Transfers, bed bugs, Mormon Batallion!

Hola familia!

Transfer 1 in the mission field---done! And both Hermana Hughes and I are staying here in Ramona! Here is a cool fact: Hermana Hughes and I have added a fourth of all of the investigators in the whole stake this transfer... the WHOLE stake, and that's including in Poway!... What?! Wahoo!! So I guess that gives you an idea of how many people we've chased down on the street or waved down in their cars. Haha I don't know what got into me, but even the first week I was here I had sudden urges (promptings?) to chase and wave people down. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to save those people God has prepared!

So, it's official. I had bed bugs this whole time! Haha nasty, right? My whole bed got thrown in the trash last week. I finally got a new bed a few days ago so we're all good! I think I've conquered my fear of bugs now, maybe. We'll see what bug adventures we have next. We even found a huge tarantula at one of our member's houses the other day. I'll send a picture.

Guess what... Marisol and her family are getting BAPTIZED!!!! Wahoo!!! On August 17. We will hopefully have 5 baptisms that day because we have another promising investigator with a baptismal date! How cool is that?! I have never been happier in my life!! Especially because we started out with nothing when we got to this area, and now we have 5 getting baptized. Ahh, I love this work of happiness. This family came to church and then we went to the Mormon Batallion with them and it was such an awesome experience for them all! I will send a picture. I love this family so much, they are incredible.

Well, I guess I'll share something I've been studying a lot for one of my investigators. Repentance isn't just praying and asking God for forgiveness for our sins. It's also praying and asking God to change our desires and our hearts to be in line with His. So if there's ever something you don't want to do, like read your scriptures, go to church, or even share the gospel with other people, you can ask God to change those desires, but not without faith. That's just one more amazing way to access the Atonement every day. Les quiero tanto y espero que tengan una semana magnifica!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Barnes