The work continues!!!

 Another week in the Winder world 😊

Monday: monday night after Pday we were able to teach Tricia!! We taught her the Plan of Salvation & she was one step ahead the entire time. Ohhh it was incredible. We asked if she had any questions & she said no because it makes so much sense. I LOVE HAVING FRIENDS TO TEACH THAT HAVE BEEN PREPARED!! God is soooo aware of us at this time & His work will continue.

Tuesday: we did exchanges with the Commerce sisters!! Their in a Trio & it kinda made me miss my trio days! Trios are literally soooo much fun!! We went to their apartment & did some brainstorming on ways we can stay busy & be active with our limitations & restrictions. It was really good & i love learning from other sisters.

We also were able to teach Sheila!!! There was a big storm in Winder & the power went out & our connection with the missionary that speaks french was sooo bad but we made it work. At the end of the lesson she thanked us soooo much for making it possible for her to understand & learn more about the gospel. She is sooo sweet & so prepared.

Wednesday: we did a lesson over the phone with Sister Mixon because we cant visit her anymore because of Corona but we talked a lot about repentance & how we can always be forgiven for our mistakes because of Jeaus Christ. I love my Savior & I am so grateful that he is more than willing to take upon my burdens so I can return to my Heavenly Father! There is so much power in the atonement!

We got told we cant do anymore exchanges because Corona is spreading throughout the mission so we did a zoom call with some of the other sisters in the mission & did an exchange that way!! Its definitely not as fun but gets the job done I guess.

We had our first lesson with Sarah!! Sarah is from a less activie family & was a referral from their ministering brother. We had our lesson at the church & their whole family came!! 5 kids & their parents!! Ohhh it made me so happy that they were all there to support Sarah & learn more for themselves!! We taught them the restoration & it went sooo well. Sarah is the quietest sweetest little girl & i am so grateful for the opportunity to teach her!

Thursday: we had District Council which is always a good part of the week! We also did service for a member thats moving!! We were able to help them paint their house & it was soooo fun!! Painting is like therapeutic or something because the time flew & i was just living in the moment!

Friday: we went to a Zone Conference for another zone because Sister Swapp was giving a training on Technology. I really enjoyed it!! I got to go just for the fun & to be able to see other missionaries so it was basically a win win for me! After we went to a members home & helped them unpack boxes & reorganize stuff that never got put away when they moved in 2 years ago!! It was very satisfying & i kept thinking about how much courty would've loveeed it!!

Saturday: we went back & painted more for the family in our ward. We also did another exchange over zoom & did a lot of planning.

Sunday: we went to the Wilsons & had the sacrament with them & did Come Follow Me for this week!! We talked about Alma the Younger & his repentance process & did the object lesson where you have a bowl of water & you put pepper in it to represent the sins & then a drop of dish soap & all the sins go away! We talked about how we can repent at anytime & be forgiven for any mistakes we have made. We told sarah she can be completely forgiven through baptism & invited her to be baptized!! It was really special because Sister Swapp & I prayed before we went about what day we feel like she would be ready for baptism & we picked August 15th. We asked her about that day & it just ended up being her birthday & one of the few days her dad has off work. The family was so happy & the spirit was soooo strong. It was a really special & unique experience.

I am so grateful for my mission & for all the experiences that have testified to me of my Savior Jesus Christ. He knows each of us & is aware of our needs, desires, & struggles. If I could give anything to Georgia this is where I have truly come to know my Savior.

I miss yall & love yall even more!! Keep being happy!

Xoxo, Sister Barton

14 MONTH MARK!!

 Yay this week i hit my 14th month mark & im still amazed at how fast time moves!!

Tuesday: we first went to Lilburn because Sister Swapp had a meeting with all the tech specialists in the mission. After that tho we had exchanges with one of the companionship of sisters in the zone! Exchanges are basically where you switch companions for the day or a few hours & learn different ways of doing missionary work & get to check in on them & make sure they're doing good!! It went really well & its fun being able to get to serve so personally with so many sisters!!

Wednesday: we had interviews with President Harris ALL day!! We got to the church @ 10am & were there until 5pm! Lucky for us we were able to leave to have lunch with a new family in our ward & welcome them to Winder but for the most part we were there all day! Interviews were good tho!! President Harris is great & its VERY interesting to see the difference in how him & President Marsh do things! We also went to this yummy protein place for my 14 months so that was fun!!

Thursday: we had Distrcit Council & the Elders gave a training on studying!! It reminded me how lucky we are to have this time to studying the gospel & learn all we can about Jesus Christ. During the time being quarantined I have felt like studying hasnt meant much because I have no one to study for because we havent been teaching much. After this training I gained so much more motivation & gratitude to be given this time to truly study the scriptures! What better thing to do than to come closer to Jesus Christ during all this Chaos!! Even if its just an extra 5-10 minutes a day i know that studying scriptures & the words of modern prophets can help us feel peace & joy & so much more purpose. So longs story short, study for just a little extra to being more peace into your life.

We also did another exchange with some sisters & we went & taught Sister Mixon!! Unfortunately we arent going to be able to go see her in person anymore due to the increase of covid but ot was sooo good to visit her!! She is a lady with much sass & i loveee it!! We talked about Alma 32 & how faith is like a seed that needs to be planted & then nurished. I think its sooo important to remember that faith is an on going action. We dont just gain faith once & then were done. Its an on going process of doing things that bring us closer to Christ.

We also taught TRICIA!!! Tricia was supposed to moved to Virginia so we referred her to the missionaries there & come to find out her apartment fell through & nothing was seeming to workout in Virginia so she moved back here!! It was literally an answer to prayers because she is so prepared & we wanted to teach her so bad!!

Friday: we had exchanges with the Senior STLs & it went sooo good! We helped a family in our ward pack & get ready to move & it was sooo fun!! I was able to learn so much from Sister Huang especially on new ideas to further the work during corona & ways to help the zone!! It was such a good day!

Saturday: we finished helping the family pack & paint their home & wow i love doing service!! Come to find out this family has soooo many animals! I held 2 snakes & sugar glider!! tbh i could go for a pet snake when I get home hahah  their kinda cool!!

Sunday: we had a meeting with our stake leadership & after we were able to go to a members home for the sacrament. I love members & have such a love for member missionary work!! Building relationships with the members is one of the best things we can do to strengthen the ward & find more people to bring to Christ.

I am so blessed to be a missionary!! I love my Savior & i love yall! Have the best week!!

Xoxo, Sister Barton 

Yayayay

 Another week in Georgia!!

Tuesday: we visited Janae who was baptized in March!! She is the CUTEST & has such a good outlook on life. We talked about the Plan of Salvation & read from the Book of Mormon together. It feels so good to be able to go into peoples homes & actually teach them again!!

Wednesday: we had a "meet the Harrises" with a lot of other missionaries!! The Harrises came with their family & gave a little introduction of themselves & shared their vision for the GANM. It was really fun & after they had Hokulia for all of us!! It was good to spend time with mission friends!
We had a lesson with Sister Griffin! We did come follow me with her & helped her to be excited about coming back to church in August.

Thursday: We spent the majority of the day in Roswell going to all of our doctor appointments so it made for a long day. But it was good to be gone all day!

Friday: we visited Sister Morgan & she made me a blanket!!!! Sooo cute! Last time we were there she asked my favorite color & this time we showed up & she had this cute crocheted blanket for me. The members here in Georgia are sooo thoughtful!!
We also taught Sheila!! Shes from Congo & speaks French & no English so it was a little bit of a challenge but it went good. I had met her one time before so it was fun to see her & her family again!! We had a member there to interpret but she only took french in high school so it was kinda rough. Next time we are planning on having a missionary call in & translate for us.
We also taught a SELF REFERRAL!! Yes referrals are GOLD!! His name is Xiong but apparently he goes by David! We studied the bible with him & then told him about the Book of Mormon. He said " I can already see how this could be true & I havent even read it yet." YAY!

Saturday: we met with our Ward mission leader to go over ways the ward can be more involved in our missionary work. It went very well & it really amazes me to see the members putting so much effort into the work. After we planned a lot & that was pretty much our day!

Sunday: we had the sacrament with our Ward mission leader!! Him & his wife are the sweetest people of all time. They are both converts & love the gospel & treat everyone like gold. They told us about their conversion & fed us lunch. I love hearing conversion stories because we all have that time when the Holy Ghost testifies to us that this is true. Even if weve been members our whole life.

After the sacrament we went & taught our friend David. He is a monk & had many many questions & a lot of interesting theories. We taught him the restoration & He says it just makes sense. We invited him to read & pray on his own so he can gain his own testimony. He was a little skeptical about prayer but i really hope he acts so he can come to know for himself!!

I am grateful for the few people we are teaching & to be able to be apart of this wonderful work. I know God is aware of each of us & that we can find peace during this chaotic time if we turn to Him through prayer. As I was teaching David this week I realized how ive taken prayer so much for granted. Ohhh how lucky we are to know we can communicate with our Father in Heaven at any time & that He actually hears us & loves us so much.

I love yall & i love being a missionary!

Xoxo, Sister Barton 

Blessings, miracles, & excitement!

 This week has been amazing. The life of a quarantine missionary is actually getting soooo busy & i never thought i would say that. YAY!!

Tuesday: we went & met President & Sister Harris!!! AHHHHH it was sooo good! I was actually kind of terrified hahaha he walked in & I was like WOAH. Hes just this spiritual giant (he played in the NFL so a literal giant lol) but really I was kinda shook. Im really excited to learn from him & his new ways of missionary work. We were also able to meet Sister Harris & two of their 5 daughters! It was pretty much an all day event because a mission presidents schedule is always crazy so there was a lot of waiting around but it was good to be able to meet them!!

Wednesday: we taught our less active bff Sister Mixon!! Ok funny story on monday night she fed us ribs & made us eat the WHOLE ENTIRE THING OF RIBS UNTIL THEY WERE GONE. I love myself some ribs but NOT when im forced to eat 273827 ribs. Wow georgians LOVEEE to feed you until you're past the point of full 😂 anyway on wednesday we did Come Follow Me with her & it was real fun!! Shes this funny sassy lady that always has me laughing so its a good time!!

We also got a referral!!! Her name is Tricia & we were able to study the bible with her & she was sooo prepared & interested to hear our thoughts. Just from this first lesson we could both feel how prepared she is to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was incredible!! Shes moving to Virginia so we wont be able to teach her after sunday but hopefully the missionaries there will help her along the way!!

Thursday: we met with another less active Sister Griffin!! She is a talker & loves having us visit!!
We also went on a picnic with some of the young women in our ward! They texted us last week & wanted to get to know us better & planned a fun picnic! It was so cute!! Awe Georgia members are the best!!!

Friday: we had MLC again but this time with President Harris!! It was really cool to see the different ways President Marsh & him do things. President Harris likes everything to be a discussion. Instead of a meeting he calls it a council. He really wanted all of our input & ideas. He kept saying how he wants Jesus Christ to be at the center of everything we do. He said the most important thing we can do on our missions is to bring ourselves to Christ. I thought it was really cool to hear my own mission president say that. Were always hearing about the importance of teaching others, & finding those people who are ready but i love that his first focus is us. After the "council" part of MLC we played minute to win it games & had a lot of fun! President Harris kept saying we work hard & then we play hard! Yay for having fun!!

Saturday: The 4th of July!! The best holiday EVER!!🎆🎉💫🍉 In the morning we had another bible study with our referral Tricia! We talked a lot about faith & revelation. At the end we gave her a Book of Mormon & explained a little bit about it. We bore our testimonies & you could just feel her excitement & pure curiosity to learn more. Ohhhh i wish she was staying here in Winder so i could continue to get to know her, love her, & watch her come even closer to Jesus Christ. Its a huge blessings tho that we have missionaries all over the world who are ready to teach & help all our friends!

After we had a council/activity with our zone. We had a discussion about ways that we can improve the way we do missionary work on facebook. The beginning of quarantine & covid & everything i had a little (actually a HUGE) pitty party but now im like whattt we have literally the best thing at our fingertips!! Why would i sit & dwell in all the things i cant do when i could be sooo effective in how i use the lords time!? Through Facebook we are impacting sooo many peoples lives without even realizing it! I am really excited & grateful to be apart of this new way of doing missionary work! God is sooo aware of us & facebook is a tool He has given us to further the work! Yay for technology & social media!!

After our council we played lots of games as a zone!! Like President Harris says... work hard & play hard! Woooo!

We also got to watch fireworks & do sparklers with the sisters in our district & even caught a frog!! So random & gross but i was brave & held it! (Pic below HA)

Sunday: we were able to go to the Bishops home for the sacrament! For the last 3 weeks we have stopped by the church with bread in hope there would be someone there to administer the sacrament to us. It was really nice this week to be able to go to the bishops & feel of the spirit that comes from the sacrament & from being in a Christ centered home.

After we planned all day. & when i say all day i mean ALL DAY. My brain started to hurt so bad because we had SO much to plan for. So many things to do & remember it was a little bit overwhelming. I stopped for a second & realized what a blessing it was to be sooo busy. I havent felt this overwhelmed with being so busy in soooo long & now we cant even find the time to do everything we want!! Its truly a miracle.

I know God is aware of each of us & he knows the desires or our hearts. He hears & answers our prayers & is waiting at all times to pour out a blessing upon us if we will just ask. I couldnt be more grateful for the time i have to figure out & use facebook in righteous ways & help missionaries in the future.

I love y'all, i love America, & i love being a missionary for my Savior Jesus Christ.

Xoxo, Sister Barton