"I'M COMIN' HOME, JESUS! I'M COMIN' HOME!" -Sherry trying to remember the 9th Commandment. SO CLOSE.

Good morning, yall :) What a WONDERFUL week. Last transfer, my Mission President committed me to find at least one family before completing my mission. I have stressed over this for weeks! On Tuesday, we found them :) Tiaquonta and Shedrick (those names, though). It was a miracle! It was overwhelming! They will be baptized on January 7th and their cute family will be raised in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Happy, happy day!

Zone Conference and Stake Conference with Elder Arnold was exactly what I needed. I received many assurances and answers to questions I have been praying about. We traveled out to Monroe, LA to meet with half the mission and that was fun :) I love this mission.

Goodbye to Gloria and O'Rian!!!!

I hope as you have read these emails you have felt the love I have for My Saviour, His Gospel, these people, and mission! I know my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lives and loves me. He is the central piece of God's plan for our happiness. I love that in the true Gospel there are no scare tactics. God is not waiting to condemn us, but hoping to exalt us. His nature is loving and giving. One of my favourite things about my Father in Heaven is His consistency. He is always approachable, he is always providing for us, and He always keeps His promises. He has promised that if we keep the commandments and live righteously, we will be able and prepared to live with Him again! He will give us everything we need to receive that promise. That's a blessing I hope to receive someday!  I know that I can if I do my very best and use the sweet gift of the Atonement of my Savior. The Holy Ghost will lead me and prompt me as I need, I know that for sure! Serving this mission definitely wasn't my idea.. but following the prompting to serve (even though I almost didn't a few times) has been the best choice of my life so far. Never before have I had a testimony like this, or felt joy like I am feeling now. My heart is so full of every good feeling I could probably fly myself home!! The Church is real, yall. If you don't know it, FIND OUT for yourself. Read the word, ponder what it would mean for you if it were true, and then pray. Just pray your heart out and ask if it is true. I promise He hears you - He loves you. He holds your happiness as a top priority. And He will answer. You can know! Trust the feeling, and then act on it.
I love yall.
Have a blessed two days :)
I'll be home for Christmas!
Sister Bartsch

Elder Pierre-Louis in Monroe.. goodbyes are hard.

Merry Christmas from down South!

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Pictures at the Mississippi!

 Celebration smooothies, my 18 months and Sister Makin's 3 months!

Sandy grabs my shoulder: "Yall, this little lady's gonna be all murried up in six months."

There was "Punch" at the banquet.  Not sure what
Was in it, but it tasted like watered down salsa.

Okay I know I always say the weeks fly by, but this week FLEW BY.

Sometime during the week we helped out at the Home Place twice. They had a big fancy annual banquet and they asked us to serve the dinner plates. I SERVED MAYOR MARY DINNER. I don't know if y'all know about Mayor Mary, but she is pretty cool. Madison is Madison because of her, the buildings are beautiful and the streets sparkle. So that was a highlight. And we made some new friends in the community, always a good idea. The next day we helped out with the Birthday Bash because all the staff was dead tired. I love the Birthday Bashes.

And then next thing I knew it was Saturday! And I went on exchanges with Sister Maughan❤❤. If yall don't remember, I was Sister Maughan's first companion back in Bossier City, LA over a year ago. Now she is my Sister Training Leader and we got to spend a day together. I was thrilled. This is the dream! We went out to Canton for the afternoon and worked in the rain. Everything about the day just brought my mission back full circle.. It was amazing to see how much she had grown over this last year, and to see the changes that had taken place in myself. Even though we are both different in many ways, we got along just the same. We were laughing and shivering the entire day :) I love Sister Maughan and can't ever thank her enough for all she has done for my mission.

Sister Maughan, Baby Girl, My Firstborn in the
Wilderness of Bossier, #maughanisbae

This week Elder Arnold, a General Authority 70, is coming to our mission and our stake :) We will be traveling to Monroe, LA for a Zone Conference with him during the week and then he will speak to us at our Jackson Stake Conference this weekend. I'm pretty excited that I will be here for all of this! This week I have been very grateful for the organization of the Church. I am grateful for all the General Authorities and other leaders that have helped and inspired me throughout my life. They dutifully fulfill their purpose to point us to Christ!

I am just so grateful for all I have. And I pray every day for opportunities to share it with others. We haven't found many who want to listen to us lately, but we aren't giving up. Thanks for your prayers!

Love you all so much :) Have a blessed week!

Sister Bartsch

Did you see the size of this reindeer?  I know I'm small but...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!

Me: "Miss Mary! I love your dress!" Mary: "I call it 'ol faithful."

The South has these Church signs to let you know.. They erryware

Good morning, yall!

I love being a missionary :) There isn't a single place in the world I would rather be right now! I know I will be so grateful for this time spent serving the Lord in Mississippi. Some days are really, really hard. But I have an angel for a companion and all the help I could possibly need to get me up and going again.

This week was full of gratitude :) I love having Thanksgiving twice a year, it's good for me! We spent the afternoon in Raytown with Sandy's family. This guy just can't stop talking about how happy he is to be back in church, it's fun. I wasn't sure what to expect, because Thanksgiving in the South can be so different. (Tur-duck-en last year, yaw 😬) Sandy's family had chicken spaghetti, chicken 'n dumplins, chicken livers, and meatballs along with the normal things EXCEPT mashed potatoes and gravy. SO that was interesting and really, really good. We were able to visit some elderly people at the Home Place in the morning, and some other friends in the evening, it was a lovely day :)

This is Sandy. :)

Okay now I am running out of time, but on Sunday we went out to Raytown for Church. Sister Makin has been out to visit for parties, but Sacrament meeting there is so wonderful, we had to go! I told yall last time, the humble small crowd and the one deacon really get me. The Gospel is so simple and beautiful out there. This week as I was sitting there and I really thought about it. I don't think I will ever really understand what I have. Being a member of this Church, my testimony of this Gospel is the greatest blessing of my life! It's incredibly heartbreaking to think of all those who don't  know what I know, who don't have the peace and the joy I have! I sat there thinking and feeling all of this while the Sacrament was passed, with a little tear in my eye. I heard a car drive by outside and thought "can they FELL THIS?" and honestly, yall, I fully expected the person to turn around, park their car, come inside, and ask what was going on. It didn't happen, unfortunately, but MY testimony grew! and that's a miracle, too. I enjoyed the rest of the meeting with a bigger heart. (also I bore a farewell testimony - SAD.)

Best Friend!

I took that testimony with me tracting yesterday afternoon, bore it to anyone who would listen! Did we find anyone new to teach? Nope! But that is okay!

I love what I am doing and I am so grateful for all of your support. I hope you had a very grateful week and that do something to show your gratitude :)

Love yall! Have a great week!

This week we finally got a family picture!

Lady at the store: "Girl, what? I never woulda guessed you were from the North! You have such an accent!"

Sister Fonua and Sister Pitt 💕

Yall, that really happened and I looked at the lady like 😶 
What has happened to me.

Anyways! I hope yall have had a great week! Everyone here seems so stressed about Thanksgiving coming up, I hope we can all take a deep breath and enjoy it. Don't let the hustle of company coming, fixing the perfect turkey, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Grey Thursday, or whatever else the world does comes up with dull your happiness :) Alma says it best:
 "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen." (Alma 26:37)

Two of my daughters at mini zone conference!

So for the passed few weeks we have been working with the Elders to get a Stop Smoking Workshop going. (Missionaries teach a 15 step workshop to help people quit smoking in 7 days. It's guaranteed, you should tell your friends) We prepared a really short presentation to show people what it was all about, then they could sign up and we would come to their home and teach them the 15 steps! We solicited this thing everywhere. Between the four of us, we met with most of the families in the ward and left them with flyers to hand out. We even walked up to smokers and invited them to come. One of them said "wow, this is my first pack in a month and a half." (gotcha) And guess what? No one came. Not a single smoker!
BUT WAIT. Earlier that day a supermom in the ward called us and said that she had left messages with the two smoker friends she had. And one of them called her back so excited and said "I about fell out of my chair when I got your message! I have been praying for something like this for three years!" She couldn't come to the workshop that evening, but we are thrilled to help her out. Miracle.

Things are going great here, I am so happy! I thank you all for supporting me as I finish these last weeks strong!

Have a blessed week! Sister Bartsch loves you!

Love Sister Maughan

The four Sisters fixin to head home!

Milkshakes with Paul and the Rusts. We always have treats at their house, bless them!

Damariana, new friend.

Canton, Ya'll

"yall, Im so generous, I gave that woman a dining set AND my husband!!!"

Good morning yall! I would just like to remind you that if you haven't written to me yet or if it's been a while, you still have a whole month to make my day :)

Moving on, I know you are all dying to hear about the Halloween party at the retirement home. Well, we got a picture with a 97-year-old witch (Miss Maudie) and an 85-year-old Batwoman. It was pretty fun.

On Thursday morning we met with Bill. Whataguy! The whole hour-and-fifteen-minute lesson was spent bearing sincere testimony. This man is very in tune with the Spirit. He has been Lutheran his whole life and he loves it. I think the Lutheran church is really cool, too. They did a lot to prepare the world for the Restoration. Bill recognizes that! And there are one or two things that he is taught at church that he doesn't quite agree with. He says that he feels something else is true. And when he tells us what he believes, it is exactly what we teach. I have had so many experiences like this on my mission. Little miracles and moments like this really strengthen my testimony.

We teach not just what our Church believes, it's the true truth that the Spirit is teaching people everywhere!

When we find people who have real relationships with God and are in tune with the Spirit, they know the nature and love of our Heavenly Father, they know that God has always spoken to and inspired Prophets, and they recognize that religion today is so divided and conflicting. Most importantly, though, they know and trust in their Savior Jesus Christ and want to follow Him. These people are the people we pray for and look for! And these are the people we are so grateful to find! This week we are so happy because we have found some :) Thank you for all of your prayers! Keep smiling, praying, and helping others.

Have a blessed week!
Sister Bartsch 

1. I forgot to send this picture of Elder Kulu last week. My bad, yall.
2-4. Halloween Party
5. Exchanges with the STLs.... Sister Mozingo goes home on Wednesday!

"I'm a mean man, but I'm workin on it. I'm gettin meaner." -Pop (I love tracting)

Madison trunk or treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 👻

Sister Makin and I are very festive this year :) We have been to 2 of our 3 halloween parties so far. First, the Madison ward trunk or treat. It was a HUGE success! Lots of people came, many of them I haven't met yet! And people brought their neighbors, too. Yay for member missionary work! Second, the Raytown Branch trunk or treat. We were their chili cook-off judges, it was an honor. And that activity was a HUGE success, too. I think there were more non-members than members there. Third, we are going to the Home Place assisted living to help out with their party this afternoon. So we get to wear these outfits 3 times, definitely getting good use out of them. And then we carved pumpkins last night. I've been in the bible belt too long, yall. I couldn't think of anything cool to carve. 

Sandy

While we were in Raytown I got to sit and talk to Sandy! (if you forget his name, just look at his arm) This guy is my favourite. He hasn't been to church in over 30 years. One day I show up at his house with Sister Child, we get talking, and I guess I said something that hit his heart because he points at me and says "that little one right thur got me back in church" he's been coming every week, I didn't even know! He was ready, the Spirit was with us, and a miracle happened in the Raytown branch. That was really special. 

This week we got to teach a lesson with one of the Recent Converts in the ward, their testimonies always inspire me. Chris got baptized a month ago, and all he talks about is how happy he is, how much peace is in his mind, how many positive changes he has seen in himself, and how true the Gospel is. It's awesome! But it's also so sad that all of us aren't like that. At what point does this excitement fade? Why don't we hold on to it? I guess we just get used to being happy? Or maybe we stop doing the things we should and the happiness goes away slowly? We need to look outside ourselves a little more, see how different other people's lives are! We have something great! I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants yesterday, and found the happiest verses I have read in a long time: D&C 128:19-25
"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy...Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing..."
You should really read the whole thing. But this Gospel is REAL and if we live it right, the joy doesn't fade. It is only renewed, and continues to grow :) 

I love y'all! Stay smiling and have a blessed week!
Sister Bartsch

Southernism: Happy (noun)
"Wait! I have a happy for you!," "We have a little happy for them" "It's just a little happy."
A happy is a little gift or prize. Isn't that cute? This is one of my favorites 🎁 

 GOODBYE ELDER KULU! He got to go home this week! This Elder has been serving his mission for 27 months, patiently waiting for a visa to go home. A Miracle happened and he is in California with his family now :) yay!

Raytown Trunk or Treat

Styrofoam pumpkins (thanks, Makin family!!)

Madison District. Elders, y'all. I don't understand.

seriously trying to respond and not throw this computer.

this computer is seriously being dumb. I probably won't get a newsletter out this week.

thissisw hath ppe eans if I just let the computer do what it does.

I JUST got an email that says I am enrolled in "My Plan". the 6-week online course for departing missionaries. Start next week! what the?!
 I watched Sister Kelly do it..... and Brayden already started. Everyone kind of dreads it. ahhhhhhhhh it has you make plans for your LIFE. week 5 is dating and eternal marriage. I remember that one!

Pictures for this week:

Plan of Salvation idea from Sister Makin's mom :)
alphabetizing the library at the Home Place on 'team colors' day
group tracting! we started tracting a mebers neighborhood and they wanted to join us. It actually helped a LOT.

have a blessed week!!! see you in seven!
Sister Bartsch

"Hello? Oh, yes, the Mormon missionaries are here right now....... no, they don't try to convert me" -Treva

Hello everyone! This email will be short. Skimmers, feel free to just look at the pictures. I have been working on time management for 16 months and I still can't seem to save enough time to write this email. I try not to be jealous of iPad missions, but.... 

We worked hard this week! We were able to do lots of tracting and lots of service. Yall, this retirement home is wonderful. This week we helped out with their Birthday Bash, delivered mail, and cut fabric for quilts. We have lots of new friends and great opportunities to live the Gospel we teach :) Because we were going out to see Gloria lots this week, we were able to go to the Mississippi Food Network twice! Yall know how much I love working with those convicts in dirty warehouses. So much fun! And the weather is cooling down so it's even better! One of them recently got released and is staying in a halfway house somewhere in our area. She asked us to find her and we plan on it! I love being busy doing so much good :) but we did a lot of driving this week. So we decided to be 'stop and smell the roses-y' and pull over or slow down for pictures. Examples attached below :) It's pretty fun! 

Paul is progressing well.  Keep those prayers going! 

I took Sister Makin out to Canton on Saturday :) It's a friendlier town and I wanted her to experience going door to door somewhere like that. And guess what? Not a single rejection. We were both very happy :) Hooray for humble, goodhearted people. I want to be like them. 

This morning I had an interview with President Olson and Sister Makin and I got to meet with Sister Olson, too! President and Sister Olson are seriously inspired, I love them both so much. Sister Olson had a cool challenge for us to apply to ourselves and our investigator's scripture study. She wants us all to receive more revelation from our Book or Mormon and Bible studies. She invited us to have a notebook ready and before we study say a special prayer. In the prayer, ask Heavenly Father to testify to you the truth of what you read by the Holy Ghost. AND THEN ask Him to tell you what you should do, change, or who you should help. As you read, pay attention to thoughts that enter your mind. They might not even be related to what you are reading! But because you have invited the Spirit, payed attention, and put forth the effort, you will receive the revelation you need :) As you act on what you receive, you will receive more!  Do this every day for 15 minutes and watch your life change. 
And then let me know :)

I love you all! Have a blessed week!

Sister Bartsch

Mississippi state Capitol!

It's really the south!  We found a cotton field!!!

Jackson, MS

Some of our friends at the Home Place having a jam session

"Now we're cookin' with grease, yall!"

Well I hope yall had a blessed week because mine sure was. 

Most importantly, Cole got baptized. What a special weekend! He stood and bore his testimony yesterday about the truth of this church. He had been searching for years! He had attended every denomination he could find, but found problems in each of them. After he had the first discussion with the Sister Missionaries he searched for flaws, but he couldn't find any! All of his questions were answered with scripture. The spirit he felt was unavoidable. He was converted! And his testimony is a powerful one. It was such a huge blessing to be a part of this :) lessons with Cole are my favourite because he is so SMART. His questions exercise my mind and I love it. Inquisitive people are the best to teach. 

Our Zone Focus for the last couple of months has been 'get out of the box." We have been trying to implement new finding ideas, teaching methods, and just mix things up a little bit! No one likes being in a rut. One of the things on the list of ideas was sidewalk chalk... haha, been doing that my whole mission! But we did some more and it was fun. And then we tried service tracting!!! I liked this one even though it really didn't work out. We went door to door on a Saturday morning asking people if there is anything we can help them out with. Unfortunately, people thought we wanted money or wanted to make them join our church or something. "No really, can we like mow your lawn or rake your leaves or something?" So we need to refine our approach and do it again. But we did accidentally tract into a less active family while their active mom was in town so that was good! This week we helped out at the Home Place assisted living place twice! The activities director (her name is Candy) gave us a tour and introduces us to the sweetest people. We met Miss Maudie, a 97 year old angel who sits at her sewing machine all day and sews clothes for herself and anyone. She gave us both skirts! and then said she would make more! Bless her sweet heart. 

Our good friend Gloria wants to get baptized! She said that the Spirit told her October 15th. We are just waiting on one thing before we can go through with it... and we are doing everything we can to make it happen for her! Prayers, please!

And then there is Paul. Just hours after the Member Missionary Work General Conference talk, a sweet couple in our ward called to tell us that the man they have been bringing to church has asked to be baptized. His name is Paul and he has been coming to church for a year and a half... I don't know why he wasn't baptized before, but we are sure happy to help him out now! We had a really nice first discussion and he willingly accepted a baptism date. How happy!! 

I'm just so grateful for my mission. I am grateful that I chose to come. I am grateful to know that God has a plan for me, and when I choose to follow I am blessed so incredibly. God has a plan for you, too! But it won't just happen the way He hopes, you have to choose it. And then stay true to your choice. It might be hard or scary or uncomfortable, but with Him all things are possible!

I love you ALL and hope you know it :)

Have a blessed week!

Sister Bartsch

"So can I get baptized today?!" -Cole

Watching General Conference!

Hey Yall!!
This week was awesome. My new companion is Sister Makin, she is from Goodyear, Arizona, and she needs like no training. 

Our District Leader committed us to do 10 hours of tracting this week. For me, that's a LOT. Especially in an area like Madison.. on bikes. But we did it! We reached that goal exactly! It was hard at times, people weren't always super nice, it got boring, BUT the weather was gorgeous, we had plenty to talk about, we found a couple people close by to teach, and God has seriously blessed us. 

Saturday afternoon we got approval for Cole to get baptized! He has been patiently waiting for months, and he is about to move to Arkansas! The timing is perfect, and we are planning his baptism for this Friday. Miracle!

Bye Sister Child!  Off to Shreveport

Also on Saturday we got a referral from a member to teach their friend! His name is Paul and he has been coming to church for a while. Recently he has asked what he needs to do to get baptized :) we are meeting with him this week! Miracle! 

On one of the days this week we decided to call an Assisted Living place we bike by all the time. We asked to speak with the activities director about service opportunities. Turns out this lady just started her job 4 days ago and had been feeling super overwhelmed. We signed up to help out a whole bunch. She was very grateful and we are very excited! I love service! And I hope to have some pictures next week :) 

Gloria and Linda are moving along, please keep them in your prayers!

And I loved General Conference, particularly Elder Nelson's talk about joy :) True joy comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it's true! As a missionary I am the happiest I have ever been. Why? Because I am immersed in the it. I spend 100% of my time studying, teaching, talking, and wanting to talk more about the Gospel. I know that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am so grateful for it. I know that when I go home things will be different, at times life will be hard again, and I will struggle as I come down from this spiritual high.. but I know exactly what to do to make myself happy. In any situation! I am so grateful to have learned this!

I love you all, and I hope you can find joy no matter where you are in life.

Have a blessed week!
Sister Bartsch

New Family Picture :)

First time biking in a skirt!

Pretty abandoned Home.