day to day of a missionary

Sunday: we had a very less active come to church and shes signed up to feed us so that was so sweet! Also a member brought his friend so church was all around awesome! Sunday was also sister austins birthday so we decorated the whole appartment and suprised her and went to the senior missionaries house who are serving in the YSA branch and had dinner and her favorite chocolate cake!! It was so fun!

Monday: we are spending so much time at KSU i love it! We have found so many people! last week we had 12 news!! YES 12!

Tuesday: we had our last district council awe kinda sad!! I made the one and only famous Barton hot fudge and everyone loved it! Thx for the recipe mom 

We taught Clara tuesday we talked a lot about faith and i told her that a mission was something i didnt want/was scared to do but that i felt so strongly that it was something Heavenly Father wanted me to do and that it took a lot of faith for me to take that next step. We talked about the blessings that come from baptism and the importance of taking that step. She told us that she wants to be baptized but us very worried about how her parents will react. Pray her parents will support her!!

For dinner we went to the Lenahans!! The best members! The ones who took us to a REAL italian restaurant, SUSHI, and this time they made REAL BBQ for us!! He said he spent all day cooking just for us!! Omg it was so nice and so yummy!!

Wednesday: We contacted so many people omg its so good! We taught one of our contacts from earlier in the week about families and temples and how through temples we can be with our family for all eternity. Its so special and something i love love teaching people because so many people believe it but then we ask how and they dont know. We have the opportunity to teach them the HOW behind it!! AHHH its so awesome!!

Thursday: we had tabeling!! Tabeling is where you set up a table (obviously) and we have a big whiteboard with a question on it. Our question was "what is your favorite Bible verse?" Then as people walk past we ask them to write their favorite bible verse! Its awesome because so many people get so excited to share! Some people just come up and write it!! Here in the south people love their Bible!! By tabeling we are able to talk about the verse they wrote and turn it in to talking about the gospel and what we believe!! I even had a guy come write one and as we were talking he said wait im looking for a church! And we were able to set a return appointment! Wooo!

Friday: we contacted all day and ended with a lesson with a less active. We taught her the FAT->FIT lesson (families AND temples -> families IN temples) and she loved it. We talked a lot about the work we can do for our families in the temple and invited her to find a name to take. She said she has no idea how so we now have the opportunity to set her up an account and help her find those names!!

My emails are long so if you are still reading this GO YOU! I am truly loving being a missionary and time is already flying!! I have already been here 109 days and it feels like maybe 10. I hope you all can find a way to be a missionary this week. We all have trials but a lot of the time I dont think we realize how blessed we are to have the knowlege that we do. So lets share that!!

Love you all soooo much!

Xoxo, Sister Barton

Crazy 2 weeks

To say its been a crazy two weeks has been an understatement. We went from someone we've been teaching on date to him dropping us. Awe yes my heart was very sad. But let me tell ya about the good too!

Aug 14: We taught boakai and he is progressing!! (my companions say) i never can understand him hahahah he is from africa and supposedly speaks english but let me tell ya i dont think its english. We have taught him three times and i always sit there just staring at him while words go in one ear and out the other. HAHAH but he's apparently progressing so thats good right?!

Aug 15: We had zone conference last week (ON MY 3 MONTHS MARK) yes wow it was so good. Its like a spiritual high and even though i still dont know very many people its so fun seeing other missionaries!! My two comps gave a training because they are STL's and they crushed it so that was fun to watch them!

Aug 16: MY OLD PEOPLE BEST FRIENDS TOOK US TO GET SUSHI FOR DINNER!! YES BECAUSE THEY LOVE ME!! Theres the cutest old couple in one of the wards we are serving in. They have traveled literally everywhere and they are soo nice to us!! They asked me my favorite food and took us to get sushi because its my favorite!! Cute huh?

Aug 18: Stake conference!! President and sister Marsh spoke!! Two times hearing from them in one week! Yes!! They explained our mission initiative to the stake and how we are so big on families he also explained yellow pad prayer and wow im just so excited to be in this mission!! We talk about families all day everyday and I LOVE MINE SO MUCH!!

Aug 20: MISSION MIRACLE!!! We were at FHE on campus playing 9 square and this girl comes up to me and says hey are you a missionary? And i said yes yes and she said i was in utah last week and went to Temple Square and I am very interested in learning more about your church!! Ahhhhh this is whay missionaries pray for! Actually this is what we fast for!!! We have met with her twice since then and the spirit is so strong when we teach her! Ahhh she is so great and im sooo grateful for people who are prepared!

Aug 22: we had exchanges with the hermanas! It was so fun to be with a spanish sister!! I love exchanges because you can learn so much different types of missionary work!! I also got to call Makell for her BIRTHDAY!! Happy Birthday Makell awee it was the best to call and be able to be apart of a happy day!!

Aug 23: we went on splits with a member who is going on a mission and we went to campus and talked to so many people. College here is way different than in utah!! There is sooo much diversity I LOVE IT!! So many cute girls with platform shoes and afros i just keep telling everyone they are awesome because everyone jusy owns who they are and its amazing!! hahaha that night butler creek ward had a game night!! They had blow up bowling, board games, and those blow up balls that you get into and hit eachother idk hahah! It was so fun and i honestly feel like butler creek is my second home ward its so awesome!!

Long long email but I am loving the mission! Being able to serve on campus has been a huge blessing and i never want to leave!! People are so open and will just talk to you about anything ahhh its awesome!! I hope everyone knows how much i love them!! And i hope you all have a great week!! Keep being more like christ everyday!

Xoxo- Sister Barton

About the mission life

Here we are! Another day and another week as a missionary!! So many times i think to myself "i'm actually on a mission wow" it still feel s surreal that im having all these experiences!!

Monday: ok backing up a lil... last saturday we met brandy.. this is how we met her...While we were tracting we ran into brandy. She was going around screaming and crying hahaha she was yelling because someone stole her aloe plant and she was banging on everyones doors screaming trying to find it. It was a lil sad but really funny. The second time we walked past her she asked what we were doing and we told her we were sharing a message about Gods plan for us. She says in this crying sad voice "can you share Gods plan with me?" We said YES and went into her home and she was crying so we just calmed her down BUT we got a return appointment for MONDAY so after p day we went and taught her the resto! It was so cool because every question she asked led to the next principle! We got a return appointment for TODAY so lets hope that goes good!! Awe brandy is actually so cute.

Tuesday: omg omg tuesday night the butler creek yw asked if i would teach them hairstyles and go over hair tips or their activity and let me tell ya I LOVED IT! To be back in my element was such a blessing! I love the butler creek ward!

Wednesday: we tracted all day! We met a guy who recited three poems to us at his door it was way funny. He was the highlight to my day! Oh we also went to institute for the YSA ward and i really enjoyed that! I got to fill my spiritual bucket!!

Thursday: vladimir didnt show up to our lesson and kyrees lesson fell through so that was sad. Hahaha funny story we had a dinner appointment that we CONFIRMED with the mom and we got there and the grandma told us to wash the dishes so we thought oh ya no problem we can help out! Then the little boy turns to my comp sis austin and says "ok you start making the mac & cheese" we were like wait what the food isnt ready? Hahaha we ended up making dinner for their family and then had to leave hahahah it was so random

Friday: we had a lesson with a lady named Diane that sis austin used to teach in a different area and got permission to keep teaching because she said she will only listen to her. Ya wow is right!! Diane is a very logical lady and shes one of those peopls that acts like they can see right to your soul omg it was kinda scary. But she said she liked me so were ok. Haha 

Saturday: tracting ALL day!! We met someone named david! We told him we believe that we should learn all we can about our families because god gave us families and we can recieve so many blessings through the family. We started to talk about living with our families forever after this life and asked him if we could set up a time to teach him more about this plan. (GREAT CLIFFHANGER RIGHT) We got a return appointment for sunday 

Sunday: we taught David!! We taught him the beggining of the plan of salvation and stopped at christs life on earth. I love love leaving people at such a great spot because then they so badly want to meet with us again!! Our lesson with him was great and he is very interested! We got a return appointment for tuesday so wooo!!

Monday: zone pday!!! We played softball as a zone!! It was fun to meet new people and just have fun!!

I am loving working hard and being diligent. Missionary work is definitely one of the hardest but definitely the most important and rewarding things ive ever done. Out here in the south many people have strong opinions about religion so being able to approach them by talking about families has changed everything! I LOVE MY MISSION!!
i hope all of you can find a way to talk about how families can be together forever with one person this week!!
Love you all!!
- sister Barton

Life changing events

Another week that flew by crazy how the mission life works!! A week full of life changing events as well as fun times wooo

Tuesday: we had the best member dinner ever!! The cutest old couple took us to an italian restaurant sister Trussell loves loves italian! They were so nice! They ordered a bunch of appetizers, we both got whatever we wanted, and dessert!! YES im even fatter than i was HAHAHAAH but yes they told us they wanted to reward us for our hard missionary work. It was so cute. Also the old man plays santa at the mall. Isnt that just the cutest?

Wednesday: we did service for a member! The dirt here in georgia is like clay and she is wanting a garden so we mixed the georgia clay dirt with normal dirt so she can eventually grow something! It was nice to help her out! After we went on exchanges with the senior STLs so basically sister APs!!!! I stayed in acworth with sister fowler and got to know her so much better! It was awesome!

Thursday: Sister Trussell and I had a transfer!! Sister Trussell went to UGA, and I am now in a trio with the STL's TRIPLE covering yes its crazy lots of hard work hahah

Friday: we taught Edward!! Teaching in a Trio is so different but so cool wow! I learned so much! Edward is so awesome and is only 9 we teach his grandma come follow me and he has recently been interested. He had a lot of great questions and participated so much more than our last lesson.

Saturday: we did service at the food pantry!! I was helping a lady with her bags and she goes "wow you're so cute! Are you amish?" HAHAHAH i told her how im a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and then i realized i really did look amish that day so whoops hahaha

Our mission is very focused on families and temples! I have learned how to take the family and temple initiative and apply it into my missionary work so much more this week!! So many more people talk to us and open up because we start talking about families before anything else. It is so cool to be able to connect with everyone and talk about our families because I LOVE MINE!!

Sunday: Church!!! Yeah i love church omg!! & now triple covering instead of even double covering!! we get to talk and meet more people so thats awesome! 3 wards wooo!

Ok funny story so all the sisters in the zone came over sunday for a sleepover for sisters p day on monday! It was one of the sisters birthdays so we thought... lets make a cake!! We looked in the cabinet and there was what we thought was a cake mix! one white bag and one brown bag! We picked the white one and starting making the cake and the consistency was soooo off!!! We kept adding things and eventually just thought whatever lets just bake it!! It comes out... we try it... and my comp goes it taste like breakfast... HAHAHAHA it was made from pancake mix!! Omg omg dont ever make that it was so not good but so funny!! Probs a had to be there moment but whatever weird things are funny on the mission haha

The Lord is aware of each and everyone of us and remembering that has brought me so much comfort on my mission. He doesnt forget about us he trusts us enough to go through hard times so we are able to come out even stronger. HE LOVES US

Letter to mom

Oh mom sounds like you had a good week. I love you sooo much and im so happy you and courty got to go to cali before starting work! 

This week was absolutely crazy. On wednesday we went on exchanges with the senior STLs so basically the girl version of APs hahaha but i stayed in acworth with one of the SSTLS and sister trusell went to lilburn with the other two. (The sstls are in a trio) i was with a sister named sister fowler and when i got in the car she told me president is expecting me to call him soooo i did. He was asking me more questions about the whole elder thing and i told him everything i knew and he asked me to basically be the cop and everytime we did something with the elders that wasnt with the rules to call him. I was kinda scared cuz i dont ever have the sim card because sis trussell keeps it in her phone but i told him i could figure it out. President marsh told me how much he trusts me and how he can see how serious im taking my mission and how im already a lot more mature than some of the other missionaries just by living my mission this way from the start. President marsh is awesome and soooo caring.

That was our convo and the next day we went to meet back up from our exchanges. The other sisters called sister fowler and i and told us we are going to meet at chickfila for lunch. We got there and all the senior stls went to the "bathroom" sooo sister trussell and i were left hahahah she turned to me and said "im shaking" i was like wait whats going on? And she told me that president marsh called the senior stls on the way to meet us and then they hung up and said lets go to lunch. She then said "sister barton what did you tell president marsh!?" I told her "i told him everything i know." She was very nervous and the senior stls came back and we began to eat lunch.....

2 minutes into eating sister trussell gets a call... its president marsh. He told her to go outside of chick fila but where we could still see her. She started crying and i was very very worried. She then went to the car and sat in there talking to president. About 10-15 minutes goes by and president now wanted to talk to me! He told me that he is calling an emergency transfer and that last night he was very inspired to do this. He told me that sister trussell will be going to UGA and that i will now be companions with the STLs and be TRIPPLE covering. He told me to go to our appartment immediately and pack up everything. The senior stls drove us and helped us pack everything up. Sister Trussell was bawling and to be honest i wasnt sure how to feel. One of the things sister fowler told me while we were on exchanges was "sister barton you and very content with everything. You know how to rely on the lord and just keep pressing forward during these hard times. You live in the moment." I feel like that is something i have learned how to do on my mission. I am content and happy with what is going on in the moment. I think that is how ive survived so far. Haha but I think the sad part for me with the whole sistuation would be leaving that appartment in acworth because its my favorite and where im born hahaha it also broke my heart to see sister trusell so so sad. She told me at chick fila that she didnt like her exchange and just kept thinking "its ok because i get to go back to barton" and now she didnt. She was so so sad to be sent to UGA as an emergency transfer and very very embarassed. I love sister trusell and wish the best for her but president saw that there needed to be a change.

My new companions are sister austin and sister collins. Sister collins has always been in the north mission and sister austin moved over with me. They are both so amazing and i am learning a lot from them. Sister collins is very very obedient and has so much dilligence in missionary work. Sister austin is so sweet. She has a very very kind demeanor and loves missionary work. Swithing to the north mission was overwhelming for her but she is now and stl and taking everything on so amazingly! I already love them and im excited to learn even more from them. 

Sorry this is so long but if you have any questions ill talk to you more about it when we talk :) LOVE YOU TONS