To The Middle Of Nowhere She Goes!

BIG NEWS!

Sister Barclay has transferred to a new area and has a new companion! Here is what Collette had to say about it all:

Monday, August 24, 2015

"Hey! So it's been the craziest day of my life! Last night we got a call from President Hansen saying that we are going to switch a couple things around. SO HE IS TAKING ME OUT OF LSU AND I WILL BE HEADING DOWN TO GONZALES TODAY! Ahhh, crazy! He is taking both sisters out of the area and putting two new sisters in! It is a struggling little area:( So it has been a crazy p-day! I had to go visit, like, five of my investigators last night at like 7pm and pack all night! I have aquired so much stuff from LSU! It is absolutely crazy! 

ABBY GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! Coolest thing ever! ...Except that the bishop forgot about the baptism, and we couldn't get a hold of him all morning, so we had to call his counselor and make him drive a half an hour to the church! Ahh, it was horrible, but all was well. Even Abby's mom was able to come to the baptism (not a member). She was so excited that her BABY was getting baptized! 

I have really learned to love LSU! All of the people I got to see last night all told me... it's because of who I was that stuck with them through it all and brought them to the gospel. They said that their lives are changed and that the path that they are on now is because we lead them to the church! It's really amazing what the LORD can do in someone's life! 

I really worked hard in LSU and I have made some of my best friends here! I know I was in LSU for a good reason! I will be so sad to leave, but I'm ready to take on GONZALES! I love y'all! 

I'll get my address to you soon! Also, I'll be talking to you more tomorrow; we only got a little time to email today because of this craziness, so I'll get on tomorrow to say more!"

Sister Barclay, Sister Frederickson, and Jasmine (a ward member)

Phil (an investigator) and Sister Barclay

Sister Barclay with Josh, Daisy, and family

Sister Frederickson, Sister Barclay, and the newest member of the church, Abby!

All packed up for Gonzales!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

"Hey y'all! 

So if you haven't already heard, I am now serving over in Gonzales! It's about 25 miles away from Baton Rouge! IT IS COUNTRY LIFE! 

It all happened yesterday, and a week before transfers, too! I was an emergency transfer with some other sisters; that is why I am emailing today! It was a crazy yesterday as three areas got switched around! 

So my new companion is Sister Wood! She is so awesome! She's been out a year now; she's from west Jordan, and she's 24! We get along so well! It has been very interesting getting doubled into an area! 

The house we live in is scary; it's in the middle of no where and it's sort of falling apart! haha! There were frogs and toads blocking our door as we pulled in last night! President Hansen was kind enough to take the frog off our door for us! haha It is really pretty and green lots of trees... SO different than the cities I have been serving in! 

The previous sisters didn't leave us very much of anything to go off of, so we are just trying to figure everything out with the help of the Gonzales elders! This area is kind of struggling, so hopefully we can get things up and going again! 

It is so crazy! No one really knows our exact address, because we are in the middle of nowhere, so if you would like to send anything, send it to the mission office!

Sister Collette Barclay

12025 Justice Ave Baton Rouge, LA 70816 I love and miss y'all so much! Things have just been so crazy lately! I can't even believe I'm almost half way! I love being here and I can't wait to get going in Gonzales! I know this church is true with my whole heart and that Heavenly Father loves us so much! I know that only through him is any of this possible, and as we trust him he will help us through!"

Sister Barclay with her new companion, Sister Wood!

The kitchen at the new place

A hole in the ceiling...

This was in the window seal... yikes!

"Because things were so gross, I picked things up with a stick! I'm a noob! Sister Wood thought it was funny, so she took a picture!"

Louisiana Fast!

People! We're back! Sorry it's been so long since I last posted an update from Sister Barclay... My family and I (Liz) moved to a new state and we just barely (as in, 15 minutes ago) got internet at our house! Woo! It feels good to be back online!

So I have two posts again, one from Collette to my mom back on June 15th, and the other is the most recent, from July 6th! She also, let me know that she is at the same address, so send her those letters and check for the address listed under the Write Me! tab.

June 15th (excerpts from the email to our mom):
"I don't have a lot of time today. It's been a crazy p-day!! My week has been good, just staying busy and doing my thing, ya know! That mission life!

We have been on a ton of crazy adventures and me and my companion get along so well... although she is a little hesitant to go tract or to contact people! She's a hoot! We'll work on it! It's been a stellar week!"

"We went biking the other day... I got fried! And I got so many bug bites on my legs! They are huge! I'm pretty sure this transfer is where I'm going to lose all my weight; these elders and sisters 'round me love to exercise and be all healthy! I have done more yoga and running than ever! It's good though;I feel really good! But sweating in Baton Rouge is horrible!"

"So we had a baptism! His name is Andrew Loreno! He goes to the singles ward and he's so cool!!! Ahhh, it's been a really fun week! I can already see that time is moving on by just fast! It's so nuts!"

"So... best part of my week... guess what we did as a district?!! We went to the Bethany Church to see..... PHIL ROBERTSON FROM DUCK DYNASTY speak about what God has done in his life! We heard from Allen, his son, and Mrs. Kay!! AHHHHHHHHHH how sweet is that?! So yeah, I was definitely in the presence of Phil! He's a boss!"

New companion! Sister Frederickson!

July 6th (letter to everyone):
"Hey y'all! It's been a crazy couple of weeks! Let me catch up!

Our Mission is too crazy! All the missionaries are a bunch of clowns with the biggest testimonies of this gospel I've ever seen! A little while ago we had a district meeting that brought all the tears. We talked about why we came out on missions and a lot of us said, 'for our families back home' that needed that example, some said they came out because the Lord told them to and the biggest reason was because we all love the Lord so much and this is how we can give back to our Savior! Although this is the hardest thing I've ever done, somehow it is all worth it. I have seen my testimony of this gospel grow so much, even when I don't see the blessings, miracles, or seeds grow immediately, I know that this is truly the Lord's work and we just have to trust him! It has been the funnest transfer of my mission; never a dull moment here in Baton Rouge! I love it!

Our investigators are doing well! We should be having a baptism for another young adult, her name is Abby Richmond! She is absolutely golden! She has the biggest heart and really has the desire to learn all the Lord has in store for her! She has even been talking to her mom about it and she wants to come to the baptism!!! LET'S GOO!!! 

Josh and Daisy have kinda of fallen backwards a little bit... The last time we met with them, I was feeling really brave and asked Josh to crush his pack of cigarettes; he has been telling us for 2 months he wants to quit. Let's just say, he freaked and only crushed one! But it was a start, right? But ever since then they have been missing our calls and ignoring texts and visits; it makes me really sad, I love them so much! Maybe it's just not their time, but let me tell you how much I hate agency sometimes! This is what they need and they just don't see that yet! They will come back; I know they will! I have faith that one day something will touch their hearts and they will come around. Send them your prayers! 

Being in two wards is still crazy, but it's keeping us busy! We have really tried to get members involved in our teaching and really get to know both wards! For the most part it is going really good! I love YSA! At first it was really hard getting used to teaching students my own age, but now I just love it! The PEOPLE of Louisiana have been my favorite thing about my mission! It's such a fun little world down here! 

Well this letter is getting really long, so I will end here with my testimony. I know this church is true. I know that this is the Lords work and I was definitely called to Louisiana for a reason; it now has a piece of my heart! I still hate the humidity and it's getting worse, but what can ya do? I know that Jesus Christ died for me and the Atonement is so real. He loves us so much and we are Heavenly Father's children! I know that he has a plan for all of us and if we follow it, we can always stay on our heavenly path towards home! I love all y'all and each y'all! Have and beautiful week! Talk to ya again real soon! 

Love Sister Barclay"

Louisiana Life

Sorry that the blog has been pretty much MIA the last two weeks! I'm getting behind! BUT the good news is that that means I'm sharing a letter we got from her this week, plus pictures from this week AND last week! We sure love our missionary!

Don't forget to keep sending those letters! Her new address for Baton Rouge can be found in her "Write Me!" tab at the top of the page. Thanks for loving and supporting Sister Barclay, wherever you are reading from!

I am standing in the same area that Fat Amy from Pitch Perfect said, "Mmm... Betta not!"

That's Mike the Tiger! He's the real deal!

Hanging out with Sister Carpenter

Sister Barclay and Sister Carpenter riding their bikes!

Free Speech Alley with Sister King! Aren't we cute?

"Hey y'all!!! It has been a pretty fantastic week... here's a few things I wanted to share!

We have a couple new people we have been meeting with, so it's been keeping us real busy! We were looking through the Baton Rouge 2nd Ward roster and came across a woman's name, and I just felt like we should go see her, so we headed to her house and it turns out she is deaf. She is very less active because no one is able to interpret for her, but she was so welcoming and luckily, Sister Carpenter could communicate because she knows how to do Sign Language! We had such an amazing time with her, even though I couldn't speak to her Sister Carpenter could. SIGN LANGUAGE IS BEAUTIFUL, and prayers in sign language even better! But we found some other deaf people in some other wards and we brought them with us to help interpret and talk with her! It went so good, we taught the restoration of the gospel and she loved it! We are so excited, and I love that sister Carpenter is so happy and excited every time we get to have a lesson with her. The spirit in those lessons just make my heart want to jump out of my chest! I love it and I am learning to sign! How cool!

So we have been working with a less active member named Lauren, she is so beautiful! I love her! Her roommate has been sitting in on the lessons with us and she has finally started to really investigate the church for herself. We introduced her to the Book of Mormon and she wanted to read the whole thing; she is so curious and wants to learn!!! We have a lesson with her tonight, so fingers crossed all went good; I'll keep y'all posted! 

People in Louisiana are hoarders!!! haha I helped a family spring clean their house! Junk, Junk, everywhere! Haha I can't even! MOM YOU WOULD OF DIED! I'm so serious, piles of stuff everywhere! We didn't even make a dent! And things that were ripped or torn, she duct taped it and wouldn't get rid of it! People are so funny 'round here! For real! 

It's so cool, here in baton rouge you could go from a real sketchy, dangerous part of town, straight to mansions and beautiful homes! The houses here are so cool! We got to teach a lesson to an active family in a mansion! Dang! It was beautiful! 

I love my YSA ward!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

So we contacted this guy washing his dog, and we talked about families being together forever and he told us that family was so important to him, being a dad is so important, he said we could come back and talk to him and his wife! So we went yesterday and he told us when we met him, he was having a really rough time and didn't know where to turn to and that it was an answer to his prayers that we came to him. We ended up teaching his whole family and a few of the neighborhood kids and their cousin the restoration and they loved it; they all want to get baptized! We have 6 new investigators! Man, the gospel is REAL!!!!

Also, it's getting super hot and humid here; it's so gross! I feel like I'm drowning! 

I know that this gospel is the pathway to a greater happiness, and it brings so many blessings! I know that only through my Father in Heaven, all things are possible and that because of him we can do anything! I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet on the earth today! I know the Atonement is real, and we can start over and change through it! I love this gospel and I'm so glad I get the chance to share that!

I love all y'all and each y'all! Have a beautiful and blessed week! 

Love, Sister Barclay" 

The fraternities and sororities are so big here! They have giant houses and people deliver food and clean for them! It's like the movies!

YSA activity!

A glimpse of Baton Rouge