5-30-16

Hello Everyone!!

So, crazy story.... I'm leaving the city.  I'm getting transferred to Hayward across the bay.  It's going to be pretty crazy.  I've learned so much from the experiences I've had here.  

This week we some pretty cool miracles.  We've been trying to meet with this lady named Deborah and we finally planned a time.  She's been super stressed out and a lot of hard things have happened to her.  We shared our message about the restoration and it was really powerful because this really just answered her questions and helped her know that she can receive guidance in her life.  I wish everyone could know that!-God wants to give you guidance!!  This city REALLY needs that!!! 

Thank you for all that you've done for me! Have an amazing week!

5-23-16

Hello Everyone!!!

On Saturday we had a zone finding activity where we went with another missionary to a random place not in our area and just talked to people/knocked doors, whatever was necessary to find people to teach. I was with Elder Tu'ua(we went to Wasatch and Timpview together....whoda thunk???) We were tracting a random street and ran across a member who had been praying for priesthood holders to come by.  She was going through some health struggles and just wanted a blessing.  After telling us about how she came to gain a testimony where the spirit filled the entryway, she sat on a bench in her entryway and we gave a blessing.  I had such spiritual witness that if we are doing good and what God wants us to do, the spirit will guide us to the people God wants us to meet and will guide us in the words that we say so that we can truly "invite others to come unto Christ."  To finish the miracle story, I happened to be with Elder Tu'ua who is in the Fijian program.  This lady, Sister Dinoi, just happened to be Fijian.  They just went off. I didn't understand a single word but I felt the spirit in their words.  God works in mysterious but miraculous and mighty ways. I know that God loves each one of us and is watching our every action and wants us to be happy.  

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

5-17-16

Hello Everyone!!!

Wow, I love the Gospel!! Sorry, sometimes I just get really excited about it! On Sunday Elder Hamula and Elder Pimentel of the Seventy came to talk to our Stakes here in San Francisco because the boundaries of the stakes and wards are getting adjusted.  It was so powerful! Elder Pimentel talked about this cool idea relating to the Good Samaritan.  Put your name in each of the people's places-the samaritan, the wounded Jew and the Innkeeper and then you can also put Christ's name in the place of the Samaritan and the innkeeper! It was amazing!

I have a new companion, Elder Puckett!!! He's from Tennessee.  He loves outdoors, movies and especially to be a missionary! He's really awesome, quite a goofball and we're working super hard! 

Experience for the week: We were tracting on this Island in the bay called Treasure Island last Saturday and we found some super solid investigators!!! The island, in a lot of ways is really abandoned and has a lot of poor people but it's cool because whenever people drive on the bay bridge they drive through this tunnel on this island and they miss treasure island completely and we get to cover it!!!

I love it here!!! Miracles are coming on the daily! You are all amazing!  I truly love each and every one of you and I hope you feel it! Have an amazing week!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

5-9-16

Hello Hello!

How's everyone doing?! I'm doing great! :) I hope everyone can look back this week and think of something that made them smile because I can think of plenty experiences! The work here is moving.  We're seeing cool miracles, feeling a cool spirit and it's just fun. Don't get me wrong, it can be hard but man, living, if you are doing your best is just fun!

We got to help a member of the Golden Gate ward cleaning out a bunch of stuff from his apartment! He has a lot of stuff so we're just helping him clean up so that he can feel the spirit more.  I've noticed that a lot on my mission! When things are clean and organized, the spirit has a much easier time of entering in and staying in.  As Larry R. Lawrence said a couple years ago, sometimes we've just got to take a small step to have the spirit more in our lives and start by "cleaning our rooms." I have been so grateful for the Holy Ghost this week! Sometimes we just have to take a breather and then we'll have the spirit to guide us.  God doesn't want us to work harder than we can handle, he just wants us to be diligent(Mosiah 4:27).

A member took us out to eat at this awesome Italian restaurant called Buca Di Peppo! It was soooo good and then we had an awesome lesson on the Plan of Salvation in this noisy restaurant. It was fun! Then we got super chubby with this massive mountain of sugar...

Have a fantastic week!!! :D

With Love,

Elder Barnett

These are pics of our Preparation day activities!

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5-2-16

Hello Everyone!!!

This week has seen some really cool teaching opportunities!! I realized the importance of being bold.  We've had a couple investigators who were just not progressing at all. It was sad to see so we decided to just be really bold and communicate with them what our purpose as missionaries was.  One of them just wasn't ready to commit to this but the other, Marion, responded very positively and now she's progressing towards baptism.  Because we were just clear, and direct with her she was able to see that this matters and that she has to make a choice, and use her agency wisely.  I love this work, I love the Gospel.  This life can be hard but if we're just willing to be willing subjects to God's will we will be able to have happiness.  I love you all! Have a great week!

4-25-16

Hello Everyone!

Wow, life just keeps you hopping!  I never know what to expect and when the next day comes I'm surprised at what has happened.  

This weekend we had a mini missionary come! His name was Brother Pahulu.  He's 15 and he only stayed for 3 days but man, those 3 days were exciting!  On Saturday evening we were just on our way to another appointment, walking through the ghetto part of town with the homeless people on either side and we just started handing out pictures of the temple to everyone.  It was amazing.  These people are so lost in their lives but what is amazing is that God loves each one of them just as much as me.  It's humbling to be among them but sometimes a picture and just a few words can mean a lot to them. So, as a trio, we went right through the ghetto, handing out little rays of sunshine.  Great chance to do good.

Miracle of the weekend was finally being able to meet with Romell again! I don't know if I ever talked about Romell but he was the one who we found randomly, super late at night right after his dog had just died.  We were finally able to go over to his place and we taught him about the plan of salvation.  It applied so directly to his life.  I feel like I've been able to form this really cool connection with him that is really rare.  I love when you're able to comfort someone, especially with the message of Jesus Christ because these bonds form that are clearly by the Holy Ghost.  It's amazing.  I love working with the people here.

Another miracle was a referral from mormon.org.  A woman, Gala, is not a member but her father, noticed that she was going through a hard time and put her name onto mormon.org.  We called her up and met with her in the lobby where she works. We've met with her a couple times and she now calls us her angels.  She said that she knows that this is the path that she needs to take.  It's amazing to see how God blesses us with amazing people to teach as we act on our faith by working hard.  Good things are coming!

I love you all, have an amazing week! Go about doing good!

4-18-16

Hi all,

What a week!! On Saturday night, the Oakland Temple was having a visitors center reopening celebration.  There was this big piano concert that we've been inviting a lot of people to in the past three weeks.  They called it a Gala Concert.  It was beautiful.  They were SO GOOD.  It was cool for me and I think it was really powerful for the investigators that we brought with us.  We've been teaching Ruth and Bobby, an unmarried couple with a 3 year old girl.  They came with us and it was especially powerful to be able to walk around the temple with them.  Eternal families are a reality.  That is just so amazing to me.  I'm so grateful for the Gospel.  We taught them about how they can be together forever and Ruth got especially excited.  It's been amazing to work with them.

These next few weeks I'm going to be focusing on the Christlike attribute of hope.  I love Ether 12:4-"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith , maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."  So, as we learn, faith leads to hope, but hope also leads to faith, which leads us to be strong, do good things and praise our Heavenly Father.  I'm amazed at the hope that so many strong people have shown to me in my life.  Let us go out and "hope for a better world" this week.  I invite you all to pick one Christlike attribute that you want to focus on this week.  Study about it, write about it and find ways that you can better apply it. I love you all. Have an amazing week.  You're all amazing.

With Love,

Elder Barnett

4-11-16

Hello Hello!

It's been an exciting week with a super awesome end!! We're struggling with being able to meet with our investigators but hey, when there aren't appointments, that means we get to talk to more people so hey, win win situation! Last night to end the week we went to this performance called Lamb of God at this huge Cathedral! It was AMAZING.  The performance was by the Temple hill choir and orchestra.  At the Oakland temple they have a choir and an orchestra.  This performance has become a tradition for the past seven years.  It was breathtaking.  I decided that music is just amazing.  I'm so grateful for music in my life.  It brings so much peace to my soul.  

So we've had a lot of fun this week with the expanding of our area.  As I said before, we cover all of downtown and now include the ghetto part of the city.  There are a lot of bad things happening there, like drugs, violence and there's a large homeless population which is really sad to see.  But it's cool to be able to talk to some of the people who want to make changes in their lives.  The Gospel is the solution to all problems! :)

I love you all! Sorry it's short this week!

4-4-16

Hello Everyone!

Wasn't that just a spiritual powerhouse of a weekend.  Man, I could clearly see how much preparation was put into each one of those talks.  Everything seemed to fit so perfectly.  I loved it so much and I hope you all did too!  It was a great chance for us to form some really strong relationships with some members who are not as unfalterable with their testimonies.  A recent convert, Robert, in the Golden Gate ward took us out to eat between the two Saturday sessions. Delicious food and amazing stories.  Basically, he's traveled all over the world and I was like, man, I would LOVE to do that! But anyways, it was just a representation of how awesome that weekend was! It was filled with good stuff. :)

My new companion is Elder Habel! He's from Scottsdale, Arizona and he is so awesome! For example, he has no fear!!! We were walking through a not as nice part of town on his first full day in the field and he was so willing to talk with everyone.  He has so much courage and I'm really excited to work with him.  It is good for me because it gets me to talk to more people too! It's been a lot of fun already!

The hard thing is that with this new missionary here, it also means that more is expected of me and honestly, sometimes I wonder if I'm up to accomplish what is expected of me.  We've been talking a lot about sacrifices in our mission lately.  A sacrifice is often something that you give up for another, often bigger purpose.  So, I'm going to, in a sense, set things straight.  I've never been good at emailing people back. And I am so sorry for that. I honestly am.  I wish I could do better in that respect but honestly, I haven't had enough time to email everyone back personally and I don't see it getting better anytime soon.  I want you all to know that I love each of you soooo much.  As I am sending this my love for all of you is full.  Thank you so much for all of your support.  I will continue sending my weekly emails, and I want you to know how grateful I am for the emails that you continue to send me.  Even though I don't have time to respond, I do have time to read them.  Please keep sending me updates.  Thank you so much for all that you do.  You are all amazing! 

Have an amazing week! You're amazing!

Sorry, I'm short on time.  San Franscisco is keeping me on my toes.  I love it and I'm so grateful for the opportunities that I'm getting here. I love you all so much! Have a fantastic week! :)

3-28-16

Hello Everyone!

So I have some crazy big news.  I guess it may not seem to crazy to you, but here it is: First of all, President called us last Tuesday and told me he wants me to train a new missionary this next transfer which shocked me.  Then, to make it crazier, during the new trainer meeting, he pulled me aside and told me that the Bay ward and Golden Gate ward areas would be getting combined and that we would be covering them.  It's going to be super crazy but at the same time it's going to be so much fun! :)

As for a cool miracle, last Sunday we went tracting in the Presidio and near the end of the night we knocked on the door of this college aged girl from India named Nashita.  We scheduled to meet this past Thursday.  We went by and taught an awesome Restoration lesson.  It was so awesome.  It's so refreshing to go back to the simple message of the Restoration and especially this time because she had no knowledge of Christianity so we were teaching her from the beginning.

I love you all!! Thank you so much for all that you've done for me! Have an amazing week! Sorry, I'll email more next week!

3-21-16

Hello Everyone!!!

I hope everyone has been doing great!  This week has been a crazy one...as always.... That's one thing I've realized about the city of San Francisco especially when you're serving a mission in it... I've seen some pretty cool things, some crazy things, and a lot of things that I wish I didn't have to see.  

On Saturday I went down the peninsula for exchanges with Elder Oborn.  To start the day we helped one of their investigators, Sam, who is a hoarder, get rid of A TON of junk.  And it was not all very pleasant.  He had a bunch of garbage bags filled with who knows what and when we got down to the bottom of the massive pile of bags, we found a bunch of massive holes that had clearly been created by mice. It was really gross. But hey, experience that I won't forget.  It was good for me to remind me of a couple really important lessons.  First, sometimes we're going to have times in our lives where we have opportunities to serve that may be uncomfortable or not normal and that's really when we have the chance to build the most character.  Second, that I want to be a responsible person so that I can always be self-sufficient and able to continue to serve others.  I think it's cool how the church really emphasizes being self-sufficient because it is such a key element to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If we're not self-sufficient it's going to be a lot harder to serve those around us!

The truck full of stuff.... That is Elder Oborn behind me on top of the pile!

We had a lot of cool experiences to talk to people this week! I'm finally getting over my little fears of talking to people! :) Last Tuesday was a huge breakthrough.  On my mission I've learned a lot from the scriptures and amazingly enough, there are also things that I've been able to apply in terms of talking to people.  In the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, there's a huge emphasis on action.  God is not going to do the work for us.  If we're willing to put forth our best effort, then will he be able to use us as effective instruments! So, to apply that I just started ACTING. It was hard but as soon as I started testing out my social skills, it got so much better.  So, to make this spiritual for all...here's a challenge for you all.  If there's anything in your life that you feel like you want to do better, start by doing it.  Things like that are like muscles.  As we exercise our skills, it may hurt a little at first, but then God strengthens us to bear up our burdens!

I love you all!!! Thank you so much for all your support!!! Have an amazing week! :)

3-14-16

Hello Everyone!!!

Sometimes when you're getting soaked in the rain while hiking up and down San Francisco hills you come across a street named Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd.  It was really hilarious.  Who knew there could be such a long street name with such an alliteration.  We found out later that it wasn't an official street and that the sign was just a joke but still, it gave us a good laugh.

Elder Pike and our favorite street in the city!

But as I was saying, the skies have exploded over the past week! I've never had to use an umbrella so much in my whole life.  It was good for California but man, it makes missionary work a whole lot harder.  Everyone stays inside a lot more and the people who are outside do not want to talk to you.  Even the tourists weren't as willing to talk to us! But hey, it'll get better!

We had a fun experience with a French guy named Jean last Tuesday.  He was interested in Family History so we went to his place which was weird in the first place because it was a hotel...we found out soon enough that he was the owner of that hotel.  He met us in the lobby and we went up the rickety old elevator to his small apartment.  We sat down by his computer and started talking about Family History.  There were a few strange things about this interaction.  When we had sat down we had noticed many boxes full of spoons..... He started telling us about this spoon business that he owned.  Apparently he owns a factory in Vietnam where they make special spoons out of a special rock called Mother of Pearl.  He told us that there is a European tradition in which you can't use metal spoons to eat certain foods, specifically Caviar because apparently the metal changes the taste so, logically, they have special spoons made just for eating Caviar! haha! Who knew?! :)  But we told him what he needed to know about Family History and went on our way.  Hopefully we get another chance to see him again!

We went to the Pier last Monday and Japantown today! It's a fun place to be serving a mission! But the true thing that I've realized is that no matter where you go in the world, if you approach it with a good attitude will become the perfect place for you at that time.  It's really just a cool opportunity to be serving a mission!  I can feel God's hand guiding us in our work. One of my favorite scriptures recently, 3 Nephi 5:13

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

We are truly representatives of Jesus Christ all over the world.  Let us act like it. :)  Reach out to someone this week in love to share a message of love with them.

Have a fantastic week! You're amazing and I love you all!

Elder Pike and I on Pier 39 getting the famous clam chowder!

Japantown!!!! It's not Japan but hey, close enough!!

3-7-16

Hello Everyone!

If that wasn't clear enough, we were out trying to find people to teach A LOT this week.  We had at least ten appointments scheduled this week which basically all fell through...which was a little frustrating but it meant that we had a lot of chances to talk to people on the streets.  And what makes it better is that it rained more this week than in the whole month before it so yeah, we got a little wet...but after being unprepared once, we learned from our mistakes the second time.  Pics are included of the fog that descended upon San Francisco.  It was crazy...We were a football fields length away from the Golden Gate Bridge and we couldn't see a thing.

But hey,  I learned a lot about being bold this week! As I learned back in Antioch on exchanges with Elder Oborn, "Be Bold, like the Prophets of Old!"  We're busy trying to figure out how to get someone interested with just a couple quick bold statements.  The people here are insanely busy and extremely stubborn so when you try to stop you on the street they will do anything to avoid you or get away so we're finding ways to get them to understand the importance of our message.  It's been pretty cool.  We did it to a guy yesterday and ended up talking to him on the street for thirty minutes about the Restoration.  It was really cool!

Elder Pike and I near the bridge in what's called the Presidio

But anyways, I wish I could write more.  Elder Pike and I are doing great! Elder Pike is one of the hardest working Elders that I've met so I'm just lovin it! You're all wonderful! Have an amazing week and hey, as a challenge to you all, go ahead and reach out to someone you don't know very well this week! Make a new friend!! :)

2-29-16

Hello Everyone!!!

How was your week? Mine was a crazy one! If any of you collapsed onto your beds last night and thought, 'wow, how did I survive that week?' then you can accurately understand how I feel! So, last Wednesday Elder Lemon got a call from President Frandsen in which he found out that he was being transferred to Walnut Creek, across the bay.  He'd been experiencing some knee pains so he was being put into a car area.  So, 24 hours later, a missionary coming from the East Bay, Elder Pike, was dropped off at our apartment and Elder Lemon drove across the bay to Walnut Creek.  And that was just the beginning of the craziness.  Elder Pike and I started working. hard. and oh how tired did I get! But man was it worth it!  I have a kind of addiction to working hard....am I a workaholic??? sometimes. but hey, we've seen miracles!!! :)

To add to craziness, we had exchanges on Saturday. Elder Olone came to our area.  He has been out on his mission for three weeks so it was fun because he really is just excited to work hard.  We had an amazing day.  We had a lesson scheduled with this woman named Deborah. She's a strong Christian lady and so to start with she established that she wasn't going to be converted but that she did want to learn so we just started off with the restoration.  It was a super awesome lesson and we're keeping our eye on the future.  On the way back to our apartment later I felt that we should get off the bus and attempt to contact a potential investigator that we'd been trying for a month to get a hold of to no avail.  We found the apartment building a called her on the call box and miraculously, she answered! She told us that we could meet her in the lobby so, on a couple couches in the lobby of the apartment complex, we taught about family history, and what we do with the names of our ancestors which moved to priesthood and soon enough, she was saying that she wanted to meet regularly and that her son would like to too!!! It was really awesome.  The spirit was filling that lobby like none other.  If the security guard in that lobby who totally didn't understand english didn't feel it I would be shocked.  I love powerful lessons so much!

Elder Olone and I at In-n-Out.

The next day we went to church, and introduced Elder Pike, it continued to be really stressful and tiring but hey, it was a lot of fun.  We are going to have an awesome week and transfer altogether! Elder Pike is from Herriman, Utah.  He's got a huge desire to work hard and is such an on-top-of-things guy which is the exact kind of guy that I need to push me to do better.  He's really awesome.  We're excited to talk to EVERYONE here in San Francisco! :D

I love you all! Have an fantastic week! And go ahead and do something to have a really spiritual experience this week.  Again, I love you all so much!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

2-22-16

Hello Everyone!!!

Life is great! Sorry that I've been really bad lately about emailing good amounts! I was informed by another missionary(thank you to that missionary if you're reading right now) that every week I say I don't have enough time which is sad but true.  But this week is when I change!!! At least I'll try... :)

So we've been teaching this man named Reza.  He's from Iran. He's basically really awesome.  There's this restaurant in our area called the House of Prime Rib.  It may be the most famous restaurant in the city.  He said he wanted to take us out to eat but he wouldn't tell us where.  We started walking from the church and soon enough this place was in site but we still were like, "no, he wouldn't take us there..." we walked right in! He had to get a reservation 3 weeks earlier... It was a delicious dinner and we basically just had a ton of fun.  But there's definitely more meaning to it than just that it was fun.  It showed a lot of trust.  He is really grateful for us teaching him.  We've invited him to be baptized and it's amazing because even though he says that he doesn't know enough to make that commitment, he understands what it truly means to be baptized and just this past week he told us, "I believe that the Bible is true and I believe that Christ actually did what he did."  I have learned so much by teaching him about how important gaining a testimony is and how the spirit is the real teacher.  It's such a miracle to be able to teach him and a privilege to be here in San Francisco as a missionary.  

I love you all! Have a great week!!! You are amazing!!!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

2-15-16

Hi everyone!!!

We had a couple really awesome lessons this week.  We met with Alicia, one of our investigators that has had a really hard time meeting with us regularly.  She has two little kids and is raising them on her own. We taught about the restoration.  It was really powerful.  We talked a lot about God and the strength that He can give us in our lives.  She told us about all of the hard things that she's been through in the last year and bore a really powerful testimony of God and how He's helped her through her trials. It was amazing!  My testimony was strengthened on God's love that he has for each one of us.  Elder Renlund spoke at a regional conference yesterday and he talked a lot about bringing every Gospel conversation back to the message of the Restoration.  It was a great reminder to me of our unique message.  We need to constantly teach about that message and help others understand the spirit of that message.

I love you all. Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

2-8-16

Hi Everyone!

I love you all a lot!!! So yesterday was the Super Bowl and of course, it's here in San Fran.  People were surprisingly friendly! It was awesome! We got so many people who were willing to talk to us! It made me really happy!

Sorry I'm short on time but Elder Lemon and I are going to be here for another 7 weeks which is super awesome because we get to continue the work that we've been able to start here! We're really focused this week on finding new investigators this week! It's going to be awesome!

Have an amazing week!!!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

2-1-16

Hey everyone!!!

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

But, a couple exciting things that have been happening in our area are.....the Super Bowl AND Chinese New year! It makes things super crazy for us but we'll figure it out.  Apparently, NFL has rented out a whole street near our area to use for the festivities.  And because of Chinese new year, another whole street in China town will be jampacked for a whole week. It'll be crazy but way exciting because that means more people to talk to!!!! So yeah, that's the focus for the week. Learning how to better talk to people!

Thanks for all of your support! I love you all! Keep up the great work!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

1-25-16

Hello everyone!!!

Soooo.....I'm way short on time....but... It's been a great week! It's been humbling and full of learning.  But basically, I just really love the Gospel.  It is such a blessing to have the Gospel as a guide in our lives.  I LOVE the Gospel.

I'm basically in love with the youth theme this year.  I always love the youth themes.  They always have such powerful messages! I love the theme over the past few years! I don't know if you remember but it was "Arise and shine forth" then "Stand ye in holy places" then a couple years later it was "embark in the service of God" and now it's "PRESS FORWARD with a STEADFASTNESS in CHRIST!!!" I love how it's been progressively moving forward.  I think that is such a great idea that really, we just need to keep moving forward! There are so many blessings in store as we do what he says! Keep up the great work! Have an amazing week! 

With Love,

Elder Barnett

P.S. Sorry, there'll be stories next week!

1-18-16

Hello everyone!!

How are you all doing?!?! I hope it's going well wherever you are! It's going great here!

Last week Elder Lemon and I went to the cable car museum! (pics included) It was way crazy because I've been there before with my family! We went on a vacation a few years ago here to San Francisco so I keep seeing places that I've seen before! It's way crazy. Speaking of crazy experiences, on Saturday we were down by the piers and the bay and within in the space of an hour, 5 different Mormon families stopped us and talked to us/waved and yelled hello to us!  It was fun!

So we're still working with the same awesome investigators! Mainly Steve and Reza! Reza came to church!!! There's a cool experience behind this.  Three weeks ago, during weekly planning we were talking about his (Reza) church attendance. He hasn't been able to come because every weekend he takes care of his mom. We decided on a goal for when he would be able to get to church. We set it for Jan. 17 as an act of faith that even though we didn't know how it would happen, he would be able to somehow make it. This past week during our lesson he said that he wouldn't be able to because he was still planning on taking care of his mom over the weekend. On Wednesday we went over to visit him and give him the two Farsi Book of Mormon's that he'd requested. He said that he had come down with a really bad sickness and that it might be pneumonia. We expressed our concern for him and didn't even think that he would be able to come to church still. On Friday, we were just about to get on the bus and we got a text from him and he said that he was starting to feel a lot better and he was asking what time church would be at! We were so excited. To fast forward, he ended up being able to come to church! He brought a medical mask as a precaution even though he wasn't really sick anymore. This was such a cool miracle. If we set inspired goals by the spirit God will help us out. Faith is so powerful. As we act on our faith, miracles will occur.

To link this into a spiritual thought, I think of  Ether 12:12, "For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith." We've been talking to the members a lot lately about making family mission plans.  We talk to them a lot about how as they set goals and make plans they're better able to accomplish things.  So my invitation to each of you is to sit down individually and as families and create mission plans.  What are you going to do in the next year, 2016, to help build the kingdom of God? You can do amazing things and as you set specific goals in faith you will truly be able to see miracles! 

I love you all! Sorry this one is a little long. I hope I didn't take too much of your time! Have an amazing week!!!!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

1-11-16 Fasting

Hey team!

So this week was awesome.  San Francisco is way awesome.  It's actually kind of funny.  Every time I see the Golden Gate Bridge of a view of the city or the bay or a cool house or meet someone cool I get really excited. Every time I do that Elder Lemon just rolls his eyes at me.  I love this place. It amazes me every day. If you haven't noticed yet, this world is totally created because of God's love for us! I love it!

Well I'm short on time but I'll tell more stories next week! I love you all!!! Have an amazing week!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

1-4-16 New Beginnings!

Hello Everyone!!! 

Happy New Year! Every year it is always crazy to realize that it's finally the year that we've been saying "next year" for!!! :P But anyways, 2016 is upon us and we are about to have a great year! :D Right???

This week for New Year's our district had a district activity here in Downtown San Francisco.  We went to Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge, and Chinatown.  So as I've said before, the buses are a lot of fun!  To emphasize this here is a little experience.  We were on this bus traveling to the Golden Gate Bridge and because of the holiday season and the immense popularity of San Francisco, the bus was completely packed.  Somehow, I got a seat on the back row(everyone else was standing) and for a while we were just sitting in silence but then I saw that the people next to me were trying to figure out where to go and so I decided I'd try to help.  We got talking and I found out they were from Ireland.  They didn't seem interested in the Gospel but hey, Ireland!!! Then, I turned to the person on  the other side of me and asked him what language he was speaking(I'm always intrigued by that and hey, it's an easy conversation starter).  We got talking and he said that he speaks spanish but that they call it brazilian spanish because it's a lot different than normal. He said he's from Brazil!!!! I love San Fran, partially because of all the cool tourists that we get to meet! :) He said that he's Roman Catholic and that he has a strong belief in Jesus Christ so, I pulled out a card with the "A Savior is Born" message/website on it.  He seemed pretty interested and very willing to watch the video.  Then, he asks me, "what makes what you believe different?" Bam! Restoration! :P But it was cool because I got to teach a very simplified but awesome message about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on a crammed bus on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge to a Brazilian who I will never see again in my lifetime.  Isn't that such a cool idea? Though I won't ever know what happened to him, he may go back to brazil, watch that video, and, soon enough, he may get be baptized!! I don't know, I just think that that is so awesome that we, as followers of Christ are working in unity all over the world to bring millions back into the fold of God by one conversation at a time.  So, long story short, the Gospel is amazing. :)

But seriously, I'm so pumped for this year.  I know they're talked about a lot but I really do love the idea about having new year's resolutions! It is so refreshing to have a renewed sense of being able to restart and become a more Christlike, loving, determined individual.  It's hard but it's so great! I have a couple resolutions that I'm determined to stay strong on.  My favorite scripture of the past week has been Ether 12.  I love the concept of Faith.  Faith really can produce miracles! Act on the faith you do have and I promise it will grow stronger! I love you all. Have a fabulous week!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

12-28-15 All is Calm, All is Bright at Christmas time!

Hey Everyone!!!! 

I hope your Christmas's were as wonderful as mine was!! I found out this week that I'll be staying with Elder Lemon here in San Francisco for another 6 weeks! We're really excited!

This past week we had a couple really cool experiences in which we were able to talk to people who we normally wouldn't be able to talk to if it wasn't the Christmas season. Last Monday we made cookies and on Wednesday we went to a part member families house to try to drop off some cookies.  This is an older couple named Miriam and Steve Smith.  They got married about six months ago.  Miriam is a very active member. Steve is not a member, but he told us, "I'm a dry mormon." :P That made us laugh He's from the Soviet Union and it's way cool because he actually escaped communist Soviet Union and so, though we don't know a lot about it, it sounds like he's had a pretty crazy life! We went by and though we didn't expect to be able to they immediately invited us in! We talked for a while and soon the conversation moved to music and I told them that I loved singing and they told me that I HAD to sing for them.... So, even though I haven't sung for reals for almost six months and I am so bad at soloing, I sang Silent Night.  It was really powerful.  I learned about the power of music.  We ended up having an awesome Christmas message.  We watched the two videos on christmas.mormon.org (you should all watch them) I love Christmas and I love music.

So to relate to my story, I invite you to listen to some music that helps you feel the spirit.  I know that I've found so much peace in music.  When I'm stressed I'm able to calm down when I listen to music full of the spirit! So... I love music and I love seeing references to music in the scriptures! (look up singing/sang/sing in the Topical Guide) 

You're all so amazing! Have an amazing week and a spectacular, magical year!

12-14-15 The amazing covenant of Baptism!!

Hey Everyone!!! 

We had a couple of really cool things this week.  First, we set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, Steve!!! He is a very awesome guy.  He's homeless but basically he's always known that he should be a mormon.  He's gotten into some pretty rough stuff in his life and he loves talking to us all about those things... but what's great is that we can always bring it back to the Gospel because one of the amazing things about the Gospel is that it can answer almost any question!(Maybe not, "What color of shirt should I wear today but you know what I mean! :P) But we had a lesson with him at the church and weren't even planning on inviting him during the lesson but then suddenly our lesson went to the topic of baptism, we taught him more about it, read Mosiah 18:8-10 and Elder Lemon just invited him!  We set a date for Jan. 30th! It was awesome! He's really progressing well.  We want to bring him to the temple for the Christmas season sometime this week!

On Friday, Elder Lawrence, from the quorum of the seventy, came to our mission.  It was like jumping into a pool of knowledge and of the spirit! I learned SO MUCH! The coolest part was probably when we decided as a mission to set a goal for how many baptisms we wanted to get in the next year.  We are going to try to get 400 baptisms as a mission over the course of this year.  This will take a lot of hard work on our part but we just felt the spirit testify so powerfully to us that this is what will push us and help us truly accomplish God's will for our area.  So, will you all pray that those four-hundred souls here in the bay area my be prepared to receive the missionaries when they come knocking?  I know that this is possible but it will take our hard work and everyone's prayers. Thank you!!

Baptism is such a powerful covenant.  Just think about it for a second.  We are inviting them to take upon themselves the name of Christ so, in a sense everything that they do from that point on should have Christ's stamp of approval on it.  This makes me evaluate the covenant that I make every week when I partake of the sacrament.  Is everything I do in accordance with what Christ would have me do? The idea that I want to apply to my missionary work and my life is this.  I want to focus less on using the Sabbath to prepare for my week and more on using my week to prepare for the Sabbath.  I invite you all to think about what you have covenanted to do when you were baptized and strive to truly "take upon yourselves the name of Christ" in every little action, word and even thought.  

You are all amazing individuals, filled with amazing potential. I love you all so much.  Have a wonderful, spirit filled week!

With Love,

Elder Barnett

12-7-15 The City Life

Hi everyone!! 

It's a good time to be alive isn't it?! I don't know about you but hey, I enjoy it.  Especially with the knowledge of the Gospel, life is just really happy.  I may sound a little crazy but I just want everyone to know that I'm really happy and that I truly have gained a testimony of the fact that God wants us to be happy and the Gospel is made for us to be happy.  If you're ever down, lift up your heart and rejoice because of the knowledge of the Gospel.

Let me tell ya, the city life can get pretty crazy.  So we are on public transportation so we've had to figure out the bus system pretty quickly and that's where we get to talk to the most people but it's hard.  People are just really busy.  But that's just to give you an idea of what we do for a large portion of the day.  We just try our very best to figure out this crazy city.

I love you all!! Sorry it's short today! You're so amazing, each and every one of you and God loves you more than you could possible imagine.

With Love,

Elder Barnett

P.S. if any of you were wondering, the address that I gave out at the beginning of the mission is the address that you can always use if you want to send me anything.  It's the address of the mission home and so they'll forward the mail on to my apartment wherever it is in the mission.