Monday, August 27, 2012

Surprise!!

I forgot to tell you all last week that my P-Day has been switched to Monday. So...it will be on Monday from now on. I think it will be good! Before the mission, Sunday was a day of rest. Here in the mission field, Sunday is the hardest, most tiring day! You have to worry about investigators going to church. You end up walking in circles on Sunday because everyone is either gone or has family over and therefore don't have time to talk to you. P-Day on a Monday will be a good for my soul!

I was totally wrong about my companion! I knew that would happen. My new companion is Sister Marques from Curitiba, Brasil. She has a little over 6 months in the mission field and spent it in Canela (the area that everyone lusts for). I am learning a lot from her. She is studying journalism, so she is super outgoing and really knows how to talk to people and catch their attention. She literally stops people in their tracks in the street to talk to them, something that I don't do very often. She makes me laugh a ton. Yeah, so things are going well with her. This week, we pretty much focused on finding new investigators by knocking doors, making contact on the street, and asking for referrals. We are sifting through the people here in our area to find the elect! This is a really stupid analogy, but I will tell it anyway. I feel like a gold miner. I go out to work everyday with the objective of finding gold.....a golden investigator. However, I have to sift through a lot of mud, dirt, and sand before I find those few particles of gold. We are talking to a lot of people. Most of these people don't want anything to do with us. However.....we have to talk to everyone in order to find those few that are golden! 

There is also another new American that lives in our apartment, Sister Young. She is from Oregon and went to BYU-I for 3 years before leaving for the mission. She is really cool! 

I can't believe that General Conference is almost here! Just one more month! I can't wait! My first General Conference in Portuguese was a bit interesting because I didn't understand everything that they were saying. I am sure it will be a little better now! Oh how I love to hear the words of the prophets! 

Sorry this is a lame email......but my brain is absolutely dead right now! Oh, Vanderlei is still going strong! We visited him yesterday, and he was telling us about how he has been reading from the Book of Mormon everyday before work to start his day off right. One day he wasn't able to read before he left for work, so he called his girlfriend Monica and asked her to text him a verse from the Book of Mormon so he could at least read that much! I was very touched by that. He definitely recognizes the difference that it makes in his days! 

Today I was studying in Preach My Gospel. There is an activity in there that asks you to write down how the gospel affects how you look at your life and the world around you. I had the hardest time writing this down. Not because I didn't have anything to write, but because I had so much to write. The gospel isn't just a part of my life, it is my life. It defines every decision I make. It is so hard to make people understand that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't just a church that we go to on Sunday. It isn't just a building that we go to on Sundays to worship. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church that Jesus Christ established. Why did he establish it? To fulfill the will of the Father. And what is the will of the Father? To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint teaches EVERYTHING we need to do to return to the Father and gain exaltation. It isn't just a church we go to on Sunday if it is convenient. The gospel of Jesus Christ is EVERYTHING!!!! 
 
I love you and pray for you all everyday! Choose the Right! 
 
Sister Autumn Barnes

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