It's official! Though I had thought I was going to be reassigned somewhere in the states to wait for my Visa, I am actually headed to
South America Monday morning! (Oct. 7th) Words cannot describe my emotions! That day is
here! My stomach is doing hundreds of back flips and my allergies seem to be
acting up horribly because tears are flowing hard down my cheeks! Happy tears,
sad tears, nervous tears... I really don't know. It's sad leaving our
teachers that we love so much!! Hermana Link, Hermano Magallanes and Hermano
Bush! It's sad leaving all of the 8 elders and sisters I have been
with for the past six weeks! They all leave Tuesday for Argentina and will see
me off as I prance on over to the airport with 6 other elders that lived on the
West campus that are going to my same mission! I
did get to meet three of them on Thursday during in-field training and they
seem great! Leaving my companions is so hard! We try not to think about it too
much cause we have a bond, but I know that we will keep in touch! They have been such a blessing in
my life and they mean so much to me. The Elders
are pretty much my lifelong brothers! We share everything with each
other. I'm always taking their food and they actually laugh at my stupid jokes!
I like that.. I thank them for making me feel a tad bit comical! Never
had I thought I would become so close with these people in just six weeks but
that's the way it always works. Once I'm super comfortable, I'm ripped out of the fold and
given to some random sister and mission presidents in South America. haha Here we
go!!
So on Wednesday we got to be hosts
and take the new missionaries around! We picked them up from the curb as they
were dropped off and took them around campus. I was paired with a cute
girl I met at the temple that is going to Scottsdale! Super cool.
Also this week we were a little star struck because during in-field training we met
some of the guys from "The District" (a reality show that
followed several sets of missionaries as they were serving in the San Diego
Mission) and everyone was going crazy haha
Speaking of airplanes... Yesterday we
did a mock airplane in class and we pushed all of our desks together to make
two aisles. We practiced teaching about the Book of Mormon to the person next
to us.. In Spanish of course! Then all of the sudden Elder Litchfield gets up
and pretends he's the flight attendant and just puts an imaginary intercom up
to his mouth and starts saying the baptism invitation "Seguira el ejemplo
de Jesucristo...."If any of you all wanna be baptized, levantar su mano!!
( so I'm still working on my conjugations and all so don't judge!) It was
so funny! haha I'm going to miss this district!!
I know in just a few short days I
will be greeted by my new trainer/companion and I have no idea what to expect.
One thing we were taught in in-field training yesterday was to always set expectations high in our work because if expectations are lowered then our efforts are lowered. Sooo... my expectations are high and I know that she will be just another blessing
in my life as a missionary! It's hard to always be
positive on a mission sometimes and I look at some people that are constantly smiling and
think, "Okay.. can you go back to
the factory that made you?! That's not normal!" .. But it has been a
wakeup call for me in that I need to get my sleep, I need to forget myself, I
need to be positive and I will need to go to work!
Thanks again mom for the long letter you
sent me! Those handwritten ones are just so special and I will get to read it
on the plane. It is an overnight plane flight so I will be lucky to
get to sleep most of the time! Hopefully Dad and Price got my note as well and send JT
my love in Flagstaff! I did send out a letter to him today :)
This experience at the MTC has been
unforgettable! Sure, I had my bad days where I just wanted to curl up and cry
but I can say that I worked my hardest and then I got to the point where no time was
wasted. For anyone that is entering the MTC soon DON'T waste a minute of your
experience! Studying and planning and being obedient is so important but most
of all, make it fun! I'm so glad that I was able to find a balance between fun and
work because if I didn't have any fun here I'd probably be dead right now. I
know that once I leave for the field the MTC will be missed but it's going to
be a very fond memory!
Living life as a missionary at this
age is a once in a lifetime chance! I am so happy for the opportunity that I
have to serve and share the gospel. We practiced street contacting with pass
along cards and it's probably my favorite thing to do! Talk to someone about
their life and tie it into a gospel message, pass along a mormon.org card and
send them on their way! I feel like I'll be meeting hundreds of people a day
and it's so exciting! Now, to do it in Spanish.
So there's this computer program we work with called TALL.. It helps us a lot with Spanish but we are very happy it's over with!! Luckily I am getting a lot more comfortable with the language but I am far from fluent! I'm just hoping that for
a while people will love me for my smile and constant desire to learn! The past
few days we have been reviewing the last bits and pieces of subjunctive.
I feel ready to speak and to converse and I know that my trainer will
train me in all that I need. Let's see how fast I can be immersed and
fluent!
Living in Spain was a DEFINITE
bonus. I am so grateful that I was able to study abroad this summer! I went into
the MTC not knowing how to say anything gospel related, but I could converse
with a person a little about the daily stuff. That was something that I was able to
help the rest of my district out with! My teachers Hermano Bush, Hermano
Magallanes and Hermana Link were prime. They also played our fake investigators
which all now committed to baptism. Once the investigators got to this point we
felt like we had reached our goal. Our purpose is to invite others to Christ
and central to our purpose is Baptism and Confirmation.
I have an infinite love for my
district that I know will carry on to all of my investigators and all of the
people in Argentina. They all want to feel loved and cared for and I know that
I receive the most joy in my life when I am serving others. I truly want to change lives, bring families
together and bring them unto Christ.
I hope you all are enjoying
General Conference!! I will talk more about that next week but what a great first
couple of sessions! I've recently been studying in Alma 48 about Moroni's example. What would the world be like if we were all like Moroni!? It's a great chapter and I encourage you all to take a look! Constantly striving to be as Christ like as possible. :)
Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro
Salvador. Yo se que el Espíritu Santo es real en nuestros vidas. El Libro de
Mormón es verdadero y José Smith tradujo por la autoridad de Dios. Nosotros son
hijos de Dios y nos amo mucho. Estoy muy agradecido que mi familia son
eterna. Estoy muy agradecido por este evangelio. Soy una misionera de Dios y me
encanta el trabajo.
Buenos Suerte in all that you guys
do! Wish me luck in the unknown! Loving and supporting you from afar!
Os Ama
Con mucho amor,
-Hermana Barrett
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