Monday, October 27, 2014

I ran over the milk!


Hvor er det dejligt at høre fra dig hver uge!

Ooh I didn't think of taking Halloween treats out to people! Good idea. :) I am doing great - the week has been lovely. It's getting chillier and chillier, but that doesn't stop Sister Hadfield and I because we are champions! We work hard through all kinds of crazy weather! We're having so much fun together - we're laughing almost all the time, and I am impressed every day by Sister Hadfields positive attitude, willingness to work hard, and love for the people. It's seriously such a joy to serve with Sister Hadfield! I feel like we have our hearts and our heads completely in the work, and it makes it so much more enjoyable to be out all day, every day. Ah. It is so good! I wouldn't be anywhere else!

Søster Hadfield rockin' the bike.
On Friday we started a 40-day fast. Haha don't worry, it's not a food and water fast. We fasted for a day to know what things are distracting us from the work, and then for the next 40 days we're going to be "fasting" from doing those things. It's funny the things you notice that are keeping your focus away from the work when you take the time to think about it - for me, some of the things were biting my nails and unnecessary shopping. I love going out on preparation days and looking in all the stores and finding things that I wish for/want - but I realized that during the week I start daydreaming about what places we're going to go on Monday and what kinds of things I want to look for! Hard on the work and the wallet, if ya know what I'm saying. So I think that's going to be a very good thing to fast from! But I was thinking - I should make a budget/limit on how much I can spend in the next 4 months or so, otherwise I'll probably buy all of Denmark so I can take it home with me and never forget anything about it. ;) Any suggestions? (note from Hannah's mom - she has access to her personal bank account - she is not spending mission money on that!)


This week has just been so much fun. On Monday we had a lovely dinner with A and L (I'm going to take a picture with them this week to send to you. They have us over for dinner every Monday and it is SO much fun. M comes sometimes, and it's just really enjoyable. They've been inviting missionaries over every Monday for dinner for years. Pretty amazing, huh? We're very grateful!).

Did I tell you about the cute couple we met last week? R and M? Well, we had our first appointment with them on Tuesday. We brought S with, thinking that both R and M would be there so we wouldn't need to worry about a woman being there. But when we got there, M wasn't home, only R! Ahhhh! We just stood outside in the pouring rain, with no idea what to do. But then, miracle of all miracles, M came home! Celebration. So we were able to come in and have a first lesson. It went really well. Unfortunately a few days later when we called to make another appointment, they said they're not interested in hearing more. Heartbreak! The day after that happened, we went to stop by a really positive family we had met a few weeks ago and they said they weren't interested either. To quote Sister Hadfield, "It feels like we're getting broken up with!" It was pretty rough. But you know what? We kept positive, and I know that we're doing the best that we can - it's other peoples choice to accept the message or not. And it just means we get to go out and find more people who need the gospel right now!

M gave us his coffee this week and told us we can get rid of it however we went to. That was probably the greatest moment of my life (M will probably read this - Hi M!). I have learned so much from M, and we're teaching him about the gospel, but he's teaching us about it too. It's a pretty great exchange, I'd say. :) Plus we're starting to do family history with M! Sister Hadfield is a family history pro - she was a family history consultant before the mission, so she totally knows what she's doing. That's awesome, because I don't! I am going to learn though. and It's going to be fun!


Us with Sister Ripplinger and Sister Reed. They are so great. Sister Reed and Sister Hadfield go out on exchanges together (we leave them alone in either Slagelse or Gladsaxe... two new sisters takin' on Denmark! They do a great job) while Sister Ripplinger and I go to the other sisters.

Sister Ripplinger and I went on exchanges with the Sisters in Roskilde - Sister Woster and Sister Lyman. I asked Sister Lyman if she was related to a Frances or Amasa Lyman... of course she is! We're 5th cousins or something like that! Also her dad is in the Air Force, and they've moved around a lot. And Sister Woster is a hoot! We were together for the exchange and it was a BLAST. We did a lot of finding and people were really receptive... and it was the most unexpected people as well. Sister Woster is from California, relatively close to Modesto I think. She reminds me of Brookie - it was like being out for a day with my cousin! Fun fun. I love getting to know all of the sisters, they all have so much to contribute and so much light.

So yesterday we had a bittersweet experience. There's a woman named G who Sister Vige and I sang to in a nursing home every week. Our last week together, she wasn't at the nursing home - the nurses said she was sick and in the hospital. Sister Hadfield and I had been meaning to go and see her in the hospital but never got the chance. We went to the nursing home yesterday and found out that G passed away on Friday. Oh it was so sad. Sister Hadfield is so sweet - she cried with me and was just so supportive, even though she never even met G. It is so good for G, because she was sick and couldn't really remember anything, and I think it was more sad because we never got the chance to say goodbye, and now when we go to the nursing home she won't be there. But in that moment my testimony of the Plan of Salvation was really strengthened. I know that death isn't the end - it's a step in the plan, and G is going to keep learning about the gospel and helping others to learn about it as well. Knowing about Heavenly Father's plan is so comforting and gives so much peace.

Train trip to Odense (that's where sister Hadfield stayed while Sister Packard and I went up to Aalborg)
On Saturday I got to go to Js' baptism in Aalborg!!! It was SO good to be back. I have so many dear friends there, and J and J have been waiting for this for so long. We got to sing in the program and that was really special. It was really touching, because J said the closing prayer for the baptismal program. I got all emotional during the prayer because I remember when J didn't really know how to pray. Look how far we all go, huh? So much can happen in a year. :)

At J's baptism! Soooo happy.

All in all it's been a really wonderful week. We learned a lot of good things, and our testimonies were strengthened. We helped other people strengthen their testimonies too, and we helped people open their eyes a little bit more to the tender mercies the Lord puts in our lives. And in return our eyes were opened a little more as well. :)

I am excited for this week. We're going to meet with a lot of great people and focus more on finding. Plus we're going to start studying Preach My Gospel with a family in the ward! I am so excited for that because the best thing about Preach My Gospel is how much it can strengthen families. It's not just a guidebook for missionaries, but a resource for learning how to live the gospel and share it with others.

I love you so much! I am so grateful for your support and prayers. I love hearing about all the fun things you're all up to, and I love that I get to share what we do every week. It is so good to serve the Lord.

Keep on rockin' it! Have a happy halloween! Eat lotsssssss of reese's peanut butter cups for me. :)

Love,
Søster Barrett

PS:


So here's our milk carton for the week. We were biking home from the grocery store this morning and I looked behind me and Sister Hadfield was gone! Talk about a terrifying moment. I biked back and finally saw her, biking towards me. She was laughing so hard she was crying, and kept saying "I ran over the milk" but I thought she was saying "I ran over that man". It turns out the milk fell out of Sister Hadfield's basket, and she ran over it. But it didn't break! It's just a little beat up! Ahh, it was so funny - especially when I finally understood what was happening, because I thought that Sister Hadfield had run over someone or been hit by a car or something. ;)



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