Our Beloved Savior

My loveliest and most beautiful family!!!

How are you all my favorite people!? Are you all on as much of a spiritual high as I am??

 I hope so! I don't think I could feel more uplifted, inspired, blessed and excited to be a missionary 

than I do at this very moment. 

GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS BEYOND AMAZING!!!!!!!

Words cannot even begin to describe how much I loved it!! I have been

counting down the DAYS and then when it came down to it, was counting

down the MINUTES till I got to hear from our beloved Prophet, Thomas

S. Monson and his incredible, inspired Apostles!!! As well as other

respected leaders of the church. And it was even better than I could

have imagined!! I truly had permanent chills the entire time and had

my eyes glued. I was soaking in every teeny, tiny word said and trying

to apply it to myself, my life and missionary work as well. I even

found myself with tears in my eyes at times because I could feel the

spirit soo so strongly. It was so spiritual and amazing in every

single way possible. WOW!!!! It's not a joke when missionaries say

General Conference is like Christmas!! And as a matter of fact,

yesterday technically should be Christmas since it's the official day

our beloved Savior was born. Not to mention the official day His

church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was

established. Ahhh the church is TRUE and we are apart of it!!!!!! I

could not be more confident about that statement. It is OHHH so true

my dearest family and friends and I feel it so strongly inside of me

that I think I may burst. Good thing I am a full-missionary and have

the ability to preach and share the wonderful gospel and share my

testimony with everyone I meet huh??? 

I LOVE BEING A FULL-TIME

MISSIONARY!!!!!! 

Honestly. I love it so so much and I am so happy....

I don't know how to handle it. If you saw me right now you probably

wouldn't understand how I could be so happy either, due to the fact

that I am definitely getting a little chubby and looking more mishy

every single day haha, it's a real thing... but I couldn't care less

about anything besides the fact that I am privileged enough to

thoroughly study the gospel each and every day and preach it to

others!! I have the opportunity to focus 100% of my thoughts and

efforts on serving my Lord and doing His work. I absolutely LOVE my

calling!! Haha I know you are all probably thinking I am the

cheesiest, nerdiest thing.... and I probably am. But I couldn't care less. 

I am just a very happy soul. But back to General Conference....

I don't even know where to begin with talking about it. It was so so

amazing and I hope each and everyone of you watched all sessions of

it. Including Women's Conference for the girls and Priesthood for the

boys. Haha Hermana Richards and I happened to watch Priesthood too

even... We watched it at the Lopez's when we were over there for

dinner. SO AMAZING. Even though it was directed to the men of the

church, I still learned oh sooo much. Wow. I cannot get over how

amazing it all was. I am so sad it is already over too!!! However, it

feels like yesterday when Hermana Piggott and I were watching

October's General Conference and I remember right after it ended

Hermana Piggott immediately said, "I already am so excited and cannot

wait for the next General Conference!!" And even though we knew it was

6 months away, we still started counting down the days. So crazy though. 

I remember April feeling soo so far away and it is now already

here!! Where has the time gone!? Ah. It's a little scary actually.

Next General Conference Hermana Piggott, Hermana Richards and Elder

Haller.... Will be close to heading home, about a month later. That

freaks me out haha because I will be right around the corner! Okay,

enough with that. Nothing makes me more sad right now than thinking

about my journey here coming to an end. BUT back to Conference yet

again.... I learned ohh so much and absolutely loved how there were so

many trends and ties between all of the talks. I made so many

connections between them all and felt as though the inspiration I was

receiving was becoming more and more clear with each talk given. Also,

something very special to me.. Was before Conference started I prayed

and pondered over specific questions I wanted answered. I ended up

writing down 12 very specific questions and VERY clearly ALL 12 OF MY

QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED. What a testimony builder for me. I not only

got the answers to my questions but they were all very clearly and

bluntly stated and talked about. It was amazing and I feel so

overwhelmingly blessed. I truly feel as though this General Conference

was all so personally directed at me. I am sure you all feel the same.

Isn't that incredible?? I wish I could go on and on about all the

personal insight, revelation and inspiration I received as well but

unfortunately... I don't even have close to all the time for that. I

actually don't even have enough time to brush over my deepest thoughts

and feelings. And since I am assuming you all watched every bit of

Conference I am just going to brush over a few of my thoughts.

To me personally, it seemed as if all of General Conference revolved

around the love we have for our Savior, Jesus Christ. That is what

everything ultimately comes down to. 

The LOVE we have for our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.

 So I am going to go over a few points leading off of

that....

We must love Jesus Christ unconditionally and if we do....

.. We will follow His perfect example. "For I have given you an

example, that you should do as I have done to you."

.. We will have unshakeable faith. "Live true to the faith." "faith is

truly more than imagination or psychological invention."

.. We will want to be obedient. "Obedience is an emblem of our

faith... It is wisdom and power of the highest authority," "Strong

obedience is where we declare our faith in God," "At times we may be

tempted to practice "natural man's obedience" or "selective"

obedience" ... However we must, remember that "obedience brings

blessings" and "makes us progressingly stronger" therefore, we must

"obediently endure to the end," for... "Our faithfulness through

obedience will ultimately save us."

.. We will want and continually strive to keep all of His

commandments. "Commandments are for us to exercise our agency and

receive blessings" ... "We should not even think about breaking

commandments," "we should not look at sin or even touch it from a

distance."

.. We will love another. We will love our family, friends,

neighbors.... we will love every single person. We are all brothers

and sisters and we must show love always to each other. "Love more and

better," "We cannot fully love God if we don't love others. We cannot

fully love others if we don't love God."

.. We will have respect for one another and never use harsh or hurtful

words to each other. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your

mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may

minister grace unto the hearers."

.. We will not despise any one of God's children. Remember, "hate is

an ugly word." We will also have full respect for those who do not

believe as we do or share the same standards.

.. We will continually strive to obtain Christ-like attributes and

qualities. If we want to truly become as He is and follow His words

when he said, "what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto

you, even as I am," we must truly try to be like him in all ways

possible and continually strive to obtain all of His characteristics,

attributes and qualities.

.. We will trust in The Lord. "Live each day by putting your trust in

God." "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine

own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall

direct thy paths."

.. We will obtain charity. "But charity is the pure love of Christ,

and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the

last day, it shall be well with him."

.. We will constantly be serving others and looking for ways to do so.

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye

may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are

only in the service of your God."

.. We will not be selfish. "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny

himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save

his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake

and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

.. We will strive to obtain Christ-like love. "Christ-like love can

change the world," "Christ-like love is the greatest need we have on

the planet."

.. We will obtain courage. "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not,

fear not." "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a

good courage."

.. We will be true & worthy disciples of Jesus Christ. "Our true

identities are disciples of Jesus Christ." "I am a disciple of Jesus

Christ, the Son of God."

.. We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,

and in all places that ye may be in, even until death."

.. We will always have the courage, strength and faith to defend our

Savior, our belief and our faith at all times and in all situations.

"Stand in Holy places and be not moved." We must always stand up for

the truth, no matter what and no matter if others mock us for it or if

it may not seem to be the "popular" thing to do. We must remember we

are in the world but should not be "of the world." We must always

remember where our true treasures are. "Lay not up for yourselves

treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where

thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures

in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves

do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will

your heart be also." "That ye may not do these things that ye may

boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a

treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away;

yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life."

.. We will build our foundation upon the rock of our Redeemer...

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our

Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your

foundation; that when the devil shall sent forth his mighty winds,

yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his

mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to

drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the

rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation

whereon if men build they cannot fall."

.. We will constantly be asking for forgiveness and accessing the gift

and power of the Atonement in our lives. "Come unto me, all ye that

labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke

upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye

shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is

light."

.. We will remember we are a covenant making people and will continue

to make and keep sacred covenants. We will attend the temple

regularly, perform baptisms for the dead, and aim to go to the temple

if we have not done so yet. Including, get married and sealed in the

temple of The Lord.

.. We will have a sincere desire to share the gospel and perform

missionary work. We will remember we have an important role and

responsibility in helping hasten the work of Salvation and will

constantly seek for missionary opportunities. "May we ever be found

doing the work of The Lord." As full-time missionaries and simply as

members of the church, we must remember what our purpose is as

Latter-Day Saints... "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we

preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our

prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look

for a remission of their sins."

.. We will feel an urgency to do our very best RIGHT NOW. "For behold,

this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the

day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." "It

matters a great deal what we do in this life."

.. We will have daily prayer and scripture study. These actions are so

important and crucial in our spiritual progression. "Wherefore, I said

unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of

Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

.. We will be "securely tied to our Father in Heaven." We must

remember that He is close, always watching, always listening, always

there to help us, lift us and direct us.

.. We will stay awake and "not sleep during the Restoration." The

Restoration is happening right now. It is still happening.

.. We will always have GRATITUDE. "We seek gratitude as a disposition,

a way of life" ...

"Instead of being grateful FOR things... we will be grateful IN our

circumstances," "All those who receive things with gratitude will be

made GLORIOUS." "That ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many

mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

Now I know we are are all not perfect at any of these things and I am

not saying that means we don't love the Savior with all of our

heart... But we must have the desire to do each of things and

constantly act upon that desire. We must consistently and actively

strive to show our love and be the best sons and daughters of our

Heavenly Father we can possibly be!! We must "ACT and not be ACTED

UPON!!!" And we must prove our love to our Savior and to our Heavenly

Father.

Okay, well I wish I could go on and on about more that I learned and

more that applied. I tried to quickly think of some of the main points

and add in quotes that were given by the Prophet, an Apostle or other

respected leader. With an addition of scripture verses given as well.

So I hope it makes some sense and now you can all add more to it!! The

list goes on and on. I could study those conference talks for hours on

end, as well as over and over and constantly learn something new and

inspiring. But I don't have enough time to go into it all AND today I

am going to send PICTURES!!!!!! So get excited for that. Also, for

updates... everything in Gridley is still soo so amazing and I am

still as happy as can be! Important updates:

.. Elvira's husband is still being a pain but she is fighting for her baptism.

.. Any and Maria unfortunately won't be able to be baptized this

Sunday because they haven't been to church 3 times.. and they can't

come this Sunday because Any has work. However, they came to General

Conference!! And in our lesson we had on the 10 commandments and

keeping the Sabbath Day holy, Any said she is going to ask a lady at

work if they can switch schedules so that she doesn't have to work on

Sunday's and can attend church every week!! She is so golden! Also, we

taught her the wisdom and she said she has been wanting to quit

drinking coffee because it hurts her stomach so when we committed her

to living it she said, "it will be no problem at all." Also, when we

talked about our bodies being temples and read from the bible talking

about it, Any said (in her own words!!) ... "How I see it is is like

for example, when people put tattoos on their body, it's like they are

putting graffiti on a temple." WHAAT!? Haha that's EXACTLY what WE

tell people and she said it herself!!! I am not kidding, she is as

GOLDEN as they get. She's PERFECT. Her and Maria pray every night

together too and are just soo darling. I can barely handle it! And

Any's sister and her daughter came over one day, her sister is

interested but her husband won't let her take lessons..... (Sound

familiar?? Husbands can be awfully frustrating sometimes) ... And

anyways, the little 5 year old girl was talking to Maria and said,

"Are these the sisters from YOUR Mormon church??" Any and Maria have

been telling everyone in their family about them learning from us and

about them being baptized. Any even said her sister asked her how she

could be baptized so soon and Any said, "When you know it's right,

there is no point in waiting." WHAT!?!? She impresses us yet again!!!!

She honestly is so perfect! And if I get transferred next week I won't

technically be hear for their baptism but I am already planning on

getting permission from President and coming back. I cannot wait!!!!!

They are so so cute.

.. We have found some more investigators!! One including one of

Marcella's friends. Updates to come.

Okay, well I really want to send pictures so I am going to end this

email here. I will write more next week and I hope all is well at

home!! I haven't had time to read anyone's emails yet but I will as

soon as I am done sending pictures and everything.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH.

Con mucho amor y un gran abrazo,

Hermana Barth