In the Service of Your God

Family,

So this week has been crazy busy, but full of miracles. Wow the Lord is really pouring out blessing upon us right now. I'm really really getting to love this area. But before I tell you how great my week was... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TINA!! Hahaha Happy bday Mom, I hope you have the best birthday and go eat lots of cake and things :). You are a remarkable person and I feel so blessed to have you as a mother. Thank you for all you do. 

Also, Happy Thanksgiving.. (belated) 

My thanksgiving was one of a kind, thats for sure. I went on exchanges with Sister Bellen. It was a really awesome exchange and we had a lot of crazy experiences. She had a dinner appointment with one of the members so we went to their house and they had like 3 huge dogs who were so angry at us for some reason.. and wow the dogs here are insane. Man it took us 20 min just to get in their house. Then guess what I ate for thanksgiving dinner... SEAFOOD. My favorite... hahaha we had shrimp and fish and some weird vegetable stuff. I actually like seafood more now than I used to. I can actually eat it so that's one thing I can say I accomplished on my mission :)

We had a really cool experience of service this last week. So a little background of the Philippines.. There are poor people everywhere you go here. Like not poor like in Utah, but like poor as in they sleep in construction type blocks for a bed because they have nowhere to go. A lot of the people here literally have nothing. When I first got on my mission and saw these people all around it broke my heart every time. Especially when I heard we can't give them money because it isn't our money to give. So instead I just give them food whenever I have any.

On Tuesday night we had such a wonderful experience serving. We went to get dinner by a shopping center and a mother probably around 35 years old was holding a little baby and they just looked horrible. They literally looked like they had just duggen through a pit of garbage (which a lot of people do here) Anyway she had a broken ankle and her baby she was holding had two swollen eyes with all this red stuff around them. She came up to us to ask for money. We decided to talk to this lady and get to know her a little bit. She didn't have a family, a job, schooling, or a home. She said she lived behind this old warehouse and her home is like a fort. She kept asking for money so she could buy some milk for her baby. Sorrow filled my whole soul when we were talking to her. I felt so sad for this cute little lady with such a bad situation. So we decided to walk away and buy her things in the grocery store. We bought just some simple stuff for her to make with some rice and bought her baby some milk. After we bought everything, we headed back to give it to her... but she was gone. We couldn't find her anywhere. So I prayed in my heart that we would find this lady in need so that she could have some food to get her through a couple days. Afterwards I was thinking where I would go if I was her and needed money. So we walked to a couple other restaurants and sure enough there she was. So we walked over to her and gave her the bag of groceries. 

The look on her face was priceless. She was so beyond grateful. All she said was maraming maraming salamat po. That's all she could say and she had tears in her eyes. Man, it was such a great experience. Looking back at my experience I just think in our eyes that was such a small thing. We literally just bought a couple cans of food and groceries for someone, but in her eyes it was a HUGE thing. She was so grateful. So I just think, if we can do acts of service like that always how great would the world be. Jesus Christ came to earth literally to serve us because he loves us. During the Christmas season is a great time to follow His example and serve selflessly. I read a quote the other day that said, "Christlike service is when you serve for the person, not for the reward" I really love serving, missionary service, regular service, whatever it is it is all great in the sight of others and in the sight of God. I'm grateful for the service I get to do and I invite all of you to continue to look for opportunities to serve others. 

Anyway,throughout the rest of the week we just worked and worked and worked some more. It paid off as well. We found this amazing family (picture bellow) They are the Mesa Family and we talked to them on Saturday and asked if we could teach them. So then and there we taught them about how the restored gospel will bless their family and about the beauty of temples. Ahh it was such a powerful lesson. Sister Vicky is the mother and she has 9 children. 4 are already married and live above her and 5 are still in their teens or younger. So when we taught we were able to teach almost all of her children so there was like 15 people in the house as we were teaching. It was such a powerful and spiritual experience. And just another testimony builder that it is so important to talk to everyone you see. Whether it is on the street, in a jeepnee, on a bus, or really just anywhere to talk to them. 

Then on Sunday, I was asked to give a talk and we had a lot of investigators show up and many members brought some friends. While the last speaker was talking we saw Sister Niu and Sister Anau (our kabahays) bringing some people into the chapel. I looked up and saw the Mesa family walk into church, they walked in with a smile and a willingness to act on the message they had heard. I literally was up on the stand with tears in my eyes. Oh how grateful I am for the Mesa Family. I am so blessed for the restored gospel and for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My whole heart was filled with joy when I saw them walking into church. We were able to have 11 investigators attend yesterday and its just a firm testimony to me that Heavenly Father does hear and answer prayers. One by one they are choosing to follow Jesus Christ and accept the gospel in their lives. The experiences I have on my mission are literally indescribable. It is so hard for me to explain how I felt and how much every little thing Heavenly Father does for me and for my people each and everyday means to me. 

Sorry for the long email... hopefully you didn't get bored, but I had a great week. I hope all of you have a great day and get ready for the most wonderful time of the year... CHRISTMAS! 4 weeks and then I get to talk to youuuuu :) I'm so grateful for you and for all you do. Thanks for being great examples to all. Keep choosing the right, reading the Book of Mormon, and smiling. I love you all.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton 

13 Months

Familyyyyyy

So this'll probs be pretty short cuz we WENT TO THE TEMPLE TODAY!! That's why we have a different Pday... but it's awesome cuz WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE. Like holy what a blessing temples are especially when I am a missionary. I feel so extremely blessed. Not to mention it is the greatest Thanksgiving/Christmas/13 month present in the whole world. Right... can you believe i'm 13 months. In just a short 5 months i'll be at home with you all eating M&m's and things... hahaha but really time is flying and I can't handle it.

This week was honestly SOOOO hard tho. Like to be honest man it was so rough. I was just struggling so hard with changing and coming back to the city and everything. My new companions name is Sister Kumari, she is from India. She is so nice and so sweet and I really think we will do well together. It's a little bit of an adjustment going from Sister Holzworth (practically American) to Sister Kumari who is an indian. I felt so bad when I first saw her tho. She has been a STL for one transfer so i've seen her at MLC, but I just remember when I was in the MTC and saw people from India and I would make fun of the way they talked and I am just so mean talaga. But now i'm a lot better and don't do that type of stuff, cuz im mature. haha but it is cool that I have companions from all over the world.

On Thursday so the day after transfers, I honestly was dying I was like so emotional for some reason and just really couldn't handle all the changes that just happened so fast and I didn't really know where to turn. I was praying so hard and just trying my best to just adjust and feel comfortable, but it was so hard. So what happened... President Ostler called. Man, he always just knows the right time and the right things to say. He really helped me. I really felt kinda mad that he transferred me to be honest because at MLC he told Sister Holzworth he wasn't planning on transferring me. So we made all these plans for Christmas and all these things and then BOOM... i get transferred. It was a terrible feeling and I was so confused, but when President Ostler called he literally told me that the Lord NEEDED me to come to Mandaluyong with Sister Kumari. He told me he kept trying to ignore the promptings because he knew how much Sister Holzworth and I wanted to have a chance to actually WORK together... but he said to me, "I know that you trust me, and the reason you trust me is because I follow the Spirit. So I had to transfer you." 

So after my nice little chat with President Ostler I felt so much better. I prayed after and just got this huge feeling of peace and love and I know that I am supposed to be in this area.

And even though Thursday was a bit of a rough day we actually had a really good week. We taught this girl named Samantha (like 23 years old, one kid, probs not married) on the spot last week and she actually came to church on Sunday! We had 4 investigators and church and it was awesome. One of the members brought his friend and we taught her as well. Then, just yesterday we went back to Sister Samantha to teach her and she was with some friends and so I asked if we could teach all of them and they were SO interested. Our lesson went for so long cuz they just kept asking questions, like soul searching questions and it was so awesome. So I think we will have a lot of success in our area :) 

As hard as it was to leave Palawan and come here, I really think I'm going to like this place. I think that's the pattern with me. I come and go and I cry and I struggle, but in the end I really start to love the people and it's wonderful. 

Then I get transferred again....

hahaha but really that's kinda the pattern of my mission. I'm just grateful to be here in the Philippines Manila Mission with the wonderful mission President I have and with a beautiful temple (literally like 20 min away from my apartment:) ) I feel like the luckiest person ever! 

So happy week. happy day. and happy thanksgiving. Make sure to eat a lot of food for me and express how much gratitude you have towards me haha 

I love you all! Continue to read the Book of Mormon, choose the right, and pray with all your heart. Thank you for everything you do for me and for your wonderful letters. Sorry if I don't respond to some... time is limited. Know I read them all throughout the week and I'm so blessed to have all of you in my life.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton

Some random pics. The little dark indian is my companion :)

Ingat Palawan...

Dear Family,

So very sad news... i'm leaving Palawan. I just found out like an hour ago that I will be transferring on Wednesday. I'm super depressed about it cuz I REALLY wanted to be companions with Sister Holzworth during Christmas and I really wanted to help this area more... but "I'll go where he wants me to go" plus after 6 transfers on Palawan I guess it's about time that I go back to Manila. It'll be nice to actually have more civilization as well haha... so good bye to my little island home. 

Isn't it crazy how life can just change in a blink of an eye and we just trust in the Lord and go with it, doing His will? Missions are constantly changing and I am officially going with my 9th companion in my 6th area... what a mission. The longest i've ever stayed in an area is 2 transfers... is that not the saddest thing you've ever heard, but I know the Lord has a plan for me and I just need to trust in Him and keep going. Man... it definitely isn't easy tho, but im excited. 

This week has actually been our best week yet and so I guess that doesn't make leaving any easier. We found another huge family and I really think they will get baptized on December 24th... so that's exciting. I will try to get a picture with them sometime today or tomorrow and send it to you next week so you can see them :) We also found a ton of new investigators and have just worked really hard to get some more investigators in this area and to find the true seekers. It's hard saying goodbye when honestly I feel like I didn't do much for this area. After having the companions that i've had and Dengue.. I honestly feel like I didn't change much in this area at all, but I just have to remember that what I did do and what I did give was enough for the Lord. 

One woman I want to share about with you quickly is Sister Gamale. She is such a woman of hope and faith. We visited her a couple times throughout the transfer, but have really focused on her this last week. She is so amazing and so strong. She has a husband who works for the government on and off as a rescue team member. He works when they need him and does other sideline jobs for money. As for Sister Gamale, she has 6 kids from the ages of 13 to 1 years old. So her kids are quite the handful. She is one of the less actives in our area, but she has the biggest desire to go to church and partake of the sacrament again, but she has no way of going to church because she has no money. I have actually never seen a member of the Church as poor as her. She has a small hut house that honestly looks like a tree house of some sort and her walls are made out of cardboard boxes. Seriously, so poor. So as they are trying to survive on the little money brother brings home while having six children to try and help feed, get to school, and do everything else they need to do as parents, they are just really really struggling. 

One thing that I absolutely love about this family though is their faith. We taught them about overcoming challenges and hard situations by always relying on the Lord and having a firm foundation, built on Jesus Christ. We shared Helaman 5:12 and Sister Gamale bore her simple but firm testimony about the truthfulness of this church. The simplicity but power of her testimony was indescribable. She is doing her best to be the best mother she can be. She gathers her family around each night and they read in the Book of Mormon and pray together. 

Sister Gamale is just one of the great members we have in the church. She may be less active right now, but I have no doubt in my mind that when she can go to church she will. We are really hoping the branch will be able to do something to help them out. But just this one Sister helped me really strengthen my testimony about being true to our faith always. No matter what circumstances we are in and no matter how hard our life is, to always do what we can to stay close to Jesus Christ.

Isn't amazing the experiences I get to have with the amazing Filipino people. They are all so amazing and I feel so blessed to be here serving. It's quite true what they say about Filipinos being the kindest most humble people in the World. I'm grateful for the time I have had to serve in Palawan. I will miss it, but I'm sure I will love my next area as much as I loved this one, I always do. Thank you for all you do for me. I love you all with my whole heart. Keep reading the Book of Mormon, choosing the right, and staying close to our Savior and our loving Heavenly Father.

Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Barton

Celebration

Dear Family,

I named this letter celebration cuz its finally time to CELEBRATE! I am up and going and working harder than ever, I have a great companion and we finally got to celebrate our 1 year mark, Kayli and Chris had their beautiful baby girl (I loved the pictures) and it's just been overall a celebration type week with the work and with the family back home. But seriously I am so grateful to be up and going again. We went to MLC this last week and it was amazing. We also had to drop off Sister Ortea (a 2 week part time missionary who was staying in our kabahay working with Sister Tekanene and Sister Gabriel) at the mission home on wednesday and President and Sister Ostler invited us to stay at the mission home for the night and guess what that means... HOT SHOWERS AND AIR CONDITIONING! So that was awesome! MLC was as good as ever and I even got to do my interview with President Ostler because I was sick when he came to Palawan. Man, life was great to me this last week. And to top it all off on the way back from Manila to Palawan we got Krispy Kremes and McDo to celebrate our year mark finally! hahha so I hope you like all our funny pictures... :) This week was so great.

Also after 2 weeks (feeling like 14 weeks) of not working WE WORKED. Man, it was such a great feeling. I'm kinda on house arrest during the day so I don't over do myself and get sick again.. but later in the afternoon we get to work everyday and it is amazing. We got to go finding this week and we had the coolest experience ever. The area we have right now is sooooo dead... so to brighten it up a bit we decided to walk around and just talk to everyone to see if they are interested in the beautiful message us missionaries have to offer. We decided to just roam around our area a bit and we came to this river place compound called Barangay San Miguel. It was really close to the church and many people lived down there where we decided to go. It was a really interesting place. As we were exploring we asked a man if there was a lot of housed down this certain alley way. He said yes there was many and we went ahead into the compound. We saw this lady and started to talk to her and she told us it was just a dead end... so that made us feel kinda dumb considering we had pretty much just walked into her house without an invitation, but the spirit lead us so I guess it was fine and polite and things. She then went inside her house and stoped talking to us and Sister Holzworth and I felt a little uncomfortable, but we just decided to stand there until she would let us teach her. So as we were standing there we were talking to some kids and just a bunch of people were down in this little dirty place and it was awesome. Then the lady came back and she agreed to hear our message. As we were teaching her just more and more people started to join. At first it was just her, then her sister, then her dad, then her two kids, then her sisters kids, then her brother.. and so on. By the time we were actually teaching we probably had around 15 people just listening. It was amazing. Turns out the compound was actually full of one big family. The parents have 7 kids and 18 grand kids so far. Ahhhh it was the best experience ever. They did have many many many mosquitos around their home and i almost had a panic attack, but I put on off lotion like it's no ones business, so I think i'll be fine :)

Seriously after not working for the longest time to have such an amazing experience of letting the Spirit direct us into finding such a great family who seems ready to accept the gospel was so great. I am so excited to see what happens to them. Not to mention we had some amazing lessons with Less Actives as well, through asking inspired questions. My testimony just continues to constantly grow as I teach and testify about this beautiful gospel every single day. I really love this work and I love being a missionary of the only true church on this earth. 

Sometimes its really hard to think I could be transferred next week, but at least I am giving it my all now that I can. I really hope and pray I will stay in this area for just one transfer longer so that I can help this area grow and see the work prosper more in Puerto Princesa. I'm so grateful for this work and honestly for just the ability to be up and walking and talking to all those who will listen. That's the best part about being a missionary. You get to talk to everyone and just talk about the gospel all the time. I love it! I really think this is the happiest time of my life. I am just so grateful and I can't wait to continue to have so many more experiences.

I love you all and I'm grateful for the support I receive from you every week! I love all of your emails and the updates on all of you. You are all wonderful and I encourage you to keep striving to be the way Christ was. Christmas is soon and in the Philippines it is here (It starts is September). I am so blessed to have you all in my life. Continue to read the Book of Mormon everyday and keep choosing the right! 

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton