11-30-15

Hey Everyone!!!

It's honestly been one of the best weeks yet! I'm loving it here in San Francisco!  This is truly an amazing city!  I swear, there are not two houses that look even close to alike.  Every house is different and it's the same for the people.  We are meeting so many different kinds of people and what's especially funny is how literally probably one in every three people does not speak english as their native language and the ones who do, wouldn't dare take out their headphones... so yeah, that makes talking to people hard but the people who have been willing to talk to us have been so awesome!!! I love it!

We have an investigator named Reza. He's from the Middle East and he came into contact with the church when he went to Salt Lake City on a business trip.  After his meeting he saw the temple and decided to try to find out more.  He had a really awesome experience and he said, "I just felt like there might be something true about this." It was really amazing.  I'm tellin ya, God works in mysterious but definitely mighty ways.  The hearts of men are truly being turned. We have to always be ready for the amazing things he has planned for us. He is always working in people's hearts and as we strive to do our best he will give us opportunities to share our testimonies and truly change lives.

In Alma 34:32 it says that our purpose in this life is to prepare to meet God.  Sometimes the world can get a little overwhelming but when we truly focus on that we find that we don't have to get sucked up into the things of the world and as we focus on the things of God, he will help us be strong when Satan attacks us.  So, in the spirit of Christmas, I invite you to think of ways that you can focus on the spirit of Christmas and less on the worldly things of Christmas like the shopping and partying.  This is the celebration of the time that our Savior Jesus Christ was born and as we focus on that we find the peace and happiness in life that God wants us to find.

I love you all.  You are all amazing sons and daughters of God.  Keep up the great work of building the Lord's kingdom here on the earth.

With Love,

Elder Barnett

11-23-15 San Fran---the city of independence

Hello Everyone!!

So we're officially in the heart of San Francisco!  Our area includes all of the famous places in San Francisco-Pier 39, Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, and cable cars!!  We're replacing sisters in the area and so we're both new to the area.  It's really cool.  Our ward is so awesome!  Almost everyone in our ward are young couples who are really smart and successful with very young children.  They are all really awesome and are all really excited about doing missionary work so we have a lot of support. It's going to be an awesome six weeks.

Elder Lemon is my companion.  He's from Naperville, Illinois.  He's been out for six weeks. He's got a great sense of humor and so I'm excited to work with him.  We're using public transportation so that's been a lot of fun to try to figure out.  On our first day we got to our apartment and just started trying to figure it out.  It was crazy.  We had to start by trying to find our dinner appointment.  Luckily, the sisters were awesome and they gave us some directions so with the help of some kind people and our little map we were able to make it.  It was a great, exciting, introduction to the mission. The family that we met with was a young family named the Alvords.  They have three girls all in elementary school.  It was a great day and it really set the awesome tone for how this transfer will go.

We are going to have a great six weeks.  I'm already loving San Francisco.  I love missionary work.  I love you all.  Have a wonderful week!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

11-16-15 It's Gonna Be a Bumpy Ride!!!

Hey Everyone! 

I'm way short on time.  But it's for good reason!  Tomorrow is transfers and I will be going to San Francisco so I've got a lot to do.  Thank you for all the emails of support.  I'm sad that it may take a couple weeks to respond to them but I want everyone to know that I really appreciate all the emails! You're all so amazing!

Last Tuesday we got to go to the temple!!!! The temple is so amazing to say the least.  Everyone, go to the temple this week and feel of the spirit there.  It's so peaceful.  

I love the Gospel.  Life can get hard but through the principles of the Gospel we can all be strengthened to bear our burdens with ease.  I know Christ lives and he loves us so much. He is always there with outstretched arms to comfort us in times of need.

I love you all.

With Love,

Elder Barnett 

10-26-15 Trio Power!!!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry......I'm running low on time again...one of these days I'll be able to write longer...hopefully...

But, It's been an exciting week!  Last Friday we got a call from President and he asked Elder Arp if he'd be able to train a new missionary coming in.  So, on Wednesday we went to the mission home to pick up Elder Khamvongsouk(He likes being called Elder K)!  He is from Akron, Ohio and his parents are from Laos.  He was actually called Laotian speaking.  He came out earlier than expected because the MTC thought he still needed to learn Laotian but he's already fluent.  He was going to be in the MTC for 9 weeks but only ended up staying for 2.  We're really excited to have him in our trio!!!

When we got back from the mission home with Elder K we had a really busy day and in fact we had an awesome lesson with a father and son Joe and Dillon.  We invited them to be baptized on Dec. 5 and they accepted!!! We are going to be working hard to help them develop their testimonies.  Dillon is eight and he's really awesome. He has this cat that he just adores. Joe is his dad and he loves hearing from us and though he was a little skeptical at first, he's starting to trust us a lot more and so basically we're just really excited for them.

The scripture that was on my mind a lot of last week was Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." This is really powerful to me because we really are like lights in a world that is quite absent of light.  So, my invitation to you is to be a light unto the world.  This week, strive to bear your testimony in some shape or form to someone around you at least once each day.  You could do something as simple as smiling at someone to baking someone cookies to show them an act of service or if you feel comfortable, to bear your testimony in sacrament meeting.  But, bear your testimony to those around you! I love you all! Keep up the good work!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

10-19-15

Hey Team!

Sorry, I'm short on time.....

We were attempting to contact a former Investigator on Saturday and her daughter answered the door.  We ended up having a really awesome conversation about God with her, Erika and her daughter, Jolese, on their patio surrounded by tons of plants.  It was so powerful.  I love having spontaneous spiritual experiences.  We always need to be prepared because God could be just about to give us a spiritual experience at any moment.  As they say in Scouts, "Be Prepared!" 

As for a spiritual thought, I was studying in 2 Nephi 4 this week and I was struck by verses 28-30 and 34-35.  Read those and ponder what a blessing it is to have this Gospel.  What can we do to have more happiness about the knowledge that we own? I know that I need to smile more as I teach the message we have to share.  It is such a message of happiness. Remember, The Plan of Salvation is sometimes referred to as the Plan of Happiness for a reason! Always keep that in mind and strive to give that happiness to those around you! 

I love you all so much! You're all doing such amazing things! Keep it up!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

10-12-15 Amazing Antioch

Hello Everyone!

First of all, I love you all.  You are all such amazing people.  I have been so blessed to have such supportive family and friends.  Thank you so much for your prayers on my behalf and on the behalf of missionaries across the world.  I can honestly promise you that each and every missionary across the world is grateful for those prayers and though they may seem to just be put into the air, they truly do help.  I have seen so powerfully God's aid to me in the missionary work and I know that it's because of the prayers from members across the world that he is supporting me.  Thank you and continue to pray for and support the missionaries, especially the ones in your area.

We actually had a lot of cool experiences in that respect during this past week.  The members in our ward are so awesome!  Growing up in Provo sometimes made me a Mormon without a purpose...and I really regret it....not the living in Provo part...but the fact that I wasn't proud to be a Mormon and sometimes even thought, "my neighbor can do the Mormon things..." Here in Antioch, our members are so proud to be Mormons and they truly let their lights shine to all of their neighbors and friends which I think is really cool.  On Saturday we went to support a priest in our ward named Deandre.  He was doing his Eagle Project.  He was building a community garden in his neighborhood.  It's in the not as nice area of town and so when we showed up we saw this really nice garden and it was really refreshing to see the ward gathered together, working on a really great project.  We were able to stay for a bit and work.  We really felt the love from the ward.  It was so powerful.  So, in the spirit of the power of members, we can all be more supportive members in our wards.  My invitation to all of you this week is to think of one thing that you can do to either support the missionaries that cover your ward, or support your ward itself.  If you don't feel like there is any way to do that, focus on how you can better pray for the missionaries across the world.  I promise, the missionaries truly do appreciate your support.  They love you and can always use more support.  We LOVE the members! <3 

I love you all! Keep up the amazing work! I know that this work is the work of God and he loves us so much.  He wants to help us. Be proud of what you believe. Be proud to be a mormon. I love you.

With Love,

Elder Barnett

10-5-15 Baptism!!!

Hey team!!!!

So, remember last week when I said I didn't have time? Well, I was distraught because the Saturday before that we had a baptism and I didn't even have time to tell you about it!!! :'(  But all is good in the world because now is the time.  We had a baptism for Antwuan and Marshawn who are the boys from the Nomaosiagbon family.  They are way awesome.  It was a really stressful morning because we were so worried about if they were going to make it, if everything was going to go smoothly, etc.  But they did come, and, though it started late, it ended up being really great.  We, a missionary quartet, sang "Lord, I would follow thee." That was way nerve-wracking but it ended up being so powerful.  I love music.  Music helps me feel the spirit so strongly.  I don't know what I'd do without it.  But it seriously was so cool.  They are both such stellar boys.  One thing they've taught me is how to genuinely do something not just because someone told you to but because you want to.  We can't live life being fake.  We have to learn to really act on what we believe in.  Those two boys really have done that.  I know I can learn a lot from that.  Baptism is such a powerful covenant and we need to be willing to honor that covenant every day of our lives. 

Yesterday I ate a lot of weird stuff.... The Tongan ward near ours fed us lunch so I ate Fish eye, and a bunch of other cool, random plants that I'd never heard of before.  A tongan missionary told us that the meat was dog and horse...We weren't sure if we should believe him but hey, it was good! For dinner, a Filipino family fed us so yeah, we were very well fed.  They served these huge fish, rice, adobo(pig meat) and noodles.  It was really good.  New experiences all around and that's what makes it really fun!

This past week I've been thinking a lot about love.  What does that mean to truly love someone?  It's a word that is used so lightly so often but is also mentioned in some of the most meaningful spiritual moments.  We talk a lot about the pure love of Christ because Christ was the ultimate example of Love.  Everything he did was out of love for everyone that was around him and everyone that he was serving.  Christ love was shown by his willingness to give up his own needs and attend to the needs of others.  So, we want to be more like Christ? To be able to love others we need to be willing to give up our needs for the needs of those around us. Elder Holland gave a really amazing talk on Maternal love and the comparison to Christ's love for us.  Our mothers love us so much and one reason for that is because they've already sacrificed so much for us so they want more than anything for us to have happiness.  So my invitation for this week is to show more Christlike love to those around you.  Stop thinking so much about your needs and more about what your friend, or your family, or the random stranger on the street needs.  As you do this, you will find that you will be growing happier and the love you have for others will grow.  I love all of you so much.  I sincerely want the best for each of you.  Keep striving to do the things that our Prophet has told us will help us.  You're all amazing and deserve a resounding high five! I wish I could give that to each of you! Keep up the good work!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

9-28-15 Short on Time

Hello Team!

Sorry, I literally have negative time left.  So..... The Gospel is true..... I invite you all to focus  on General Conference(like not just sit in front of the TV but really put some effort into getting something out of it).  I know that if you seek for inspiration on how to better live your life, you will receive it.  You can't get inpiration unless you work to find it.  The leaders of our church are truly inspired and have words from God to give us.

I love you all. Thank you for your support of me and all the missionaries across the world.  Continue pressing onward.  For Spiritual upliftment, read the lyrics to "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and ponder what you can do to push onward!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

9-21-15 You've been SERVED

Hello Friends,

The life on a mission continues to surprise and amaze.  In all good ways of course.  I love the hard work we get to do, I love the life we live but especially, I love the spirit we feel as a constant companion.  It means so much more to me now that I'm on a mission.  It's crazy how little I realize that I understood before I left on my mission.  I look back and I realize, I didn't have a glimpse of what it meant to be a true follower of Christ.  I mean, I still barely understand, but I do understand a lot more than I did before.  I've been pondering a lot about what it means to serve with ALL your heart, might, mind and strength.  Most of my life, I've just put the Gospel as a secondary item on my to do list. I've found that everything means a whole lot more if I put it at the top of my to do list.  God wants us to succeed at life. But, we are not here on Earth to be successful, learn all that there is to know about science or become a professional athlete.  Our purpose on earth is to, one, gain a body and two, do the things needed to gain Eternal Life.  It's that simple.  If we focus on those things, all other things fall into place.  It works. It's so cool!

Yesterday I got my first......Flat Tire!!! Yeah, it wasn't too awesome. But, it was one of the very few disadvantages of bike.  I really love biking. I have a pretty basic, Trek mountain bike.  It's nothing special but so far it has not had a single, minuscule problem.  It's been perfect.  I love bike because we can get places almost as fast as a car, without the cost, without the confinement, and hey, we get a workout while we do the work! :P The best part is though, that we feel like we're more a part of Antioch now that we're not confined to the metal doors of a car.  We feel more free and more available to talk to the people of Antioch.  It's a lot more fun.  So, biking is great.

This week we had a lot of cool opportunities to do service! We shattered cement pieces using a hammer, picked up trash around our apartment, and helped the Nomaosiagbons(yes, that's how we found out that it's spelled) with washing their dog and organizing their pantry.  Every week we also do service at the Antioch museum where we do a lot with old pictures in these photo albums so that they can be preserved.  It's pretty repetitive work but we have met some pretty cool people and seen some cool history of Antioch.  We also get to go to what's called Loaves & Fishes where they feed a lunch to people who are homeless or struggling to get food on the table.  It's pretty humbling to see people in such poor circumstances. But we get to help them lighten up their day just a little.  So, this week, I invite you all to find an opportunity to serve.  Service is sometimes the best way to share the Gospel.  There is this website called Justserve.org where you can go to find opportunities to serve near to your home.  So, here are two invitations.  First, register at that website and look over the different service opportunities near you.  Second, try to do an hour of unplanned service.  So, rake someones leaves, clean up trash, write kind notes and give them to people or put them on people's cars, etc.  You have the power to make someone's day so do it!  Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are ONLY in the service of YOUR GOD."  

I love you all. I wish there were more I could do to serve you.  Keep up the good work in spreading happiness and cheer to all those around you!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

9-14-15

Hellllllllloooooooo Team.

Sorry, time is short today but sadly there's a lot to say so I'll do my best with what I've got.

Yesterday we had a pretty crazy experience.  We were just riding to church a few hundred yards from our apartment and suddenly I see 50 feet ahead, a pillar of smoke and a small fire by the side of the road. It was just a pile of stuff in flames on the sidewalk.  I was about to just pass by but then this guy waved us down and told us someone needed to call 9-1-1.  I pulled out our phone and, for the first time in my life, I called 9-1-1.  It was terrifying.  As I was calling, this woman came out with a pot of water to pour on it.  A couple minutes later, after the lady put the fire out, this guy came out of the apartment complex.  We were just standing across the street waiting for the fire department to come and just looking.  He, apparently not happy, yelled, "What are you waiting for?! There's nothing to see!!" We quickly realized that the girl had taken this guys clothes, and lit them on fire...... yeah......we were shocked..... The fire truck came, it took less than a minute to tell them what happened and we were quickly on our way.  So yeah, that's officially the craziest thing that's happened so far on the mission!  But it definitely got my heart racing!

Spirituality time! We've had a lot of opportunities to teach members, especially at dinner appointments.  We've also been encouraged to emphasize using Family History more in our teaching. So, we've been using the dinner appointments as an opportunity to teach about Family History and to get them to do some Family History Missionary work!  Family History is so cool! I wish I had more time to do it!  Read Malichi 4:5-6 and D&C 18:10 for some inspiration but my invitation to you is awesome.  I invite you, if you have not done any family history, to go on to familysearch.org to learn more about it.  If you have done some but want to do more, I invite you to make a goal for how much you will do each week.  It is such a cool thing that we get to do and we should make the most of that opportunity! 

I love you all! Keep up the good work wherever you are and what you're doing!  You are all fantastic!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

9-7-15 Agonizing Agency

Hey Team!

Thank you so much for all of your support to me and not even just me!  Now that I'm a missionary I can see how thankful each missionary is for the members in their area that really support them.  With the help of the members, the work hastens much faster. So....THANK YOU. 

I am enjoying it so much out here.  Honestly, I was riding my bike to the church today where we send emails and I was just overwhelmed with this really great feeling that I'm doing the right thing.  I truly never have never have had that feeling of happiness before.  It's so much fun to be serving a mission and I'm enjoying every moment of it.

So this past week we've realized as a companionship and as a district that there's a lot of musical talent as missionaries in our district.  Elder Arp and I started on Thursday with bringing the spirit to lessons through music.  We sang Lead Kindly Light to an investigator named Edwina, who, by the way, is so awesome(more on her in the future). On Saturday we had a few really cool lessons when we were on exchanges.  Elder Saunders, our district leader came to my area and we decided that in all our lessons we would sing songs to the people we taught.  We ended up singing 4 songs that day.  It was really powerful.  Music truly does bring the spirit into lessons.  Because of those songs, we had some really powerful thoughts.  I really really enjoyed it.  So basically, exchanges were really awesome!

This week we taught the Plan of Salvation very frequently and so we got to learn that lesson really well.  The point that really stuck out to me this week was agency.  I am so grateful that I have agency.  The analogy we came up with is this: Imagine our life on earth as college.  If our parents called us every day, or even better, lived in the apartment next door and told you, "You are required to go to this class, go to this job interview, and hang out with these friends" we wouldn't learn a single thing.  That is precisely why we have agency.  We need to experience for ourselves how it feels to make a mistake and how it feels to make a good choice so we know good from bad.  This concept is essential to God's plan. The hard thing about it is that on a mission we can only do so much.  We can't force anyone to come to church. That wouldn't even do any good for them. Sadly, though we invited everyone we talked to and a lot of people committed to come, not a single person came who we invited.  But I always have to remind myself that they have their agency.  We can only do so much and we felt like we did all that we could to get them to come. So, my invitation this week is simple.  Every day, consciously think about what you're doing and use your agency to make a good choice.  At the end of the day, go back through your schedule and evaluate. Write down what choices were good and what choices could have been better. rinse and repeat. Become better the next day.

I love you all so much! Keep up the good work!!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

8-31-15

Hellooooooo Pepes!

Wow, I will definitely say, transfer weeks are crazy! I have loved it but I've had to really remember all of the things about the area that I've learned in the short six weeks that I've been here. It's been hard but a good test for me.  

Elder Arp is really awesome! He's already taught me a lot.  He's been out for 20 months so he's on his last stretch but he's trying really hard not to get trunkie(when a missionary is nearing the end of his mission and starts to get lazy). A little about him now.  He's just barely shorter than me but much bigger(not fat but muscle). He grew up in Samoa but it's kinda cool because he's half Caucasian, a quarter Samoan, an eighth German and an eighth Chinese!!! He's quite a goofball but he's got a really strong testimony and lessons are really spiritual with him there. 

We've been having a ton of fun on bike! I've been exhausted every night this past week because of that but it's been good for me! My favorite part is coming home in the evening when it's cooler and feeling the wind rushing by as we cruise through the night of Antioch. It's really refreshing. Especially if you've had a good day.

So Antwaun, one of the brothers in that same, awesome family that I've talked so much about, is doing really well. One thing I've noticed is how Satan attacks us most at the times when we're about to do something that will help us improve.  Antwaun already has such a strong testimony and he even sits down with each of his brothers to read from the Book of Mormon with them.  He's so excited for his baptism. He's been struggling with the fact that temptation to not necessarily break the commandments but more to not do the things like read and pray and go to chuch is really strong.  But one thing I've realized is that God's power is stronger than any other and as we rely on that he will bless us with that power.

Spiritual thought for the week: I've realized how important my studies have become and not only that but how fun they have become as I've made them personal and searched diligently for wisdom to help my investigators.  So, as it says in D&C 11:21: "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed."  So my challenge this week is to focus on your studies of the scriptures.  Make them really meaningful and you will be blessed with the knowledge that you need for the day.

I love you all! Keep up the good work!!!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

8-24-15 I thought I gave up watching sports...

Hello Everyone!!!

So, to start with, transfers are this week!! And I'm staying here in Antioch but my companion Elder Gubler is leaving me.  He's going to Hayward to be a zone leader!  We've just started getting to be really unified so we're both a little disappointed but I know that this is what God wants for each of us I'm a little nervous about being with a new companion and being expected to know the area well and help my new comp figure out the area but hey, it'll be exciting! His name is Elder Arp and what I've heard is he's a big Samoan, about my same height.  Not only that... We have been moved to bike!! So, I get to buy a new bike and a new adventure begins! I'm way excited.

We had a fun experience this week with that family I talked about last week.  One of the sons and his friends are on the football team at the Highschool and they invited us to their football game.  It was just a scrimmage but it was weird because I thought I would never be in that environment again.  But it was cool because I remembered the thought that we were in the world but not of the world.  We were there to support investigators not to watch football.  They are still doing so awesome.  We are so excited for their baptism.  I love working with them and can already see the Gospel blessing their lives! :)

Yesterday in Ward Council, Bishop Liberatore who we had missed so much the week beforehand gave us some more inspiring knowledge.  He said, speaking of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, "You are all doing good things, but are you doing the best things?" So my invitation this week is much more general but I know that as I apply this to my life I will be blessed and I know it can bless yours.  Analyze the things you are doing to Come closer to Christ and ask yourself, Is this the best thing I could be doing? 

I love you all! Keep up the good work!!!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

8-17-15 Forever Families

Hey Team!

Wow. It's been a great week! I hope that's been the same for all of you!
For our district activity this week we went to this place called CreAsian.  Asian food is the best. I wish I could have it every day but sadly, it's not cheap. It was really good!! Pictures are included!!!
We started teaching this family who live in the ghetto part of town.  They are pretty poor.  The Mother is this awesome lady who is a true caregiver.  She has five biological boys but has at least five other kids who consistently come in to her home and she feeds and loves them.  She is really awesome.  She was baptized nineteen years ago but has been inactive for the last 17 years.  But she really loves the Gospel and has always wanted her family to be taught.  So, we are teaching her husband, three of her sons and then one of her sons friends.  There's a 10 year old, two 15 year olds and a 23 year old.  Antwan, the fifteen year old son is the most prepared out of any fifteen year olds I've ever seen to receive the Gospel.  His mom told us he was reading The Book of Mormon in class. Yeah. He is a beast! So we had invited them to church and for the first 30 minutes we were disappointed. But. at 9:40, in walks the whole clan.  It was quite a miracle.  So, this has taught me two things. First, our Heavenly Father is always preparing people to receive the Gospel.  He is giving each one of us experiences that are helping us come closer to him. He is preparing the people. Constantly. Second, it is so powerful what potential families have.  This has helped me focus more on the eternal perspective.  So my challenge to those who want to accept is this. Go out of your way to focus on your family.  It doesn't have to be anything big.  Your family is so important.  God has organized the family for a reason and we can be with our families forever if we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. You were placed in your family for a very specific reason and you can bless your family with your specific skillset. So, do something for a family member that you wouldn't normally do.  If you need help with this, read The Family: A Proclamation to the World, it may inspire you to do something.

I love you all! Keep up the good work!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

Pic 1: our ghetto computer room. yeah, the computers hear are ancient.

Pic 2: The district at CreAsian!

8-10-15 Spiritual Sabbaths!!!

Hello Hello Hello Everyone!

Life is so great isn't it?! I wish everyone could realize that.  Like, yeah, there are hard things, and times when you want to sleep all day but man when you look at all the good things, it can be really fulfilling.  There are a lot of people here who don't grasp realize what life could be.  A lot of people seem really sad. It just makes me want to work harder.  If only they'd listen and not ignore us when we knock on their door.  Honestly, at least twice a day we have someone who we can hear inside the home after knocking but they look out the peephole in the door and then just ignore us.  It's kinda frustrating.  But it's alright, because, the Gospel's true and that's all that matters.

I'll put my spiritual thought in the middle this time because this seems like a good time for it.  We had Ward Council yesterday and our Bishop, Bishop Liberatore, talked to us about leadership.  He's a lawyer so he's really good at talking.  It was really cool.  He was talking about how we need to keep the sabbath day more holy and ways that we can help the ward have better Sacrament meetings.  This is so important.  He told us how the world is quickly going against the morals of the church.  And the sabbath is growing less and less important.  But then he turned more positive and started encouraging us.  He said, "Be grateful that your on the Lord's side." There are going to be hard times but we are going to be blessed for our efforts for the Lord. So let's be diligent in following the Lord.  This week, I am going to invite you all to  prepare for the Sabbath.  Between now and then, think of things you can do to make your Sabbath more full of the spirit. Then, when the Sabbath comes, dedicate that day to the Gospel and your testimony.  Focus on the spirit and I know you will be blessed for your efforts! 

Keep up the good work!! You're all amazing! I love you all!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

8-4-15 By Small Things are Great Things Come to Pass

Helloooo Everbody!!!

How's the life?! I hope everyone is making the most of their summers!! I am definitely trying to! The mission life is great.

The fun experience of the week was exchanges on Saturday!  I went with one of the zone leaders, Elder Meier to their area.  They are covering the YSA ward in our stake which covers the whole Antioch area so there was a lot of driving involved. Exciting experience of the day was when we got Indian food from one of the members(pics included). It was delicious. Also, for exercise in the morning some of the missionaries in the zone play free for all dodgeball.  It was intense. I wasn't very good but it was fun!  There wasn't a dull moment that day!

We had this really cool experience with this guy named Randy last week.  He is really smart.  He likes technology and he has a plan to have a sort of one hit wonder technological idea.  He hopes to get rich off his inspired idea.  Sometimes he suddenly pulls out his notebook in lessons and starts writing out his idea.  He is partially deaf and has this white goatee beard thing just to give you a small idea of what he's like.  He's always struggled with committing to things. He's been taking discussions for a long time, come to church a couple times and he doesn't really realize how much the gospel could bless his life.  We had a lesson with him in a member's home and taught him about following the prophet.  The lesson morphed into keeping commitments with a specific emphasis on how God will bless you if you keep those commitments. It was amazing.  The spirit was there so strongly.  I was guided to say things that I don't think I'd have been able to say normally.  The spirit is amazing that way.  It really strengthened my testimony and I really loved it.  We gave him a blessing in the end to help him with his struggles.  It was apparent that the lesson made at least a small impact on him when we saw him at church!! It was a miracle!! We've been working really hard to help him and so, as the email title says, we did the small things and he had a great miracle occur in his heart. :)

This week has taught me a lot about opening my mouth.  My thought is short and simple today but I have learned a lot about how the spirit can fill your mouth if you're willing to just open your mouth! So, without further adieu, I challenge you all to just open your mouth.  Bear your testimony to someone, share a spiritual thought, anything along those lines.  As you do this with faith,  your mouth will be filled with inspired words.

Thank you for all the support! I love you all!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

7-27-15 Great Food, Busy Days and Amazing Baptisms!

Hello Everyone!!

Wow. I can't emphasize enough, how amazing it is here. It's hard to put it into words.  When you are in a lesson, teaching a person the restoration and you can tell that they feel the spirit! It's hard to describe. You walk out of that house with a smile that cannot be wiped away. I love it so much!

We had a baptismal service for Cheryl this week!  She was more excited for her baptism than anyone I've ever met.  She had this glow about her that was soooo amazing.  She was so happy and every time I've seen her she's been happier.  It was so powerful.  I learned so much from it. The next day she was confirmed and you could tell that it had a really powerful impact on her.  She is ready to Come closer to Christ!

One of the most amazing things about this area are the members! Most of them are pretty old and retired.  For instance, the Beans are this couple who are both converts to the church.  They really love to talk.  We had them with us in this lesson and they just ran away with it.  They were telling the recent convert all about how they had talked to close relatives who had passed away and all of their really personal spiritual experiences. It was really powerful but I guess it just kinda caught us off guard.  I loved it! But, they are all really excited about the work and more invested in it than I expected. We're trying really hard to work with them well.

We've been really blessed with great food!  One of the members in our ward took us to this small restaurant in our city called Hazel's Drive-in.  They have this hamburger called the Willy Burger.  It's honestly as big, or bigger than my face(pics included).  The challenge is to eat it all in one sitting along with the fries.  Somehow, both Elder Gubler and I survived to tell the tale and ate the whole plate full. It was quite momentous.  The funny part was three hours later when we were about to eat a light dinner, but as we were walking up the stairs to our apartment we got a call from a member, asking if we were coming for dinner.  We didn't have anything scheduled but we went anyways because they had steak for us... We got there and found out that they were actually scheduled for next week but they had gotten confused... We ate the food they prepared but it was hard. They had these steaks that were bigger than my hands and large baked potatoes.  We thought we were going to explode...  To complete the episode. They gave us a peach pie which we brought home with us.... It was quite the day.  We knocked out that night... I never knew that eating a lot of food made you so tired....But hey, it was memorable...  Today we went back as a district.  I got something a little more tame this time called the Hazel burger.  It was still big but I don't feel tired because of it! :P

Crazy experience of the week: I talked to a drunk guy.  We were in this apartment complex at about 7 pm. Probably the sketchiest place in the city and we went up to these guys sitting at a table playing dominoes and I got talking to this guy who kept praising me and our religion. He wasn't mormon but he really loved what we taught.  He kept saying, "We need more people like you.  You teach good moral values.  People just don't know those things anymore."  It was funny.  But it was really eyeopening.  People are looking for good in the world.  Sometimes they just don't know how to express it.

I learned this week how to better read from the scriptures.  A scripture that kept coming up is 2 nephi 32:3:

 "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

I really learned about how to feast upon the words of Christ and I was able to receive a lot of guidance from the words of the scriptures. So, I challenge all of you to commit to reading from the Book of Mormon every day. Do it with purpose.  Think of a question, or come up with a theme for the week and focus on that theme, or think of a Christlike attribute you want to improve in yourself and find when that attribute is referenced in any way in the Book of Mormon and then, of course, apply the things you learn to your life.  You will receive guidance. I Promise.

Thank you for all of your support. I love you all! You are amazing! Keep being missionaries in everything you do! <3

With Love,

Elder Barnett

MTC Companions

Willy Burger

Willy Burger

Cheryl's Baptism

MTC District

Antioch District at Hazel's Drive-in

7-20-15 Not like the dreams, but man. It's cool.

Hey Everyone!!! 

Life is great! Isn't it?!? I mean, yeah, there are times when it's hard and when you want to just lay in bed all day.  I think we can all sympathize with that day.  There are also days when life just doesn't go as planned and then sometimes you're like, "what??? I thought I knew what to expect!" But, through it all, and finally at the end of the day, we realize that God loves us.  He loves each one of us personally and he has given us each amazing strengths and we can trust in him and his son, Jesus Christ to help us improve on our weaknesses.  "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." -Ether 12:27. The power of this scripture is overwhelming.  On this earth, we are imperfect.  But, as imperfect as we are, we can become PERFECT through Christ.  That is so amazing.  Let me tell ya, there are a lot of imperfect people here.  But, they have such big hearts and they all just want what's best for each other.  I can see that in such force when I talk to them. 

I am in the Antioch(An-tee-ock) 1st ward.  It's west of Oakland and is probably the hottest area in the mission....but we've been lucky so far.  We haven't gotten that much heat.  My trainers name is Elder Gubler. He's from La Verken, Utah.  Yes, for those of you who have gone to Zion's National Park, you have probably driven through.  It's a tiny town of 3,000 people.  He went Hurricane High School, and played football there.  He says he was a lineman but man, I think he's the smallest lineman I've ever met.  He's really chill and is very obedient and he's here for all the right reasons.  I've learned a lot from him and we're going to have a great six weeks here in Antioch.  We live in an apartment complex.  Not the nicest, but it works.  We have all the neccessary kitchen appliances, a washer and a drier, a working shower, A/C that works, food that nourishes the body and of course, scriptures that nourish the soul so I guess we're doing great!  Our area is very diverse.  We have poor areas but also very nice areas.  There are parts that remind me a lot about Provo but also, you can tell that it's definitely not the same friendly neighborhood that I know so well.  I am meeting a lot of different kinds of people too which I've never had before.  I'm trying hard to relate to them and figure out their stories because I know they all have one.  I love it here though.  

To explain the subject line, no it is not like I imagined it but wow, it's so amazing.  I'm learning so much and growing much more than I could have possibly imagined.  I love the people, the food, the ward, my companion, etc.  I'm having such an amazing experience. Thank you for all your support.

I'll tell about an experience we had right after getting off the plane.  There were ten of us.  We had already gotten the group together.  A couple of members had come up to talk to us and we got really excited to have met someone out of Utah that was Mormon... :P But, that's beside the point.  We were about to walk off when these two airport employees started talking to us.  They knew who the Mormons were and had actually been to the Temple grounds in Oakland.  They wanted us to sing a song so of course, programmed into our brains are Primary songs.  We sang I am a Child of God to a couple of ladies in the middle of the Oakland airport.  It was so comforting to feel the spirit so quickly and it really gave me confidence that we aren't here to create huge miracles. We are here to bring the spirit into peoples lives by small and simple things.  I'm sure we didn't change their lives completely but hopefully we planted a small seed that can grow into something amazing.  That is my goal, to help others come unto Christ by small and simple things. 

I love it here in Cali.  I've got a lot to learn but slowly and surely I am getting better.  One thing I've learned is how to trust in the spirit more in my life.  The Holy Ghost knows much more than we know and if we have faith in his promptings, we can be guided in our lives. So, I give you all a challenge.  For one day, 24 hours, dedicate yourself to listening to the spirit.  Start with a prayer and some scripture reading and then listen to the spirit all day.  Any thoughts you have, act on them.  That could be the spirit telling you that someone needs your help coming unto Christ.  At the end of the day, write down the thoughts and feelings you have.  You may find that you want to have that always in your life. :)  

I love the Gospel.  Through the teachings of the prophets, ancient and modern, we can be guided in our lives.  I love you all.  Keep doing good in the world and be missionaries everywhere you go.

With Love, 

Elder Barnett

7-9-15 Spirit Packed

Hey Team!

How's life??  Has the world collapsed while I've been behind these gates? Have the Aliens come yet? Sorry, I really wouldn't know.  It feels really weird seeing things beyond the fence.  This truly is it's own world.  It's almost as magical as Disneyland but it's definitely more miraculous. I've seen BYU a couple times and had sort of mind blowing experiences.  Sometimes I get caught thinking that the world has stopped but no, I walk outside in the morning and still can see the beautiful sunrise, our beautiful mountains that I'll miss so much and watch as people drive by in their cars as they rush to work.  I really hope life is going great for all of you wherever you are and in whatever you're doing.  You are all truly amazing people.  Thank you for all that you have taught me.  I can feel the power of those experiences here as I work hard to become a better missionary.

So, I am in a trio with Elder Mason and Elder Kulka.  Elder Kulka is such a jock.  He loves Football and Baseball and enjoys Basketball. Because you can't play those first two here, he has to settle for Basketball.  He's really competitive and gym time is his heaven.  He's from Detroit and was raised a Mormon but man, he's very different than me.  He loves talking to people and is a very jittery kind of guy.  He keeps me on my toes which is good for me.  He's awesome and he keeps our district energetic and helps us smile more.  Elder Mason is such a rock.  He has a really strong Testimony and is really good at studying.  He amazes me.  He's so humble and he knows how to improve.  I have been so grateful to have him here.  He is always interested in my life and is the kind of missionary that I want to be like.  We have eight total missionaries in our district and we all bring a different element to the table.  I have loved working with all of them.  We have two teachers, Brother Holmes(sorry, his first name is not Sherlock) and Brother Nielson.  I really love both of them.  My mind is consistently blown by the teaching methods  that they teach us.  I always knew teaching was hard but never as multidimensional as this!  I love learning though!  It's so cool to see yourself improve!

We have three investigators, Bill, Ben and Olivia.  I'm most intrigued by Olivia so I'll talk about her.  Olivia goes to BYU, studies English and is really smart.  She's married but was introduced to the church by a friend that recently left on a mission.  She has been to a lot of different churches but really, she's focused on just learning more about our church.  We struggled on our first lesson and she kind of shut us down but we picked it up later.  She is keeping with her commitments and so we're going to continue to encourage her to read the Book of Mormon and pray.  We are trying to help her feel the spirit in her life.  I'm learning how to step into someone else's shoes and teach them what they need to hear.  

I love it here.  My testimony is growing so much stronger as I stay humble and continue to improve my teaching skills.  I have never felt the spirit as strong as I have felt it here.  I am learning how important prayer is.  I have had a couple really powerful prayers during my time here and I can feel God's love for me as I put my trust in him.  I love the Gospel.  I watched a talk Elder Bednar gave on Sunday night in which he emphasized to look outward.  So, my spirtual thought is this.  You need to have more than just a testimony.  Become truly converted to Jesus Christ.  Come unto him.  He is there for you.  Constantly look for places you can serve others.  Attempt to understand other people's situations and know that God loves you more than you know.  I love you all.  Thank you so much for all you have done for me.

With Love,

Elder Barnett