548 Days of Tucson: A couple pits and a whole lot of peaks

I've always loved to ask people about the pit and the peaks of their weeks. That's what I've decided to do in this email because looking back on my week makes me realized that there were a whole lot of both! Pits (because nobody likes to end on a bad note) : Honestly I thought this week was never going to end. We had a lot of lessons fall through and I let myself get frustrated. The big pit of the week was for sure on Wednesday right after we had accomplished biking up to the top of the plateau in the mud and rain. I was feeling good about reaching the top when Brother Van Skoyk pulled over to tell us that an investigator was being taken to a rehabilitation center in Mesa. He had relapsed a week before his baptism. At first I was really upset and confused. I was beating myself up a bit and thinking that I didn't do enough. We didn't help him enough. Then I paused and put myself in Doug's shoes. That's when I realized that he is probably beating himself up and feeling awful and lost. That was hard. Sometimes I hate how much I love the people of Safford so much! It really started to rain hard and about 5 members called us telling us that we needed to duck and cover from the rain (rain in Arizona usually leads to flooding) so we went to the Beals' home. I was drenched and barely put together by the time we got there. Sister Beals had surgery this week so we did some house work for her while we waited for the storm to pass. Pit #2 don't worry this is not really a pit just kinda is. Sister Rhodes was once told that if you eat a hard boiled egg at midnight you will dream about someone handing you a glass of water. Apparently the person handing you the glass will be your future spouse. Please tell me I'm not the only one that rolled their eyes and said oh boy! Okay so I was a trooper and let her wake me up at midnight to eat a boiled egg and then dream about being given water. It doesn't work! She was pretty upset. I was pretty tired. It was a sad outcome haha! It any of you try this please tell me if it works. I was teasing her that it didn't work because she drank a glass of water with the egg so nobody needed to offer her water. She didn't appreciate that. Oh how I love Sister Rhodes! We have gotten so much closer! Peaks (don't worry there are some really good peaks) : We started teaching a new investigator this week. His family is all very strictly Catholic which is hard but he is willing to learn and loves when we come over. He doesn't speak very good English but he always seems to understand what we are trying to teach. We were teaching him about Faith from Alma 32. After reading the chapter and comparing faith to a seed we asked Willy what he thought were some good ways to help his seed grow....This is when the lesson went down hill. He started explaining to us that putting a seed in a vase is always a good idea because then you can move it when the sun is. Then the seed has to have manure- not the cheap kind but the kind that the cotton farmers use. Then he talked about giving it lots of water and digging the hole not too far.....okay yeah that's good. I tried to help him out by asking him about the seed of faith that he was planting in his heart. What can you do to grow that seed? That's when his eyes grew really big and said, "Well I better start drinking a lot of water so that the water can get to seeds that are in my heart!!" Needless to say we won't be using analogies anymore with Willy...I was dying! He is just too funny. Peak #2 I finally found someone who has the same laugh as me! The roommates would be proud! She is 14 years old and I love her! Minnie is a member of our ward who is a fellowshipper for one of the daughters of our investigators. We were talking to them the other day and Minnie burst out laughing! Pretty soon we were both on the floor dying. It was so funny/Scary! Peak #3 We have started teaching a man named Crippy. Yes Crippy. His real name is Chris but whatever! His wife just had a baby and is a very inactive member. His mother who also lives with them is Catholic. At first she hated us but the spirit changed her heart! Last night she asked us to pray for her son and told me that she thinks it's amazing that I know what I believe at such a young age. She got a little emotional and the spirit was so strong! I can't wait to keep teaching them. Crippy is really skeptical about how to receive an answer to prayer but we'll see what happens as he learns more! Peak#4 A BABY IS COMING TO THE BARTON FAMILY! WHAT?!?!?! I was at a stake meeting when the Zone Leaders gave me that package. Everyone was really confused when it was just one fortune cookie but Sister Aleman, Lunquist and I were freaking out when we read the cookie! Ahhhh I can't wait! It's another girl I just know it! I also got 2 other packages this week that just were the greatest! Thank you so much Mary! Those pictures are hanging right above my bed! :) I loved the hand prints! Sawyer and Graham are so big! Grandma good luck at those Ute games! They are pretty crazy! Okay I have to go now but I love you all and am just obsessed with the gospel. I hope you are all doing so great! I cannot wait for conference and can't believe that this transfer is already over. Have I really been in Safford for three months?!?! Crazy! -Sister Barton Scripture Assignment: Read 3 Nephi 19 you won't be disappointed :) Favorites of the week: 3 Nephi 5:13, Proverbs 16:20, Alma 5:26, Alma 13:28, John 6:35, 1 John 5:14-15, Jacob 6:12