"Hey yall, I'm Sister Stewart, I'm fixin to be baptized, I guess I need one-a-yall to do it, my gurls can't, so if anyone wants to step up.. err.. or we could all go down together, I dunno! Glad to be here." -Kaye introducing herself at Church

So this week I got really sick and then I got much, much better. And I am so glad, because I just want to work my heart out in this area! Since arriving in December, I feel like this place has come around so much! We have three beautiful people well on their way to baptism, people coming to church who haven't been in years, and recent coverts planning a temple trip. It's great. In my interview with President Olson he talked about keeping me here for yet another transfer, that would be a dream come true! But it probably won't happen. We'll have to wait and see what God wants, I guess! 


I got to go on an exchange with Sister Scott this week!! She was my MTC companion and we haven't been together for almost 11 months :) It was a very retrospective couple of days, she was asking me a lot of questions about how I have changed and grown and become better since coming out on a mission. We did a lot of reflecting and came (once again) to the conclusion that our missions are still the best choice we've made thus far in life. So that felt good! Some days you are on top of the world, and those days always make up for the days that you cry a lot.

Remember a couple months ago when I came back from a meeting in Jackson, we talked about planning for like 6 hours, and I felt like there will be a lot of great changes in the mission? Well, those changes are happening. We were taught to work with our companion to set a goal for our investigators (usually baptism), write a vision for them, make plans, and schedle things to make it all happen. The vision is all the great things we want to happen for them! For example, we wanted Miss Kaye to feel like she belongs somewhere, to have a best friend, to feel like she has a lot of life left to live, to go by "Sister Stewart," etc. We thought and prayed a lot while writing her vision. And then we made plans to help her get there! I know I say this every week, but I am SO EXCITED for Sister Stewart, I can't even put it to words. I wish yall could know her and see how much she has changed. The other day she told us she started doing service for people she really doesn't like in her trailer park. That is a big, big deal.

This week we pained Britney's son Remmy's room :)  And I love her other baby, too. His name is Riddick, I am told that's a movie or something. Don't worry, I love him from a distance :)

And then yesterday she came to church. All of it. She sang with us, participated in class, and stood up and introduced herself in our big combined meeting. My heart was exploding! I introduced her to everyone I saw and she seemed so happy! She still took a smoke break between every class, but she's quitting this week! We teach a 15-Step Stop-Smoking workshop that she is anxious to start. Also, this week we are talking about marrying her and her boyfriend, pray for us. 

You think all of this is great, right? There's more. Her brothers got flooded out of their house and are starting over completely. Sister Nash and I have a whole bunch of surplus missionary supplies in our garage that the mission told us we could just get rid of.. so we brought some matresses to the church and invited them all for a tour this morning! Yall Kaye was so excited to share her love for the church with her brothers, it was the cutest thing. As we're walking in she said "so yall this is where I go to church, I have found a home here," she explained why we don't have a preacher, and when we showed them the baptism font Kayle leaned in and said "IS THIS WHERE IM GONNA BE BAPTIZED?!!?!? COOOOOL! Ya know I wanted to do it in a river, but them rivers're movin pretty quick, this'll be safer, can we do it here? with my luck I'll slip down dem stairs, but it's aight." What a relief. We have been searching for rivers. Phew! Anyway, Kaye is my favorite person. I promise you the first time I looked at that lady I was scared to death. Now she makes me smile more than anyone :) 

My son Elder Pierre-Louis and our LSU shirts, geaux tigers!

I love being a missionary! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about making changes to become happer, and that is exactly what I am watching Kaye do. Living the Gospel makes me so happy that I can't keep myself from telling others. I love that feeling and I am so grateful that I get to tell people the greatest news all day every day. Life is good, yall are awesome, and the Church is true!

Have a blessed week! And happy Mother's day to all you sweet mommas out there :)

Sister Bartsch 💞

Southernisms: 

Cars with huge rims. They are everywhere. Usually they are old cop cars,

but I don't have a picture of one of those yet :) 

And Businesses advertising scriptures, everywhere.