Blessings on Blessings, Upon Blessings!

Hey friends!

What a beautiful week! Sister Dobbins and I worked our tails off :) Shawn, the man we are teaching and helping to beat alcoholism is doing miraculously well. He looked different last Monday. He had made the decision to change and was more willing than ever to learn about and apply Christ's Atonement to his life. I can't wait to see him tonight!

I spent a lot of time doing more flood cleanup this week, too! It's crazy how much work there is to be done even two months after the flood. Especially for the single mom we were helping this week! She hadn't even gotten all of the walls down, she and her 15 year old son have been doing all the work themselves. I'm not sure how she found the missionaries, but all of us in the area are taking turns helping. 

The best thing about this week is that everyone is back from summer vacations! I swear, our ward was teeny tiny last week, and overflowing this week! Members are coming out to teach with us, those who we thought had completely disappeared are back, AND the weather is finally calming down. Last night a guy on the street said "ohhhh now, now, when dos leafs start to blowin like dis, you know it's 'bout to get coooold" (cue BIG gusts of wind and leaves and a little rain) It was cool and informative in an eerie sort of way. But you could say I am excited for it to cool down around here!

Sunny is feeling much better since last week and is in Oklahoma right now! She is from Enid. She says "Enid. It's Dine spelled backwards because someone shot the sign and turned it around. (...) Really! It really happened!!" HA. The South is real. Anyways, she went to the Enid ward and had to call us and share how exciting it was. I love her so much. 

In other news, Don brought his sons and brother to church yesterday! He and his brother were baptized when they were eight but stopped going to church when they were 10. Now they are in their 60's! We knocked on Don's door about a month ago, and he has been an absolute joy in my life ever since. I was pretty happy to see them :)

Anyways, to summarize my experience out here, an exerpt from my letter to my family: Down here Sweet Tea is pretty much water, "bless your heart' is like the meanest thing to say to someone, full sets of teeth are not necessary to anyone, water bottles (Manna from heaven) are given freely, everyone is "already saved" but they appreciate what we are doing, grass, shrubs, and trees mean a slow and painful death from chigger bites, there's like 14 varieties/colours of wasps, no one likes where this country is going, if you say something out loud about Jesus you'll hear an "AMEN" or "HALLELUJAH" come from somewhere, cornbread is everywhere, Tony's seasoning is used on everything, "battered and fried" isn't written on the menu because I guess it's just implied, and some days I really could swear this place is a different country.  But I've adjusted fairly well, I think!

2 Corinthians 5:7 
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 
I believe the smiley face is NOT a coincidence. Check your Bibles. 
Have a blessed week!

Love, 

Sister Bartsch

Embrace the World One Hug at a Time

Well, friends, what a long week! August in Bossier is HOT. We can handle maybe an hour and twenty minutes out walking and then we have to take a water/air conditioning break. It's rough, folks. But don't worry I still love it! 

We are weeding out Central Park, the area we have been working so hard over the last month. People are finally confessing whether they are really interested/ready to receive the gospel, or if they were just being polite and they never want to see us again. It's great :) So far Stephanie, Sandra, Don, and Charles are progressing the most in that area, we have seen each of them at least two times and they are keeping their commitments. I'll let you know if anything amazing happens with them this week :)

On Wednesday we celebrated Sister Dobbins 9 month mark! She is halfway done! And she is not excited about it. But I am!! and I made her a half of a cake :) 

On Thursday I got bit by my first dog! Puncture wounds and everything! So I checked that off of my missionary experience to-do list and I hope it never happens again! We took a picture a couple days after, so it had started to heal. But you could see a bruise from every tooth and it hurts really bad because it is right on the back of my knee and I walk a LOT. 

On Saturday there was a baptism for Jacob, who was being taught by some Elders in my district. (that's two baptisms in two weeks for us!) We brought Sandra ant it was a really good experience for her, I think :)

I have seen and felt some miracles this week. Our investigator, Thelma, who is going through chemotherapy needs your prayers still! We are hoping that she is done with chemo and can move on to radiation. Shaun, the man who is struggling with alcoholism is still slowly improving! Keep him in your prayers. And Sunny is going through some medical problems right now and could use some prayers on her behalf. The cool thing is, all three of these people got priesthood blessings this week. And they are definitely being blessed in different ways, but with exactly what they need. Comfort, healing, strong wills, faith, patience, etc, etc. It's so cool to be a part of. 

Sorry this newsletter is a little less interesting, I think I have heat exhaustion or something. I just keep giggling with my companion and I think we might have finally worked ourselves TOO hard. Yall are the best, though, I truly appreciate your prayers and thoughts. Don't forget that letters make Missionaries' days! 

Have a blessed week!
Consider yourselves all hugged. 

xoxo Sister Bartsch

2305 Ovietto Lane
Bossier, LA 71111

The half cake Dakota made for Sister Dobbins for her 9 month mark!

A little white poodle bit Dakota on the back of the knee!

Sisters Dobbins and Bartsch with Sunny!

SHE GOT DUNKED!

Once again, I have happy news! Sweet Sunny was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. My goodness, I have never seen a happier person. This woman has been through more than I could possibly understand, and a series of difficult events led her here - to Bossier, Louisiana! Where she was invited almost immediately by a man in our ward to come to church. From coming to church she met the Adams, an older couple who gave her a room in their home. From their  home she was taught all of the missionary lessons and grew so much in the gospel! I watched the light grow in her eyes and it was amazing to be by her side as she accepted the teachings she had always been looking for. Now we call her Sister Miller and she does a happy dance every time. She has brought me SO much joy and I couldn't ask for a better introduction to missionary life! (not the best pictures, sorry! I am going to see if Sister Adams' are better)

Sunny's Baptism!

I mentioned Thelma last week, she is the woman who is enduring chemotherapy right now. Her brother is a member in Alaska and he sent Priesthood holders to bless her through her trial and missionaries to help her come closer to Christ. OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE HER SO MUCH. This woman has such beautiful faith. She has complete trust in God through this scary time in her life and already has plans for how she is going to help others overcome cancer, even though she's in the very middle of her fight right now. She already has a testimony of the Priesthood because her recovery from therapy sessions have been much easier than they should be. Keep her in your prayers! Once she is done with chemo and radiation she wants to be baptized!

And you thought this was just in the movies!

At the start of July, as Sister Dobbins and I were getting healthy again, we were praying about where to tract. I was praying and fasting for us to be led to those who are prepared to hear the gospel. We chose a street in the far west part of our area! Since then, we have tracted about 7 more streets surrounding it, and we work that area almost 4 days a week. Just recently, we have noticed how many wonderful people we know in the neighborhood! Even if we aren't teaching them all, we have so many friends! Terry always gives us water and we see him out fixing everyone's cars. Jim walks his dogs and lets us share a message while we play with them (even though he isn't interested in the Mormons), Sandra's grandson does everyone's yardwork, Rodney and Anthony are cousins, Stephanie and her mother live on the same street, we ran into Jonathan yesterday and he was so sorry to have missed our appointment so we set up another one, and Don really doesn't like the guy around the corner. I know y'all really don't need to know these little details, but Sister Dobbins and I are really enjoying this area. We are sharing the gospel in such a happy little corner of the world and we love it. Yesterday we knocked on JD's door and he was so glad that the lovely girls who waved at him last Thursday came to teach him! Even though we know chances are not everyone we are teaching will accept the gospel, we have gained a testimony of prayer and fasting and following the Spirit.

I could probably write all afternoon, but I have to get going and that's also not allowed. I thank you all for your prayers, I promise they are helping! Keep my little city of Bossier in your prayers, too!

Have a blessed week!

Sister Bartsch

These sisters love service!  This week they were painting.

Things Don't Always go as Planned

Hey, friends!

I'm happy to announce that I am staying in Bossier with Sister Dobbins for another 6 weeks! I was so worried she would be transferred and I would have to know my way around this place. Also, we have a really nice apartment and I am thrilled to stick around.

Breaking News: Sunny's Baptism is now probably THIS Saturday. The timing of everything just works out a bit better. Her interview is tonight and then we will know for sure! Sunny was a little upset at first, but we have found many blessings from putting it off a week and she quickly accepted it (as pictured in the gas station). 

This last week has been challenging for reasons I can't quite explain! The mission changes you, and those changes aren't usually easy ones to make. But as they happen I see myself becoming not only a better person, but a better disciple of Christ. Last night I was able to put one of the changes to words with my companion. 

I had returned from teaching an investigator that has been difficult for me to help. He is an alcoholic and has been struggling with the desire to stop drinking. I was nervous to try to teach him for a couple of appointments, and didn't say all of the things I should have. This last time, though, I went in with so much faith in the Spirit not only giving me words, but giving me the boldness to say them. And it happened. I bore one of the strongest testimonies I've ever borne to him and I saw him feel the Spirit. It was amazing. He told us that he had stopped drinking whisky in the morning because "I didn't want to let y'all down!" and he was working on drinking less and less beer during the day. I just remember thinking "You didn't want to let US down? what about yourself or your family or your Heavenly Father?" but then I realized the calling I have. And the name I bear. 

To me, I am an inexperienced 20 year old sitting on his front porch desperately inviting him to come closer to Christ. To him, I bring the Spirit. I bring something that he can feel even through his substance abuse. I represent Jesus Christ in sharing the importance of His gospel. And because of that people look to us as young missionaries to answer life's hardest questions, to give them advice, share hope, be loving, and help them. Right now I am teaching a person who is suffering from cancer and chemotherapy, another lost their spouse so unexpectedly, one has frequent heart failure, Shawn and his family struggle with alcoholism, and another couple are raising a severely disabled child. I certainly didn't go to school for this! But their Savior knows exactly what they are enduring, He suffered it all so that he can be there to help them through these things. (Alma 7:11-12) And He sends us missionaries to find these people and invite them to come unto Him. I am striving every day to live worthy of the Spirit's guidance and promptings so that I may be what these people need, where and when they need me. 

I want you all to know how much you Heavenly Father and Savior love you. No matter what you are struggling with, you can call upon them for help.

At the close of our lesson with Shawn we talked about prayer. He said he prays for his wife and family, but never for himself. He felt unworthy. We are never unworthy of our Heavenly father's love! Pray for His help, and use the Atonement that has been provided for you. Shawn said our closing prayer and said "help me be a better person." The Spirit was immediately stronger because he asked for help and the Savior was there waiting.

We all have trials, and I challenge you to not try to endure them on your own! Pray for help and you will receive it. 

I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers!

Have a blessed week,

Sunny and Dakota.  Hopefully she gets baptized Saturday!

Leaving passive aggressive sticky notes to people who forget our appointments!

Sister Bartsch

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.