Week 6: Diamonds not Coral

June 14, 2016

Hey everyone! 

Guess what! Today is my last week at the MTC!! I leave tomorrow morning in the early AM of 3:50. Should be joyous fun. 

The last couple days have been rough for me as I have been saying goodbye too and watching my district leave and saying goodbye to my teachers. Some of the hardest things I think I have done since I have been here. I have really come to love each and everyone one of them with each of their little quirks. But I know we are here to do the Lords work and there will be time later to catch up. 

I am so excited to get to Oregon and meet my mission president and my companion. I have been praying to have a companion that will help me the most (yes, I know that can be a risky thing to ask for, but I know in the long run it will be worth it). 

So funny experience for this week: Since my companion Hna Oliphant was leaving Monday morning she had to wash her laundry on Saturday, plus we still had class on top of that and so needless to say she had a million things going through her head and she was stressed. So as we were sitting there and she was emailing and I was studying, I looked up and happened to notice that her clothes were in the dryer and not the washer. 

"Uh Hermana... Your clothes are in the dryer, not the washer."

"Well isn't that just great. If I were a coral, I'd be dead."

"Well it’s a good thing you are coal then because that means you’re in the works of becoming a diamond"

With only 3 minutes left on the cycle she just let it finish and then opened it and had a lot of powdered detergent fly into her face. And of course I couldn't stop laughing. So from that experience we now have the term "I am on the struggle bus today." (Also for those that may not know when corals get under stress they die, and when coal is under stress it becomes a diamond).

We also had the opportunity to hear from Elder Bednar this week. It was a really good talk about how God knows us one by one and how as missionaries we need to be teaching our investigators and getting to know them one by one because they are more than just a number on the list. Heavenly Father cares about us one by one, which means that we should do the same.

Also the song by him that we sang called "One by One" will also be aired in the New Era this coming month and there might be a video of it as well, so if there is go and look for me!  

I hope you are all doing well! I would love to hear from you! 

Thank you so much for the support and prayers.

I love you all! 

Love,

Your Sister Rebecca Barnes 

Pictures:

1. Look who I ran into! Elder Bob Holbrook

2. Scooping ice cream out with a plastic bag, because why not?

3.Saying goodbye to Hermano Santillan 

4.Goodbyes with Hermano Hood

5. Packing ft. Hermana Grover

6. Goodbyes with Hermano Franco