Transfers!

Hello my lovely family,

BIG NEWS. 

We had TRANSFERS. 

YEP, we had transfer calls last night and

HERMANA PIGGOTT IS GETTING TRANSFERRED.

 I know. I can't talk about it.

She's heading to Lincoln and we're switching companions with the

Hermanas up there. So Hermana Piggott will be with Hermana Lee and

Hermana Richards is coming here. We've all met before and they both

seem like darling girls, so I am excited. I remember Hermana Richards

talking about how it's important to speak Spanish ALL the time so that

will be way good. I would love it if we spoke only Spanish to each

other a lot of the time. Hermana Piggott and I have had all Spanish

mornings and a few days of the week for speaking only Spanish but it

will be good to make it even more strict. I don't know Hermana

Richards very well at all but the impression I received when I found

out she's going to be my companion is that we will be very very hard

workers together. We'll get A LOT of work done. I could sense that

dedication and diligence in her from the one time I met her so I am

super excited. That's all I want. Is a companion who will be obedient,

hard working and focused. And also who will love the people as much as

I do, etc. but so anyways... that's my big announcement!!!! 

I can't lie though and say I'm not sad to say goodbye to my best friend. I

love Hermana Piggott sooo much and we have had the most amazing time

together. So I am going to be very sad to say goodbye to her. I am

going to miss her tons & tons but I know that transfers are for good

and important reasons. I also trust President Weston and his decisions

completely and more importantly, trust our Heavenly Father whole

heartedly. So I know I will have an incredible time with Hermana

Richards as well. Soo crazy I don't know her fly to the moon right now

though!! I am about to be glued to the hip with a complete stranger!!!

Haha no but that's part of the fun and we're both sister missionaries,

here to do the Lord's work so I am super excited. We are switching

tomorrow so I'll let you know how it all goes next week!! Ohh man. I

am going to miss my darling Hermana Piggott though. I love her so.

Yesterday in sacrament they had her bear her testimony and as soon as

she got choked up, I had tears running down my cheeks. As did Yamara.

It's hard but again, I trust the Lord and this is just part of the

adventure. I'm excited. And Hermana Richards came out with Hermana

Piggott so we are going to be able to get right to work!!!!!! I'm

completely ready for it!!!!! And Hermana Piggott and I are going to be

the best of friends after the mission, no questions asked, so it will

just be a short period of time before we'll be running around together

again. Of course, it will be in completely different circumstances but

we have a great bucket list of things we're going to do together.

We'll be friends forever. She truly is one of my closest and dearest

friends. Ahhh love her so much!!! 

But okay and then for quick updates... We have Raquel on date for February 15th!!!!!! 

We taught Raquel a long time ago, around when I first got here, she actually was

the first lesson I taught haha and she was SO golden but ALWAYS

working. So she was never able to come to church..... Well, she

doesn't have work till April and while were updating our area books to

our iPads, I was updating her and was inspired to go teach her again.

Along with her son Gabriel. So we went and she was soo excited to meet

us! She told us she has missed us a ton and that she had been thinking

a ton about us and the church. We taught her the first two lessons

over again, she remembered EVERYTHING, has been reading from her Book

of Mormon and she then told US she has been really really thinking

about being baptized. So we invited her right then and there, of

course... She accepted and we put her on date!!!! She wasn't able to

attend church yesterday so we had to put it for the 15th but I am soo

excited!!!! She is sooo knowledgable in the gospel already and had

such a strong spirit. She will be a great addition to the branch so

please pray that everything works out. Also, I had a feeling her son

needed to listen again, he's 21, so we called him into the family

room... He listened, asked me some deep questions... I answered them

to my best ability and backed them up with scriptural references... He

was satisfied. Said we could begin teaching him again, which was a

miracle.. And so we need to get him on date ASAP as well!! Then I also

had a strong impression while we were updating the area book that we

needed to visit Maggie again. So we did.. It was her Birthday the day

we went, which was fun, so we taught her still.. And then we went back

for a second lesson and brought Yamara!! Wow. Yamara is incredible.

She has the strongest and most sincere testimony. Hearing her share it

in our lesson honestly blew me away. She also helped us actually teach

the lesson too, sooo cute!! So anyways.. We both had the strong

impression that we needed to teach Maggie the first lesson again and

really emphasize Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Well anyways,

her sister Rosa ended up joining us and we taught the entire first

lesson. We really went into a lot of it though because they are a very

very Catholic family so they know a lot about the Bible, etc. but so

anyways... She was LOVING it and had the most amazing comments,

questions etc. one being.... "If I was baptized into the Catholic

church could I still be baptized into the Mormon church???" 

Of course we were all beaming and immediately then invited her to be baptized.

She said she has always questioned her religion, even had asked her

pastor if it was a sin to question it.... And she said if after she

reads from the Book of Mormon, prays to God asking him if it's true..

She feels she has received an answer and that it is God's will... Then

OF COURSE she will be. She also said that she would still be baptized

even though her parents are super Catholic. Whereas, when we asked

Maggie the same question previously.. She said she would just stick

with her upbringing in the Catholic church. But Rosa is 20, 21 years

old so she can get baptized without her parents consent or anything.

AMAZING!!!!!! She is GOLDEN. I am so excited. She's perfect. Has such

a sincere desire to know and I can tell she has TRUE content. Meaning

she will act upon the answer she receives. Oh and we asked Yamara to

bear her testimony during the lesson and she bore the STRONGEST and

most sincere, powerful testimony. She blew me away and sounded like

such a young adult. She said something along the lines of, "So I grew

up Catholic right? Like you. But when I started listening to the

missionaries and first went to the church I just felt soooo good.

Church is like my little sanctuary. I feel so much peace, love and

happiness when I am there. Everything... the Book of Mormon, the

church, the people, all of it.. Make me feel so good and have CHANGED

my life. When I decided I wanted to be baptized, it was all I wanted.

My mom would try to entice me to do otherwise by bringing up my

quinceañera because it WAS something I had wanted my entire life. I

had dreamed about it since I was a little girl. But it is just a

party... And once I decided I wanted to be baptized into this church,

it was ALL I wanted. I had to fight for it too with my parents but I

knew it was worth it. This church really makes me so happy and I know

I will never ever regret my decision to be baptized. I know it's the

right path for me. You seriously should be baptized because you won't

regret it. It means a lot to me. And if you go to church, you'll want

to be baptized." 

I wrote that all down right after the lesson so I

could remember somewhat of it.. She was crying while saying it all too

and since I was feeling the spirit so strong I couldn't remember it

ALL but she said it so powerfully and it was amazing. And she pretty

much invited them to be baptized herself!!! I loved it!! There's

nothing better than watching a convert teach, share their testimony

and invite OTHERS to do what they've done. Be baptized. It's so

incredible. We all felt the spirit so strong and afterwards Rosa asked

us to then share our testimonies. Amazing lesson. I'll give you more

updates next week. Okay, then real quick... The Elizondo's. Antonio is

getting a little riled up lately because he knows what he needs to do

but just isn't ready to change and do it. He even said to me,

"Sometimes it's hard to hear the truth... I am not READY right now."

And we have taught him over and over how he shouldn't procrastinate...

The time is NOW. But we can't force him to change. So we're going to

give him some more breathing space and let him figure it out. He tells

us he feels the spirit we tell him about whenever we're around because

we're angels to him, he feels it whenever he comes to church, he felt

it at Yamara's baptism, etc. but he just is holding back. He'll figure

it out. He just needs time. But we didn't go over to their house for

the rest of the week and he called us saying, "I miss you! I miss you!

Why haven't you been coming over??" ... We think it will be good for

him to feel the a sense of us not coming over as much. He's so used to

us being over there that it will be good for him to think more on his

own. 

Anyways, Hermana Rodriguez feels the same... He came to our

lesson earlier this week however, we are going to really focus on

Lorenza. She is progressing sooo much. We had an awesome lesson with

her this week and did I tell you about the time she prayed for us??

And how at the end of her prayer she started CRYING!? And Yamara got

all excited and said, "she was touched by the Holy Ghost!!!" And went

and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Yamara wants her mom to be

converted soo bad and is being such an amazing example to her. Also,

Lorenza came to church yesterday all by herself. We're in the progress

of a miracle here!! Keep her in your prayers!!!!! But okay, I have

more to say but have to write President before my time is up. I'll

give you more updates next week along with an update on my new

compañera!!! Ahhh so crazy. 

Okay, I have to go!!! Oh!! And President and Sister Lopez LOVED meeting you mom, dad and Abigail!!!

 They went on and on about your get together at our house haha. They even brought

up HENRY!!!! Hahaha so crazy they hung out at our house for over 2

ours with you guys!!! I love it so much!!! And they think you are all

just AMAZING. President went on and on about you all. He was like wow,

your FATHER... etc. etc. and your MOTHER... etc. etc. and they thought

Abby was another version of me hahaha. I love it!!! They honestly are

in love with you guys and I know exactly why! I have the best family

in the world!!! I love you all sooo much. If they could have met

everyone else as well they would have been even more obsessed. Haha

and they showed me some pictures too.. Sooo cute!!!! I love my

family!! I am so happy you all got to meet. Oh, and Krista was

OBSESSED with you all too. Hahaha too good. Ps. Abs, you told them to

look for all of my corky mannerisms like rubbing my thumb against my

lips, flipping my hair, etc. hahahahaha and they told you I lick my

lips a lot!?! Hahaha what!? Too funny. I guess some things never

change. I'm my same old weirdy self. With even more weirdness added to

me haha. But I love it. And mom!! Thank you soo much for the

package!!! It was AMAZING and I LOVE the picture calendar!!!! Haha

that led to the Lopez's knowing about Michael..... Hahaha they asked a

bit about him after that. But I love it and everything you sent was

absolutely PERFECT. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. Okay, the clock is ticking.

¡ADIOS! Oh and for my quick shout outs.... JANIE AND CHRIS ARE

MARRIED!!!! Ahhhh Janie George!!! Sooo crazy. Send me pictures from

the wedding please and if you see the married woman, tell her congrats

from me please. I can't believe my little baby sister is MARRIED. And

has a HUSBAND. SO FUN!!!! And then JANE ELIZABETH FINNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!!!!!! I have been anxiously awaiting for

that announcement and I'll write you more in a personal email but I am

SOOOOO EXCITED for you and cute Carter!!!!!! I couldn't be more

thrilled, excited or happy. I am pretty sad I'll be missing the big

day..... Very sad I won't be seeing that sealing in the temple but

I'll be there in spirit!!!! Okay, I'll write more to you later. Soo

many engagements and weddings though of people MY AGE!!! My FRIENDS.

How am I this old????? Haha sooo fun though. I love it. Okay, love you

all.

Con mucho mucho amor y un gran abrazo,

Hermana Barth

Ps. Cutest line from Jesús at church yesterday to Hermana Piggott...

"If I don't see you again, I want you to know that you and Hermana

Barth... Have CHANGED my life."

My heart was about to burst. He is adorable. I love my sweet little

angel converts!!!!!!

Shall We Not Go On in Such Great a Cause?

I have a lot I could say to you all today, as always, but I am going

to keep it short and sweet. I know my emails are usually miles long

and pretty much novels.. but I think I may change that. I usually am

frantically typing in the hour period I have, wanting to tell you

every possible thing I can think of, and often reading off notes I

wrote beforehand, etc. but I have realized I don't need to share every

teeny tiny little detail, I can keep those in my journal.. and I have

realized that what is most important is for you to all know how I

feel. Ohh I wish I could express to you how I am feeling at this very

moment but it's truly too hard to explain. I am not even sure if there

are words to describe it. I have such a great amount of warmth, peace,

love, gratitude and happiness in my heart. I feel such a great amount

of love for the work I am doing and the people I am serving. For every

single person that is in my life. Even those who may not seem as big

or as significant. I honestly love everyone who has entered into my

life, at any time period, soo very much and want you all to know that.

I also want you to know how much love, respect and admiration I have

for our Savior, Redeemer, Lord, and Brother, Jesus Christ. I am choked

up even just writing this email as I think about my dear Savior. I

love him with all of my heart and soul and cannot bear to think about

not having Him in my life, by my side. I can sincerely feel my Savior

by my side at all times in the work I am doing. In His work. I know

that He is helping me and all those I come in contact with in every

aspect and performing more miracles than I can possible say. I am so

grateful for Him and for the Holy Ghost that touches and works through

me every single day as well. I am so humbled by the love I feel right

now. As a missionary and simply as a daughter of our ever so loving

Heavenly Father. I also want you to know that I know with all of my

heart that God is truly our Heavenly Father, he loves each of us soo

very much and he truly does listen to and answer each of our prayers

as well. I wish I could tell you all of the times Heavenly Father has

reached out to me personally and answered my prayers but it would take

forever. He has reached out to me in many many ways and continues to

do so. I have had some personal experiences with this lately as well

and my testimony has been strengthened more and more each day. 

Ohh I love my eternal Father so very much.

 I have tears in my eyes right now

thinking about Him. I feel so loved. And this love is building up

inside of me more and more each day. I just feel so loved and feel so

much love for others. I truly feel as though I am about to burst!

There is so much love in my heart!!!!! And also, my love for Joseph

Smith... Words cannot describe my admiration for him as well. I know

that he restored the gospel and true church of Jesus Christ and it is

through him we have the truth on the earth today. Hermana Piggott and

I watched parts of the Joseph Smith movie earlier this week with the

Elizondo family and at the end of the movie (I'll translate it into

English) it says.... "The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God

unto salvation. The fullness of this gospel was restored through the

Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph lived and died for the cause of truth.

The work that he began continues to spread throughout the earth. Shall

we not go on in so great a cause?" Of course, there is a greater

affect reading this after watching the movie, seeing all that Joseph

went through for the truth and for Christ's church to again be

restored... But when I read those words and the song, "Praise to the

Man" silently played in the background... I had chills run down my

spine, my throat was choked and I had tears in my eyes. I felt as

though the entire world had stopped and my appreciation for this

gospel completely filled me. When I read, the last sentence I truly

felt the spirit so strong as well and the fire I have inside of me for

missionary work and to spread this gospel grew soo much. I absolutely

love this work because I absolutely love my Savior, His gospel, The

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, my Heavenly Father, all

of His children, and being a missionary, servant and tool for my

Savior. I am here to hasten His work and exclaim to every single soul

I come in contact with that the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ

is on the earth!!!! We have this knowledge!! And we have a living

Prophet and twelve Apostles on the earth as well! We still are

receiving direct revelation and guidance from the Almighty and if we

follow the Savior's example, His commandments and the modern

revelation our Prophets and as of now, President Monson receives in

these latter-days, we will love with our Father in Heaven again!!! We

will be in his presence along with our Savior, families and all those

we love with forever! For eternity! We can have the happiest, most

fulfilling and blessed lives on the earth today and receive eternal

happiness in the life to come!!!!! I am here to declare this word and

I couldn't be happier about it. I LOVE THIS WORK. And every one of us

can do this work as well. We are all missionaries, disciples and

servants of the Lord.. So let's make it known! Known that He LIVES and

that God loves us and has a PLAN for us!!!!! That we are all going to

receive salvation and eternal life. If we hearken unto His counsel and

grow closer to them. If we seek after them, pray to them, do their

work.

"SHALL WE NOT GO ON IN SO GREAT A CAUSE?"

Con amor, Hermana Barth

"Now behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. The Son of God. I have

been called of Him, to declare His word, among His people, that they

might have everlasting life." - 3 Nephi 5:13

We recite this every morning in both English and Spanish before

companionship study...

"He aquí, hoy discípulo de JesuCristo, el Hijo de Dios. He sido

llamado por él para declarar su palabra, entre los de su pueblo, a fin

de que alcancen la vida eterna." - 3 Nefi 5:13

Ps. Everything is going wonderful here. I think it's my last week with

Hermana Piggott which is hard and I don't like thinking about it...

But we still have one last week together. It will be an amazing one.

The Elizondo family is doing awesome. Lorenza is progressing the most

and I know she will be baptized. Huge miracle I know. But I have so

much faith in her and in the Lord. We also have many new promising

investigators, I'll have to tell you all about them next week. We also

got a solid new family in our branch. They both graduated from BYU and

the mom's dad is the Temple President in Merida, Mexico and her uncle

is the Mission President of that mission. We're thrilled to get them.

So darling. So solid. Also, President and Sister Weston had a

conference call with us the other day to announce our new Mission

President who will be coming in July. Michael Marston and Sister

Marston. President and his wife were crying softly over the phone when

they announced it and as they expressed their love for us and I am

going to miss them sooo much, as you all know how much I idolize and

love them.. But it will be awesome to get a new President as well.

I'll pretty much evenly have two Presidents. Which will be pretty

neat. I am excited to meet them but as of now I am soaking in all of

President Weston as I can. Also, Jesús received the Priesthood

yesterday and passed the sacrament for the first time! He looked soo

grown up, darling and happy! It touched my heart in so many ways and

along with him, Hermana Piggott and I couldn't wipe the smiles off of

our faces! And also, President Lopez just called us. Haha mom and

dad!!!! You get to meet my branch President!! Haha he's the best!!!!

You're seeing him tomorrow night!? I love it! His wife is the best too

and she has helped us soo much with Yamara. Also, they feed us a ton

when we don't have meals. Oh my goodness have so much fun talking to

them! And tell President HELLO! Hahaha kills me. I love him. I'm so

happy you're getting together. Okay.. I have more to say but actually

have to go. Time to write my dear President. I LOVE YOU ALL.

Oh, and cutest quote Yamara said this week... "I want to go on my own

mission some day so I can change a girls life like you've changed

mine."

hola!!!

¡¡Hola mi familia encantadora!! ¿Cómo están todos? ¡Tengo muchas cosas que quiero decir y escribir hoy, pero no tengo tiempo! Quiero decirles a todos ustedes cada detalle sobre el bautismo de Yamara pero quiero enviar fotos también y así que voy a ser rápido...

So... First off, HAPPY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODAY MOM & DAD!!!!! I love you both sooo much and am soo happy you two fell in love in high school so that I could be here today. Haha and then HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest dad on Thursday!!! I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!! You'll be receiving something in the mail from me this week. But okay as for mission updates........

Yamara was BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!! And yesterday received the gift of the Holy Ghost and is officially a new member of La Iglesia de JesuCristo de Los Santos de Los Ultimos Días!!!!!! I could NOT be happier about it!! This has been such a big miracle and continues to be one. When Yamara first decided she TRULY wanted to be baptized, her dad said she would have to wait at least a year and her mom wanted nothing to do with it. Her dad then cut it down to 6 months.. And all of the sudden said she could as soon as she wanted. Her mom however, still was completely against it.. Said she wouldn't support her, told her if she got baptized it meant she loved the church more than her.... etc. and when Yamara said she was going to be baptized with the consent of her dad, Lorenza (her mom) said she wouldn't attend... NADA. Well.... I kept faith with this and knew with the Lord's & Holy Ghost's help.. her heart would be softened. As was Antonio's. And it WAS. We kept going over to there house all of the time and actually, after the biggest argument they all had over the baptism, when Yamara was crying, etc. we asked Lorenza if we could start really teaching her the lessons and right away we taught her the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, along with some of  prayers from us, other missionaries, our families, our branch, EVERYONE.... Lorenza's heart was TRULY changed. She not only then gave Yamara her consent but supported her. She wanted to help plan for the baptism, for the food, etc. and of course she came and loved it soo much.

So as for the baptism. It could NOT have been more perfect. It was one of the best nights of my entire life. I don't even know where to begin it was so amazing. But so first off, earlier that day.. as a side note.. we went over to read about baptism again with Yamara, teach her one last time before she was baptized about the importance of the special ordinance, we wanted to keep her soo excited for that night (not that she wasn't already beaming with excitement over it... counting down the hours.. her password on her iPod is even 1414) but we went over to teach her and after we did, Antonio put us to work!! He had a full fledge lamb that he had sheared, gutted, taken apart, etc. that he was cooking for the baptism and we had to help de-bone all of the meat!! Ahhhhhhhhhh. It was gross, not going to lie. And not

because of the bones. But because of all the fat that had been sitting

in the vinegar he soaked it all in, etc. hahaha I was quite

entertained by the bones actually.. after my Anatomy class I was

loving inspecting everything. I even pulled out the spinal chord!!!

But yeah the smell of the sauce he had with it and everything, made me

gaggg and at the baptism Hermana Piggott and I were unable to eat any

of it even though everyone else was loving it haha. But so that was

fun!! It was a good experience. Oh and Brad, I was thinking about you

the other day because we were eating soup at their house and I all of

the sudden looked at something in my bowl, realizing it wasn't meat

and it was a pigs FOOT. The weird textured skin, some hair left on

it... Yeah. Reminded me of how you said when we eat meat if you think

of it as PIG it doesn't sound as appetizing and I couldn't have felt

like I was eating a pig more. Yikes!! Hahaha but anyways... back to

the baptism. Antonio did quite the process to make this lamb and it

was so cute because he just wanted to make it super special for

Yamara. But okay... as for the actual baptism. Next biggest thing.....

PRESIDENT WESTON CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our MISSION PRESIDENT!!!!! So

after we emailed President about how big of an impact he made on

Yamara at the fireside, when she met him and shook his hand.. he

emailed us back and said how when we had a date set with her to let

him know because he would want to attend. Well, a lot of missionaries

have invited him to baptisms of course and we've gone to ones where

they thought he would maybe come and he didn't but he kept calling and

texting us about it and HE CAME!!!!! This is SUCH a big deal!!!!

Hermana Piggott were wanting him to come sooo bad and KNEW Yamara

would fall over dead if he did... so we were crossing our fingers but

in the meanwhile wanted to make sure the baptismal program was

perfect. Well, we coordinated with the Liberty 1st ward since that's

the ward she attends Young Women's with and asked if the youth could

do a musical number. Well, they got sooo many youth to come and they

practiced beforehand, etc. and they sang the YM/YW medley (it's

becoming a tradition.. haha) and then I am a child of God in

Spanish!!! It was sooo good. And since the English was combined, we

invited a ton of members from that ward and anyways... we had the

program in the CHAPEL!!! Because there were so many people!! Usually

we have them in the relief society room where the font is and often

there aren't many people there... But we had sooo many people come and

support!!!! So many people love and adore Yamara though. But President

said at our last conference that he didn't want baptisms in that

little room, he wanted us to have so many people there that we have to

take it to the chapel... And we DID!!!! We had at LEAST 15

investigators there amongst the missionaries in our district too,

including many Spanish non-members and so it was amazing!!!!! And a

President got to sit up on the stand instead of a seat in the room so

I was thrilled. Up on the stand we had President Weston, our mission

president, President Paine, our stake president and President Lopez,

our branch president... Could it have been any better!?! But so back

to when Yamara showed up... We put everything together, said a prayer

just us three and then got her in her jumpsuit. We then had a feeling

President Weston had arrived (I'm not kidding I can feel his presence

when he enters the building) and sure enough he had. We went out into

the hall and saw him and then when we came back in the bathroom and I

saw tears rolling down Yamara's cheeks. I asked her if she was okay

and she looked at me smiled, with tear drops on her fresh white

baptismal suit and said, "Yes. I was just praying." It touched my

heart so much. I even felts little lump enter into my throat. But so

then we told Yamara how he was there and right when we walked out she

saw him and she clung on to me and was soooo excited and overwhelmed

with emotion that he was there. He then came up to her, shook her hand

and

she started crying again. She kept saying, "You're making me cry

again" and she keep shaking his hand and thanking him over and over

for coming... he kept saying how happy he was to be there, how it was

a priority, how excited he was for her, etc. It was SO PRECIOUS. And I

was pretty much acting the same when I saw him. I was all giddy and

filled with emotion. Haha really I feel the spirit SO strong when he

is around. But so then we continued to take pictures, with Yamara,

President Weston, the entire Elizondo family, etc. and President

Weston even pulled out his phone and took some pictures of us!! He

sent some to Sister Weston too, she couldn't make it because she was

sick however she called us earlier.. She's so darling. But really

Hahaha Hermana Piggott I honestly idolize President. I respect,

admire, love and look up to him sooo much!!!!!! He is amazing and one

of the most spiritual men I have ever met. But President met their

entire family as well... we finally got to watch Lorenza speak some

broken English haha made us so happy. She knows more than she'll ever

say she does. And they were all smiling and loving him!!!! It was

amazing. Apparently President told Esgar that he's a Raiders fan too

and Esgar is OBSESSED and so that really put President even higher in

his books haha. But then we all went into the chapel and began!!

Pedro, Yamara's uncle who is a member, said the opening prayer.. we

sang "Haz El Bien" Choose The Right.. which it was the best watching

President sing in Spanish haha and then MARCELLA gave the first talk

on baptism. WOW. Oh yeah!! And we had President meet her too. That was

awesome. She just had the biggest grin on her face and was so honored

to meet him as well. But back to her talk... First off, this is of

course the first church talk she has ever given and at first she was

sooo nervous and you could tell when she first started talking at the

pulpit. But then as she got going, wow... I have never been more proud

or impressed by her!!! She told her entire story of meeting us,

inviting us to come over, accepting to be baptized in the first

lesson, us coming over and teaching her almost every day of the week,

p etc. and while she was telling this she just had tears rolling down

her cheeks. And then she talked about her baptism and started crying

more... She talked about how much it meant to her and to Estrella,

talked about the feelings she had throughout the night, when she

entered into the waters of baptism.... etc. It was sooo special!!! I

had tears rolling down my face at this point as well. She continued to

talk about how the gospel has changed her life, how amazing all of the

members of the church are, how amazing, loved and welcomed she felt

the first time she went to church, said how we're angels and how the

Orme's are angels... I was sitting next to Brother Orme (he's the one

who baptized Yamara) and so we were both in tears and Marcella's face

was drenched in them... But yeah she went on about all of that and

then the best part, she then started looking directly at Yamara and

got all serious and started preaching the gospel.. she started telling

her how this decision is going to change her life, how it's the best

decision she'll ever make... how she will never ever regret it, she

talked about how special the Holy Ghost is... how excited she is for

Yamara, etc. and I was in pure heaven. I truly had tears streaming

down my face and I couldn't have felt happier. Listening to Marcella,

our recent convert, bear such a strong and sincere testimony and then

get serious and start preaching it!!!! I felt the spirit soo strong

and couldn't have been happier!! And then having Jesus there as well

and the entire Elizondo family and all those I love so much, sitting

next to Brother Orme and Hermana Piggott... Thinking about how much

love I feel as a missionary, how much I love this work... Just

everything was hitting me all at once. And Yamara was wiping her tears

away as well.. I cannot describe it. It was all in Spanish too but

luckily President Lopez translated for a President Weston so he could

understand it all. From the look on his face, I could tell he was so

touched as well. Everyone was. Even those that didn't understand a

word Marcella was saying were crying because the spirit in the room

was soooo strong. So many things came to my mind while I was sitting

there too but I remember specifically looking at Hermana Piggott,

looking at Yamara and the Elizondo family, looking at Marcella,

Brother Orme, President Lopez and President Weston and being sooo

overwhelmed with emotion. I felt soo much love, gratitude and

happiness... I cannot even put it into words. 

In that exact moment I knew it hit me again so strongly that I was called to this mission for

a reason. It is MY mission and these are my people. They're my family.

I could feel Heavenly Father and my Savior's love for me soo strong

too and truly the spirit could not be more present. Then us

missionaries went up and sang I am a child of a God in Spanish with

all the youth. It was soo spiritual. Then a young women leader of

Yamara spoke about the Holy Ghost.. It was darling and she even got

emotional talking about her. We then all sang the YM/YW medley. Which

always brings the spirit into the room sooo strongly. I loved it so

much. I remember looking down and smiling at Yamara when we first

started too and she gave me a huge grin back, then I smiled at Lorenza

and she gave me a huge smile back, then with Marcella and I could see

sooo many people getting touched and emotional while we were singing.

I loved it!! But what even hit me while we were singing... was one

time while we were singing our hearts out, we looked at and smiled at

one another, and so much hit me. It hit me that this was probably

going to be the last baptism we were going to have together and then

it hit me we probably only have a few short weeks left together as

well and ahhh. It was emotional for me. I felt soo proud of us and was

thinking about all that we have accomplished together... Looked at our

converts and thought of so many memories. It was as if our last 16

weeks together flashed before my eyes in a matter of seconds!!! It was

a lot to take in but the spirit was bursting inside of me and I was

one happy missionary. Ah I am going to miss my best friend Hermana

Piggott soo much though and everyone in that room sooo much when I am

transferred out of Gridley, but there's no point in dwelling over it

or even thinking about it right now. We still have so much more to

accomplish together!!!! So that was very special. Then the beautiful

ordinance was performed and Yamara was baptized by Brother Orme. It

was oh so special and warmed my heart up so much. Then after the

baptism, we all went back into the chapel and Hermana Piggott and I taught the Restoration. This is President's new rule and so we did just what we were told. We had about 15 or more non-members/investigators though so it really was perfect. We taught it in Spanish too of course and that was fun for President Weston to hear us speak it. It was awesome and I was so proud of us. We said it all so smoothly and afterwards many people were telling us how much our Spanish has improved since Marcella's baptism.... haha probably because we talked about something we teach every single day haha but it still made us feel happy. It was crazy though because there really were multiple times when I wasn't even thinking, I was just speaking. I loved everything about it. Especially singing the Elizondo family all trapped in listening and all of the non-members as well. It was very spiritual. Then following us, Yamara went up and bore her testimony. Wow, it was sooo spiritual and powerful. She gave her entire story, about how she used to be shy when we'd come over, didn't know if she'd really be baptized, etc. and then she talked about when we took her to the fireside in Chico and when she met President Weston... so she then looked at him on the stand and started crying when she talked about when she met him and shook his hand, she said as soon as she met him and shook his hand she started crying like a baby and thought to herself and knew "This is the path I want to take. This is the church I want to join. This is for me." She said this all in Spanish too because she wanted her parents to understand but President Lopez translated again for President Weston and I could just see how touched President Weston was by the look on his face and the look he had in his eyes. It was incredible. He would just get the biggest grin on his face as well and had watery eyes. Ohhh it could not have been better. The room was completely silent too and all you could hear was her voice and sniffles from people getting emotional. Including myself. I couldn't hold in the tears. She then continued to say how that night she told her dad she really really wanted to be baptized and how once her parents finally accepted she was soo excited, she talked about prayer & feeling the spirit, about us... etc. It could not have been better and I was so proud of her. She may be only 12 almost 13 years old but when it comes to the gospel... she is sooo mature. Then after she spoke, Jose Rodriguez, our ward mission leader, closed it up and shared his own powerful testimony. He was super emotional as well... telling Yamara's parents how impressive she is, how special she is, etc. and he even talked about her being such a good example to her family and everyone and even said to her family, "Maybe you'll be baptized someday...." I loved it! But it was amazing. We then finished by singing There is Sunshine in My Soul Today, I looove it in Spanish and then we all chatted. President Weston came up to Hermana Piggott and I and gave us the biggest smile and told us how PROUD he is of us. This means more than anything to me!!! He then told us how excited he was for us, how beautiful the entire night was, how amazing Yamara is, he talked about us teaching the restoration and how he loved listening to us "teaching up there!!" Oh I love him SO much. He then talked to Yamara for a good while and said how he wants to visit her family. He talked to Hermana Piggott and I about this alone as well. He wants to visit with this family and we all know we can get them all baptized and into the church. They're perfect!! But so that's amazing. WE HAVE TO GET THIS FAMILY BAPTIZED!!!!!! It's crucial!!! But then we talked to everyone forever, we introduced President to Jesus!! President asked him if he was taking care of us and Jesus said with a big grin, "no, they're taking care of me!" haha sooo cute!!! And anyways.... we then had a big fiesta with tons of Mexican goods. Antonio was loving serving everyone the lamb we helped him with, etc. it was the best!!!!! I have never seen Antonio happier either and Lorenza was loving it as well. And to think she originally wanted nothing to do with it and said she wouldn't come......... but anyways. Yamara was on cloud 9 too, as were the rest of us and it was the PERFECT night!!!!!! I have sooooo much more I could say too but I have already told you too many details for comfort haha. I haven't written in my journal about it yet so this is my way of remembering everything. But anyways.... Yamara is baptized and again was confirmed a member of the church yesterday along with receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now she is just glowing more than ever and is sooo happy!!! I truly can already see a difference!!! I love her sooo much!!!! Ps. she loves telling people how she's the first Mormon Elizondo and how she wants to serve a mission some day. It's so darling!!!! 

But okay, I have to go!!!! Sorry that half of this is centered wrong... I wrote half of it on my iPad when I was waiting for the Elder's to be done sending their emails and it goes all weird. But ahhh I have so much more to say and my hour is up!!! Okay, well we have NEW AWESOME investigators and we know one, Alicia Campos, will be getting baptized asap... she told us how missionaries taught her once, she loved it and they never came back?? And she's continued to read the Book of Mormon and LOVES it. We also saw that in her Book of Mormon she had Alma 31:31 marked... look it up. It's so precious. But yeah she said she loves reading the Book of Mormon and LOVES learning about our church!! We invited her to be baptized too and she said yesss. We invited her over to dinner with the Orme's tomorrow night too and she is so excited to come! We actually invited her to the baptism too and were supposed to call her but forgot because we were so occupied and she wanted to go.... yep. Still feel sick about it. But we'll get her to dinner and church this week. We all make mistakes sometimes!!!!!!! Yeah, can't talk about it. But we looove her, she's the nicest and I'll talk more about her next week!! Oh and she's probably in her 50's?? Anyways, we are seeing more and more miracles each day!! Also, we KNOW we are going to get the entire Elizondon family baptized. In time. It just makes us sad thinking we probably won't be together for it. But it's all about the ordinance. Anyways, I have to go!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!! Oh and for some other quick shout outs, CONGRATULATIONS TO MEG AND CARTER FOR GETTING ENGAGED!!!!!!! Junior high sweethearts.... I love it!!! And LYDIA OWENS!!!!!! Ahhhhh I can't believe two more of my friends are getting MARRIED!!!!! SOO exciting. I love those girls sooo much. Then CAL BABE!!! Happy Happy Birthday beautiful!!! I love you sooo much too and hope you have a wonderful Birthday. Okay, ADIOS!!!

Con mucho amor y un gran abrazo, 

Hermana Barth