#FINDMILES

Our friend the judge and drug court

This week was one for the books!!!!! Old man played the guitar, drug court with our friend the judge, chapel tour with 5 old ladies, went to church at the Bible baptist church.

Where do I begin?

Monday night we met with an investigator. Beginning of the lesson she was like I'm agnostic don't really want change. By the end she prayed and told Heavenly Father she knows he wants her to be baptized. Woot woot! She's 21 and awesome. Lives in Milford Center, part of our new area. Phones don't really work there and it's hard to get a hold of her, but she is cool.

Tuesday we were challenged by our district leader to extend baptism before district meeting the next morning. Last contact at 8:30 pm was pretty kind and we extend and he began to bash hard listing off all these bible references and asked us if we even knew what they said. A goal we had this week was to diffuse angry people by being nice. Sister Hall said, "thanks so much for caring about us." It was hard not to laugh. We also had to run through some streets and backyards to make it to our car so we could get home on time. Oh also we met this cool guy who played the guitar for us. He played us some gospel music and one of his originals.

Wednesday was incredible. Rewind to last Sunday night. We met a potential that is super cool. We talked to him a bit about his life and his career. He is a judge for the county drug court. After talking a bit, he told us he would love to have us come to a session of drug court to meet some people who are working on making changes in their lives. We felt strongly that we should go and were confirmed by Preach My Gospel, "be creative in your finding." So we went. He introduced us as the Sisters all the way from Utah. During drug court, people stand before the Judge and tell him about their week and how the progress of overcoming their addiction is coming along. One guy was up there and everyone was impressed with his progress. He had just gotten his own place and is providing for his needs. He told the judge where his place was and the Judge says, "if the Sisters knock on your door, listen to them." And he said okay. So, we only had the street name and had to leave before it was over. Fast forward to the next day. We put some potentials and formers in that live on his street. We get to the street and there are lots of people outside because it's finally getting warm. We talk to the first guy and he wasn't interested and was from out of town but points us toward a house. We meet a lady in this house! She let us in to show the Prince of Peace video. We tie it into the restoration and teach her a lot about the Book of Mormon. Our zone focus this month is baptismal extensions and the spirit prompted me strongly to extend. So I did. Then she says that this is something her and her daughter have been wanting to do together. She explained that she has been waiting until her daughter is old enough to choose for herself and she feels like she's ready now. (She's 8 😊). We set up a time to come back to teach them more. Oh, and we asked if she knew the guy we met at drug court and she totally does, he asked her out a few weeks ago and she pointed us in a closer direction toward his house. We still haven't found him but we will keep searching. #FINDMILES.

Thursday was exchange day! I was with Sister Kraus. She went to Davis High School! This is her second transfer and she's hilarious. We had lots of fun! We met some really cool people, including the lady I mentioned earlier. Highlight. So a little while back we met this older lady. We met her and talked to her about the church. She was very comfortable with her faith. We kept talking. We offered a simple chapel tour and told her she could invite her friends! So she did! 5 ladies rolled up to the church for a chapel tour. They all came as part of her birthday celebration, she just turned 80 and she's the youngest one out of the 5!! The tour lasted longer than planned because of all the questions they had! We gave them each a Book of Mormon and got contact info for them all. We have started meeting with two of them and are still working on getting a time set up with the other 3. The spirit is present in the church building :)

Friday was weekly planning day.  We went to the library so we could focus. It was exhausting but we cranked it out. We saw a lady who came to church last week. She opened up a lot and expressed some of her concerns. We will adjust teaching and help her continue to progress. She quit the job that she had that disabled her to come to church and is planning on coming more regularly!

Saturday I convinced Sister Hall to bike. We met some really cool people outside. Highlight people were a cute young couple who recently got married. We showed the Prince of Peace video and they told us we could share more right then. We taught the whole restoration and they were super excited about the Book of Mormon. We're going back this week! We've finally been having more success in our finding! So many cool people I can't even tell about them all. We took a bathroom break at Kroger and there were free sushi samples on our way out. We got some and realized neither of us had ever had sushi and neither of us liked sea food. But we tried it anyway. It was gross.

EASTER SUNDAY! We invited J&M to join us next week and they invited us to go with them this week. So we went to the Baptist service. It was really weird. Lots of music and it felt more like a concert than church. 45 minutes of this band called "Sold Out" from Illinois. They were actually really good, just not for a church service haha. Preacher started his sermon but we had to leave part way through to make it to our church. Apparently after we left he explained that two Mormon missionaries were led to his house last night (we definitely got his address on white pages and referred him hahaha). He shared that they were led to him so he could try to convert them. He went on bashing the church and the truths of the gospel. We heard people were pretty upset and it ruined the Easter service. We felt bad, but one of our investigators said it's pushing her further away from that church and closer to ours. So that's good! And J&M are still planning on coming with us next week. I'm thankful for the true church, Christ's church, and the reverence and spirit you can feel there. Wow, you could FEEL the difference. (A little more about the preacher. He's a really nice guy. The elders went by last night, as he mentioned in his sermon, and got bashed a little. They set up a time to go back and share more. We warned them of the bashing and deep doctrine questions he'll bring up. Poor guy.) Our church was amazing, awesome focus on the Atonement. Sunday night we had a lesson with Marsha, her son, and her grandson, around a fire. It was a fun and memorable Easter 🐣.

Life is good. I love Marysville. I love Sister Hall. Hahaha oh man we get along so well and have SO much fun. This week we have some conference, more exchanges, lots of service, and lots of lessons. Yay!

Until next week,

Sister Barnes