"I'm not even listening to what you're talking. MY MOUTH IS CRYING FOR A BROWNIE!!" -Brother Alhalteh

Kermit. Scuse my sweaty face. I hate when they squirm.

🎶"If I could have seen the future, back a few years ago.. I wouldn't believe what was coming just down the road! I'm father than I ever pictured, I've done more than I ever planned. It's easy to see that who I'm supposed to be is in someone else's hands. 🎶

Yall, I have been a missionary for a whole year! Sometimes I have moments when I realize how far I have come, they hit me all at once and I am so grateful for everything that  has contributed to me becoming who I am! I heard this song on Sunday morning and the beginning was perfect. That's all the sappy reflective stuff yall are going to get today :) 

This week was great! It went by really fast. I got to proselyte a little bit in Jackson. It's a really rough place.. so we are really careful and we take a bodyguard! Megan Gordon. She is the sassiest person I have EVER met. But we make her cupcakes and she drives us to our referrals and appointments in the hood 😊

On Thursday we went to see Shontay! Sister Nash found her months ago! The Sisters  have been teaching her and her daughters for a while now. She has committed to baptism dates several times and never felt ready for them. She has been taught everything we are supposed to teach her, so we prayed about it, and decided to talk about temples! We brought some pictures and discussed temple ordinances and blessings. In the middle of our discussion about eternal marriage, she pulls out her phone and starts scrolling and whispering to her 11 year old daughter Janaria. Something about "Saturday.. mornings.. what do you think.. no, too far?" I was sitting there thinking "awman, she's trying to schedule a return appointment so she can get us out of here.. alright, I can take a hint!" and then she says "how about August 6th for our baptism?" 'scuse me? She had been praying about being baptized and set herself with a date! We contained our excitement and agreed. She even set a time. She says all she has to do is find someone to baptize her, so there is a big chance she will move her date up :) so exciting! As we were leaving she said "it must've been all that talk about temples! mmmm!" The Spirit, yall. I'll try to get a picture with her and her girls this week :)

Finding at the park has become one of our favourite things to do! Even though we have to bike hills in the heat of the day, it's worth it. We've taught some moms while their kids are playing and I've been working on my talking to strangers and chalk art skills. Sister Lindberg and I even caught a Kermit! 

We got Bible Bashed this week! That's when someone invites us inside to yell and argue at us :) We are taught to not contribute to the contention, but take the verbal beating, bear testimony, tell them you don't feel the Spirit, ask to say a prayer, and then excuse yourself. Every time I've found myself in one of these situations, I feel an overwhelming confirmation as we are leaving that what I am doing is right, what I am teaching is true, and that I am looking for those who have softened hearts, open minds, and prepared spirits. Bashers think they 'beat' me, but they do nothing but strengthen my testimony! Truth always wins :) 

This week I started reading Revelation. I'm SO CLOSE to finishing the New Testament for the first time in my life :) I think lots of people share this concern, but people down here are especially scared of Revelation. One time as I was fixing to read a scripture this guy Joe said "woooooah now, this girl preachen' REVELATION? ight." and he sat forward and actually paid attention. Haha :) it's a crowd pleaser. Anyway, I've been kind of nervous to read it. So I printed a few study guides and helps to read along with it, learned a bunch about the historical context, persecution of the early Christian Church, the exile of John, and what some of the symbolism means. I started reading on Saturday and I LOVE IT. It's amazing what you can learn when you have the Spirit helping you. I've really grown to love my study time. One thing I love is all through the first few chapters, John tells us of the many blessings and rewards "he that overcometh" will receive. Things like the crown of life, eating from the tree of life, sitting with Christ on his throne, etc. I've been pondering what he could mean by overcoming rather than "he that repents", "he that keeps the commandments", "he that is perfect", or any other good thing! he that overcometh. I'll let yall ponder that one this week :) 

I could keep going, but I'll just say that this weekend I felt like Lehi: 
"..and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit.." 1 Nephi 1: 7

I love being a missionary, I love everything I am learning, I love all of you that support me, and I love all the encouragement that comes from your prayers. 

Have a blessed week! Work on overcoming your trials, temptations, and weaknesses.
I love yall!

Sister Bartsch

Photo captions: 
#2 We helped out at a superhero birthday party for one of the less-active families in the ward! Sister Lindberg and I got to wear masks. 
#3  We helped out at a superhero birthday party for one of the less-active families in the ward! 
Sister Lindberg and I got to wear masks. 
#4   Sister Lindberg, Love Her 💕

OH And Sister Nash came to spend the night with us :) I love her and miss her dearly. And I hate early morning pictures.

we went fishing! I didn't catch anything, though. I'm really not good at it. Even the times we went catfishing in  hattiesburg I was bad!  And yes, the thing got in my mouth a little bit. Elder Hartman pushed. naaaaaaaasty! 

"studying without a purpose is like.. it goes in one eye and out your ear.. or something like that!" -Elder Stokes

Hey yall I'm in Clinton! 

I'm not a liar, so I will tell yall that my fist week here was rough! My new companion Sister Lindberg and I share the car with a set of Elders, and we switch every week. It was our week with the car when I got here (yesss) but we were totally out of miles (noooooo). SO we biked and walked everywhere! The heat and humidity tried to kill me, yall. And it's not even June! I remember getting off the plane a year ago and I know it's worse. Pray for me! Adjusting to a new area is such a weird experience. All new faces, names, streets, missionaries, leaders, apartment, the list goes on. But I am learning names, getting to know my way around, planning on buying earplugs to combat a snoring companion and train tracks right by our apartment, and finding things to love about this place! I'll get there! 

I've run out of time... We have to run to our service project in Jackson. I have some pictures, though!

1. I rode the Transfer Van with Sister Elms! She is home now. That is crazy. Sister Dobbins went home, too! They are doing well :)

2nd night in Clinton - Star Wars activity

2. My second night in Clinton we had a huge Star Wars activity! It was a Clue game, and Sister Lindberg had an extra shirt. Bless her, because yall know I don't have one! I learned some stuff about Star Wars! Can't say I thought I'd say that on my mission.

3. Okay, yall, don't be creeped out. But Sister Lindberg and I have been doing a lot of sidewalk chalk at parks in our area. So yesterday we are drawing the Plan of Salvation and  A HOCKEY PLAYER STARTS PRACTICING IN THE TENNIS COURT. I was so excited. As he was leaving, I talked to him, told him I was from Canada, and asked if there was any hockey around Clinton.. the answer was no. He wasn't super friendly. But I still asked him who was in the final round of the playoffs :) (go pens) and tried to share some gospel with him but then he left. Darn it. I really wanted to teach a hockey player :( 

4. But we have had some fun and some success with the chalk here! People's curiosity gets them to come see what we are drawing. Someone approached  us and asked us about Pre-Mortal Life! We talked to her and gave her a pamphlet. Earlier we had prayed about where to tract this month, and one of the streets was Bellevue. Guess where this lady lives? BELLEVUE! Coincidence? Of course not. I sense a cool story in the making.

Last weekend there were 3 baptisms here in Clinton :) the new members are amazing and I love them. But we have a lot of finding to do! Gotta get that teaching pool filled back up! So we are working hard. I love Sister Lindberg. She just finished training and she is really trying to give this mission her best! I really admire that :) ahhhh wish I had more time, but we will get the call to leave any second. 

Yall stay particular!
Have a blessed week!

Sister Bartsch

my REAL year mark is the 15th. and my six-months-until-going-home is the 21st. So I'm celebrating all month

I am Dede's fifth missionary!

hockey player in Mississippi!

Chalk Art works, Ya'll!

Transfer van with Sister Elms

"it's too much work to put that cottonpickin thing in the car!" -Katherine

Hey Yall!!!

I could email all day long. Yall are my favourite. Thanks for keeping up with me on my mission! Even after almost a year I feel so loved :) It's nice to take some time to remember all of you! 

This week was full of fun and hard work. It's great when we can work out a good balance! I need to keep laughing or being a missionary would probably crush me. So on Monday we had a paint fight! It was fun. And some of us get together to play tennis in the mornings, too. That's pretty funny :) I love this zone so much!

But don't worry, all the fun was on our time, and we worked really hard when it was the Lord's time :) Sister Nash and I finished our exchanges last week, so we didn't have any this week! It was nice to be able to finally focus on this poor, sometimes neglected area. After a couple weeks of very little contact we got in to see Britney! She's struggling because her boyfriend (who is a member of our church) has pulled back and doesn't put in very much effort to get the family in church. She is trying to talk to him about getting married but he doesn't want that yet either. It's sad because she wants to be baptized so badly!

We got to see Kaye a lot this week, too. Kaye REALLY wants to be baptized. She also struggles with some marriage problems. She's really scared to get married again. Sister Nash and I do our best, but we are not relationship counselors.. We follow the Spirit in lessons and that's all we can really do! 

The Most Awesome District:  Sister Nash, Elder Boehme, Elder Paxton, Elder Davis, Me, Sister Rose, Sister Barney, Elder Blair, Elder Eells, Elder Pierre-Louis! 

BUT THEN both of them came to church despite their significant others and we had a wonderfully inspired Sunday School lesson about returning to live with God again. Britney and Kaye both brought up their concerns and our wonderful teacher helped resolve them. He is much more qualified to give relationship advice. Sister Nash and I sat back and seriously enjoyed the help :) Kaye doesn't know I'm leaving yet, and she might try to handcuff me to her oven, she's threatened many times. Please pray for me. 

Sister Nash, Kaye, Myself and Dede.

Terrell and Branden weren't able to come to church this week, but they're moving forward as well!! There are some very sweet, promising people here :) I am excited to be invited to all of their baptisms!

I'm being transferred to Clinton, Mississippi! I'll be serving with a Sister who has just finished training and I'm super excited to meet her. Leaving this place is already hard. I love Hattiesburg so much! Bit I'm needed elsewhere so I will go :) I have heard great things about Clinton, it sounds a lot like Bossier. I think I'll like it! The transfer van will pick me up tomorrow morning.


I love you ALL! Have a blessed week. Send me some letters.

Sister Bartsch

100 Parker Drive A4
Clinton, MS 39056

I saw 2 snakes this week... including this Rattlesnake.

Most awesome Tree of Life Drawing you ever saw, all for Kaye. 

"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!
 

Kaye "Where's Miss Berch?" Sister Nash "She's in Petal." Kaye "I'll Petal her butt!" Exchanges in a nutshell :)

Hey Yall!!! I had a good week. I don't have a lot of time, so let me tell you a little about it & send you some pictures.  


 We went catfishing! Fun Fact: Catfish are nasty and they never die. Even while you are skinning and filleting them. They twitch and move around through everything. I won't go into more detail, but that's what I learned. Also Sister Nash caught a fish on her first cast and I was jealous :) 

MLC is one of my favourite things! Best group of missionaries out here, for sure. Good things are in store for this mission! We took selfies with President and Sister Olson :) And I love my companion.

 This is Elder Smith! He's from SE Calgary and we thought that was pretty cool. I haven't been able to talk much about hockey and Canadian things, so that was exciting. 

 Elder Boehme and Elder Blair joined us on the road trip!
We took the classic watermelon (fail) and car selfie pictures :) 

 Exchanges with Sister Elms! This sweetie goes home in three weeks and I can't believe it. I'm holding on to her as long as I can :) 

 I wish you all could know how much I love it here. I share so many pictures because I want yall to see how happy I am to be a missionary! God's been giving me lots of reasons to smile lately. So many funny things happen to me as a missionary. And I see countless little miracles! 


On Saturday Sister Nash and Sister Williams ran into Tyrel on the street, he said he'd always meant to visit our church and agreed to come. AND THEN HE ACTUALLY CAME! He walked all the way to the building Sunday morning, caught half of Sacrament meeting, had a really confusing lesson on the Millennium, and was taught the law of tithing in Priesthood. We asked him how he liked Church and he said "it was okay!" We'll be explaining a lot of things on Tuesday, and if this guy keeps coming to Church he is a miracle :)  

Kaye is doing alright, she quit smoking for a little while, but is struggling again. Keep her in your prayers! I see such brilliant, blinding potential in her, but she doesn't see it in herself! I know that's a struggle for all of us. We see our flaws and weaknesses much easier than our strengths and potential. I know that's true for me! As a missionary I feel like all my weaknesses are displayed to the world on a silver platter.. so I'm working on strengthening them! I can only imagine that Kaye feels the same way, and I admire her bravery and determination to stay on the path to baptism. I will love her all the way through this! I know she can do it.

I love being a missionary, I love the South, and I love yall!
Have a blessed week! 

Sister Bartsch

"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.