Miracles on Miracles on Miracles

My dearest and loveliest family!!

Hello hello my loves!!! SOO as you can tell from the subject of this

email, this past week was a week FULL of miracles!!! They were never

ending!! So before I get to talking about all of the miracles that

have occurred... I have arrived in Orland!! Oh yes. So we cover many

different areas here. We cover Chico (we have Spanish Elders there

too), Willows, Hamilton City, Corning (there are Spanish Elders there

too) and Orland, where we live!! Orland is teeny tiny but anyways...

We have a lot of area to cover - meaning we have A LOT of work to do!!

But I am finally here! With mi compañera Hermana Lee and things are

WONDERFUL!!!

1. MIRACLE #1 ... On Wednesday we went and taught the most amazing

lady named Maria del Carmen Gonzalez. Well anyways, she is amazing. So

we went over, she fed us lunch and then we had a lesson with her.

Well, since it was my first time meeting her, I took full advantage of

the situation and asked her what all she has learned from the

Hermanas, what she thought of it all, told her of our purpose, brought

up baptism... and then I had us read Alma 34:32 "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." ... After this

I asked her what she felt she could do to prepare to meet God RIGHT

NOW and she said with a big smile on her face, "SER BAUTIZADA!!!" ...

BE BAPTIZED!!!! Haha this answer couldn't have made me any happier. We

then told her about a baptism happening on Sunday and she smiled and

said she would be there!! She then said she wanted to come to church

and went and grabbed a new dress she bought that she wanted to wear to

church. Haha and I then started to tell her something else, (wanting

to put her on date) and she said, "I need to wear white??" and went to

put her dress away and Hermana Lee said, "Do we need to inform her

that it isn't HER baptism this Sunday???" Hahaha and then when she

came back, we talked about baptism a bit more and then I committed her

to be baptized on August 9th and she agreed with again, a huge smile

on her face and said, "lo pondré en mi calendario!" ... "I'll put it

on my calendar!" Soo we have a baptism August 9th!!! And to be

completely honest, I think we may be able to push it a week earlier.

Because.... NEXT miracle.

2. MIRACLE #2 ... Maria came to all 3 hours of church!! Wearing her

new dress and the biggest smile on her face. She looked BEAUTIFUL and

loved every minute of church!!! She was saying hello to EVERYONE,

smiling away introducing herself, during both classes she was sharing

comments the entire time... haha she talked A LOT but it was great!

And she wants to come to the relief society activity this week...

everything. Amazing. And she was carrying around her Book of Mormon

the whole time just loving life. It was so awesome!

3. MIRACLE #3 MIRACLE #4 MIRACLE #5, etc..... hahaha TOO MANY

MIRACLES!!! So after church we had a baptism for an 8 year old in the

branch and anyways, we invited everyone including our most progressing

investigators including: Maria (the one on date) ... Cecilia and her

two daughters Adriana y Andrea and then Amparo, her husband Rafael and

their 3 kids. Well anyways, Cecilia apparently has attended a baptism

before and LOVED it and then Amparo and her family have never attended

a baptism or church or anything... nada... And anyways, Maria stayed

after church for the baptism which was a MIRACLE and she was soo

excited to watch & witness one. Then in walked Cecilia and her two

daughters.... HUGE MIRACLE!!! We were already so excited. And THEN a

little bit later... in walked Amparo, Rafael and their three kids...

THE ENTIRE FAMILY came!!!! Another GIGANTIC MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So

ALL of the people we REALLY wanted to come to the baptism, CAME. And

last minute we were asked to do a presentation while the little girl

was changing and so Hermana Lee & I taught the Restoration. Which I

was soo excited to do. It was perfect because we had soo many of our

investigators there and a few potentials as well. Including a lady

named Patricia who is family with a member. She was at all of church

too. So the Restoration is the perfect thing for them all to hear. Soo

amazing!!! So anyways. I am so happy I can't wipe the smile of my

face!!!!!!! I don't know if I have ever witnessed so many miracles all

at once!!! Heavenly Father truly is POURING out blessings upon us

right now and I couldn't be happier about it. We had such wonderful

lessons with all of these people as well this past week and wonderful

fact, Rafael - Amparo's husband... has never listened in on a lesson

before but when we were teaching her the other day we watched the 20

minute video on the Restoration and he came home from work, hurried

and changed out of his dirty clothes, and then came and sat down and

watched half of the video with us. And the miracle about that was he

started watching RIGHT as it was leading up into the First Vision. So

he made it JUST in time. That was no coincidence. He loved it too but

is still trying to understand why he would have to be baptized again.

(I was on a roll inviting everyone to be baptized the first time I met

them... I am taking full advantage of being the new missionary on the

block haha) and Amparo started teaching him why... we don't even have

her on date yet but she is progressing so much. Also, she told us to

pray for her to receive an answer about the Restoration, Joseph Smith,

the Book of Mormon, baptism, etc... so we are DEFINITELY doing that!!!

 And then after the baptism we had a dinner and after they all

finished eating, Amparo had me sit by her and we talked for a minute.

She started whispering to me about some stuff but I couldn't fully

understand her... seemed like important information though because she

started off telling me how she had been praying & praying to God and

asking him about everything since that's what we invited her to do.

But then people kept interrupting us and there was a lot of noise

around us so she asked if we could meet with her on Tuesday and she

would tell us everything she was feeling then. And then while I was

talking to her, Hermana Lee supposedly was talking to her husband

Rafael and set up an appointment to meet with the entire family on

Thursday!!!! So anyways...  I don't know exactly WHAT she is going to

tell us and what she is feeling but I have a feeling I am going to

like what I am going to hear!!!!!!!! Also, she told me how she was

heading to Chico with her family to go to the store when she

remembered about the baptism so she turned around and they all

came!!!! MIRACLE!!!! Also, her and Cecilia are friends!! Which makes

it all the better. I am almost positive if one of them decides to be

baptized, the other will join right along. MIRACLE AFTER MIRACLE I

TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!! Also, Maria acted like a member during the dinner

afterwards. She was helping clean up, etc. and was just talking with

everyone. So cute too.. when she was leaving she kissed my cheek and

said, "I love you!" She is amazing!!! Haha I asked her after the

baptism if she still wanted to be baptized and she said, "Ohhh

si!!!!!!!" Hahaha she sure does! I love it! Cecilia and her daughters

loved the baptism too. I am excited to talk to more about it with them

all this upcoming week!

4. MIRACLE #6 ... so there is an amazing family and they probably are

the strongest link in the tiny Chico branch... The Whitaker family...

the wife, Liliana is from Mexico and then her husband is from here and

he served his mission in Mexico. They met at BYU and anyways, they are

DARLING and so awesome. Well anyways, their friend wanted us

missionaries to meet her friend Maria and her fiancé (who is a member

- less-active) so they arranged a dinner at the Whitakers for us

missionaries to meet them and what not. Well crazy fact, on Friday

after our "Meet the President" conference, I'll talk about that in a

minute... We decided to tract a little bit. Well, we decided to tract

a trailer park and about the 4th door we knocked we ran into a darling

girl named Maria. Well it didn't take long of us to realize she was

the Maria we were having dinner with the next night!!! Is that a

MIRACLE or what!?! That is no coincidence I'll tell you that much. And

anyways, she is sooo cute and we had a lot of fun with her the next

night as well. We haven't been able to teach her a whole lot yet but

she told us she loves how our church really focuses on and places

importance on families. And at dinner her fiancé was AWESOME and

talking about all his memories in the church in Mexico City, his

sister went to Benemerito where the CCM is... so that was fun to talk

about!! And anyways, we want to work on them a lot and get him

re-activated, them married, her baptized and then them both to the

TEMPLE!!! But anyways, pretty fun miracle.

5. MIRACLE #7 ... After the baptism last night we decided to contact a

few formers and we happened to choose one of the homes of a members

family! The Jaime family. Interesting fact, their son Mauricio is the

only member in their family and he is a member of the Branch

presidency and was the one who performed the baptism earlier that day.

He is sooo awesome, served a mission, was married in the temple,

everything... and anyways, we found his family and they are amazing!!!

They are Catholic but loved talking with us, even are happy to listen

to our messages and we had so much fun with them! After we talked with

them for a bit and shared some scriptures with them as well, they

invited us to join them for dinner on Saturday night!! So we will be

eating with them and I am so excited. I hope they find the truth & joy

that comes from the gospel like their son has!!!!

6. Okay and then we, again, had our "Meet the President" conference!!

I have officially met President Marston!! Crazy!! He is super

different than President Weston but I love him so much already. It is

clear he is brand new to the field too because he more relaxed, loves

cracking jokes and is just still trying to get things figured out...

But he is full of kindness & love and I love him so much!!! And his

wife is super darling. They are wonderful!! The whole change is pretty

crazy but I am very happy and excited to get to know these wonderful

people more. We got to learn all about their lives as well and

President Marston's life was a lot crazier than I expected! He was

born in Hof, Germany to a poor little German couple, they ended up

giving him to an American couple who was in Germany at the time...

they ended up being from Utah and members of the Church. So him and

his twin were raised in Utah!! Ogden I believe?? He served his mission

in Taiwan, married his girlfriend quite quickly after he returned home

(they were engaged after only 2 weeks!!) and then they had 4 daughters

together. His first wife then happened to pass away while giving birth

to their last daughter. His now current wife then first saw him at the

hospital when she was visiting his sister-in-law ... due to the

tragedy of her sister and anyways, long story short.... they later

fell in love and got married and had two children of their own!!!!

Very crazy, right?? This life is full of twists & turns! But when he

was telling his entire life story I had chills and he is already

someone I admire very much. Pretty awesome. He was super fun to meet

face to face as well. And speaking of mission presidents... I am sooo

happy some of you were able to make it to President Weston's

homecoming. I miss that man so much. I can imagine his talk was

amazing!!! I would have loved to be there. The Weston's mean so much

to me.

7. We went to Lincoln this past week for a baptism for Hermana Lee!!

And I got to see Hermana Piggott!! My favorite person in the world.

Ah, I adore & love her so much. We realized that might have been the

last time we'll see each other in the field too, which made me quite

sad, but I love her more than I can explain and will see her the

minute I get home!!!!!

Well I love you all sooo much and want you to know how much I love my

Heavenly Father, my Savior, Jesus Christ, His wonderful gospel and the

opportunity I have to serve Him all day every single day. For the past

long while I have been really focusing on giving myself up completely

to The Lord, doing all I can to turn my will over to him and work my

absolute hardest. There is nothing more rewarding. I love this work.

I am the happiest and my heart is full of sooo much joy, love & gratitude.

Con mucho amor,

HERMANA BARTH

TRANSFERS!!!!

TRANSFERS!!!!

Yep. So, before anything else......

      I am getting TRANSFERED!!!!!! What!? Crazy right? I know, I feel

like I JUST got to Yuba City too. But it's a real thing. I am already

leaving!!! Which I am still in shock about. So I knew things were

going to change here because Hermana Briggs & Hermana Toledo have both

been here for 6 months.... So we all thought Hermana Briggs was

leaving... But then everyone started telling me I was leaving too.

Because we have one Hermana going home, my grandma - Hermana Butler,

Hermana Piggott's trainer haha ... And we aren't getting any new

Spanish sisters this transfer or next... So anyways, we knew an area

would be closed and it only made sense that they would shut down one

of the Hermanas in Yuba. And they wouldn't take both Hna. Toledo &

Hna. Briggs out soo that means I would be leaving. Hermana Hughes just

finished being trained too so it only made sense she'd stay in the

area. But anyways... I still had a feeling I wouldn't be leaving and

yesterday didn't say goodbye to anyone or anything unlike the other

sisters... I didn't want to be dramatic over nothing. And here I am!

Packing up & leaving!!! It's soo crazy. But so what is happening is

Hermana Hughes is now going to be companions with Hermana Toledo

(Rodriguez) and I am going up to Chico to be with Hermana Lee!!!!!

Which I am sooo excited about. I don't know if you remember me talking

about her but she's my age, from HOLLADAY, went to Olympus... we know

all of the same people, she's darling, was trained by Hermana Richards

and then was companions with Hermana Piggott after me! So we have had

two of the same companions!!!! And we used to all joke that we needed

to be companions and then Hna. Piggott & Hna. Richards, so that we

could all have been comps and will have a little foursome going (we

all already know we will all be best friends after the mission and

then come back & visit the mission together... all the time) and now

it is just completing our goal! Hna. Richards & Hna. Piggott were

companions for a night when they came out together too so that will

count for them haha. But anyways, I am super excited to be companions

with her and to go to CHICO!!!! However, I am still sad to leave Yuba.

I feel like I JUST arrived here and now I am comfortable with the

area, members... love them all so much and we were getting close to

all of these less-actives, finally picking up investigators - the

Vargas family - etc. and am getting booted!! I joke and say I got

jipped haha but en realidad I completely, whole-heartedly trust in The

Lord and know this is where I am supposed to go. Right now. So with

that, I feel very much at peace and am also filled with tons of

excitement. This is what the mission is about!! You never know what's

going to happy!! It's a crazy ride!! But I AM sad to say goodbye to

Hermana Hughes too. My little trainee!!!!! We have definitely had

quite the adventure together, I have never worked harder in my entire

life... but we were able to witness many miracles together and had so

much fun along the way. I feel very lucky I was able to be companions

with Hermana Hughes for these past two transfers. She is a wonderful

person full of so much energy, love, happiness & light. She has taught

me a lot about embracing & loving the littlest things in life and even

though I was her trainer, I feel like I learned so much from her. She

has been so cute and I am excited to see her down at BYU after the

mission!! It will be a lot of fun. Her and Hermana Toledo will have a

blast together too. They are both full of sooo much energy &

enthusiasm. I am excited for them. It's crazy though... I feel as

though I have changed so much even from when I arrived here in Yuba. I

have learned soo much more about working to obtain the attributes of

Christ and two that I have learned more than ever are PATIENCE & LOVE.

We have had to work extremely hard every single day here and I have

never had to be more patient in my entire life. And being a trainer on

top of that... I have had to be very patient with myself and my many

weaknesses, my freshly new companion, the area - involving starting

from square one searching for people to teach and creating a brand new

teaching pool and being patient with that along the way... not seeing

the same type of success I had experienced beforehand.. There has been

A LOT I have had to be extremely patient with but now I can look back,

see where I was & now recognize who I have become due to all that

we've experienced here and I can clearly see how much more of a

patient person I have become. I never felt like I was super impatient

before but boy..... did I still have much to improve on in that

department. Also, involving love.... I have also had to love in a way

I never really have had to before as well. Loving again, myself - even

after recognizing so many of my weaknesses, loving my companion - even

though we may have pretty different personalities, loving the new

area,  loving every single person we come into contact with - their

struggles & difficulties as well ... and I just overall feel like I

have developed such a greater amount of love in my heart. I know more

so now what it means to REALLY love EVERYONE. Hermana Piggott quotes

this all the time but I really have learned to "love more and love

better." And another thing she said to me while we were in the temple

is, "I have really learned to LOVE everyone. Because I know that's

what the Lord would have me do." Sounds simple, yet when she said this

to me it hit me pretty hard. At times I have found myself being

frustrated with others but I have learned to overcome that frustration

and transform it into sincere care & love for them. I have also

learned that sometimes it's those who you may not think you would ever

love that much, due to many different factors, that end up being those

you love very deeply. So anyways, I could go on & on about things I

have learned and how I have changed but I'll leave the rest for my

journal haha. I am just very humbled & grateful for the wonderful

experience I have had here in Yuba City and I am thankful for all that

I have learned while being here. I have grown a lot. But anyways, OFF

I GO!!!!! BIG CHANGES ARE HAPPENING!!!!!! And my next exciting

news.......

      BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!! I went to Carolina's baptism yesterday!!! I

didn't know if I would be able to go or not because President Weston

usually didn't let people go to more than one baptism but... We have a

new President and on the 4th Hermana Richards called me, telling me

the baptism had changed to Sunday and said I should really try to make

it. So I called President Marston up, had butterflies before doing

so... I've still never met him!! But he answered and as he started

speaking I could already feel his great love and my love for him!!

Crazy. But so I asked him about the baptism and he immediately said,

"Of course! That's why we're here right?? To baptize!" Haha and he was

excited, asking me who she was, etc. and then the best part... He

said, "Okay now you can tell whoever you need to that you have

permission from me." Haha he is the only own that matters!! I love it.

And for baptisms we used to have to get members to take us but when I

asked if I needed to do so he said, "You have a car right?? Can you

just drive?" Haha I love it. This President is going to be amazing!!!

I already love him so much!! And with him being brand new... he is

trying to figure things out for himself but he is soo nice and

awesome. I cannot wait to meet him!! This week!!!! I already know I am

going to be so spoiled with both Presidents I have had. Ps. President

Weston's homecoming is next Sunday!! Don't forget!!!! But anyways, the

baptism itself was amazing and I was sooo happy I was able to go.

Right when we arrived, Carolina & Pedro did as well and they were so

excited to see me which made me very happy. Carolina was so surprised

I was able to come and said how much it meant to her and how she kept

wishing "su primera Hermana a enseñarla sobre el Evangelio" .. "her

first Hermana to teach her about the gospel" would be there. And

during her testimony after she was baptized she said again, how

grateful she was for us missionaries and how happy it made her that I

was able to come back for it. Very special. The baptism was beautiful

and of course, I absolutely loved being back in Gridley. I felt right

at home, as always, and couldn't have felt more love from all of my

family there. I love them all so much it's crazy. They are soooo dear

& special in my heart. I cannot even express it enough. Also, Carolina

is Antonio's - Yamara's dad - sister so he came and that was a lot of

fun. I kept joking with him about him getting baptized and he said he

knows he will someday but just not right now.... procrastination is a

killer I tell you!!! But him & Lorenza are going to church with Yamara

so that's wonderful. They will be baptized. All of them. With time.

Love them so much. And Jesus was there!! He was looking so grown up &

handsome. He truly has grown up sooo much since I first met him and

now is all cleaned up and soo darling. Haha Hermana Hughes kept saying

afterwards how cute, genuine and sweet he is and how he is going to be

so handsome & solid in the gospel. Haha ... And it was so darling

because his little sister Maria, whom I adore & care about so much -

used to feel like her mother, got the biggest smile when she saw me

and ran to me and gave me the biggest hug when I first got there and

then she wouldn't leave my side. She sat next to me during the whole

baptism too and just kept putting her arms around me, looking up to me

with her gorgeous little brown eyes, and then would rest her head on

me.... My heart was melting!! After much different experience in the

past, she was super reverent too and now understands when to keep

quiet. Jesus has been taking her to church every Sunday since he

started coming and it is just so cute. She is only 3 and needs the

love the members all give her!!! Their mom left again too, maybe for

good, so having her cling to me broke my heart even more. She needs a

loving mom. Jesus is adorable to her though. Ohh I love her so much

and I cannot wait till she is baptized in the future. She is my little

Hermanita. And then Any & Maria were there too, looking so dressed up

& darling, and it made me the happiest person seeing & talking to

them. It was all so amazing!! I could go on & on about everyone I was

able to see but I won't bore you too much. So the baptism was amazing

and I can't believe Carolina is a MORMON!!! So awesome. Also, her

daughter-in-law is a member so Carolina is hoping this will bring her

back too.. So exciting! Cool story too. So again, she was super sick

before I left Gridley and I guess when she got back home from the

hospital, the Elders came and gave her a blessing and right after the

blessing she said, "I received my answer from God. I want to be

baptized." So cool!! So anyways, I am very excited for her and feel

privileged to have been able to witness her baptism.

      4th of July!! I hope everyone's 4th was wonderful and full of

American pride. Sounds like Bear Lake was amazing!! I miss that place.

And Joelle went!!! So happy to hear that and hear that she had a

wonderful time. She survived a week with our fam!! Accomplishment!! I

still am sooo excited to meet her. She sounds DARLING. Tell her hello

from me Scotty!!!! But as for my 4th of July here in the beautiful

land of Yuba City, first off it has been TOASTY TOASTY (I feel like

dad saying that for some reason haha) and got up to 110 one day...

HOT!!! But it was a very wonderful day due to the fact it was

Independence Day but as to missionary work.... it was a bit harder for

us. Nobody was home and if they were home, they were busy, with

family, getting ready for a party, etc. the Mexicans celebrate the 4th

too! Any excuse to throw a party!! Haha so as for our day... We had

weekly planning and then had one set lesson. That's rough. Then after

searching for people, due to the fact that we had no dinner

appointment..... We decided to have a picnic! So we got a blanket,

some classic American food, In-N-out ... burgers, fries & shakes haha

and then we ate it on the grass at a park and it was sooo much fun!!!

People were starting to do fireworks in the streets too and we could

hear them going off in other places, so fun. Also, our goal for the

day was to get ice cream from an ice cream truck from a Punjab!!! Have

I ever told you that there are ice cream trucks EVERYWHERE here in

Yuba City and they are all driven by Punjab's??? Haha well it's the

cutest thing in the world. We always hear the tunes going off and see

children chasing after them. At home it was sooo rare to see or hear

an ice cream truck and here it's the popular thing!! They are

everywhere!! Haha we always joke because there are ice cream trucks

driven by Punjab's everywhere and then also there are these little

carts with wheels, with rainbow umbrellas, selling fruit, corn, shaved

ice (usually with chili) & other Mexican treats walked around by

Mexicans and they have these little horns they toot while walking by.

It's amazing. So we have the best treats everywhere!! This place is

full of the coolest humans - Mexcians and Punjab's. I love it!! Sad to

leave. But as we were laying on the grass, chatting after dinner, we

heard an ice cream truck and we (literally) chased down our first ice

cream truck!! And I got a superman ice cream. Yes, with the gum all

eye balls, purely amazing. Haha it was soooo fun!!!!!! Also, after

daily planning that night we walked out of our apartment to watch some

of the fireworks going off in the streets near our place and in the

sky and our Punjab neighbors, Reena & Ranjana were outside watching

too so we watched them with them and it was soo fun!! I love them so

much. Reena, the mom, kept hugging me like crazy and just smiling

away. It's crazy because we don't know a lick of each other's language

but we love each other so much!! I love her! Also, the daughter..

Ranjana, said we can go to India with them whenever we want. All we

have to so is pay for the flight. I want to go to India!!!!! Haha she

also said she would buy us their cultural attire when she's there for

her wedding in December. Oh, they are so great.

      Exciting news. I got a package from BRAZIL this week!!!! Haha it

was the best package I could have ever asked for and I am excited to

show you what Michael sent me!!!!!!!!! It is the most darling gift in

the world and means so much to me. he also sent me a memory card full

of pictures & videos!!! I wish I could show you them. Brazil is

incredible and he seems to be having a complete blast. So I guess you

could say that all made me one happy girl.

      Alright, well I still have a ton to do today... Including

packing, doing laundry, saying goodbye to people, etc. so I better

go!!!! I love you all so much though and hope all is well in HOLLADAY,

UTAH!!!!!!!! Hahaha still can't get over the fact that my next

companion is from there too. She just called me and was like, "Life is

too good because we get to be companions!!!!!" Ohhh I am SO excited.

Supposedly they just had like 4 baptisms there too so I hope the work

continues to be on fire!! I'm very much looking forward to it!!!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

¡ADIÓS LA CIUDAD DE YUBA!

¡HOLA CHICO!

Con mucho amor,

HERMANA BARTH

Ps. I recently was told there are 4 kinds of people.....

People who....

Make it happen

Watch it happen

Wait for it to happen

Wonder what happened

Pretty fun to ponder over this. I know I have seen myself do each one

but I hope we can all be more so the people to MAKE it happen. Haha my

thoughts for the week... Sorry I don't have time to write something

more inspirational!!!