Preaching in Pennsylvania: Let Go and Let God!

Hey yinz!!

I hope you had a great week! Life here in Pitt 3rd is pretty swell!
(Except for me being sick with a cold the past few days...haha all is
well, I'm starting to come out of it, so that's good.) Let me tell you
about our week.....

Tuesday we went to find a potential investigator named Maria. We
knocked, and the dogs started barking inside. (PS: the new definition
of dogs--Pennsylvanian's doorbell ha ha) She came out and talked to
us and we had a great conversation. She has such a strong faith in
Christ. We shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with her and showed her
the Hallelujah video (Hallelujah for Easter videos that never expire!!
Woot woot!!). She got teary-eyed and I know she felt the Spirit. It
was such a beautiful moment.

One of the evenings we had dinner with a couple in the ward, the
Gigliotti's. Brother Gigliotti has been less-active for years, but his
wife comes to church every week. After dinner we were sharing a
thought, and he mentioned that he was mad at God because he didn't
understand why He would let all these babies be infected with the Zika
virus. He said he didn't see God as a loving God because he was
allowing this to happen. I felt the Spirit prompt me so strongly that
I needed to share part of my story with him. I told him I don't have
all the answers, and I don't know the reason why, but I went through
a hard trial that caused me to ask why. I told him about my tumor and my
experience of knowing even though God placed that trial in my life,
He never left me alone. The Spirit was felt and after we left Sister
Taunima said she's never felt the Spirit stronger in their home than
during that dinner thought. I know my story touched his heart and
helped him to see one instance where God was loving and kind.
Hopefully he will begin to see more instances and his heart will be
softened.

Hey hey hey! I survived my first exchange!!! Not to mention I had to
"lead out the area" after only being there a week (meaning Sister
Taunima left and I was left to navigate the area for 24 hours). It
went really well!! We had zone training Wednesday morning and from
there we switched companions. I got to be with Sister Simpson for
those 24 hours. (Okay guess what?! She totally knows Jeff and Natalie
Winder!! Her mom, Jennifer is good friends with Natalie and they were
in the same ward before they moved! How crazy is that?! Small world!

Oh and here's a side note: The last week of this month, two members of
the seventy are coming to our mission: Elders Anthony D. Perkins, and
Peter Meurs. There are two big meetings happening Sister Johnson
called me and asked me to sing in a musical number for one of the two
big meetings happening. I feel so honored!! It will be a group of 4
sisters and 4 elders (Sister Schofield will be in it too!! I'm so
excited!!). We are singing one of my favorite songs--"Savior, Redeemer
of My Soul". The meeting will be for half of the mission (in
Cranberry; the other half will meet in Harrisburg) and I can't wait!!

So after zone training on Wednesday, we dropped off the elders, and
drove to contact a referral named Nanet. No one answered and we
started walking away and then she came out of the house (not realizing
we were there) and we about gave her a heart attack. But we talked to
her for a minute and set up a return appointment. As we were walking
away the first time, I thought Sister Simpson had pointed to her
neighbors house to go try them, so after we talked to Nanet, I started
walking over there. We knocked on the door, and a lady answered the
door. We began talking, and found out her name was Sharon and she has
a very strong faith in Jesus Christ. We introduced the Book of Mormon
and gave her a copy. We had a great conversation and we set up a
return appointment. I said, "Sharon, before we go, can we leave you
with a song?" She said, "Of course!" Sister Simpson (she has a
GORGEOUS voice--her major is vocal performance; go figure) and I
sang "I am a Child of God" for her and she got all teary-eyed. The
Spirit was felt and she was so grateful. Can I just say (I know yinz
know this already but) I LOVE MUSIC. I love it for sooo many reasons
but the longer I am out on my mission the more I love it for its
beautiful power to invite the Spirit.

So yinz remember Anne who I mentioned last week? Well, on Wednesday
after Book of Mormon class (when we were still on exchanges), we had a
lesson with her. We had previously felt like we needed to ask her
about her patriarchal blessing, if she had received one or not. We
found out she had, but she didn't have a copy of it, so she hadn't
read it in 5 years. We showed her how to request it online, and told
her now she just needed to wait. Saturday she called to thank us,
telling us "thanks to you, after 5 years I have finally read my
blessing." It was awesome!! I am continually in awe of how God guides
this work.

Which leads me to another thing I have been striving to focus on this
week. It can be summed up in the following statement: let go and let
God. I have this thing where I like to be the one in control.
Definitely the natural man inside of me...and I'm working on it. I'm
learning that in order to have complete trust in the Lord, you have to
let go and let Him take control. It's something I am having to learn
over and over again, but one of these days I'll get it...hopefully.
This week I did see ways I can let go and let God. For example...

When a lesson falls through: let go and let God.
When you're heart is pounding right before you talk to a stranger: let
go and let God.
When you are nervous to open your mouth, but you do anyway: let go and let God.
When your investigator rejects your invitation to read the Book of
Mormon and disregards your testimony: let go and let God.
When you don't understand why some things happen: let go and let God.

It has become my motto as of late and I know this frame of mind will
help me as I continue on through my mission and through the rest of my
life. I am coming to know that profound peace comes into your life
when you are willing to let go and let Him take the wheel and take
over. I invite you to do the same: let go and let God.

I love you so much and I hope this week is an amazing one!!! ❤️

"Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep
growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."
(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland)

love, love, love,
Sister Bartlett xoxo

With Maria