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
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