God's Plan

Where to begin...... This week was a big testimony builder that God has a plan and knows exactly what we need. All throughout the week the spirit seemed to continually direct our lessons towards The Plan of Salvation. Each time that we taught this lesson to someone different a different aspect of the plan was emphasized and stood out. To one woman knowing that her imperfections and limitations will be gone after the resurrection helped her feel at peace and helped her understand how much God loves her. To another investigator, knowing that we lived with God before this life and that he knows us individually meant everything. Then last night we taught a teenage girl about how she can be forgiven because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The spirit filled the room as this young girl learned about the Plan that her Father in Heaven has for her. This repeated over and over with different parts of the plan. It really showed how every part of the plan was set because of how much God loves us! Everything that he does is because we are his children. Later on in the week our good Catholic Friend/neighbor passed away. Do you remember a few months ago when I told you about Bootsie? She was very particular about what scriptures we read to her and really didn't like when we tried to teach her but she sure loved feeling the spirit as we sang to her. Her favorite song was "Oh My Father". At the beginning of every visit we would sing that song together. The last time that we met with her I asked her if she understood what that song was about. It was the Plan of Salvation. She paused for a second and then read the words a little closer. I'm so grateful that the last lesson we taught my dear friend was a lesson about being a daughter of God and being able to return to live with him again. Knowing her love for that song brings so me so much peace and comfort. I know that the missionaries that are teaching her in the spirit world are singing that exact song and teaching her it's meaning. Right after we heard about Bootsie we went over to her house to visit the family and ask if we could do anything. Bootsie had told the family about us. They expressed so much gratitude to us and invited us to the funeral. We will be going to the funeral at the Catholic church this week! The daughter wants us to sing at the funeral but has to get approval from the rest of the family. OH BOY. Doing it for Bootsie! I don't know how I'm going to get permission but I'm planning on doing her work as soon as I can. That woman deserves the best! I have a testimony of the Gospel. I know that this life is the time to prepare to meet God. I know that Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us personally. He is there for us no matter what. Having that knowledge is the biggest blessing I could ever ask for. I love my family. I'm so grateful that I get to live with them for all eternity! If eternity with the Barton Family isn't pure happiness than I don't know what is! I know that God is a god of many mighty miracles. One of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon has become Mormon 9. Miracles haven't ceased. We get to be a part of miracles according to our faith. Looking back on my life God had his hand on every single second of it. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His ways are far greater than our ways. Isaiah 55. I love you all! Have the greatest week ever! September just started, right? I can't figure out why every tried to go trick or treating in August. Someone is messing with time! October went way too fast! -Sister Barton

Being Blonde Brings Miracles (Oct. 27)

This has been a week full of miracles! The first was when we went to visit a less active woman. She wasn't home but her elderly neighbor was outside smoking a cigar and drinking a beer. He was a soldier and has owned bars all over the US. Ted expressed how he has lost hope for this world and felt so sorry that we have to live and eventually raise kids in such a sad world. He doesn't believe in an after life and says there is no way there is a God because God would never let the world become so evil. We tried to testify of our loving Heavenly Father and his divine plan for us. With little success we asked him questions on his beliefs. We didn't make much progress but his care giver came out and graciously offered us chips and water. She told us that she isn't a member but her best friend is. We had to go to another appointment but we left her with out number and a pamphlet. Two days later we tried that less active again. Christina, the care giver, saw us from her window and came running out. She said we looked too tired to be outside any longer and forced us to come inside! Before we knew it we hate plates of food in front of us. Her member friend came over and ate lunch with us. After the meal we said, "Since you shared so much with us can we share a message with you?" She hesitated her friend accepted excitedly. We taught the first discussion. Her friend bore her testimony and the spirit filled the room! Christina said she was feeling different than she ever had before! It was amazing to witness. We asked her if the Hermanas could teach her mom and she said yes. As we were walking out her friend said that she had been running away from the missionaries every time that she had brought them over. It was neat to see how the spirit helped us develop a relationship of trust with Christina in order for us to be able to teach her. Since she speaks Spanish we gave her to the Hermanas but it was good to know that we got to be a part of this woman's plan. The second was on Friday. We had an appointment with one of our investigators named Sheila. After teaching her we had some time to spare until our next appointment so we decided to try a referral. Well we got the wrong trailer number. We were looking for a sad old lady but instead we found a happy 21 year old man who was more than willing to chat. We asked him questions about his belief and he said he didn't really know the purpose of life. He knew there was a God and that God expected him to be a good person but that was about it. We had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation and our purpose here on earth. He was blown away! We asked him if he had ever prayed to know if God was listening to his prayers. He hadn't but he said he would and that he wanted to learn more. He is YSA age so we had to give him to the elders..BUT once again it was cool to see the sparks starting to light in someone else. Third miracle is the Blondie one. Okay so I have my blonde moments but this one turned out to work in our favor. We went to meet a part member family. They are never home and I have yet to teach them. I knew the mom was a member and that dad wasn't. I thought their daughter was a member....So we went over and nobody was home. As we were leaving Taylor (senior in high school) pulled into the drive way. We got talking to her and she was just really cool. After a little while she started talking about how she loves hearing where missionaries are from because she was a lot of friends that are on missions all around the world. We started talking about missions and she made it sound like she was considering going...I invited her to come to lessons with us! We love taking less active girls to lessons because everyone benefits so much more! I thought this was a great opportunity. We got her information and then left. Taylor had mentioned she knew a girl in our ward so on Saturday we asked Mikayla to call and invite Taylor to church on Sunday. Taylor told Mikayla that she had never been invited to church before but would love to come! She had family over this week but next week Taylor will hopefully be there! At church Mikayla said she had been super nervous to invite Taylor because they hadn't talked in a long time. I asked her when Taylor had been to church last. That's when I found out Taylor isn't a member! Okay well I felt pretty dumb but at the same time it was a miracle to me. It was a neat experience for Mikayla and Taylor. Fourth miracle. Mario and an Investigator Shelbi bore their testimonies in church yesterday! It was fast Sunday because stake conference is next week. The spirit was so strong. They are both supposed to be in 7th ward but Mario likes 3rd ward and Shelbi likes 4th/being taught by sisters instead of elders. (We only cover 3rd and 4th) We have to give both of them to the elders and are working to get them to go where their priesthood leaders are. It's been fun teaching them as well! They are both excited to be baptized and are already glowing with the light of Christ. It's hard to not get to teach them because we love them so much but I know the 6th/7th ward elders will do a good job preparing them for baptism. This week was also zone conference! We got to watch "Meet the Mormons!" It was sooooo good! Have you all seen it yet? If not you should probably go and take your friends. It's wonderful. We were all so excited when President Passey told us we would be watching it and then Sister Passey came up to the stand and said, "Oh and while we are watching this movie we will be going out row by row to get flu shots." Okay cool. They got us all excited and then threw that at us. It was okay though I didn't pass out so I can't complain too much. I somehow have a little more time so I'll just describe Safford for you :) This week I was trying to figure out how to explain this town and this is all I can come up with- It's the town in foot loose. There are lots of cotton fields and a cute main street. Everyone here is either a farmer, a minor, or works at one of the many prisons. Sister Rhodes and I cover the area with the Catholic Church in it so pretty much most of the people that we talk to are Catholics. I'm learning a lot about the Catholic Church. It's actually not super different from our beliefs. There are a lot of similarities. When we meet Spanish women it almost always turns into the scene in the Grinch where he gets elected and all of a sudden we are being fed spicy/cheesie concoctions . I absolutely love it here and pretty much feel like I have lived here my whole life. My testimony has grown more than I could ever imagine. Yesterday a member of the Stake Presidency told us a story about how he was baptized at 17 and then wanted to badly to go on a mission. He filled out his papers but never turned them in because he lacked the faith that he would be able to handle it. He was really shy and couldn't imagine having to talk to people all day. Now he speaks in church at least once a month and told us how he knows that God gives us callings in order to make our weaknesses strengths. I have seen that time and time again. Heavenly Father knows us so much more than we know ourselves. I love this gospel and the joy and peace that it brings. -Sister Barton p.s. Have you read the talk 'Upon the tops of the Waters" by Jon Warner. You'll love it!

Teaching the Teachers

Missions are weird. That's what I have decided. As missionaries we get up at 6 am, work all day to study, teach, and talk to everyone, then we plan for the next day, and go to bed at 10:30. We repeat this routine everyday yet everyday is so different. We strive everyday to teach people about the restored Gospel and how it can bless their lives. We try so hard to understand peoples needs and concerns then teach them how they can overcome those challenges. All of this work is supposed to be helping everyone around us. I have tried so hard to be a light in other's lives. Yesterday we were driving to an appointment with a good friend. Her name is Amber. This girl is incredible. She has been going through a lot of hard things and just has a rock solid testimony of the Savior. We were talking about how she wants to be a criminal investigator because she wants to be a light in a dark situation. Right now she works at the prison and just loves everyone that she works with. As we were talking about what we wanted to be she said that her occupation only is going to help her to be what she wants to be then went on about what she wants to do with her life. OH boy! The spirit was so strong as she talked about God's plan for each of us and how much potential we don't even realize we have. I decided she needs to be a motivational speaker because she was pretty much preaching to us missionaries. We love taking her to lessons! The point of this story was thinking about how we spend everyday trying to help people overcome their fears and see their potential as sons and daughters of god yet at the end of the day I feel like I've learned way more than anyone that I teach has. In the scriptures it promises over and over that when we lose our selves in the work we will find a much better version of our own selves. I have found that to be so very true. I have a long way to go but with every sacrifice and trial I have discovered something new and amazing about myself and about my Heavenly Father and his son. Matthew 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Doctrine and Covenants 103:27 Let no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake; for whoso layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again. Doctrine and Covenants 98:13 And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name’s sake, shall find it again, even life eternal. Wow this email is going way off the path that my sticky notes had planned...okay this week we also got to work at a booth at the county fair...I didn't know I would ever feel culture shock in Safford Arizona but you should have see Sister Rhodes and I as we walking into that dark death trap of games, music, and fried food. I have never felt so our of place in my head I just kept singing "I know that my redeemer lives." We were on the opposite side of the fair than the live band which was good but it was crazy! We were there for 5 hours on Friday and 3 hours on Saturday. It was long and we didn't get to talk to a whole lot of people but we did meet a few referrals for the Hermanas and I talked to a real live cowboy who wanted to go to church! We taught him the restoration in 5 minutes and he loved it! We had to give her to the singles ward elders but I'm really excited to hear what happens with him! It doesn't matter who teaches him! Next miracle! Remember Amber from 2 paragraphs ago? Well she has a friend who works at the prison with her. His name is Mario. She started telling him about the church and at first he was super anti. Then after three months of asking questions he came to church 3 weeks ago. Then yesterday he just came up to us and said, "Okay. Every time that I come here I love it. Every time that I learn more I feel like it's catered to me. I need you two to help me get baptized!" WHAT!?!?! He has been so prepared and is so ready! He grew up in the ghetto of California and has had history in gangs and stuff but has completely changed his life around and is ready to take the next step! He isn't in our boundaries so I'm not sure if we get to teach him but I am so excited for him! He wants to be part of our ward so we'll see what happens! It's up to the stake president and bishops! I can't wait to witness Mario's baptism though! There is a lot more that I want to tell all of you because this week was just so great but I'm out of time so I will just have to tell you all later! Just know that I am so happy and so very very exhausted! Thank you for the support and love it is so desperately needed. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church. The Book of Mormon can bring an individual pure and everlasting joy. My very wise Aunt Kathy loves the word joy. This Gospel doesn't bring happiness. That just wouldn't be enough. It brings joy to all who allow it. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son. I know that I can be with my family forever because of the priesthood authority that is on the earth today. I love being a missionary and seeing the light of Christ fill a room and fill people's hearts. I have learned more in the past 3 and 1/2 months than I ever thought possible! Have a great week everyone! ps. It's happened. My Canadian in Toronto is going to be mad but....I wore a winter coat in 70 degrees and was freezing....I'm sorry Sister Frodsham. Arizona has gotten to me.

We walking into the relief society presidents living room and she just started laughing at our new accessories.Thanks mom

Sister Rhodes didn't like the first one so here's this one.....i don't get the difference but whatever!

Conference and Such

Hello Everyone! I don't have a whole lot of time so this is going to be a quick one. First of all. Mom you're going to be proud! I ALMOST donated blood this week. :) Some elders told us about a blood drive that was going on and Sister Rhodes really wanted to do it but didn't want to do it alone. She used the companion unity guilt trip and the sick children guilt trip on me. The guilt trips worked so we ate everything in our kitchen that we thought had iron in it....so pretty much carrots and almonds then biked across town to get our blood taken from us! The whole bike ride I kept telling myself "Okay Sister Barton you're doing this for the children!" Well we got there and realized that we needed IDs in order to do it. We didn't have time to go to our duplex and get them so I dodged that bullet! Woof! The guy that thought drinking a lot of water would help his seed to grow? Well we have been teaching him a lot and he really understands a ton but he wasn't keeping commitments. On Wednesday we had a lesson with him and we tried to find out why he wasn't keeping commitments. The spirit was really strong as we retaught him the first vision and told him about how if he wanted to know the truth then he needed to study and pray for himself. We asked him if he would pray to know if the church was true and he just broke down. He told us that he wasn't willing to pray because he didn't want to know the truth. To him, knowing the truth would mean needing to change and he wasn't willing to do that. I couldn't believe what he had told us. It made me think a lot about our Heavenly Father's love for us and how he has asked us to do such simple things yet we don't do them because we don't realize how much they will bless us. One of my favorite parts about conference was Elder Jorg Klebingat's talk. I've always been a big fan of lists. I like having to do lists. Elder Klebingat and so many others gave us lists of how to improve ourselves, our testimonies, and our relationship with God. All of these lists were similar and simple. God isn't trying to make our lives complicated. This gospel is so simple. God has asked us to do small and simple things that make the biggest differences in our lives. I am grateful for conference. I love the Prophet and all that he stands for. All of the talks about sustaining our prophet were so true. It is our responsibility to sustain Thomas S. Monson as our prophet through our words, actions, and thoughts. I know this church is true. I know the Book of Mormon was given to us to bless us and teach us. How can it teach us if we don't open it constantly? I love this gospel! I love being a missionary. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Have a good week everyone! I love you all so much! Happy Birthday Megan! You are an amazing example to me of a loving mother and amazing friend to everyone. I've always looked up to you for how hard you work and how willing you are to help everyone in need even when they don't ask. That's just who you are! You're an incredible example. I love you! Don't worry 25 is only halt way up the hill ;) -Sister Barton

Heading Into Transfer #3

Well this was a week of non-stop adventures and miracles for sure! I can't believe it's already been another transfer. Too weird. I'll be staying in Safford for another transfer with sweet Sister Rhodes! I had a feeling that I would be staying. I guess there are still people here that need me. I'm determined to do everything I can this transfer to do the Lords work. Tuesday was "the day" which is where the entire mission does a huge exchange. I went to St. David with Sister Hendricks who is a Sister Training Leader. She is really incredible! I loved getting to see what is happening in other areas and getting more ideas on how to be a better missionary. The St. David zone includes a town called Tombstone that I was really excited to get to go see!!! I guess there is some movie about it? I don't know but tombstone is awesome! I felt like I was in the Indiana Jones part of disneyland! We were teaching a lesson in a man's apartment lobby when all of a sudden a man dressing in a for reals sheriff costume comes walking down and says "It's my day off so it's time for a walk around town." Apparently when the people of tombstone are bored they go and walk around in costumes! IT WAS SO FUN! People from all over the world come. We met a ton of people from the east coast and even a family from France. There are some things that I just don't understand. "The day" was great though! I feel like I learned so much from Sister Hendricks and just couldn't get enough of her ideas. Some say that there is a ghetto of Safford but I don't really believe it. We didn't know where to go before calling it a day so we were just biking around the "ghetto" when a group of kinda sketchy looking people stopped to talk to us. One of them introduced himself and said that he had read the Book of Mormon in prison recently and wanted us to teach him more! YAY!! We were so excited! The stake president is a judge so we asked him about our new friend and he only said great things so I'm excited to start teaching him! We tried to go over later this week but he was busy so hopefully we will find a time this week to get some lessons started! I love being in a little town because of weekends like this one. They had a big Salsa Festival where everyone came to main street and judged which Mexican restaurant had the best salsa. We went during our lunch break for a little bit and got to explore. Sister Missionaries are really spoiled in Safford. People kept handing us kettle corn and cotton candy! It was a very sugar filled lunch break but we got to talk to quit a few people! We are planning to go visit them this week and so we'll see what happens there! Did you all get to see the Women's broadcast? I was in heaven! We had 2 investigators come and they both said they loved it! All of the speakers were perfect for them! Their messages were inspired and completely catered to their concerns and needs. I loved the umbrella analogy. Heavenly Father really is constantly raining down his blessings on us. It's our choice whether or not we put down our umbrellas in order to feel the blessings! It was my favorite part of the week by far! It made me that much more excited for conference weekend! The second best part of the week was teaching young womens on Sunday. I was a little nervous and not sure how the lesson would go but we talked about being in the world and not of the world. It was a little weird teaching them because I feel like I was in their shoes 2 seconds ago but that's what made it so fun! They all talked about some things that make it hard to have an eternal perspective and I could relate to them so well. I would be perfectly fine with teaching young womens for the rest of my life! haha Those girls just have the best spirits. I can't think of anything else that is worth sharing. We are working really hard and trying to find people that are open to our message. I know that this gospel changes lives if we let it. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that Heavenly Father loves us so much! My mission has taught me how important it is to completely trust in his plan for me. In fast and testimony meeting a woman said She know's God loves us too much to give us something we can't handle. I know that she is completely right. I can't wait to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me. Everyday I'm striving to let my mission change me Because to me that is exactly what Heavenly Father wants missions to do for his children. He wants us to wait out the storms in order to see how much those storms change us! I love him so much. I love you all so much! Thank you for the love and support. Your prayers are much needed! -Sister Barton Tombstone pictures:

I found Michael's old zone leader

Look! It's just like Corina Corina

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

Mornings are sometime hard. hahahah

I can't stop reading this!

Not my most attractive moment

This is the bishops daughter. She calls us the sistionaries! She's crazy but we love her

Nothing beats Arizona sunsets

September 15

Okay this is going to be a quick email so I hope it makes sense! Thank you Aunt Carrie for the package! It made my day! I used the candy in an object lesson! It was perfect! The temple was amazing as expected! It was really different to go through as a missionary. Everywhere that I looked I pictured my investigators as the temple workers and it was just incredible to realize the goal isn't baptism. The goal is the temple and enduring to the end. The peace that I felt in the temple was much needed! I really didn't want to leave. I could have sat in there forever but we didn't. Being able to go to the temple every four months is a huge blessing! It makes the biggest difference in the world. So many questions were answered that I needed. After two hours of pure peace we went straight back to working hard! This week we found two new investigators! The first one in Jaime (no not Jamie it sounds like himai). He is barber in town and is really excited and ready to learn which makes us excited and ready to teach! His first lesson was really awesome. At the end he asked us how we knew that the Book of Mormon was true. We both bore our testimonies on our personal conversions and the spirit just flooded in. He was really taken back and said "Well then I guess I better start reading this book. Do you think I could get it done in like a week?" WHAT?!?!? I was so excited and sang as we raced the whole way home to obey curfew! A member of our ward is stopped us last week at church and asked us if we would help her study the old testament. Yeah teaching her really showed me how much I don't know! It was so hard to understand what was happening. Hosea goes way over my head! I have made it a goal to study more of the new testament so I can somehow figure out what is going on. One of my favorite miracles of the week was when we were trying to contact some of our referrals. This week we were given so many referrals which is a huge blessing. The woman that we went to go see wasn't home and I just had a thought that we needed to go visit Sister Chacon who lived around the corner. We road over there and was at the door before we were! She was crying really hard and said she wasn't in the mood for company. I ignored her, gave her a hug, and asked her what was going on. She explained to us that her alcoholic son was just taken by the cops and had threatened to take her life. We sat with her for about an hour until she stopped crying. This woman lost her son three years ago to drugs and was horrified that she would have to bury another son for the same reason. I was so grateful that we had gone over. As soon as we left we called the relief society president and the bishop. Yesterday at church she told us that we were her angels. We had a similar experience where we decided to text a member of our ward and let her know we love her and are thinking of her. Two hours later we got text saying she had been having an awful day and felt so alone. That simple text meant way more to her than we intended. I love being a missionary! Every Saturday night all the missionaries try to do a sports night where we invite investigators, less actives, and pretty much anyone to come play some softball with us. This week was the first week where we had a really good turn out! Two of our investigators came and one less active family came! It was so fun to hang out with them for fun and not for a lesson. I think it's important to show people that we are real humans too! I hate when people call Utah missionaries "the robots from the factory" NO! We are real! Other than that I'm having trouble thinking of more stories. The rest of the week was super busy with lessons, lots of biking, and planning. This next week is full of appointments so I'm really excited! The weeks that we actually have appointments ahead of time are always better! Being a missionary is a lot of hard work but I'm loving ever second! Thank you all for the support! I love you so much and am grateful for every single one of you! Ryan- I made Sister Rhodes laugh this week by using some of your interpretive dance moves. I hope that makes you proud! Favorite Scriptures of the week: Ether 4:7, James 2:18, John 12:46, D&C 6:21 :) -Sister Barton