"Too much stuff to do, not enough time, means you NEED to rely on the Lord. THAT'S. GOD'S. PLAN." -Brother Thorderson, institute teacher

WE SAW REX!!! And I know yall have been waiting for a picture of this character. 

So have I. And we finally got it. I was quite happy :) 

 

Hello again! 🤗
I hope this email is good, I'm in the middle of a big missionary music file-share..

Choktaw reservation

What a WEEK! We taught our Zone Training Meeting with the Zone Leaders on Wednesday and then packed up and brought the same meeting to our Meridian district.. they live too far to come to us :( But we all got to go on exchanges while out there. We spent the day/night with the Philadelphia (Mississippi) Sisters. Yall, I LOVE this area. It is the perfect southern town. And right next door is the Choktaw reservation! I've always thought it would be cool to serve on a reservation............. so that was a fun afternoon :) We set a sweet old lady with a baptism date and she is so excited!! I'm going to ask President Olson to send me to this area, I fell in love with it. I got to serve with Sister Frandsen, who I have served around a lot on my mission! She'll also be going  home soon! Everyone is leaving me. 

Kaye at Stake Women's Conference

Kaye is still cookin'! She came to our Stake Women's Conference with Sister Trussell and had a blast. We're kind of sad because she missed her baptism date, but she is still determined to keep working towards another one! Yesterday we spent the afternoon with her and she was inviting everyone who came by to join our Bible study. One of my favorite invitations: "Peanut, I KNOW where you is at right now. these gurls came to me when I was feelin the same way. and if they hadn't come, I might not be here today. please listen, please read, please let these gurls into your life!" She told us she is really trying to find more people for us to teach :) very appreciated :) Kaye is also planning a cookout for me on Saturday just in case I get transferred 🎉

Late Thursday night we got home from Philly and were unpacking the car! One of our neighbors yelled "YALL JUST GET BACK FROM CHURCH?" Guess who?? a friend of Khua! That foreign guy who makes us sushi! His name is Chris, he just moved here from Texas and he's looking for a church! He liked that our church was right behind our houses :) Chris came to the church the next evening for a lesson and it went really well. He speaks better English than Khua, thank goodness, and we found out that they are from Myanmar and they speak Chin! Finally we can order them a Book of Mormon! We're teaching him again tonight. 

Sister Frandsen

Terrell, our miracle from last week, came to church again! Last week we asked what he thought of it and he said "it was okay." This week we asked again and he said "it was nice." IMPROVEMENT. He came to our Sunday lunch appointment, too. It's awesome how the ward reaches out to the people we bring in :) they're great. 

I've struggled a little bit this week with feeling like I'm not committed enough to what I'm doing.. I hate that feeling, but then I have moments where I laugh at that myself for even thinking that because I am sitting in the heat, in a skirt, on a strange man from the Delta's porch, caring so much about him, reading the scriptures, trying to understand what he's saying through his sweet accent, sweating, testifying, praying, and asking him if we can PLEASE come back :) I realize that I'm trying my best! My best + all the help from the Spirit is enough to help this man's faith grow. And that is my purpose. SO I think I'm doing okay! It's worth all the slammed doors and bug bites, for sure :) 

There's a whole lot going on in this area right now. I'm super excited for this week! I'm sad that it might be my last :( But I'm working like I'll never leave! Yalls support means the world. Thank you so much! 

Have a blessed day!  

Sister Bartsch

My Scripture of the week: Titus 2:15-17

Southernism: Magnolia (magnol-ya) trees! They are everywhere. And they are blooming right now! Five years ago I was wandering Orlando with my best friend and we found ONE of these on a tree and thought it was so, so pretty. Now I know what they are, they are everywhere, and they remind me of Emma :) 

Another car with those rims!