i destined for great things! He is a changed person, and so amazing. I am so excited for him and his family and the changed that will happen in their home because of that blessing. Its pretty sweet!

 

Then we had another appointment this week with a couple we have been working with for a very long time. THey are SO AMAZING!! i mean AMAZING!! Its the couple that made our cool t-shirts and all the jazz. Well we went over and hadn't had dinner yet so they ordered us a pizza. We got to talk a lot about the different things. But my favorite part was just how strong the spirit was, you could just feel the presence of our Heavenly Father so STRONG. I mean he loves them so much and he continues to help them get more and more prepared spiritually to accept the Gospel. Well we didn't get to teach them any lesson once again, but it was still super amazing. Because they expressed some questions and concerns and we were able to promise them that what we teach will comfort them, provide peace and answers and as we told them that you could just see the spirit wash over them. I mean, it was just the best ever. I just never want to leave their house. Every time we go over she gives us a glass of lemonade which is always super yummy, they feed us if we are hungry, and this time she gave us money because the last time we left 'we left hungry' according to her even though we didn't she felt bad that she didn't feed us so she gave us money!! i mean this woman is an angel!! I love them so much! They both told us that they really do feel the spirit every time we are in their home. Which is the best compliment ANY missionary could get. It was pretty sweet!

 

ALRIGHTY now....THE MIRACLE....OF MIRACLES!!!

 

Alma 22: 16-18

 

But aaron(missionary) said unto him: If thou desirest this think, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of they sinds and will bow down before GOd, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou recieve the hope which thou desirest

 

And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

 

O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; wilt thou make theyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that i may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.....

 

Sunday night our plans fell through. I was not feeling well so i told sister park to follow the spirit on where we need to be because i was too out of it. So we decided to go to a less-actives home who we have been helping a lot lately. We got there and are chatting and then a few minutes later her son (13 years old) shows up. He lives with his grandparents but was coming over to spend the night with his mom. We are all talking and then he said to us, so what is the difference between baptist, christian, catholic, and mormons?! Well sister park and i were like SWEET, lets teach him the restoration. So we teach him. The spirit was super strong the whole time we were teaching, and the boy kept crying, but not totally just like getting emotional. We taught him about joseph smith, and about the role he played in restoring Chirst church to this earth. This young man started crying, and he got up and walked out of the room. We figured he went to go get tissues because he was crying. He was gone for a while, so we just waited for him to come back. He came back and told us he felt much better and then told us he prayed that his mom would stay on the right path and about the question we told him to pray about (if joseph smith really was a prophet) So both me a sister park SHOCKED ask him how he felt and he started CRYING again and told us he knew it was true. He told us he felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off his chest and he knew it was true. So we invited him to get baptized in 2 week and he said YES!!! We continued to teach him about the Book of Mormon and other things and the rest of the lesson all of us were just super emotional, but especially him. He made a comment saying how if he hadn't have come over tonight he would have gone the rest of his life not knowing these things!!! and then he told us that sometimes he will be awake at night and just lay there thinking about those questions. I mean, this was the most amazing miracle i have ever seen. A little experience from the scripture i shared above. We all knelt in prayer before we left and i prayed and as i was praying he continued to just cry and cry. The spirit was amazing. This young man is amazing!!! Sister park and i were so excited the rest of the night. Sometime i cant help but feel how blessed i am to be a missionary. That experience had nothing to do with me, it was all between this young man and his Heavenly Father! We were just there to witness it. I love sharing the Gospel and i LOVE seeing people gain greater knowledge of the truth. Its just super awesome! So he will be getting baptized on sept 22nd!! WOOHOO!!!!!!

 

Also there is baptism tonight!! WOOHOO!!! A guy we have been teaching is getting baptized tonight! I will send some pictures next week of the baptism! It will be GREAT!!!

 

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the truth of this Gospel. I am so thankful to know that Christ's church really is on the earth, with HIS power and HIS authority to bless and watch over so many of HIS brothers and sisters. I know that because of the Savior we can return to our Father in Heaven. I know its a reality, its not just a nice thought, or a great goal, but it is TRUE, and it WILL HAPPEN as we live up to living in his presence here, we will be more than welcome when that day actually comes!!! I love serving as a missionary. I cant believe how fast it has gone, i feel as though i have taken advantage of it, but i am thankful for the time i have left to live it up, to serve whole heartdly and to show others the Light and Truth that comes from HIS GOSPEL!!!

 

Oh and another blessing, Missouri has had some relief from the drought. It rained for 2 days STRAIGHT and then another huge storm last night!! woohoo!!! BLESSINGS!!

(picture of me splashing in the puddle from the rain!)

 

I love you all!!!

 

Have a great week!!

 

Sister Barnum

 

 

 

 

 

 

E-Mail #63 Another Week Gone By!!!!

E-Mail #63

August 27th, 2012

 

 

 

Hello everyone!

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful week. I had a wonderfully trying week, but i think thats EVERY week of missionary work! Well this week was exciting for Rae, she got her temple recomend!! woohoo! she is also currently in Southern Utah....actually in KANAB! haha, how funny is that. A group from her school is doing volunteer work down there. She was hoping to go to the St. George temple, but probably wont be able to, but she plans on going to the Las Vegas temple! I am so excited for her! Her first time in the temple, and it will be down there. haha. She is just such an amazing person. Her testimony is so strong and she really just lets her light shine to EVERYONE around her. I know that her friends and co-workers and school mates can just see the difference in her. She just glows that girl does! This week we started to teach a couple that is a part-member family. The husband is just so ready for the gospel, he comes every other sunday to church and he has the glow going on! We asked him to let us teach him and he agree'd so this week was the beginning. I know that if he seeks sincerely that he will find out the truth and he will come closer to our Father in Heaven. Its just so exciting to be teaching! We also got to see a person we were teaching and helping progress toward baptism, that like ditched us for over a week, and then we went to see her again and she was totally willing and ready to keep learning. So we are excited to see how things go. Everytime we are ready to just stop trying Heavenly Father gives us enough to say keep going! So we will see what he has in store for this wonder Daughter of his. I know if she really finds out the truth of the Gospel that she will be an amazing member! So i'm sure that is what he has in store for her!

 

 

This week we had zone conference! I LOVE ZONE CONFERENCE! Its just so great to be together as missionaries, to be a strong force together and to feel the spirit so strong! Zone Conference was a lot about taking to things we know and are true and writing it on the table of our heart. So not just being we know the gospel but we will LIVE it because its in our heart. Which was such a great topic for my 2nd to last zone conference because the time i have left i really want to make sure it IS written on my heart. That everything i have learned and continue to learn will go with me when i go home. That i will truely be a better disciple and representative of Jesus Christ. That i really will live his gospel always to the best of my abilities. I am thankful so much for the testimony that i have gained. I wish everyone had the testimony i have ( or better of course) But its just amazing what happens on a mission, its pretty cool. Everyone should serve a mission.

 

 

This weekend we were home all weekend because my comp has been super sick. Which totally stinks! BUT i did read A TON of the Book of Mormon. I started in the beginning and i made it all the way through alma chapter 4. Thats a pretty sweet accomplishment for 2 straight days of being home. Although yesterday i didn't read NEARLY as much as i did saturday. But still, way awesome! At zone conference an elder talked about reading the Book of Mormon in a month. So i am going to take that challenge. I have a pretty good head start, but it will be tough when i dont have the excuse of being home all day so i can read. haha.

 

 

Well im having some problems attaching some pictures. So no love this week as far as that goes. But do know that i love all of you a ton! Have a great week!

 

 

Sister Barnum

 



E-Mail #62 Hello Everyone!!!!

E-Mail #62

August 20th, 2012

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone!!

 

 

Well i hope you all had a great week! I am still in Odessa, thats no surprise. I imagine i am going to finish my mission here. We will see what happens though. A huge tender mercy this transfer is that our new disrict leader is a elder from my last area i served in that i just think is super awesome! So that is way cool! I am very excited about that. This week has been a tough one. My companion had some doctors stuff go on, and found out she has some weird autoimmune disease, which is why she is so sick all the time. So most of the week we were at home, didn't get much done. It was a difficult week because of that. But still a good week. WE were able to get some good teaching done. Someone we are teaching right now is preparing to be baptized on Sept 4th. He is pretty awesome! he is so ready to become a member of this church. We talked with him about the priesthood and i could just tell he is ready to be a priesthood holder! Its been cool to see him grow even though i've only taught him 2 times. But everytime he impresses me and you can tell that he really is recieveing answers to his prayers and knows what is the path for him! Its pretty cool to see. Again, i just love seeing people become converted purely by the spirit! You can tell its just time, thier father in heaven has been helping them get to this point, and we just talk, but the spirit does ALL the work! I love it! This week we also had some time to help one of our members cleaning her house. She is making sooo much progress, it is sooo cool! She is doing great at making her home a place of peace and where the spirit may be. I love it! Friday we were in the house basically allll day. We went to two appointments, where we were told that we are angels in the flesh, which is a pretty nice compliment. and another appointment they told us that they feel the spirit everytime we walk in the door. Complete tender mercy that even though we were in the house bascially all day, it was such a blessing to know that the spirit is with us so strong always. Saturday before the ward party and prophets birthday celebration we had an appointment with someone that has been taught by missionaries for years. It was such a great appointment too. He has lots of concerns, but also loves the church so much, and for sure in his heart has a testimony. But we ended up talking with him about the fact that he prays to know its true with already resistant feelings and not being willing to find out the truth. He started crying as he admitted to that and we suggested that he prays and asks for help to not be resistant to the answers he recieves. It was such a spiritual appointment. I am so thankful for the spirit to help us know how to help him. This man has been taught for so long, and he hasn't joined the church yet for a reason, and we dont know what that is, but God does! So i'm thankful to trust in that. Now to one of the funniest and weirdest appointment of the week. So yesterday afternoon we go to teach the guy that we tracted into a couple weeks ago. So he is like pretty golden right....he's been around church history and met with missionaries before, we find out he has been tracted into by missionaraires several times, so its pretty obvious God keeps sending missionaries his way for a reason. Well we get talking and he is totally the type that wants to fast forward in lessons and act like he knows it all already because he has been around so much of the church and met with missionaries. So it was one of those lessons where i just feel like my brain i fried and he is debating diffrent views on the bible and such. It was pretty frustrating actually, but still really good. Well then we were running late and had to go, so this is the ending conversation. Sis Park: will you pray to ask God if we have something he wants you to hear? Guy: So you're going to bring up james 1:5 right now. Us: noooo, we just want you to pray to know if God wants you to hear something we have to say. Guy: So you're asking me to pray about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Us: nooooo, there is no other motive to us asking you to pray to know if God has something he wants you to learn from us, thats it, thats all! hahahaha, i seriously laughed the rest of the night after that conversation! Good times! Good journal entries! haha. Last night we took rae to the presidents devotional at the Liberty Jail. Thats the first time i've been to one of those! It was way cool. Rae gave her testimony wonderfully and another guy who recently joined the church did also. Then President and Sister Keyes spoke and their testimonies are so wonderful i love hearing from them. THey are such a wonderful boost in my life. This week we have Zone conference and i am so excited for it! Its my 2nd to last zone conference, the next one after this i have to bear my testimony.....ahhhhhh, all missionaries if its their last one have to do that. Thankfully i can just enjoy this one without the nervousness of all that good stuff. So i cant wait for it! I got a pretty sweet package this week

 

 

Package from home $11

Candy $5

Fruit Snacks $2

Bubblewrap PRICELESS!

 

 

who needs a stress ball when you have bubble wrap and i put it to gooood use! haha.

 

 

Well i am so thankful for another week to email home and update you all. I hope you all know i love you tons and am so thankful for all your support for me, i know it has made the world of diffrence. Again the thing i learned this week that continues to remain in my mission is that i really do know that my Father is aware of me, and that he knows me perfectly and he wants to lead me and guide me and bless me, i just have to continue to do whats right and come closer to him always. To be obedient and trust in him. I am so thankful for this knowledge i have gained because i know there were years that i didn't feel like he knew me at all and now i know without any doubt in my mind that he really is aware of me and loves me so completely and so fully that i dont even understand! I love gaining that knowledge. I hope you all have a wonderful week and know that your Father is aware of you too, and that he wants to bless you, you just have to make a step closer to him for him to do it! If we give him an inch he blesses us a mile long! So give him that inch!!!!

 

 

Love you!

 

 

Sister Barnum

 

 

 

 

 



E-Mail #61 I Know the Church is True...

E-Mail #61

August 13th, 2012

 

 

 

Hello everyone!

 

I hope you all had a great week! its been a pretty good week out here. We accomplished a lot this week, this is the first time that we accomplished all but like 2 of our goals, which is a way big deal, that like never happens in missionary work. AND we taught like 30 lessons this week and found 6 new people to teach! So its been pretty awesome!

 

Well to start off the week we went on exchanges, and i got to go work at the Visitors Center, for the first time in my mission!!!! It was way exciting to be a missionary at the Visitors Center for a day. A lot of the sisters couldn't help but laugh at me because i was a little confused puppy wandering around, but i had fun! I figure if i never serve in the VC, at least i got to work there once! haha. It was fun, i was with another sister that i actually go home with, she goes home the same day as me. She is a super stellar missionary! She is way strong and it was just awesome to work with her and to get a boost of energy to go to work, and work hard my last 4 months! While on exchanges we had a super awkward appointment, it was pretty funny actually. We talked with this lady and things are going good, so we tell her we like to pray before we teach and so sister S said the prayed and after the lady got like really awkward and told us she had to go back inside and it was just really confusing and really weird and she told us she likes to do her studies on her own and basically got up and walked away, we were both VERY confused, it was pretty strange, and funny.

 

Later this week we got to help out one of the members of our congregation that has some hoarding habits clean out her house some more. She is doing sooo good at getting ride of stuff. We took out 5 bags of clothes last week, and this week we took another bag of cloths, and then 5 or 6 boxes of other random stuff. It was pretty awesome, and she is making good progress. We had a mini missionary with us again this week, she is pretty excited to serve a mission and really contributed a lot to our lessons, it was very nice! We were out working and i had this thought to go to an area and go tracting so i told them (mini missionary and sis. park) so we went and basically EVERYONE who answered the door was nice to us! It was way cool and we got some return appointments. One guy in particular we were pretty excited about has been around members bascially his whole life, he has gone to the hill cumorah pagent, temple square, met with missionaries before, stuff like that! We are way excited to see where things go with that. But i was way excited that i followed that prompting. Its always nice when you know you did what your father wanted you to do. Sometimes i just get to nervous that i'm not acting on the promptings i should be. This week we have finally started to have some rain which is such a hug blessing to the drought out here. The corn fields are all just DEAD, its way sad, but its been good to get some rain. Because of the drought some towns around us have had their water lines BURST! Because the ground is so dry and its shifting because of it, and its causing them to break. So they have this HUGE boil order in affect in a town next to odessa because of all the gunk that go in the water pipes. Its way bad. Some people dont even have water pressure in their house, and cant take a shower or anything. Things are pretty bad, but the last week we have had some rain storms here and there, and we have had lots of overcast weather, and even BETTER it has been like hight 80s low 90's for a WEEK!!!!! SWEEEETTT RELIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love how cool it is, even this morning it was a little chilly! Oh man, such sweet relief. haha. I predict that winter is going to hit early this year. We will see what happens. I dont really know what else to write about. Its been a way good week. Its been cool to follow the spirit. Sister Park and i are trying to work on becoming more concecrated on the work, and making our prayers more sincere. So we pray individually for those we are teaching and wait to recieve inspiration on how to help them come closer to their Father in Heaven. Its been way awesome to recieve such great revelation on how to help those we are teaching. Makes our prayers super long, but what better thing to do?! Its been pretty awesome. Well i hope you all know that i love you lots. I am so thankful for all the support you all give me and cheer me on as i do my work as a missionary. Its been such an amazing experience. I cant believe how fast it is just going, its already the middle of august...time just flies. I know i will be home before i know it. I just pray that i can accomplish all that my Father needs me to before i leave!

 

 

I am so thankful for this week for the prompting i have recieved and acted on. For coming closer to my Father in Heaven as i do his work and for being led to his children that need to know he really is aware of them. I love doing missionary work! WAY AWESOME STUFF!!! I love you all!!! Have another GREAT WEEK!

 

 

Sister Barnum

 

 

 

E-Mail #60 The Book is Blue, the Church is True, God Loves You and I do TOO!!!

E-Mail #60

August 6th, 2012

 

 

 

Hello all!!

 

 

Well i hope you all have had a wonderful week! I know its been a pretty good week out here! This last week we took one of our investigators to the visitors center. It was actually pretty awesome because we had Rae, who just got baptized take us. Since she is a member now she can give us rides and she loves it! Well while we were at the VC she just blew our socks off, as we were taking the tour and answering questions about the saints and the trials they faced, our wonderful recent convert Rae makes a comment about how in the Book of Mormon it talks about how when the restoration happens that there will be many trials for the people, and goes on about that stuff. YEA!!! It was way awesome! She has such a strong testimony and she just GLOWS every time we see her, you can just feel the spirit and see how strong she feels about the church. Its way cool! Then the next day we were going to do service and dropped our groceries off at her house, and invited her to come do service with us, so she did. It was just fun to spend so much time with her! Seeing her strong testimony has just made mine even more strong. Its just way fun to see someone convert and to know that i really didn't have any part in it....she was just ready. Its probably the best feeling ever to know that you (as a missionary) didn't have any ROLE in this persons conversion, because they are THAT awesome and spiritually prepared! haha. This weekend in Odessa was one of the biggest Odessa events, puddle jumpers....its like peach days...but out here they call it puddle jumpers! It was quiet the couple days. They have all sorts of fun events, one of them that we helped our investigator prepare for was the bedraces. They have people put beds on wheels and race them. One person sitting in the bed and 4 pushing as they race down the road. We were going to go watch it but we had some appointments we had to go to. So that was a bummer, but still sounded like it was awesome, we hope to see pictures!

 

 

This week i decided to throw a surprise birthday party for my companion since she was so bummed about her birthday in July and how it was lame. So i locked her in our bedroom and set up the party. It was allll glow in the dark stuff. Swords, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and BALLOONS!! that's right, did you know they make LED balloons that glow in the dark?! They are pretty cool. So we partied to some popcorn bopping and just had lots of fun! I think she really enjoyed it, I'll attach some pictures.

 

 

This weekend we were eating at Wendy's which is in like the biggest truck stop i have ever seen. Well there was a bus of special needs people that were there eating also. As sister park got her food and came to sit down one of the guys stopped her and said hey i just want you to know that i think you are a beautiful lady. hee hee, well then after we were done eating and walking away he was yelling at us again, and was like HEY..HEY..HEY, so i turned around and he came up to me and said, i just want you to know i told her she was a beautiful lady and i think you are too. and then gave me a side hug! haha, it was so adorable. He was super funny and nice.

 

 

On Sunday we went down to a area in our ward that is in the middle of no where, but there were some people out there that had been given to us as referals and they are awesome! First we met a single mom with 2 kids that has been looking for a church she feels she belongs too. So we talked with her a ton and it was way cool. I am super excited to teach them some more and i think they really felt the spirit and noticed a difference in us being there. So i will keep you updated on how that goes. Then another one was a teenage girl 16 and we talked with her, and taught her about the restoration and invited her to be baptized and she said YES! Way cool! and she is going to prepare to get baptized on Sept 1st! So it was a way cool night, full of awesomeness!

 

 

Other than that cool stuff this week hasn't been very eventful. Its been good though. I am thankful for the time to serve her and to see the changes so many people are making already. Oh well there was one other thing that happened this week. We have been praying a lot about Eric who was supposed to get baptized this coming Saturday. We just kept feeling unsettled about him getting baptized and kinda felt like he didn't need to get baptized to be able to return to our father. So we prayed about it, and asked HF to provide an answer for us, how we can help him progress, or if he is not to get baptized, how do we tell him he is not. Well the next day we got a call from him telling us that he decided not to get baptized. It was still very sad, but sister park and i couldn't object because we knew that was the answer we needed. He still is a great kid, and maybe one day he will be ready to be baptized, but right now is not the time for him. So sometimes, HF answers our prayers in unexpected ways. But the answers are what needed to happen.

 

 

I hope you all have a great week!

 

 

I wouldn't mind if i got some letters in the mail, that'd be pretty cool! Solo Digo.

 

 

Sister Barnum