July 25, 2016: Hermosillo Otra Vez!!! (another time)

Riquelme and I got special permission to ditch our comps in Peñasco and go to the temple together with the ward, to see a family get sealed. We left at 12 midnight and traveled all the night until we got to Hermosillo at 7 am. It took a super long time because for the first time in forever (Frozen song) it rained super hard in Hermosillo, and all the trip there. But it was so worth it! We got to go with this family and their three little kids and see them get sealed together forever and ever, and it was super amazing! 

The rest of this week was awesome also! We went to visit a family that are recent converts. And one of their granddaughters asked me. "What does it mean 'Latter Days?'" and I told her. "It means like the last days until Jesus Christ is going to come to the earth again."  And she told me: "Jesus came to visit my family...." And it was super special, because this little girl knows and has a testimony that Jesus lives and that He is with us, and all the experiences and blessings that she and her family have received from the gospel are real.

I keep loving Peñasco. It is super funny because Peñasco is super small so everyone knows the white girl on the bike with super curly hair. And everyone we pass waves to us and greets us, and my comp always asks, "Do you know everyone here?" But it is just because I live by the motto of Maddy: Give people something to stare at." Like a crazy white girl on a bike with a skirt and now pants with an afro sticking out from a bright pink helmet and a ghetto basket, crying the people to repentance and loving every second of it!

Stay stoked people! Oceans of love to you all! Shout out to the Barton family reunion and the sun burns and memories to come!  

Love you all!  Muahug!!

Hermana Barton

______________________________

Part of Meredith's letter to Mom. A sacred experience in the temple:

On Friday night, Riquelme and I left our comps in Peñasco and we tripped it to Hermosillo with the members to go to the temple and see their sealing! It was amazing! So beautiful!! I was crying tons! Also I had a really cool experience with your dad another time... I was sitting waiting for my turn to pass the veil and felt like an unreal switch of vision and felt his presence super strongly, and then they called me up to the veil, and all I could do was look at the hands of the worker and remember your experience and I was just crying and felt super strong the spirit and felt like I could see his hands exactly like you explained them to me... it sounds strange, but it is SO real to me!!

And the experiences I have had here with your dad have been something that I never expected, but something amazing. And I am so thankful for all that I have felt and learned and seen.... The 350 pesos I spent were the best 350 pesos I have spent in all my mission! MY time in the temple was incredible!!

________________________________

From Mom about this picture: That dimple!  I want to see it in person. 5 months more! This is yet another shot of the restaurant by the sea that a member of the church owns and lets the missionaries enjoy on their pday.  Lucky Hermanas!  The view and the drinks alone sound like a good break from the missionary grind. The middle Hermana (Amy Hauck) was in Meredith's original group in the CCM/MTC and they have never been comps, but have been in the same area for a good chunk of their mission. She is from St. George UT. And Riquelme is still close by as you can see!  And sporting a matching bracelet to Meredith's fav one. These are a few of my favorite things...

July 18, 2016: Keepin It Real in Peñasco With the Ghetto Bike Basket

This week was epic. My new comp is named Hermana Luna. She is super awesome and a greenie, from Mexico City. (Here missionaries from Mexico City are like missionaries from Utah. The majority!)  I feel like I belong to Peñasco now that I will be here 6 months of my mission! But I love the people here.  There is TONS of work to do, and I feel blessed that Heavenly Fathers has confidence in me to do it!  I think on Saturday I will get to go to the temple to a sealing with a family here. I got permission from Prez to go because usually if we are not in Hermosillo we can't go.  We found tons of new people to teach. It is something super incredible to be able to knock on someone's door and tell them that you are a representative of Jesus Christ and you have a message to share with them! This is basically my life right now, and it makes for some amazing experiences! We found a family that was passing through some hard times, and the mom called for all her kids to come outside to pray and sing a hymn, and they were all crying because they felt the spirit and knew it wasn't a coincidence that we could pass by to visit them. 

More blessing sparkles happened when some random gringos from Utah showed up on Sunday at church and wanted to give us some cash cash money money just because they felt inspired to do it! Keep the inspiration coming! No complaints about that one! 

I am stoked that I get to stay in Peñasco for 3 more months! With the bike basket and all! Everyone makes fun of me for my ghetto basket, but then when they are all weighed down on their bike, they ask me if they can put stuff in my basket!

 "Keep Santa Cruz REAL and weird" and always do what your heart tells you to do, and it always works out. Most of the time better than you thought it would!! (like the bike basket! Now I will be making bike baskets for the whole zone! With the zip ties I have left!). 

Oceans of love to all,

Hermana Barton 

July 12,2016: Love You All!

Hermana Luna!

Wahoozers!! I got to stay in Peñasco!! And Hna Riquelme just switched branches and is now my Hermana Leader (don't know how to say it in English..). My new comp is named Hermana Luna. She is from Mexico, Mexico City. I had to go to Hermosillo to pick her up and bring her to Peñasco, and it's for this reason that I couldn't write you yesterday! But I just wanted to write you quickly and tell you that I love you, and that all is more than good in the hood. Hna Luna is super awesome. I am excited to see what experiences we are going to have together here in Peñasco. Hope all is well in Hawaii, and you are keepin it real! Well duh, that's what my bombastic bam fam does best. Work hard to play hard, and as Maddy says, You can sleep when you're dead!

Last week we had our baptisms! It was awesome! Teresa and the Fam Limon Sanchez were baptized, and in total we had 9 baptisms on Saturday!  Teresa is a single mom. All her kids have drug problems, and she has changed so much in our time with her, and now glows with happiness in her eyes and is reading the Book of Mormon and LOVING it. I have never seen someone so excited to learn the gospel as her. And the Fam Sanchez Limon, they are awesome, friends of members, and it was so cool to baptize a family who has goals to go to the temple in a year, and be an eternal family. 

Thanks for all your love and prayers. I am sending you pics of the things I did this week and will explain more next week, when I have more time. Muahug. Lubablubaloo!! Goodnight dad, good night mom, goodnight Maddy, goodnight Liza, goodnight Lainie, goodnight Mia, goodnight Maribelle. What are we doing tomorrow???!!!!! BYE!!

Mares de amor, les amo tanto!!!

Hermana Bomby, Pearl, Wilba, Merdee, la loca misionera que les ama!!

pics: (First 3)

-Teresa with her son, grandson, and her sister that is a member in a different town called Caborca

-Fam. Sanchez Limon with their friends Fam Lizarraga, the nephew of Rosalba that will hopefully be baptized soon, one of their daughters

-Teresa, Omar, Rosalba, Johann---wahoo!!!

Teresa Haro, her youngest son, grandson, and sister who is a member in Caborca

Familia Sanchez Limon and their nephew who is investigating the church too, and Hermana Nancy y "El Oaxaco" (su esposo)

SO BLESSED!!

Missionary Gangstas

Fancy! ("Cara de Bebe")

LOKAS

I adore Rosabla

We all adore her!

Isabella-- sometimes they call her "Chuckie" like from the horror movie I actually have never seen.. because sometimes she can be a terror! jajaj

July 4, 2016: Surprise trip to Hermosillo

Today I am writing from Hermosillo because I had to come renew my visa. It was a classic moment when they told me that I would be going at 5 in the morning... but they didn't know anything else, like if I was going with someone else because they didn't buy a ticket for my comp, or where I would sleep... but just that I was going to Hermosillo! haha But in the end it all worked out, and I made it here, and am not alone, and got to see Hermana Castro and Hermana Vasquez (who are comps now!) and it made everything worth it! I was SOOOO happy! I will go back to Peñasco tomorrow for the last week of the transfers.. .and who knows where I will be next week.

This week was awesome!! We found lots of new people to teach and had lots of cool experiences contacting people and praying in the street to know where to go. Prayer is real, and it is amazing the answers we can get in the moments when we need them most! Also I made a ghetto basket from my bike this week with a plastic carton I found and some zip ties!! It is pretty rad! Bet you're all jealous because I can go off some sweet jumps with my bike and my new basket and get like 3 feet of air! It's pretty gnarly!! I'll try to send pics next week!

I am super stoked that this Saturday we are going to have 4 baptisms! 3 from the fam. Sanchez Limon and one lady named Teresa! They are all SOOO excited to be baptized! It has been an amazing time here in Peñasco. I am not looking forward to transfers! Hermana Riquelme is one of my best friends and has helped me so much.

This week we started wearing pants. It looks pretty horrendous, like my Dad says, and super hot, and I feel like an elder. And I had to buy pants like 5 sizes too big so that they are not tight in some places. I don't know if it is better that I don't have tight pants, or that they are so big that they are almost falling down and have to safety pin them in a ghetto way... but it will all work out! I have a little sewing kit from G'ma Olga, and can fix up my pants! I will survive!   Blessings will come for being obedient! Hopefully I dont blind the people that I walk by with the hideousness!  hahaha

Shout out to the coolest mom ever, Mama BQ (Boston qualifier) for her birthday, and Bad Ash Earl for her birthday also! Hope all of your wildest dreams come true!

Love you all! Prayers and happiness sent your way!

Oceans of love,

Hermana Barton

Tramploine at the branch mission leader's house. (Familia Garcia)

FHE at Lupita Fuentes house

First day wearing pants...kill me! Que veguenza!

Mejores amigas

Zona Penasco