Good Morning!

This week has been very, very busy. We were skipping lunch and dinner time almost every day and have decided to never do that again :) Except for today... we are doing it again today. 

Being busy means good things though, right? Right. It means that we have enormous amounts of work to do! Top of the list being Sunny. Sunny is getting baptized this Saturday, and she is still thrilled about it. She stood up in Relief Society and announced herself. Teaching her has been quite the learning experience. This girl asks some tough questions that Sister Dobbins have to do some serious research on. We obviously can't answer every question she has, but we try our best to resolve her concerns and not leave any lingering uneasiness. We are trying to answer her questions because we have another investigator named Kathy who has had the same unanswered questions for over a year!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned her, but Kathy is a sweet lady who lives in the furthest possible part of our area. We only get out to see her once a week, and she comes to church every Sunday. Next week, though, our area boundaries will be changing and we will lose her to the new missionaries!! It's super sad, but we are hoping those Elders will be exactly what she needs. When I met her, she was struggling with Joseph Smith as a prophet, and him having seen God. Well guess what? Those concerns are GONE. Now the only thing holding her back is coffee. Or at least that is all we know of at the moment. Kathy loves the gospel. She says over and over that she doesn't think anyone in the congregation enjoys it as much as she does - she "absorbs it all in!" 

Also this week, Sister Dobbins and I did 4 hours and 5 minutes of tracting in one day. In a hot and humid 100 degrees! We lost our minds, and I attached a picture. But, we have ourselves some appointments for the coming week and we got all of our required hours of tracting DONE (barely). We need to get better at planning, I know. 

I'm learning so much, everyone. My testimony gets stronger each time I share it. I realize the importance of the message I bear every time someone tells me they are not interested. I also see the value of it every time I watch it change someone's life for the better. The gospel is so true and it is so important. Our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, I can promise you that.

I truly hope you all have such a blessed week! I pray for you every day. 

SMILE!
Love, Sister Bartsch

Found the perfect Coke can!  Fun!

The ups and downs of missionary work.  One minute she looks like this....  

Then the heat makes her a little crazy...

Then there are these lovely moments.  She must have found shade and a cool drink in that trunk!

The Days are just packed!

So I think I have adjusted to being a missionary, and I honestly feel like I wrote emails to y'all like, yesterday. But between last Monday and today, SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED. It makes no sense, and I've been told that this is just what missionary life always feels like. Time is flying already, friends.

It has been a great week! Sister Dobbins and I gave everthing we had to the work, and saw some incredible success. We exceeded our goals, found some strengths and weaknesses, and are looking forward to working with the people we've met. My prayers to be healthy and able to work hard were answered so quickly, and we were led to those who were prepared to hear the message we have to share. Thank you to those of you that were praying for us!

I wish I had a miraculous event to share with you this week, but the miracles we saw were in our numbers and in ourselves. We were able to reach so many people! Our referrals, investigators, and ward member lists were stacking up while we were sick, and we got to contact so many of them this week. We also taught more lessons than this area has had in at least three months-and we have even higher goals for the coming week. The changes in ourselves have been incredible, too. Sister Dobbins and I are becoming much better friends, and it shows in everything we do and everyone we teach.

Sunny is doing great, her baptism is going to be quite the event! She is inviting everyone and she even dyed her hair for it :) I couldn't ask for a better spirit to teach, and watching the gospel improve her life in every possible way has been so amazing.

We are so grateful for all of the support we receive from home :) Y'all are wonderful and we feel your prayers strengthen us.

Have a blessed week!

Love, Sister Bartsch

Ether 12:4

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/12?lang=eng

Dakota got a special delivery of flowers from "someone" for her birthday!

Fun Fact: The South has really big bugs. And bugs that shouldn't jump, can jump (even the ones that look dead). Getting pictures of the ones that are REALLY scary is just not worth the risk, sorry.

I'm gonna get DUNKED!

Hello, beautiful people!  

Let me start by thanking you for all of the well-wishes and birthday thoughts :) Y'all are too kind. And I am happy to say that my companion and I are rested and healthy again! We got out to work on Saturday and have NO plans of stopping ever again. Monday-Friday were spent reading, painting, watching Church movies over and over, and walking to the mailbox multiple times a day (just in case). 

But SATURDAY we met our new Mission President and his wife! They seem so humble and sweet. I am so excited to get to know them better and watch what good they bring to the mission. They've already given me great wisdom that will help me be a better missionary and I know that'll just keep coming! The rest of the afternoon was discouraging, lots of unanswered door knocking and rain, I'll attach a picture of our discouragement. 

Saturday evening, we saw Sunny. Sunny is the investigator who has been coming to church and asking us to teach her! We were so sad to put that off for almost two weeks because of illness :( But, during those two weeks, she got a job, started living with a member, and learned whatever she could about the Gospel! Pretty much, when we went to teach her, she started the lesson with "y'all need to teach me what to do to get baptized!" and then "cause I'm gonna get DUNKED." So, well, yes! We did just that! After explaining the importance of baptism, I looked her in the eye and said "Sunny, will you follow the example of Jesus Chr-" "YES YES YES YES" She knew exactly where I was going with that, I guess! We set her up to be baptized on July 25th and she shouted with joy and had to happy dance for a little bit! We had a wonderful lesson with her after that and the member she's living with (Sister Adams) had already taught her so much! Afterwards, we went outside and watched a few fireworks to celebrate! (Post-happy-dance picture attached) Sister Dobbins and I love her so much, and to make everything even better, Sunny got up and bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting the next day. Yep, I definitely cried. Best 4th of July and birthday ever! 

My birthday was spent working hard! We had a few appointments, and we acted on a prompting to visit Glenn. I think I wrote about him a long time ago, but it had been a while since we saw him, and he had a lot of questions! We were teaching him on his front step in the pouring rain, so we didn't get to teach much. But our testimonies were powerful and we will definitely be back! The South is so fun. Even though there are no sidewalks, and when it rains it FLOODS, the people are so kind, and the work is so fun. Also, there are lightning storms almost every day this time of year! They're SO cool and we have an awesome view :) I'm so happy to be back to work, and I know that the time spent inside will continue to show it's purposes to us. Our Heavenly Father loves us and he definitely hears and answers our prayers. If you know this, you have every reason in the world to be happy. I hope y'all have a blessed week! Sister Bartsch

Sister Bartsch with the Oreo cake made from the mix we sent her!  They "attacked it".

Sister Bartsch and Sunny post happy dancing!

On her Birthday the Relief Society gave her a ribbon to wear and also cake from a wedding on Saturday. 

Sister Bartsch and Sister Dobbins - the photo of discouragement.