Best Weekend of my Whole Life

Dear Family,

This week has been one of the best weeks of my whole mission/ whole life! Seriously, the power, spirit, and all around greatness felt this past weekend has been truly unforgettable. I feel so blessed to have had the experience with Elder Bednar and to have really gotten myself physically as well as spiritually prepared before his arrival. 

It was so amazing having Elder Bednar come and speak to our mission. On Saturday we were able to have a mission conference with the whole Manila Mission for like 4 hours with Elder Bednar. That night we were able to watch on a broadcast questions and answers with the area presidency and Elder Bednar. Then on Sunday because we are in Makati Stake, we were able to have a special Elder Bednar conference with the whole stake. So it was literally like a weekend with an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. HOW COOL IS THAT?! Ahhh it was honestly so spiritually great that I feel absolutely exhausted. After this email I am going to spend the rest of pday watching 17 miracles and sleeping hahaha but really it was so so great. 

Being with Elder Bednar especially the first time when it was just all of us missionaries in the Manila Mission was so different. I kind of figured that he would just kind of lecture us and tell us how to be better and learn more and pick on people and do things like that, but it was so cool the way he did it. He literally talked WITH us, not AT us. It was so good. He started off by saying, "Okay Elders and Sisters, are you ready? Let's get to work." Then he literally had us talk to him and he asked questions to us and we asked questions to him and it was literally one of the greatest things that I have ever seen. 

I have so many things I want to share with you from things I have learned over this last weekend, but one thing that really impacted me was to always be an agent and act by faith. He was talking to all of us and telling us how we aren't objects. People can't make us feel any certain way or make us do any certain thing. Because we have agency we are agents and we act for ourselves and we must always do so in order to learn and grow. He kept saying that as we chose to do the simple things in our lives like pray, read the scriptures, attend church services, serve, attend activities and institute, etc. we are acting. We are choosing to change and to always follow the will of the Lord. One thing he said that I absolutely loved was, "God will bless you to do things you'd never imagine." As we strive to do His will and be more like Him through our choices, he will bless us. He will bless us way more than we can or could ever bless ourselves. 

He also helped us learn what acting by faith is and what it means. That when we pray and have the intent to act on the things we pray for it is way more predictable and way more powerful. He compared it to OYMing or "opening your mouth" aka talking to everyone. If we pray to have power and amazing words to say to people, but we never actually act and talk first, it will never happen. We must first act. We must first open our mouths to people and then our mouths will be filled. It was so good, because I've never thought about it like that. Even with things like getting a job. You can pray to have help to find a job and things, but if you just sit in your house and never act or go out and look for one of course God cannot help you. But as you go out and act and seek for a job, God will help you and lead you to what you need at that time. It was so good and I just feel like I received so much guidance and revelation for the rest of my mission and for my future. 

As many things as I learned of the gospel and doctrines and things, the one thing I will never forget is the way I felt. The power and holiness of Elder Bednar was so amazing. I can literally testify and tell you that he is a man called of God. He is a true witness of Jesus Christ. I knew that before this past weekend, but actually having Him speak with us and seeing Him face-to-face and feeling his spirit just confirmed what I know to be true. 

The Spirit I have felt this past weekend will never be forgotten. I feel so blessed to be a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ, to serve him everyday, and to know that I am clean, pure, and worthy to do this work. As we embrace the gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can change each day. That is the greatest part. If we make a mistake which we are going to do many many times, we have hope. We have the chance to repent even for the smallest of things so that when the great day comes we can stand at that judgement day and know that we are clean and pure to enter the celestial kingdom. This weekend I felt celestial moments. I'm grateful to be in the Philippines and to continue to serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. How grateful I am to be a servant of Him. 

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton

1.A selfie taken from Riveca Mesa hahahaha 

2. LOOK HOW MANY AMERICAN SISTERS THERE ARE NOW!!!! When I started the mission there was literally just me and now there are 6 of us! ahhhhh it's so great :)

16 Months...

Dear Family,

Uhhhhh I don't know what's happening.. i'm going to be 16 months tomorrow and it's kinda freaking me out to be honest. Luckily since I don't come home for a little longer than that I have a little bit more time here in this beautiful country. I can't tell you how beyond blessed I feel to be able to have the opportunity to be serving here in the Philippines. It's so amazing. Literally everyday as I am here I just feel so grateful to be here. I really love this place. It's kind of weird you'd think i'd still remember a lot about America, but to be honest.. I don't remember much. I was watching a conference thing the other day and it showed the Salt Lake temple and things and I was just amazed at the beauty of the temple and the mountains and just Utah. It's so beautiful, the Philippines is beautiful as well, but just in a very different way. 

I want everyone to know that I am doing okay. I appreciate all the prayers and things, but know that I will be okay. President Ostler gave me strict counsel on what to do to be healthy and strong. So as long as I follow the counsel he gave, I know I will be okay. 

It's actually amazing how many blessings we were able to see this week even though we were so busy. This week we had Interviews with President, taught in two different zone meetings, and had exchanges, but even with the busy week we were able to see miracles happen in our area. A lot of the time this week when we weren't at meetings or super busy, I was resting. We still worked, but I had to rest a lot as well, but Sister Baldelomar and I testify that the Lord really blesses those who follow the counsel of their leaders. We didn't have much work, but through the couple lessons we had and with the Spirit we were able to see six of the Lords children show their faith and attend church on Sunday. Many of them were new face investigators brought by the memebers and it was just so amazing. I feel so grateful for the love and mercy of the Lord. 

Two of those investigators who attended church were Romel Mesa and Ronilo Mesa. The Sons of Sister Mesa. They have always acted really amazing in the lessons and super knowledgable and spiritual, but they just had a hard time coming to church and really acting on the message (that's why they didn't get baptized with their other family members) But on sunday, they showed their faith and they both came to church, Romel for the first time. It was really awesome to see them and I feel so grateful for their willingness to act and accept the gospel in their lives. 

I'm really hoping this will be my last area. There have been so many people the Lord has prepared in this area to accept the gospel and I just want to do everything I can to see this area really grow and all of his children here accept the gospel one by one. Sister Baldelomar is so awesome as well. We are literally like the exact same person. We have some differences, but we are so much alike it's insane. Sometimes we will even be standing the same way or the way our face looks is the same, and we both think the same things are just hilarious and we will laugh so hard at stupid little things that are so funny to me and her. It's so great. Ahhhh I am like praying with my whole heart she is my last companion and this will be my last area. She is really great and we just get a long so well. It's these types of companions who are the best types of companions.

This week I was really pondering about how important it is to be obedient. I was thinking about my duty to "rest" and it just made me think about how the Lord really will make up the difference. Whatever we lack, he will always be there to help. In the Bible Dictionary it says, "The Lord rewards his obedient children according to their faithfulness" Some of the greatest examples ever of this are Joseph, the Son of Jacob, and Nephi. They are both so exactly obedient to the Lord and do everything he asks of them. I think the reason why Nephi is at the beginning of the Book of Mormon is becuase he is one of the most obedient, faithful men in all of the Book of Mormon. 

These two just really inspire me. I feel like I have learned what exact obedience really is, especially being here on a mission. I know that as we are exactly obedient to the commandment, the Lord can't help but pour out the blessings to us. It's so wonderful. One quote that I really love is, "obey first, understand later" I think if we all make this our moto, we cannot fail. Sometimes, well a lot of the time, at least for me, I don't understand why some commandments are the way they are, but I know that as we obey first no matter what the commandment it, we will be blessed. 

I'm so extremely grateful for the commandments. It all just makes sense. Heavenly Father wouldn't send us here without any instructions. He created us, he knows what tempts us, he knows what we need to do in order to return to Him. One helpful tool he gave us was the commandments. We are actually so blessed because of all the things he has given us to help us return back to Him; the scriptures, prayer, prophets, leaders, and one of the most important, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that we have a loving Father in Heaven looking out for us all. 

"I want to be the best I can, and live with God again."

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton 

Random

Hello everyone,

well this letter may be a little short, because i'm not feeling so great today... Mom knows why. But this week has been really good. I have a NEW COMPANION! :) her name is Sister Baldelomar and she is Filipino. She is absolutely wonderful. Honestly, she is the cutest person ever and she is just so sweet. She has only been out for 7 months and she is now a STL with me. I think she just might kill me in the mission (meaning she will be my last companion). We have had some really great times this last week. 

1. Before the transfers we went to Ocean Park and it was awesome. I almost felt like I was in America again. We went and saw sharks and fish and stingrays and lots of fun things. A man even showed us some sweet magic tricks haha it was a really great day. We took a lot of pictures (sorry for the overload mom.. dropbox is not working haha) but it was a really chill relaxing day.

2. Sister Kumari went to my old area in Palawan and she is going to do some great things over there. Sister Holzworth also got transferred to my first area so that's cool. And guess what... Elder Zesiger (the one who left utah with me) He is now an Assistant so how cool is that. Man, my batch is rocking it. 

3. Sister Baldelomar and I actually got lost several times because our area is huge. Which was kinda just awkward for me considering I have been here for like 3 months and I still don't know the area that well... it's fine. haha but we really have had some really awesome times. I think Sister Baldelomar and I will do great things together in this area this transfer. This week is going to be insane... we have interviews, two zone meetings, and exchanges :) patay na ako. 

4. My MTC teacher came to my ward so I got to see her. She now says i'm a lot better at Tagalog haha she's in the pic at the bottome. haha

Lot's of random things happened, but the one thing I am really learning at this time in my life is how important it is for us to take care of our bodies. I have had some things happen to me that are a little rough and President Ostler and I have talked and he was explaining to me how important it is to keep our bodies healthy. How our bodies literally are not our own. They are Gods and they are temples. Just like how temples have to take some times to get cleaned it's the same with our bodies. We need to take the time to take care of our bodies and keep them clean and functioning. 

I've realized that sometimes I think I am made of steel and that I can do anything, but the truth is I am just human and as much as I want to do it all, I cant. It's been a little bit of a rough week with some health things occurring, but I know that as I continue to trust in the Lord everything will be okay :)

I just want to express how much I love my mission to all of you. I am so grateful for everyone's support of me coming on this mission. I remember when I first decided to serve a mission some people were "shocked" which hurt a little, but most people were supportive and extremely helpful. I feel so grateful that I made this decision for myself. 

I literally think the reason I came on a mission at the beginning was so that I could change myself and my life for the better. Which if you think about it, that was a really selfish thought. But I really think that I am here to serve. I am here because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and because of the role it has played in my life, I can now share that with others who have no clue. I feel so grateful to be on a mission. To be able to learn and grow in the gospel and through experiences. 

I know this church is the only true church on all the face of the earth. This is literally the church of JESUS CHRIST. The church that he established when he was on the earth is now on the earth again and it is this church, restored by Joseph Smith. I know Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. I know that because of Him I am lucky to now have the restored gospel in my life and I now have the opportunity to share it with others. I know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are living beings who love us so much. They want us all to live righteously and make good decisions so we can return back to their presence. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and when we read the Book of Mormon we can receive a witness of its truthfulness. Because of the Book of Mormon we literally know more about Jesus Christ and his divinity, life, and power than anyone else on the face of this earth. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for the experiences I get to continue to have. I love this gospel with my whole heart and soul. I will always be a disciple of Jesus Christ and i'm grateful to be His follower. 

Thank you for the prayers, the love, and the beauty you bring into my life. I'm so grateful for you all. Thank you for being you. Remember how much I love you.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton

PS. Happy Valentines Day!

Blessings on top of Blessings

Family!

This week has been such a blessing. Hence the title "Blessings on top of Blessings". I have felt so grateful for everything that the Lord has blessed me with and for all the miracles and little tender mercies he gives everyday. One thing that I have really learned is that if we are exactly obedient and completely faithful the Lord can't help but give us blessings. So the ipinakamagandang blessing we witnessed this week, was the baptism of the Mesa Family. Maria Victoria, Ronillia, and Riveca Mesa were all baptized this week and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed.

We were fortunate enough to find them at the very end of November through talking to them on the street.. now a couple months later they made a covenant with the Lord and are now official members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's that amazing. We have been through so much with the Mesa family. Many laughs, lessons, prayers, tears, spiritual confirmations, and so much more. This family means so much to me and they are so close to my heart. There is still a lot of work to do to get their whole family to accept the gospel and someday enter the waters of baptism, but this is a very great first step. I know the Lord is pleased.

I remember as I was watching them enter into the baptismal font their faces just being so excited and ready to be clean. After each of them were baptized you could see it on their faces and in their eyes that they were changed. They literally accepted the gospel and it changed their whole life. How grateful I feel for each one of them. I remember talking to Victoria (the Mother) after her baptism and she just said, "Sister Barton, i'm clean." 

She has such a sweet spirit. It radiated before she was baptized, but oh how much more it radiates now. It's so wonderful to be apart of such a great work that brings people so much joy and salvation. 

As we were attending MLC this last week I really felt such a great impression to always constantly seek for the Spirit. How it is so important to have the Spirit with us at all times. Not just in lessons, or when we want answers, or when we feel the need of the Spirit. We need to literally seek the Spirit to be in our lives every second of every day. We are in constant need of the Spirit and it's promptings and it's teachings to each of us every single day. It was a really nice impression. I know that sometimes I seek for the Spirit to be with me when i'm teaching or talking with an investigator, but I realized I need to seek the Spirit when i'm talking to anyone or doing the simple things so that I can feel the Spirit and seek that love every day and at every time of my life. 

I know that because of the Spirit the Mesa family was baptized. I know that they were willing and prepared by the Lord to hear the message and act upon it. I feel grateful to be a missionary and a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I know that when we have the Spirit with us, anything is possible.

I'm truly grateful for this work. I'm grateful for inspiration and revelation received from the leaders of the church. I love being a missionary and working everyday to bring lost souls back home. I love my savior Jesus Christ, I love His teachings, and I especially love being His servant. 

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton 

The greatest gift = Jesus Christ

Hello Family!

Wow, this week has been crazy. Amazing and spiritual and dramatic and happy and stressful and many miracles have been seen. To start off with I went on two exchanges this week and it was the most dramatic thing of my whole life... holy, I had to fix their problems and correct them and help them and I did like an hour interview with them each and man... it was so hard. Just for a brief moment I felt like a mission president and oh how grateful I am that I am not and never will be a mission president. haha On a more positive and upbeat note... THE MESA FAMILY IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!! So I honestly am so happy and so grateful to see them get baptized. It will be a truly great day. It's amazing to think that in just a short two transfers with the Lord's guideance and direction we were able to OYM and find a beautiful family, teach them, love them, help them, and now we are able to see them enter the waters of baptism. I am so grateful for the tender mercies the Lord poors upon me everyday. This is the last week of the transfer and I think it will be my last week with Sister Kumari. It's funny because at first we were such different people and had to figure out how to get a long and be unified and love each other, but now honestly I love Sister Kumari and I'm kind of nervous to maybe get a new companion.. It's crazy how much we have gone through together and how we are so different yet can get down on our knees and serve our Master with all of our heart and learn how to love each other. 

I've had such a cool experience these last couple of days. I'm writing you on Tuesday because we had our Zone Conference yesterday. President Ostler asked me to teach about Repentance and honestly I was so nervous. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had though. I wanted to be prepared and everything so I studied and pondered and really felt for myself why we repent and what repentance is and how I can apply it more in my life. The Spirit was so powerful during my studies and I really gained such a stronger testimony of repentance. 

Honestly repentance is one of the most important doctrines everyone needs to know. In Romans 3:23 it says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We are all sinners and because of that we can never return to Heavenly Father. The whole purpose of our lives, the one thing we are striving for, is to live so we can return to Heavenly Father, but because of us being human and making mistakes and sinning we can never return to Him. BUT, because we have such a loving Heavenly Father he sent His son Jesus Christ to come to the earth and die for us. To literally give his life so that we can be free and so that we can overcome the bounds of eternal death and instead we can look to the Atonement and repent and receive eternal life. Isn't that the best news you have ever heard in your entire life? Man, I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for the opportunity I have to change and to become a better person and really "put off the natural man and become a saint through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" (Mosiah 3:19) 

There is so much hope in our life because of Jesus Christ. The hymn I stand all amazed is one of the most in depth uncomprehending descriptions of the love Jesus Christ has for each one of us, "that for me a sinner he suffered, he bled and died." How grateful I feel for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and for the knowledge I have of knowing Heavenly Father loves me. Truly loves me to send his perfect son to die for me. An imperfect person who quite frankly doesn't deserve His love, get's to be saved because of love. 

I love what Elder Dale G. Renlund says about repentance in his last conference talk. He said something like, "Repentance is not a choice, it is not an optional back up plan... it is a commandment." I absolutely love that. If we want to receive the blessings Heavenly Father wants to give us and receive the blessings of eternal life, we have to repent. We have to use the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ to be saved. And why would we not want to? It is free and it gives you the most indescribable feelings in the world. "to keep repentance before us always, we must partake of the sacrament" The sacrament is so important to take in our lives. I can't remember who said it, maybe Jensen, but I remember him saying we cannot afford not to take the sacrament. That is so true. The sacrament shows that we are willing to keep trying, keep changing, and keep repenting. I am so grateful for the sacrament. I am so grateful for the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ and for his glory and perfection. 

I feel so unworthy yet so grateful I get to wear the name of Jesus Christ on my chest, on my heart, and in my soul everyday. I am a true disciple of Him and I know that will never change. Even when I come home from my mission. I will still be a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

I just really feel inspired to share some of the things I learned this week about the atonement and about repentance and how important it is to apply it to our daily live by repenting everyday and doing things to be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I have never felt so clean in my life then right now on my mission. 

One quote that I absolutely love is by President Packer, he says, "The Atonement leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed. It just heals and what it heals stays healed. The Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, the Savior has promised that he would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that. The Atonement can wash clean every stain no matter how difficult or how many times repeated."

It's so important for us to repent. No matter how dark our life has been, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can see the light. We can feel happiness, joy, and forgiveness because of Him. It's such a great gift and I am so grateful for who Jesus Christ is and to know Him. 

I'm grateful for all of you. I appreciate everything you do for me and for you love and for your sacrifice. Continue to chose the right and live the way we need to in order to return to our loving Heavenly Father. Thanks for all you do. 

Mahal Ko Kayo,

Sister Barton

PS. ELDER DAVID A BEDNAR IS COMING TO OUR MISSION ON FEBRUARY 25 AND I AM SO EXCITED!!! :)))))

Learning the Lesson

Dear Family!!

Wow, can you believe in just 3 months (and a little bit) i'll see your beautiful faces in real life? What the heck that's the weirdest thing to imagine. I feel like my life back home was just a dream. Sorry if that sounds mean to say that I feel like my family wasn't real, but it's true. Until I actually see you in real life I think I will always believe you were just a dream hahaha

But this week has been a great week!! We were able to learn a lot through teaching, participating, and listening in 2 zone meetings. We were assigned to teach in the Makati East zone meeting. I'm not sure why because it is not our stewardship, but it was fine for us to teach. So we taught that one on Wednesday and then on Thursday we were able to have our zone meeting as the Makati zone and wow I really felt like it was so amazing. Elder Nolty is one of the zone leaders in our zone and holy is a very creative zone leader and tries little experiments on the zone each month. This month it is called reaching for gold to get the silver. By setting really high goals and trying to get 4 baptisms per week hopefully we can see more of the zone striving for that to get at least 1 baptism per week. He also shared about how it's all about our mindset. If we set our mind for baptism and to be positive and to always think "I can" then we will be able to do anything we set our mind to. I really enjoyed his lesson and I felt like that was something that honestly was kind of a spiritual impression that I really needed at this time. After he shared about being positive always and having a mindset of knowing we can do it, I really got me motivated and just spiritually lifted. 

That night (Thursday night) after zone meeting Sister Kumari and I went out to work. We ended up getting punted, but I was so optimistic and happy and motivated to just go go go. We just OYMed a bunch of people and shared little short doctrine messages about why the gospel would help bless their life. We got so many return appointments and many potential investigators, it was amazing. We also found a cute lady who had 4 older kids who still lived with her. So we were able to share with her and testify about how the gospel will bless her life and shared about temples and families. I just really feel like this week I have had a new perspective on everything and I just feel so happy.

It was funny because this morning I was kind of looking back on my mission and experiences and companions and things and I really felt so grateful for all the many things i've learned. I have learned so many thing that I never would have learned if I hadn't come on a mission. I really feel so grateful. I remember thinking back to different times during my mission and after almost every hard time i've had on my mission at some point I would talk to President Ostler and of course he knows everything that goes on. He always asks me, "because of .... *whatever experience, what did you learn?" I really love thinking about life more from that type of perspective. To know that everything that happens to us is just for us to have an experience and to learn. It really gives me comfort to know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for each of us and gives us experiences to grow and to learn and to be better people.

 I'm grateful for all the things that I have learned on my mission. It's amazing to think that each area, each trial, each companion has been given to me so that I can learn and so that I can grow. I love to think about the different lessons I have learned because of my mission and because of the experiences and trials I have. I'm so grateful to be a missionary. To labor so hard everyday to feel the simple joy of seeing a new face come to church and accept the gospel. 

After so much labor, 3 of the most devoted beautiful people I have ever seen will be able to enter the waters of baptism on February 5th. I know that this day will be a glorious day for them and a day they will never forget. I'm grateful to be a missionary and to be here in the Philippines serving these wonderful people. I love working and laboring with all my heart so that people can recieve the blessing that I already have. It's amazing to be a missionary and to see the truth and love of God flood into these peoples hearts and change their lives. 

I am here to love, lift, encourage, inspire, and most of all to serve. As we all get down on our knees and serve our master Jesus Christ we will feel the spirit so much more in our lives and we will love more of the people in our lives. I love you all with my whole heart and I'm excited to give everything I have to the rest of the days in my mission.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton 

ps. heres some cute pics hahaha 

15 Months

Family,

Oh my... time is going so freaking fast and I can't keep up with it. To think that in just a short 3 months I will be home. Back in America and i'm going to go insane. Ahhh it's going to be crazy, but anyway I'm so happy with what I have accomplished and have learned on my mission. I feel like I have grown so much and really have been taught a lot of valuable life lessons that I never would have been able to learn anywhere else, only on a mission here in the Philippines. I'm so grateful for all I get to do everyday. I'm grateful for the heartaches and the happiness and all the emotions I feel everyday that come along with missionary work.

This week has been especially good. Honestly one of my most favorite weeks on my mission. We were able to go to MLC on Tuesday and Sister Savea and Sister Holzworth were able to stay with us from Monday to Tuesday and that was awesome. I really love them both so much. On Tuesday at MLC I found out a lot of things that made me really happy. Let's just say we will be having so many changes in our mission and I AM SO EXCITED. I think the missionary work in the Philippines is just getting started and the changes that will be made to the mission will help boost the work so much. I really can't wait for it to be announced to the mission. :)

Also this week we had interviews. I got to Interview with President Ostler and we talked about a lot of things, but one of the things we really talked about was love. We talked about my mission and how honestly my mission has been really really hard (for me) and he told me that my mission isn't the mission that I probably necessarily wanted, but it is the mission that I needed. I'm so grateful for that. I'm grateful for a lot of the real life lessons i've learned on my mission. 

Like I said earlier we talked a lot about love. I think that one of the most important lessons I have learned on my mission is love. I have learned how to love people even in the most difficult circumstances. To just see them for who they really are and how Heavenly Father sees them. Heavenly Father loves each of us so much and I know that as we see people the way He sees them we will develop so much more love and charity in our attributes that we will be exceedingly different from the world because of the love we have. Sometimes loving people isn't easy. Sometimes it is actually really really hard, but I know that as we try our best to communicate with others and try to look for the positives in everyone we will be able to see what Heavenly Father sees in them and we will learn to love them. I really think the verses in Moroni Chapter 7 are so true. It's so important for us to develop Christ like love in order to be as he is.

I'm striving everyday to develop more and more love in my personality and to share love with everyone I meet so they can feel not only that I love them, but that Heavenly Father loves them as well, through me. I'm trying so hard to develop the attribute of charity. It's actually a really really hard attribute, but I think it's one of the greatest attributes anyone could every have. 

One thing that I have seen myself doing is looking for example of love in the New Testament. I have read the new testament many times within the time of my mission, but this time it is so different because I am really seeing how the life of Jesus Christ was literally all full of love. He had charity for ALL men. Not just the ones he like or the ones he thought were cool or good looking. He loved everyone. He truly loved them. There is nothing fake about the love of Jesus Christ. I know that as we all really try to develop the love of Jesus Christ we will see so much more miracles in our lives and we will see everyone and everything in a much more positive light. 

I really love love. The gift of charity that Heavenly Father can give to us as we strive to obtain it is magnificent. I'm grateful to be in the Philippines where so many of the people are humble and loving. It's easy to love people who love you, but the key is to love ALL people, no matter who they are you can love them. Anyway that was just a thought that I had a lot throughout this week. I invite you as well to try to magnify the love you carry with you. Love everyone as Jesus does. He is the perfect example. We can all look to him and try our best to become as he is with the help of our Father.

 One of my favorite chapters is Matthew chapter 5. When Jesus Christ teaches the Sermon on the Mount. In verse 44 he says, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

I truly love you all and I am excited to see what these last 3 months have instore for me. I'm excited to continue to love all the people I meet here in the Philippines. I really believe the gift of charity is the greatest gift on earth. Thank you for all you do for me and the love you show. I love you all and thank you with my whole heart.

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton

(Sorry i forgot my camera chord.. so i'll send pics next week...)