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