Sister Dakota Bartsch: 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