Adventures in Vermont!

Hey everyone!!

I hope you've all had an amazing week! 

This week has been incredible for us here in Greenfield!!

So first of all, on Tuesday we found out that our mission is no longer using Facebook. We're still digital missionaries, but no Facebook. It's not really necessary. Skype is the way to go! This week, Sister Saito and I taught 3 Skype lessons! We taught someone from Brazil (I just sat there and smiled while Sister Saito spoke in Portugese, but it was cool!), we taught someone from Chile, and thankfully he spoke really good English, and then we taught someone in France! It was awesome!

Wearing green to celebrate greenies! WE LOVE GREENIES! Sister Saito is the best greenie!

 Later on Tuesday, we had dinner at Holly's house, and we had a lesson where we talked about Patriarchal blessings. We want to prepare her to get hers. It'll be amazing for her! She was really excited about it!!

On Wednesday we had dinner at Doug's house with Kelly, and we talked about the same thing! He talked to President Kemsley about it on Sunday, so he is now in the process of getting his Patriarchal blessing! We are SO excited for him!!

We had a really awesome day on Wednesday! We went to see Anne (less active) and we had prepared a lesson all about the Book of Mormon, and we were going to commit her to start reading it again, but when we got there, all her grandchildren were there, and her daughter was there, so we decided to follow the spirit, and teach them about the restoration of the gospel. We invited everyone to participate in the lesson, and all the kids sat down and listened! It was amazing! The spirit was SO strong. We've never had a lesson like that in her home before! It was incredible :)

Then we went to see Brenda (semi active) and she has been flying through the Book of Mormon these past few weeks, and she finished it this week! So she decided to pray about what to study next because she wasn't sure. She felt inspired to read the Old Testament, so we're going to be reading that with her every week :) She also told us that she feels like she needs to start preparing herself to go back to the temple. We think that's an AMAZING goal to have! We're so excited for her! She's awesome! 

On Thursday, we had a lesson with Keith, and you'll just NEVER believe what happened! So for a couple of weeks he's been telling us that he really wants to be baptised, but he needs the Book of Mormon taken away from him. We can't stop teaching about the Book of Mormon...it's the keystone of our religion, so we decided to focus one of our lessons on reading from the Bible. We read Isaiah 29, which talks about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon! We asked him "Keith, do you know that the Bible is true?" and he said "Yes! Absolutely! The Bible is absolutely a true book! Everything in it is true!" So then we read Isaiah 29: 11-14 and asked what he thinks it means? It says 

" 11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

 12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

 13 ¶Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."

He was a little confused, so we explained to him that the "book" that he's talked about is the Book of Mormon, and the "man that is not learned" is Joseph Smith. When we asked him how he feels about what we read, he said "Well, I feel like you just brought me one step closer to the Book of Mormon". MIRACLE!!!!! It was SO awesome!

 On Thursday night, our mini missionary, Jess, arrived, and we put her to work on Friday!!

We went to see Jose on Friday and we talked about how the gospel has changed his life. We asked him if he wants that change for is friends and family, and he said "of course!" So we challenged him to invite some friends to join us in the lessons, and we gave him some pass-along cards to share with people! He was so excited about it! He was like "I've been trying to get my roommate to join us in the lessons! I invite him every time!" We didn't even know he was already sharing the gospel! He's so awesome!

Then we decided to work our mini missionary a little harder, so we brought her tracting! Knocking on doors is tough! It was completely unsuccessful, but the Lord still provided!! After we knocked on a ton of doors, we then drove for an hour to Vermont, to visit a person who is not active. The branch clerk asked us to visit him to see if he still lived there. Well, when we knocked on the door, a young guy answered and we asked if he was the guy that we were coming to see. And he said no. But I was like "We did not come all the way here for nothing". So we told him that we're missionaries, and we told him a little bit about what we teach, and asked him if he'd be interested in learning more. He said "YES!" So he invited us in, and we taught him the first lesson! He's reading the Book of Mormon now, and he's our new investigator! It was such an amazing experience! It really showed us that when we do our part, the Lord provides. Even though we weren't successful with tracting, he still put someone who is prepared in our path, because we exercised our faith in Him. It was so awesome!

VERMONT

Then on Sunday we had an awesome lesson with our investigator, Porter. He prayed for the first time and it was awesome! Hearing investigators pray for the first time is seriously incredible!

This week was amazing! The Lord poured out blessings upon us! Things are really happening here in Greenfield! We're so excited!!

Walking the streets of Greenfield, doing the Lord's work.

I love you all SO much! I hope you have the best week ever!

Love,

Sister Rebekah Barrett

First Week of Training!

Hey everyone!

So this week was awesome!!

We had an interesting experience last Monday. We were just about to leave to go to our Branch Activity...aaaand our car wouldn't start. The battery died! We ended up having to call Brian to see if he could help us out, and the minute we called him he was like "What did you do to your car??" haha this is not the first time we've had car troubles.. So anyways, he was already at the activity, so he sent some Sisters from the branch to come pick us up. Well, just when they got there, this man came up to our car and asked if he could help us out. He helped us to get our car running again, so we were able to drive ourselves to the activity. We also invited him to come to the activity. Then later on, while we were at the activity (which was Bowling and it was SO fun!), he walked in! He came to the activity! So we talked to him about the church, gave him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to church! It was awesome! And then he had a fun time Bowling! What a great day!!

When our battery died ...

Also, we got a call from the AP's and they told us we're getting a mini missionary this week! She arrives on Thursday! We're SO excited!!!

On Tuesday we had a lesson with Brendan, our investigator, and we brought one of the members, Sister Palmer. She's an older lady and she's really sweet. She told us that she had been waiting for missionaries to ask her to come to lessons for a long time, and she was so glad that we gave her that opportunity. She was so great in the lesson, and she was exactly what Brendan needed :)

This weekend was incredible! Saturday was AMAZING! So, we got a text during the week from the Norwich Sisters telling me that one of the members there, Sister Jicha, was going through the temple for the first time on Saturday, and she wanted me to be there! We worked with Sister Jicha a lot while I was in Norwich so this was really special! So, we organised for the Caputos to come with us and bring us to the temple so I could be there for her. The Caputos were all excited and ready to go, but then on Friday we got a call from Brother Caputo and he said that they couldn't bring us anymore, and they were really sorry. We were SO sad! But we didn't give up hope! We started calling everyone and their dog to see who could bring us (because we're not allowed to drive ourselves). But nobody was really able to bring us... Then, a couple of hours later, Brother Caputo calls us again and says "We're back on for tomorrow!" It was a miracle! So on Saturday I got to be there for Sister Jicha as she went through the temple for the first time, and as she got sealed to her husband for time and all eternity. Words cannot describe how happy I was. It was so amazing to be a part of her incredible journey. Tears were shed! A lot of tears were shed! It was seriously the best day ever! :)

Then on Sunday, I got really sick. It wasn't a good day. I woke up and I felt really nauseous and lightheaded, and I was SO WARM...but then I was so cold! I called the mission nurse and she said that I had a stomach bug and that I should stay home. We ended up going to Sacrament meeting..well..half of Sacrament meeting. I didn't make it all the way through. After the Sacrament, I just got a blessing, and then we went home.

This story is about to get gross so prepare yourselves...

When I walked in the door of the apartment it was SO hot, and I couldn't handle it so I ran into the bathroom and threw up. I was so sick! That happened twice :( I just ended up sleeping for most of the day. Later on, one of the members in our branch, Kelly, brought some stuff over to help me. She brought Gatorade, melon, ginger ale, and some essential oils! She is so awesome! She's a nurse so she knows what's best :)

I'm feeling much better today. It was just a 24 hour thing thank goodness!

Other than Sunday, this week was amazing!!

I hope you've all had an incredible week :) 

I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Rebekah Barrett

My Greenie!

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had an amazing week!! I certainly did :)

So at the beginning of the week, when Sister Haws was still here, we went to the Caputo's house to have dinner, and they taught us how to make rolled tacos! They are delicious! But next time I make them I'll need some kind of special supervision because I had ONE JOB, and it was to place the rolled taco into the deep fat fryer....well I failed.

I dropped it in, and splashed boiling hot oil on my hand and got some burns. Don't worry, they're not severe burns. They're tiny...but I have picture evidence :P

Ok so the burn looks really lame in this picture, but I promise it was worse than that a week ago ... I'm not just being dramatic :p haha

Then on Wednesday I said farewell to Sister Haws :( We had a great last day together though. We wore matching outfits to Transfer Meeting! Aaaaand I said "Bem-vinda a Missao Massachusetts Boston" to my new child because she's from Sao Paulo, BRAZIL!! (That's "Welcome to the Massachusetts Boston Mission in Portuguese)

Her name is Sister Saito, and she's a really incredible missionary. You'd never know that she just came from the MTC!

Sister Saito and I! My child is the spitting image of me!

Transfer Meeting was amazing! We had the whole Greenfield crew there! Our investigator, Keith, came so that was awesome! President Packard told us before Transfer Meeting that he prepared a really great talk about The Spirit, and he was so excited to speak, but then when he got up to speak, he told everyone that he had prepared to give a certain talk, but as he was sitting there he felt like he needed to talk about something else, and he didn't know why. He said 'I think there's someone in this room who needs to hear this." Then he proceeded to talk about "Why you should be a member of this church", and talked about some specific things that Keith struggles with. He was speaking to him the whole time. It was amazing.

I also got to see some people from Norwich while I was at Transfer Meeting. I was glad to know that they haven't forgotten me there. I still love the people of Norwich, and that Ward more than ever! It will forever be a part of me :)

On Friday we had Zone Meeting, and the mission has been focusing on obedience a lot lately. We are all working to be EXACTLY obedient missionaries. Someone shared a quote with us and it's "Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles." I know this is so true! Zone Meeting was amazing and it made me want to work even harder to be EXACTLY obedient :)

We had a great lesson with Jose on Saturday, and we talked about the Power of the Priesthood, and how Priesthood blessings can really help us in our lives. Because he's working on quitting smoking, we really felt like it would benefit him, and give him extra strength if he got a Priesthood blessing. We committed him to come to church on Sunday. He came, and after Sacrament meeting he received a wonderful blessing, and the Lord told him that he needs to get rid of his cigarettes, and he will be baptised in the Lord's time for him. Jose is amazing, and we are so happy with the progress he has made in the past few months!

Sunday was a day of miracles! We had 2 investigators at church, and a less active family that hasn't been to church since I got here to Greenfield! It was amazing. I love the Greenfield Branch. This little Branch is becoming more unified with each new day, and it's incredible to be here, and to be able to see the amazing progression :)

I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all :)

Love,

Sister Rebekah Barrett

Greenie in Greenfield!

Hey everyone!!

First of all, Happy Easter! I hope you all had an amazing day yesterday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ!!

This week was absolutely amazing!! I don't even know where to begin or how to express everything that happened.

First off, we went to the part of New York that's in our mission with some of the missionaries in our zone last P-day. We just took a picture by the sign, and then we left. Hahaha It was very thrilling. 

On Tuesday we finally got in contact with Veronica, one of our potential investigators, and set up an actual time to meet with her! Later that evening we went to see Holly. She is incredible. It's just amazing to see how far she has come, and how much happier she is with the gospel in her life. I just love her!! We also had a great lesson with Amanda! We taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and it ALL just clicked with her.

Wednesday was great! We met with Jose. Kelly and our Branch President came and joined our meeting. They both shared their testimonies of the Book of Mormon and prayer. It was SO powerful, and even I felt motivated after we left to read more diligently, and pray with a more sincere heart!

Friday was a crazy day..but it was amazing! We were on our way to the church to meet up with the Gardner Sisters (Sister Lewis and Sister Buttars) because we were bringing them to district meeting, and on our way we got a phone call from President Packard. He said: "Sisters..I have some sad news. Sister Haws is going be transferred to a new area which will be revealed later, but there is some happy news.. Sister Barrett, The Lord has called you to train a new missionary." I literally had no words. I'm so excited! This new challenge is really going to push me to work extra hard, and go that extra mile, because I really want to be a great example to my greenie, and express pure Christ like love for her, and all the people in this area. I just can't believe I'm going to be a trainer!! AAHHHHHH!!

I am so sad to have to say goodbye to Sister Haws though. It has been an incredible 3 transfers with her, and she is one of my best friends. I love her dearly! It's okay though because we're already planning her trip to Ireland..this is not the end of Team Baws!

Haha anyway...continuing on with the story...after we met up with the Gardner Sisters, President Packard called them while we were in the car, and told Sister Buttars she has been called to be a Sister training Leader in a new area..so the whole drive to District Meeting was a little depressing, because everyone is leaving, and EVERYONE was really stressed and anxious to know what was going to happen.  After District meeting we got the texts telling us who was going where. We found out Sister Buttars, and Sister Haws are both going to Providence, RI. Sister Buttars is going Spanish Speaking, and Sister Haws is  going to English speaking of course, but they'll live in the same apartment, and Sister Buttars is going to be Sister Haws' Sister Training Leader! That made me so happy to know that Sister Haws will be going to Providence with someone she knows. The drive home from District Meeting was a lot happier for everyone..thank goodness! :P

I got to hold a kitten!

General Conference was amazing!! The talk that hit me the most was DEFINITELY Jeffrey R. Holland's talk. Hearing him talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ really strengthens my testimony of the Saviour and what He has done for each of us. Easter truly is the most important day of the year!

I love you all and I hope you all have an incredible week!

Love,

Sister Rebekah Barrett