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.