Sister Barnett On The Mish: Week 2: Lots of GERMAN & LEGOS

Holy cow this week flew! (Well compared to last week hahaha.) It has been a good week, i have had lots of ups and lots of downs, but it has all in all been a good week. I mean how can it not be when you're wearing this badge lets be real...

So on Wednesday we had a devotional and it was so incredible. It was about the Atonement (my absolute favorite.) The speaker related the atonement to a little kid cleaning up a room full of legos. The child may not be able to get every piece because come on... we all know how little kids clean, but thats where the lord comes in. Elder Phillip said "He will get on his hands and knees and help us clean up the legos." I have never thought about it like that. The Lord will literally get down to where we are and lift us up. I loved that analogy even though i probably just totally butchered it... Bottom line is the atonement is THE most amazing blessing we have.

Thursday was awesome we committed our investigator to baptism.... IN GERMAN. Hahaha the lessons in German are rough... it feels kind of like I have a handicap because i know what i want to say to them but i cant form the sentence so i sit there looking at them with my mouth wide open and nothing coming out... it is super frustrating but i had a cool moment this week. I don't know why but i got a feeling that i cant teach in English. meaning that what i need to say for the next 18 months has to be in German. Strange right? Like I wouldn't be able to get the same message across in English or something? I don't know how to describe it, but it was the coolest feeling ever knowing that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. I have to serve my mission speaking German. that's what I was called to do. That's what the Lord needs. I saw a little glimpse of hope that day. There was a light at the end of the tunnel. I was understanding more and my pronunciation was better and i could see myself doing this. It was awesome haha!

Her Miranda Face :)

I think I can ..... I think I can!!!!!!!

After hours and hours, days and days of studying German! :P

Friday we did the weirdest thing ever... we taught a TREE. My teacher had us teach the first lesson to a tree outside in German. To be honest it might have been the best lesson we've had so far hahaha! it was nice not to be afraid to mess up or afraid of the investigator answering and not being able to understand or respond. It was bizarre, but it helped a lot hahaha - as if missionaries aren't socially awkward enough, now we are talking to trees lol.

Saturday was rouuugghhhh... It kind of hit me that I'm going to be doing this for a year and a half. I got really homesick and missed my life. We got 2 new investigators that day so now we teach lessons every single day and i was just super overwhelmed. We had lasagna for lunch and it reminded me of my moms famous lasagna and that was hard. Funny how just food can make you miss home hahhaa. It was just not a good day all around... BUT THEN THERE WAS SUNDAY. Sundays here are always amazing so I felt so blessed to be able to have that day next haha. I think that it was the best day I've had here so far... After a rough day Saturday, it was just what i needed. We talked about patience in relief society (lol right?!) and i swear everything we talked about was what i needed to hear. After lunch we had personal time and I TOOK A NAP. THAT'S RIGHT!! I TOOK A FLIPPIN NAP. It was the best nap i have ever had... Soooo needed. haha I am sooo tired all the time here!! After that we had a devotional and we sang the EFY medley "As sisters in Zion" as a whole MTC (so 108 elders and sisters) and oh my gosh i thought i was going to die with how many chills i got. We sang the words "we are now the lords missionaries" instead of "we will be the lords missionaries" and that got me... I bawled my eyes out. It was amazing ill never forget that. (yes mom, i did record it, but you have to wait 17 1/2 more months to hear it sorrrryyy) after that we watched the Joseph Smith movie as an MTC and talk about tears. I think everyone was crying- even the "tough elders" haha It was so great.

So the best part of the day for me was ANOTHER devotional we had on Elder Holland's The Atonement in missionary work talk. If you cant tell i love the Atonement lol. Okay that was when the real tears came. The full on ugly cry hahaha if you havent heard that talk go listen to it it will change your life.

Yesterday was ehh.... A train wreck of a lesson with our new investigator but hey, you win some you lose some. And I learned a lot from it so i guess that's all that matters. The lord answered a serious prayer for me that day. We were sitting in language study and everything was just going straight over my head. I felt like i was drowning. I got a feeling to say a prayer. So right there in class i bowed my head and said "Heavenly Father, i don't think I can do this. I cant learn this language. Please help me believe i can." Not even 10 minutes later one of my favorite sisters from another district (sister Shultz shes from Germany.. i know ironic right ;) came into my class and dropped a note on my desk. She told me how amazing i was and how the people of my mission are going to love me. She also said not to worry about my German skills, they will understand what I'm trying to say. I just about died... I have never in my life experienced something like that. She was such an answer to my prayer! Ahhhh it was so cool hahaha.

Indescribable!

I think its amazing how the Lord works. Nothing has made me think about that more than being a missionary. He really knows EXACTLY what each of his children needs at that exact moment. My love for my Heavenly Father has grown more in these last 2 weeks than it has in 19 years. I love learning about the gospel and gaining a stronger testimony of things I thought i had a strong testimony in. I love this gospel and i LOVE being a missionary. Again, there is so much more i want to write but i could never fit it all in 1 email.

Know how much i love each of you, you will never know how much of an impact you have had on my life. Keep the emails coming, i need them!!!! lol. I can read all my emails throughout the week i just cant respond until Pday so if you're feeling extra generous shoot me a quick sentence or somethin ;)

Thank you all for the prayers and support, you guys mean the world to me. until next week!!

Love,
Sister Barnett

CANDIDS~