Dear Family,
I'm so happy to hear the news and see the pictures of Tate! He looks happy, healthy and I'm happy to hear that his crying usually last for only 20-30 seconds. It seems like Christopher and Bethany are perfect parents and I'm so excited to meet the little guy! On Friday evening I called Robert to make sure we would still be able to meet Saturday, I asked him what was new and he said "well your brother sent me a picture of his baby!" Hahaha, I was so happy. A little jealous that he got to see him before I did but definitely not complaining because I got to see him three days early. He brought a picture on his phone to the lesson on Saturday and it was so cool to see him, like Mom said--a one-two connection set up by Heavenly Father. Robert is doing great and we had a solid lesson with him on Saturday. At the end of the lesson, I asked him if he wanted to give the closing prayer and he said "I think that you should say it because you are so happy because you saw your brother's baby."
This week has been packed and we're teaching some great people. On Friday we went out to Maardu (the small city a little outside of Tallinn) and we taught a few new lessons. One was to the kid named Edik who is the European swimming champion. He's a believing kid and he was so happy when we gave him the Book of Mormon, and we taught him on a bench because it was beautiful outside. When we gave him the Book of Mormon he immediately stood up and gave us big handshakes (a Russian way to say thank you). He then held the book out and we were all looking at it. Right then, bloop, a bird flows over head and dropped off his digested lunch right on the cover above the title. We had our eyes fixed on the book, and just started busted up laughing. It's a Russian superstition that when a bird poops on you it's good luck. But we still gave him a new book.
On Sunday a progressing investigator named Segei came to church and he's really cool. He's 20, lives outside the city and works a few jobs to support him and some family members, and is trying really hard to quit smoking. He changed his schedule so that he could come to church, and stayed the whole time. Later that day Robert had his baptismal interview and came to the Estonian sacrament meeting. Afterwards we met up with Brother Chan (who has born in Hong Kong but lived for 6 years and was Baptized in Portland, Oregon) and we planned out the details for the service. It was announced in church, we had the clothes and talks all good to go, and Robert was really excited. Later that evening we were making phone calls to get the key indicators and Robert called. He asked to talk to me and asked if he could change his baptismal date. I was hoping he meant from Saturday, to Friday or something, but he explained that he called his parents to tell them and his dad wanted him to "explain why he wanted to join the Mormons." I don't know all the details but I know that he's a captain in the Chinese Army. His mother was supportive of him joining, mostly because Robert still wants to and feels this is the right step. We asked him to think about it and pray and we'll make a decision in the next day or two. It's definitely Robert's decision, and it's clear is that he just doesn't want to dishonor his parents (which as Elder Jenkins pointed out, is also a commandment). I'm confident that Robert will make the best decision and if Heavenly Father really wants Robert to be baptized now, he'll tell him that. It's hard for me not to be biased because I would love to see him be baptized, but if worse comes to worst, he'll be baptized when he comes back for studies in August. But either way, it's a comfort to know it's the Lord's work and he's got a plan to make His will happen. Please keep Robert and his family in your prayers though, and I'll keep you updated next week.
Whew next week will be my last e-mail. That's kinda nuts. It still hasn't sunk all the way in, and I'm continuing to love every day here and we're doing all that we can. But that doesn't mean that I'm not super excited to see you in less than 12 days! I love you and am so grateful for the love and support you've given me the last two years. You're the best!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
We're in Riga today for the day and then I'll come back here next Wednesday and we'll fly out Thursday morning. I'll still e-mail next Monday so then I might now more details about that stuff. Sorry I haven't had time to respond to individual e-mails, but I'll see you soon! Woo-hoo!
Welcome to the Sager Family Blogspot. Please post your ballgames, Phase 10 victories, motorcyle trips, family pictures, and missionary updates.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Hello Family, Friends, and Soon to be officially the Newest member of the Barnes Family (Tate!),
May 17, 2010
Hello Family, Friends, and Soon to be officially the Newest member of the Barnes Family (Tate!),
It has been a really great week, and we continue to be super blessed. My companions were in Riga on Tuesday for exchanges so I spent the day with the other Russian Elders in Tallinn and we had a fun day of everything falling through, but then it all worked out! Basically we had a few lessons call and cancel at the last second but we were able to talk to some good people on the streets and taught a couple who live outside the city but just happened to be around town when we called them on short notice. It seems to always work out that way, when something "bad" happens, it usually means that something better is right around the corner. Either that or the whole day kinda tanks, but even that at least you have something to look back and laugh about. But in the evening we taught a cool kid named Sergei, who's 20 years old and super prepared. He's really busy working three jobs, but he said that he's read all of 1 Nephi in about 3 hours and came to all three hours of church on Sunday and was super attentive. After the first lesson he accepted a baptismal date for June 12th, and we're teaching him again tonight. Elder Nielson contacted him on the bus a week and half ago and for our first lesson he showed up half and hour early. It's so fun to teach prepared people!
Robert (a.k.a Tong ShuangWu) is also making great progress. He's been clean from smoking for two weeks and came to church yesterday and loved it. He's been to conference, and a baptismal service, but this was his first sacrament service. After the meeting he said he felt "so warm and full of love." It was a really good service too, partly because 30 American members were there! Haha, I guess this huge group of elderly church members took a cruise that was going to be here on Tallinn for Sunday so they contacted the branch president and asked if they could have help getting to church. Two missionaries met them at the bus station and escorted them to the church. After Sacrament Meeting, Elder Nielson and I were able to show them the way back to old town, and it was an incredible experience. They were so happy and interested in the work here. Most of the time on the streets people will give you odd looks or aren't necessarily super excited when you approach them-- but with the members Elder Nielson and I felt like celebrities! Haha, they really were so kind and happy and when we all piled on the city bus (it was packed full) there was just a completely different feeling. The people I was standing next to were painters for the church magazines and temples and so they were snapping photos left and right. One lady even gave away a mini painting and a Book of Mormon to a couple she met on the bus. As she handed the book she said "This is gold. It'll change your life." It's not something I’ve ever used on a street contact before, but they really appreciated it and the woman was so happy to have shared the gospel. It was awesome. I'm sure she'll talk about it in her home ward next fast Sunday so if you hear about it, you can tell her that I was also impressed! One of the ladies said, "I wish I could have your mom’s phone number so I could call her and tell her what a great missionary you are." Speaking of which, one of the ladies, named Sister Barnes (no relation, as far as we know) wrote down our phone number, so if you get a call be sure to tell them hello!
Those were pretty much the highlights of the week. The weather has been really great here and we've had a few days of plus 25. I'm not sure how warm that is, last year that was how hot it needed to be before we could take off our jackets but this year we're still wearing them till we hear something different. Tallinn is a beautiful place and I love serving here! Thanks for your prayers and e-mails, it was cool to hear from the whole family even though we're all over the place! Families are the best!
Love Elder Barnes #12
P.S. An investigator named Nikkolai says a big hi. I told him we were writing home so he told me to pass that on. He's the man, has a wife of twelve years and three kids! That's solid. Alright later!
Hello Family, Friends, and Soon to be officially the Newest member of the Barnes Family (Tate!),
It has been a really great week, and we continue to be super blessed. My companions were in Riga on Tuesday for exchanges so I spent the day with the other Russian Elders in Tallinn and we had a fun day of everything falling through, but then it all worked out! Basically we had a few lessons call and cancel at the last second but we were able to talk to some good people on the streets and taught a couple who live outside the city but just happened to be around town when we called them on short notice. It seems to always work out that way, when something "bad" happens, it usually means that something better is right around the corner. Either that or the whole day kinda tanks, but even that at least you have something to look back and laugh about. But in the evening we taught a cool kid named Sergei, who's 20 years old and super prepared. He's really busy working three jobs, but he said that he's read all of 1 Nephi in about 3 hours and came to all three hours of church on Sunday and was super attentive. After the first lesson he accepted a baptismal date for June 12th, and we're teaching him again tonight. Elder Nielson contacted him on the bus a week and half ago and for our first lesson he showed up half and hour early. It's so fun to teach prepared people!
Robert (a.k.a Tong ShuangWu) is also making great progress. He's been clean from smoking for two weeks and came to church yesterday and loved it. He's been to conference, and a baptismal service, but this was his first sacrament service. After the meeting he said he felt "so warm and full of love." It was a really good service too, partly because 30 American members were there! Haha, I guess this huge group of elderly church members took a cruise that was going to be here on Tallinn for Sunday so they contacted the branch president and asked if they could have help getting to church. Two missionaries met them at the bus station and escorted them to the church. After Sacrament Meeting, Elder Nielson and I were able to show them the way back to old town, and it was an incredible experience. They were so happy and interested in the work here. Most of the time on the streets people will give you odd looks or aren't necessarily super excited when you approach them-- but with the members Elder Nielson and I felt like celebrities! Haha, they really were so kind and happy and when we all piled on the city bus (it was packed full) there was just a completely different feeling. The people I was standing next to were painters for the church magazines and temples and so they were snapping photos left and right. One lady even gave away a mini painting and a Book of Mormon to a couple she met on the bus. As she handed the book she said "This is gold. It'll change your life." It's not something I’ve ever used on a street contact before, but they really appreciated it and the woman was so happy to have shared the gospel. It was awesome. I'm sure she'll talk about it in her home ward next fast Sunday so if you hear about it, you can tell her that I was also impressed! One of the ladies said, "I wish I could have your mom’s phone number so I could call her and tell her what a great missionary you are." Speaking of which, one of the ladies, named Sister Barnes (no relation, as far as we know) wrote down our phone number, so if you get a call be sure to tell them hello!
Those were pretty much the highlights of the week. The weather has been really great here and we've had a few days of plus 25. I'm not sure how warm that is, last year that was how hot it needed to be before we could take off our jackets but this year we're still wearing them till we hear something different. Tallinn is a beautiful place and I love serving here! Thanks for your prayers and e-mails, it was cool to hear from the whole family even though we're all over the place! Families are the best!
Love Elder Barnes #12
P.S. An investigator named Nikkolai says a big hi. I told him we were writing home so he told me to pass that on. He's the man, has a wife of twelve years and three kids! That's solid. Alright later!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Hello! from Peter Barnes
Dear Fam,
It's really tough to think of what to say today-- First off talking to you on the phone was awesome! It definitely made you feel not so far away, and it's good to hear that all is going well. I hope Dad can take it easy for the next couple days and that he'll have a quick recovery. And I'm SO excited to have a nephew named Tate! My money is still on May 12th. But we don't bet so if it's later that'll be okay too.
Hmm... it's funny how the time zooms by while on the phone but I pretty much said everything I can think of about what's new and fresh over here. I'll try to send a few new pictures or something so you can have something new to look at.
We stopped by our investigator Antonio last night; he's the man from Equador, we would teach him when I was serving with Elder Plothow and Patterson. We returned his keys because he asked us to come over once a day to feed his cat while he was visiting his daughter in Finland last week. He's been taught by missionaries for the last 1 1/2 years or so and we actually live right next door to him so it wasn't a big deal and he really appreciated it. But man, cats are stinky/boring. I've never really taken the time to get to know any but it's a difficult task because they are not too friendly. Well at least Susie (Antonio's cat) isn't . And when they are inside by themselves all day, it doesn't smell so good. Man I'm really scratching for things to write if I'm talking about our neighbor's cat...
We have 4 lessons set up for tonight which I'm really looking forward to. Two are with new young Estonian guys, one is with two Russian guys, and the last one is a student from Italy whom we met on the streets last night. While at the same time, Elder Jenkins will be going on an exchange with a recent convert in the Estonian branch named Jarek who's really active with the missionaries, mostly because he was the number one baptizer for his small-denomination christian church before he joined the church last September. Since then he's brought a few of his friends from his other church, and he probably teaches with the missionaries at least three times a week. Tonight they will be visiting a family in the Estonian branch who has 12 kids, most of whom are grown up and not too active in the church. That's one big advantage of being in a threesome companionship because we can split up with members-- and although I'm totally in support of a family with 12 kids, I speak less than a dozen words in Estonian so wouldn't be of much help. It's been a blast working with Elder Jenkins and Nielson and I'm looking forward to this week. We've taught some of the most interesting people I've ever met together (like ones who pick up feathers off the ground and wear them in their hair and hug random people on the streets), and it's been entertaining, but we're still trying to find and teach the prepared ones who will strengthen the church. Serving a mission is a riot, and never ever gets old.
Welp, sorry this hasn't been the most eventful e-mail but hopefully next week I'll have a lot of good things to fill you in on. I love you!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.S. Bummer, my zip drive isn't working so I can't send any pictures today. Next week fo sho!
It's really tough to think of what to say today-- First off talking to you on the phone was awesome! It definitely made you feel not so far away, and it's good to hear that all is going well. I hope Dad can take it easy for the next couple days and that he'll have a quick recovery. And I'm SO excited to have a nephew named Tate! My money is still on May 12th. But we don't bet so if it's later that'll be okay too.
Hmm... it's funny how the time zooms by while on the phone but I pretty much said everything I can think of about what's new and fresh over here. I'll try to send a few new pictures or something so you can have something new to look at.
We stopped by our investigator Antonio last night; he's the man from Equador, we would teach him when I was serving with Elder Plothow and Patterson. We returned his keys because he asked us to come over once a day to feed his cat while he was visiting his daughter in Finland last week. He's been taught by missionaries for the last 1 1/2 years or so and we actually live right next door to him so it wasn't a big deal and he really appreciated it. But man, cats are stinky/boring. I've never really taken the time to get to know any but it's a difficult task because they are not too friendly. Well at least Susie (Antonio's cat) isn't . And when they are inside by themselves all day, it doesn't smell so good. Man I'm really scratching for things to write if I'm talking about our neighbor's cat...
We have 4 lessons set up for tonight which I'm really looking forward to. Two are with new young Estonian guys, one is with two Russian guys, and the last one is a student from Italy whom we met on the streets last night. While at the same time, Elder Jenkins will be going on an exchange with a recent convert in the Estonian branch named Jarek who's really active with the missionaries, mostly because he was the number one baptizer for his small-denomination christian church before he joined the church last September. Since then he's brought a few of his friends from his other church, and he probably teaches with the missionaries at least three times a week. Tonight they will be visiting a family in the Estonian branch who has 12 kids, most of whom are grown up and not too active in the church. That's one big advantage of being in a threesome companionship because we can split up with members-- and although I'm totally in support of a family with 12 kids, I speak less than a dozen words in Estonian so wouldn't be of much help. It's been a blast working with Elder Jenkins and Nielson and I'm looking forward to this week. We've taught some of the most interesting people I've ever met together (like ones who pick up feathers off the ground and wear them in their hair and hug random people on the streets), and it's been entertaining, but we're still trying to find and teach the prepared ones who will strengthen the church. Serving a mission is a riot, and never ever gets old.
Welp, sorry this hasn't been the most eventful e-mail but hopefully next week I'll have a lot of good things to fill you in on. I love you!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.S. Bummer, my zip drive isn't working so I can't send any pictures today. Next week fo sho!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Happy 3rd day of May!
Dearest Family,
It's starting to get sunny here, and I'm still in Tallinn! I was pretty sure that I would stay but you never know. Both of my previous companions (Elders Reid and Koegler) went down to serve in Riga and when President Dance called to tell us transfers, he said "you dodged a bullet, didn't you Elder Barnes?" I definitely wanted to stay, and I'm glad it's what the Lord wanted too. I love it when that happens! My new companions are very solid missionaries, and they bring a lot of fire and love for the work, and we laugh a lot and enjoy serving together. Elder Nielson is Russian speaking and has been serving for about 9 months, and Elder Jenkins is Estonian speaking and been out for right around a year. They are both from the Salt Lake area (Holladay and American Fork) and Elder Nielson went to Olympus! He actually went to Elder Glauser's homecoming-- which is a cool connection! We all get along really well, we love what we're doing, and it's sweet to be able to talk and teach anyone that we meet!
Well it's very rare that someone will only speak Estonian, but at least now we won't have to pass anyone that we find-- and we were blessed to find and teach a lot of cool people last week! One example is Tanu, a young hip 25 year old Estonian guy. We were riding the bus home from Church and Elder Nielson starting talking to him, and he was immediately really interested and said it must have been a "sign from God" that we met up. So he went with us from the bus stop to the teaching center, and during the lesson he said that everything we were saying was true. He even said the closing prayer, which happened to be the most interesting prayer I think I've ever heard. I'm not sure if it's legal to quote prayers but you've got to read this in a deep dramatic voice--
"Please Bless every particle in this worldly word and let them resonate in piece....Aaammen"
It was kinda difficult not to bust up, but he was super sincere, and it was definitely an effective prayer. My favorite part was the 5 second pause after he stooped talking, Elder Nielson actually looked up and said "amen?" and that's when he threw out the amen. He's a way intelligent, interesting guy. In Priesthood, when he came to church the following day, the Elders Quorum President asked who wanted to take the sacrament to some elderly members and he immediately answered "I'll do it, where do they live?." Haha. He has a few interesting ideas, but we'll teach him tonight with a younger member, see how well he understands, and see how it goes from there!
Only Ilya was able to come to church last week, (he's one of the two young guys for English), and he's making good progress but not sure that he wants to be baptized next week-end. He's a cool kid, and understands the doctrine better than Leo, but they both are just trying to figure out if this is something they are fully committed to, which I respect and appreciate. They both have testimonies of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and I think he'll be joining the church before the summer starts. At least I hope so! Karl is doing great and received the Aaronic Priesthood last week. It was funny because as the Branch President started to ordain him he said that he was giving him the Melchizidek Priesthood and ordaining him to the office of Elder. I tapped his hands, and then he quickly realized and pulled away and shook his hands as if to "undo" the blessing. Haha it would've been sweet if Karl immediately became an Elder but I'm not sure that's exactly modzna (allowed-- not sure to say/spell that one in English but it's a great Russian word.)
We weren't able to make any Chinese cuisine last week but Robert and Fiona came to a baptismal service for a lady in the Russian branch and they really liked it. It's difficult to explain all the doctrines to them sometimes, because the words are foreign and I'm pretty sure that's the first time they've ever seen any kind of baptism, let alone one by immersion. But the coolest part was in our lesson and we asked them how their reading is going in the Book of Mormon. Fiona said that a few days back, she was feeling kinda of down, and Robert told her to read the "Mormon's Book" she she picked it up and immediately felt a "peace and calm." I still can't figure out how he does it but God definitely speaks all languages. It made me think more about how I feel when I read the scriptures and it really does bring a peace that's hard to find any other way. Sometimes it puts me right to sleep, which is both good and bad. But never for too long, cause I jerk my head a lot and wake myself up. But really I love being able to study, teach and serve all day everyday. I know it's a big time blessing that I want to have forever and I'm just trying to love it while I can! It is pretty comforting that that's pretty much all we will be doing in Heaven. Only with our families forever. Oh that is going to be sweet!
I love you and am super excited to talk to you this Sunday! Here's the plan-- you can call me at 7:00 AM your time, which should be 5:00 PM our time. We have two phones and Elder Nielson's family will be calling a different number at the same time. Whew that's going to be awesome! If you have any questions before then, I hope you can find the answers, but I'm not worried, you're already pros at this long distance short phone call game. I can't believe this will be my last one! Best for last.
I love you all a whole lot.
Love, Elder Barnes #12
It's starting to get sunny here, and I'm still in Tallinn! I was pretty sure that I would stay but you never know. Both of my previous companions (Elders Reid and Koegler) went down to serve in Riga and when President Dance called to tell us transfers, he said "you dodged a bullet, didn't you Elder Barnes?" I definitely wanted to stay, and I'm glad it's what the Lord wanted too. I love it when that happens! My new companions are very solid missionaries, and they bring a lot of fire and love for the work, and we laugh a lot and enjoy serving together. Elder Nielson is Russian speaking and has been serving for about 9 months, and Elder Jenkins is Estonian speaking and been out for right around a year. They are both from the Salt Lake area (Holladay and American Fork) and Elder Nielson went to Olympus! He actually went to Elder Glauser's homecoming-- which is a cool connection! We all get along really well, we love what we're doing, and it's sweet to be able to talk and teach anyone that we meet!
Well it's very rare that someone will only speak Estonian, but at least now we won't have to pass anyone that we find-- and we were blessed to find and teach a lot of cool people last week! One example is Tanu, a young hip 25 year old Estonian guy. We were riding the bus home from Church and Elder Nielson starting talking to him, and he was immediately really interested and said it must have been a "sign from God" that we met up. So he went with us from the bus stop to the teaching center, and during the lesson he said that everything we were saying was true. He even said the closing prayer, which happened to be the most interesting prayer I think I've ever heard. I'm not sure if it's legal to quote prayers but you've got to read this in a deep dramatic voice--
"Please Bless every particle in this worldly word and let them resonate in piece....Aaammen"
It was kinda difficult not to bust up, but he was super sincere, and it was definitely an effective prayer. My favorite part was the 5 second pause after he stooped talking, Elder Nielson actually looked up and said "amen?" and that's when he threw out the amen. He's a way intelligent, interesting guy. In Priesthood, when he came to church the following day, the Elders Quorum President asked who wanted to take the sacrament to some elderly members and he immediately answered "I'll do it, where do they live?." Haha. He has a few interesting ideas, but we'll teach him tonight with a younger member, see how well he understands, and see how it goes from there!
Only Ilya was able to come to church last week, (he's one of the two young guys for English), and he's making good progress but not sure that he wants to be baptized next week-end. He's a cool kid, and understands the doctrine better than Leo, but they both are just trying to figure out if this is something they are fully committed to, which I respect and appreciate. They both have testimonies of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and I think he'll be joining the church before the summer starts. At least I hope so! Karl is doing great and received the Aaronic Priesthood last week. It was funny because as the Branch President started to ordain him he said that he was giving him the Melchizidek Priesthood and ordaining him to the office of Elder. I tapped his hands, and then he quickly realized and pulled away and shook his hands as if to "undo" the blessing. Haha it would've been sweet if Karl immediately became an Elder but I'm not sure that's exactly modzna (allowed-- not sure to say/spell that one in English but it's a great Russian word.)
We weren't able to make any Chinese cuisine last week but Robert and Fiona came to a baptismal service for a lady in the Russian branch and they really liked it. It's difficult to explain all the doctrines to them sometimes, because the words are foreign and I'm pretty sure that's the first time they've ever seen any kind of baptism, let alone one by immersion. But the coolest part was in our lesson and we asked them how their reading is going in the Book of Mormon. Fiona said that a few days back, she was feeling kinda of down, and Robert told her to read the "Mormon's Book" she she picked it up and immediately felt a "peace and calm." I still can't figure out how he does it but God definitely speaks all languages. It made me think more about how I feel when I read the scriptures and it really does bring a peace that's hard to find any other way. Sometimes it puts me right to sleep, which is both good and bad. But never for too long, cause I jerk my head a lot and wake myself up. But really I love being able to study, teach and serve all day everyday. I know it's a big time blessing that I want to have forever and I'm just trying to love it while I can! It is pretty comforting that that's pretty much all we will be doing in Heaven. Only with our families forever. Oh that is going to be sweet!
I love you and am super excited to talk to you this Sunday! Here's the plan-- you can call me at 7:00 AM your time, which should be 5:00 PM our time. We have two phones and Elder Nielson's family will be calling a different number at the same time. Whew that's going to be awesome! If you have any questions before then, I hope you can find the answers, but I'm not worried, you're already pros at this long distance short phone call game. I can't believe this will be my last one! Best for last.
I love you all a whole lot.
Love, Elder Barnes #12
One month until Tate! from Peter 4.19.2010
Dear Family!
Whew it's been a good week. We had a scare when it started to snow yesterday morning, and I thought winter was already coming back, but it's bright and sunny out today so we're all good! Dad got me up to date on the ash in the air situation, I heard about it a few days ago because someone mentioned that the airports all across Europe are closed. That's nuts! I haven't been able to tell a difference in the air though.
As far as teaching goes it's been a really good week and we've been blessed to teach with members and our investigators are progressing well. Karl is on track to be baptized this Saturday! He's back from Finland until he can find work, but he's really excited to be baptized. You can tell how much joy it brings him to meet up and come to church. Yesterday, we sat down with Karl and Bro Varsha, a recent convert of 8 months, the branch mission leader with whom we usually teach Karl. We didn't know who would baptize Karl because Bro Ulyanov (the friend of Karl who lives in Latvia) isn't going to be able to come up. During the lesson Bro Varsha asked Karl who he wanted to baptize him, and Karl asked if Bro Varsha would do it. Earlier, we had talked about that possibility but Bro Varsha had declined because he said he didn't feel ready. Bro Varsha responded that President Oganov should probably do the ordinance, because it would be Bro Varsha's "first time." Karl responded, it's no problem, it'll be my first one too!" Ha, it should be great, and I'm really happy to see Karl make a decision that will bless him in more ways than he realizes. He's pretty down about not having work, but once he starts to live and apply the gospel, everything else will fall into place. It works that way everytime!
Our other investigators who are progressing are Leo and Ilya, the 21 year olds from English class. They came to the baptismal service last Saturday for an Estonian man and they really felt the "strong" spirit and are still looking forward to their baptism. They've accepted the word of wisdom and tithing, and we have a few more things to teach but once they keep coming to church they'll be good to go. We're really teaching some prepared people right now, and just like Mom said in her e-mail to me, it's neat to see the way the Lord leads us to them or them to us!
The other highlight of the week was teaching Robert (the student from China) with a recent convert from the Estonian branch named Migel. Robert and his friends are pretty busy with lectures and exams so Robert was the only one able to come to the lesson last week, but we watched Finding Faith in Christ in Chinese (well they watched it, I kind of tried not to fall asleep, but wasn't too successful). Afterwards we asked him how he liked it and he said "it was amazing." He's such a sincere and kind person, it's so refreshing to teach him and see how big of a desire he has to learn. He said the closing prayer at the end, and it was the first prayer he'd ever said. He expressed gratitude to have these "new good nice friends and all of the wonderful things they are teaching him." He addressed his prayer "to everyone here" instead of to our dear Heavenly Father, but I think he knew that he was communicating with God, just meant to say FROM everyone here. He's been talking with Christopher over e-mail and said that his Chinese is "very super good", and Fiona, his girlfriend was "so surprised." He also said that Christopher sent him some pictures of the family and his wedding and Robert told me that Christopher is "very beautiful." I said I agree. I found out this week that although he's been living near Hong Kong for the last couple of years, he's originally from Harbin! I told him that's where my Uncle Steve and and taught at a university. He didn't know him, I think Harbin is pretty big, but maybe someday they'll meet up. I would definitely not mind going to Harbin someday-- Chinese people are so sweet! And then if that's not enough, walking home from Church yesterday we ran into 7 confused and athletic looking Chinese guys, whom we found out were a hockey team from Harbin! They were looking for a bus, and we didn't know where it was, but we walked with them for about half a mile and finally found it. They were grateful, and even though only one really spoke english, they all knew the word for "Thank you.!" The "two most important words" in the english language.
We watched the rest of General Conference this last week on the recorded DVDs. I love general conference, a lot. It's hard to pick a "favorite talk" but the ones about teaching children were really really interesting, because even though we are teaching a lot of grown people, I sometimes feel like they need to be taught like little kids. Not that they are not intelligent, it's just the simple and small doctrines that people do NOT understand and which make the biggest difference. "I am a child of God." "Love one Another." "Keep the Commandments." Three songs kids sing over and over, which if you actually understand and live, can make life twelve times three times better. The church is very very true, and I know that Jesus Christ, our Savior, is at the head.
Welp we gotta run, but I'll try and attach a few pictures of the last couple days events. Thanks for your prayers.
I love you!
love, Elder Barnes
P.S. Welcome Home Sister Jess Richey and Emma! I'm glad I have a few months to before I speak in church because I'm pretty sure that's going to be a hard act to follow...
P.S. The first picture is outside the church right before the estonian baptismal service last saturday-- from right to left you have me, Karl, Ilya, Leo, and Elders Koegler and Reid. The second picture is me getting rim checked on a field a 3 min jog from our apartment (the twin towers in the back is where we have our teaching center, it has a sweet view) and then the last picture is from today playing soccer with missionaries, members and investigators. If you look close you can see that Robert is holding the frisbee to make Richard look like an Angel. Robert is the man!
Peter's Epistle, 4.26.2010
It feels like spring here and things sure are blossoming! We had a really exciting week, capped off by Estonian District Conference and Karl's baptism and confirmation. We taught Karl a few times with Bro Varsha, the branch mission leader, and the one who baptized him. They live near one another so they come to lessons/church together and it's been really good for both of them. Bro Varsha was baptized about 8 months ago and just received the Melchizedek Priesthood so he's still learning but he's hilarious and diligent with his calling. Karl calls him his "collegue," and he calls us his "God Brothers." I love Karl and it's so cool to see him as a member of the church. He bought "church clothes" with some of the money he earned in Finland. You could tell he was a little nervous all week but after the service he was so happy and at peace.
So yeah, miraculously the service went pretty well. There was a good turnout of members, investigators, we had three there including Leo and Ilya who are still preparing for baptism in a few weeks. Plus the District Conference was the same day, so the Dances and another new Senior couple from Riga came up. Elder Briggs (we served together in Vilnius) is now the Branch President in Narva and he came over with Elder Patterson (who finishes his mission this week, and has been serving this last transfer in Narva). It was way cool for Karl because Elder Patterson is the one who first started teaching him at the beginning of the year. That's a pretty sweet way to spend the last week on your mission! Elder Patterson and I were able to serve together a few hours on Saturday evening and it was really enjoyable being together. He's someone that I've looked up to from Day 1 in the MTC and it's crazy to see him go home. But he has a really positive attitude about it, has served very faithfully, and will be able to help and support his family at home (his mother has cancer and is currently in the hospital.) He really is one of my heroes, and has had a big impact on me by dedicating his life to serve others and living the Gospel. I hope you'll meet him someday, and we made some plans to meet up this summer. He's an Idahoan but is also an Oregon fan and so I think he'll like Eugene. It's tough to see good friends leave the mission, but it's more "see ya later" because we'll definitely cross paths again. I've only known him for 2 years, but it feels like forever.
We also had some interesting/funny experiences this week. You may have heard but they had the NATO conferences here in Tallinn last week, and they held everything in the "Swiss Hotel" where we have the teaching center. So from Wednesday to Saturday, whenever we had a lesson, we would go outside, meet them around the corner, go through a security check-point tent, and then walk around the backside of the building. It wasn't too big of a hassle but it made "pulling people" (meet them on the streets and invite them right away to come up to the teaching center) pretty impossible. We also couldn't teach one investigators because he didn't bring any I.D. Haha. But it's all cleared up now, and no we did not get to see/meet Hillary Clinton. Bummer!
Later Wednesday evening we had a lesson with a man named Stefano. He's Italian, super nice, and has been living in Estonia for 6 years. He's a normal guy, in that he has a family, teaches anthropology at the university, but he's very smiley, friendly, and interested in what we're doing. We met him on the corner and he showed up with a camcorder and was just videoing us on the streets. So that was somewhat awkward... They let him through security, and as we're going up the elevator he pulls his videocamera out again and is filming us and asking questions. And then throughout the whole lesson he just keeps filming. Part of me wanted to ask him to kindly put it away, but you could tell that it was really important for him to document all of this and he was sincerely interested. It turned out to be a powerful lesson, and he later said that he "wishes he could have the same answers that we did" so we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it answers the questions to the soul, and he said he would read. He also asked if he could follow us around all one day to see what we do. I told him that we'd probably have to get permission from the people we teach to see if they will let a super happy Italian man tag along and video-tape them, but he said he wouldn't bring his camera but just watch. I've never thought about doing an exchange with an investigator before, but it's not an idea that I think President Dance will like. You never know though!
And then Friday evening was the ultimate "gong show." Gong show is a word that Elder Hatch would always use when we had a lot of things going on and it just gets crazy, as if there are Chinese gong drums being played. It sounds weird, but once you start using it you realize there are some situations that can't be summed up in a better way. Well Friday night was officially a gong show, mostly because we found out the day before that President Dance wanted to visit a less active that evening, and we already had a lesson scheduled with Robert and all of his friends. So we quickly got something worked out with a long term (10 year) member of the church who's super nice, been to the temple, believes everything, just struggles to come to church. But I was on an exchange with Elder Baird (friend from BYU, 55th ward alumni!) so Elder Koegler went with President to translate. So it wasn't too bad, we just had a few things going on at once, and our Chinese friends wanted to make us dinner and so they showed us how to make Chinese dumplings! They were pretty tasty, and it was just fun being with them. They are good people, and their questions are really heartfelt. "Why can't we all return to live with God, what happens if we join the church here and then go back to china?" Way prepared, super nice. Sometimes I wish that all of the people in the Baltics were Chinese. But maybe I'll just have to go on another mission there someday! I can't wait until China opens, I think the church will grow like crazy there. It's going to be a gong show.
A final cool experience was Friday morning when we met with a lady who's in charge of the family history program here in Tallinn. She just showed us the basics and how he can help members and investigators who are interested in doing their family history. Just for fun, I looked up my pedigree chart to see how far back it went. I only looked at one line from Grandpa Sager's paternal side, but we were amazed when I kept on clicking and it just kept on going. We weren't keeping track but i must have gone back 12 or 15 generations, and all of the temple work had been completed (dating back to people born in 1604!) It made me better appreciate the work that Grandma and Grandpa Sager are doing in Tennesee, and how much work there still is to do. But I love how it's all focused on the family, because that is where the greatest joys in life are found. So thanks Grandma and Grandpa, keep it up! And I'm glad to hear that Grandma Barnes continues to do well, she's definitely in my thoughts and prayers.
Welp this was kind of a long one so I hope you all got through it and it was enjoyable. It's so fun to be a on a mission and the wide variety of things you learn and experience. But overall, the highlight is definitely seeing the way the Lord blesses the lives of those who live his Gospel. It's THE truth!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.S. District Conference on Sunday was held on the 20 year anniversary of Estonia being opened up to missionary work. That means when it happened, I was just a wittle guy. And tomorrow we find out about transfer calls. This is my last one. Holy Moley. I am thinking/hoping I'll stay in Tallin. Either way, it's going to be the best!
So yeah, miraculously the service went pretty well. There was a good turnout of members, investigators, we had three there including Leo and Ilya who are still preparing for baptism in a few weeks. Plus the District Conference was the same day, so the Dances and another new Senior couple from Riga came up. Elder Briggs (we served together in Vilnius) is now the Branch President in Narva and he came over with Elder Patterson (who finishes his mission this week, and has been serving this last transfer in Narva). It was way cool for Karl because Elder Patterson is the one who first started teaching him at the beginning of the year. That's a pretty sweet way to spend the last week on your mission! Elder Patterson and I were able to serve together a few hours on Saturday evening and it was really enjoyable being together. He's someone that I've looked up to from Day 1 in the MTC and it's crazy to see him go home. But he has a really positive attitude about it, has served very faithfully, and will be able to help and support his family at home (his mother has cancer and is currently in the hospital.) He really is one of my heroes, and has had a big impact on me by dedicating his life to serve others and living the Gospel. I hope you'll meet him someday, and we made some plans to meet up this summer. He's an Idahoan but is also an Oregon fan and so I think he'll like Eugene. It's tough to see good friends leave the mission, but it's more "see ya later" because we'll definitely cross paths again. I've only known him for 2 years, but it feels like forever.
We also had some interesting/funny experiences this week. You may have heard but they had the NATO conferences here in Tallinn last week, and they held everything in the "Swiss Hotel" where we have the teaching center. So from Wednesday to Saturday, whenever we had a lesson, we would go outside, meet them around the corner, go through a security check-point tent, and then walk around the backside of the building. It wasn't too big of a hassle but it made "pulling people" (meet them on the streets and invite them right away to come up to the teaching center) pretty impossible. We also couldn't teach one investigators because he didn't bring any I.D. Haha. But it's all cleared up now, and no we did not get to see/meet Hillary Clinton. Bummer!
Later Wednesday evening we had a lesson with a man named Stefano. He's Italian, super nice, and has been living in Estonia for 6 years. He's a normal guy, in that he has a family, teaches anthropology at the university, but he's very smiley, friendly, and interested in what we're doing. We met him on the corner and he showed up with a camcorder and was just videoing us on the streets. So that was somewhat awkward... They let him through security, and as we're going up the elevator he pulls his videocamera out again and is filming us and asking questions. And then throughout the whole lesson he just keeps filming. Part of me wanted to ask him to kindly put it away, but you could tell that it was really important for him to document all of this and he was sincerely interested. It turned out to be a powerful lesson, and he later said that he "wishes he could have the same answers that we did" so we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it answers the questions to the soul, and he said he would read. He also asked if he could follow us around all one day to see what we do. I told him that we'd probably have to get permission from the people we teach to see if they will let a super happy Italian man tag along and video-tape them, but he said he wouldn't bring his camera but just watch. I've never thought about doing an exchange with an investigator before, but it's not an idea that I think President Dance will like. You never know though!
And then Friday evening was the ultimate "gong show." Gong show is a word that Elder Hatch would always use when we had a lot of things going on and it just gets crazy, as if there are Chinese gong drums being played. It sounds weird, but once you start using it you realize there are some situations that can't be summed up in a better way. Well Friday night was officially a gong show, mostly because we found out the day before that President Dance wanted to visit a less active that evening, and we already had a lesson scheduled with Robert and all of his friends. So we quickly got something worked out with a long term (10 year) member of the church who's super nice, been to the temple, believes everything, just struggles to come to church. But I was on an exchange with Elder Baird (friend from BYU, 55th ward alumni!) so Elder Koegler went with President to translate. So it wasn't too bad, we just had a few things going on at once, and our Chinese friends wanted to make us dinner and so they showed us how to make Chinese dumplings! They were pretty tasty, and it was just fun being with them. They are good people, and their questions are really heartfelt. "Why can't we all return to live with God, what happens if we join the church here and then go back to china?" Way prepared, super nice. Sometimes I wish that all of the people in the Baltics were Chinese. But maybe I'll just have to go on another mission there someday! I can't wait until China opens, I think the church will grow like crazy there. It's going to be a gong show.
A final cool experience was Friday morning when we met with a lady who's in charge of the family history program here in Tallinn. She just showed us the basics and how he can help members and investigators who are interested in doing their family history. Just for fun, I looked up my pedigree chart to see how far back it went. I only looked at one line from Grandpa Sager's paternal side, but we were amazed when I kept on clicking and it just kept on going. We weren't keeping track but i must have gone back 12 or 15 generations, and all of the temple work had been completed (dating back to people born in 1604!) It made me better appreciate the work that Grandma and Grandpa Sager are doing in Tennesee, and how much work there still is to do. But I love how it's all focused on the family, because that is where the greatest joys in life are found. So thanks Grandma and Grandpa, keep it up! And I'm glad to hear that Grandma Barnes continues to do well, she's definitely in my thoughts and prayers.
Welp this was kind of a long one so I hope you all got through it and it was enjoyable. It's so fun to be a on a mission and the wide variety of things you learn and experience. But overall, the highlight is definitely seeing the way the Lord blesses the lives of those who live his Gospel. It's THE truth!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.S. District Conference on Sunday was held on the 20 year anniversary of Estonia being opened up to missionary work. That means when it happened, I was just a wittle guy. And tomorrow we find out about transfer calls. This is my last one. Holy Moley. I am thinking/hoping I'll stay in Tallin. Either way, it's going to be the best!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sweet Week! from Elder Barnes
Dear Family,
I believe in Miracles! We've been blessed with a really great week- I'm going to try and attach some photos because sometimes words just don't cut it.
Firstly, last Tuesday the cake came! The pink elephants were amazingly all in-tact, just a little bit skinnier, and the writing was all legible. That's a miracle! And it was delicious as always, we actually gave a piece to a member here that we work with a lot and he took a bite and said "sick americans." hahah, our sweets are a little more rich/sweet than the Estonian ones. But so worth it! Really thank you for sending that, it actually came on March 29th, we just didn't get it for a while because of the Easter holiday. Speaking of which my companions say thank you for the candy bags. You love me!
Christopher and Bethany mentioned to me in their e-mails that they got in contact with Robert and Fiona through e-mail. They are the Chinese couple who came to general conference last week. We called to teach them again this week, and they were super busy with exams and said they would call the next day if they had time. Usually that means that we would have to call the next day and follow up, but 15 minutes later Robert called back and said they could come and was wondering if he could bring a few friends! So Friday evening, we met up in center and took the bus to the church (15 min) with 5 cool Chinese people. It was awesome! We met at the church because it's closer to one of the members in the Estonian branch, Brother Christopher Chan. Bro Chan was born in Hong Kong-- lived there till he was a teenager, moved to the U.S (Washington state, i'm pretty sure) and then moved to Estonia, where he married an Estonian woman and now has 4 kids with one more on the way. He's one of the funniest people I've ever met-- apparently he joined the church in the states but was never really active until he came here and his wife asked him something about if their family could live together forever, so he remembered about the church, called up the missionaries, and now his whole family is very active and sealed in the temple! He did an awesome job teaching the lesson-- we watched the Finding Happiness video in Mandarin (they all speak Mandarin, all though Bro Chan only speaks Cantonese) and he taught with a lot of good parables/stories. After watching the video, one of the other guys, whose name is Richard, said "before I watched the movie, I didn't really know why I am here. But now, I just want to help people!" I was just blown away. Definitely one of those almost too good to be true moments. All throughout the video I just had a really strong feeling that Heavenly Father knows every one of his children and prepares them to have a chance, sooner or later, to hear about the gospel. They weren't able to make it to church yesterday, but really wanted to and they said they will come next week. They'll probably attend the Estonian branch because there are a lot more English speakers (we teach them in English) and Bro Chan goes to that branch. But from the way it's looking, there might have to be an Estonian Chinese branch soon-- or at least a Chinese-speaking Sunday school class!
Do you remember when I was a wittle guy and told you that I wanted to serve a mission "someplace where they have good chinese food?" That dream is kind of coming true! We haven't had dinner with our chinese friends yet, but apparently Fiona loves to cook- so we'll see. Do you also remember when I said I was "addicted to candy?" Old habits die hard. We devoured the goodies from the package, and then I decided that I'm going to go a month without eating any sweets. Part of that was inspired by Dad who would go on those kind of diets, and I use to think it was nuts but now it sounds like a fun challenge. But mostly there's this one activity in PMG that talks about giving up a habit in order to try to better understand how investigators feel when they give up addictions to live by the commandments. We are teaching two 21 year old guys from our English class, Leo and Ilya, and they came to conference last week, and church yesterday, and they are progressing really well. We invited them to be baptized on Tuesday, and they said yes! Leo even said "of course", so Thursday we taught them with some youth members about the word of wisdom. They know about it, because they had heard about it before in spiritual thoughts so it wasn't anything new, we just needed to commit them to live by it. So when we asked them to if they will live by the word of wisdom, Leo said, sure we'll start after we're baptized. Haha. We explained that it doesn't quite work that way. But they said they would start to live it, so I thought that cutting off the sweets would be a a good way to sympathize and understand. It's only been three days, but I feel a little difference (especially after a week off chowing down cake and all-sorts!) but it's definitely tough! I'm grateful that for the rest of my life, candy is not against the word of wisdom.
We have watched 3 sessions of general conference in Russian, and the saturday morning session in English, and we will finish the rest of the english sessions this week! I'm so so excited. Even though watching in Russian is fun and I can understand what they're saying, it still means a lot more in English and the jokes are a lot funnier. Some of the themes I've picked up are the emphasis of focusing on living the gospel as a family, and relying on faith in Christ. I appreciate General Conference more and more as time goes on. It also makes me realize how much I love and am grateful for and miss my family! I was feeling especially family sick on Sunday, just being at church with the members and their families and Elder Nelson's talk and those adorable pictures and so of course i started to think about Tate! And then I really liked Elder Anderson's talk. I don't know why it had never really clicked with me so clealy before but he said a line that hit me hard. I'm not even sure if it's something he said, but it's at least what I heard" The Atonement of Jesus Christ is what makes it possible for families to live together forever." So whether separated by distance, or death, if you know that your family will be together forever, you can take comfort in that everything will be ok. At that point I started bawling like a baby, but not because I was sad. I felt a lot of peace and warmth, and it was yet another confirmation to me that the Gospel of Jesus Chirst is the only way to eternal happiness.
One last piece of sad/mostlyhappy news came Saturday evening when we called Karl in Finland to see how he's doing. He said that he FINISHed his work on the yahct and will probably be coming back within the next few days. Sad because he was really excited about having work, but he even sounded happy about the idea of coming back to Tallinn. I asked him if he still wants to be baptized and he said "of course!" He's passed his interview and is ready, so the plan is for him to come to church this Sunday and then he could be baptized next saturday, the 24th. That's in 12 days! Woo-hoo. Life is good.
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.s. the last picture was last thursday evening which happened to be Elder Reid's birthday! So the candles/balloons came right on time! I tried to show the Baltic smile in the pic with the pink elephant cake, but the first picture is my favorite. They are so awesome!
More Details from Sister Brett
Hello family and friends,
What a beautiful week to be alive!
I don't even know where to begin. Let me just say that conference was an incredible experience--never has a general conference been so exciting/exhilarating/tiring/happy in my whole life! We set goals as a mission before conference as to how many referrals we would be able to receive, and God was definitely aware of us! We decided that we would be able to get at least 3,000 referrals (names and numbers of friends and family w/out the gospel for us to call and share the gospel with) from all of the members. That was a pretty hefty goal seeing as last conference (while I was in the MTC) we were able to get about 2,203 as a mission (3 over the set goal). Anyhow, I have never seen the sisters in this mission work as hard (or look as beautiful ;) as this past conference weekend. The Square was buzzing, the loudspeakers were booming the conference talks and Tab music across the grounds, and the Spirit of missionary work was THICK. OOO, I LOVED IT. I thought several times as we were contacting of what an incredible mission this is. Nowhere else in the world can you look in every direction and see sister missionaries and couple missionaries at work and in the midst of building the Lord’s Kingdom. It really was a sight to see.
Another sight to see was MY BEST FRIENDS!!! Andrea, Holly and Garrett found me and I thought I would faint for joy. It was the first time I’ve seen them yet and I just couldn’t imagine life getting any better at that moment. It was a blessing to see so many familiar faces from BYU and pre-mission life (Andrea would laugh that I saw the Rhoads from Platos Closet and John Campbell, haha), and they all helped us out with missionary work as well So good.
Above all else however, were how prepared the members came this conference. Sister Johnson and I were literally floating when we had members offer us referrals and missionary opportunities without us even asking (yet)! For example, there is one RM who is going to college here and he comes to Temple Square all the time. A few weeks ago I challenged him to go through all his missionary planners and find 3 people for me to call and reinvite to have missionaries. He was way excited with that idea and promised he would. Well…on Sunday between sessions we were just contacting when he came and found us. He had a huge smile on his face when he pulled out a list of about 24 people for me to call that he knew/taught from his mission in California but never knew what became of them. “And I’ve only gone through 2 of my planners so far Sister Brett!” haha, jeah. It was so wonderful, and 3 of the people I have called thus far from that list were so excited to welcome the missionaries back into their home and learn more about the message we carry. I even called one woman named Sheila, and she got baptized after Logan had finished his mission! Talk about planting seeds. It was so neat to talk to her and she said something really true, “I’ve been so blessed because so many people didn’t ever drop the ball when it comes to me learning the truth—Elder Nikolas is obviously one of them, tell him thank you a hundred times over!” We can't ever drop the ball when it comes to inviting others to learn about our Savior's gospel!
The urgency of this message is really starting to catch on to the saints and it was proven this weekend!
At 9pm on Sunday evening we had a mission meeting in the Tabernacle with the Sisters and President and Sister Holmes' family (they have 12 grown and married children so their family is large!)—yes, once again I was overcome with gratitude. We met at the end of the 180th conference in the original conference center where the pioneers heard the words of living prophets. Wow. Anyhow, the purpose was to account for the work we had done during conference and to see if our goal was met. Our goal was 3,000 referrals, but guess how many souls/families will be invited to accept the gospel because of the incredible members this conference?....4,782!!!!! Yes, it was a miracle and God was definitely in every aspect of it.
The work continues onward though as we call, teach, testify and invite all of these individuals---and once again they are proving to be prepared. The field is WHITE!!! BEAUTIFUL.
I love this work on Temple Square. We were able to see one session of conference, the Sunday morning, where President Monson spoke of the hope provided through the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, just as he had promised. This is truly the greatest hope we have, and I am so thankful for this Easter season to remind and renew that hope.
I love you all so much, thank you for your prayers, letters, packages(thanks Momma!), hugs (Andrea and Holly), smiles (Gary), and hard work in living according to the knowledge we have been so greatly blessed with.
All my love and prayers,
-Sister Brett#3
What a beautiful week to be alive!
I don't even know where to begin. Let me just say that conference was an incredible experience--never has a general conference been so exciting/exhilarating/tiring/happy in my whole life! We set goals as a mission before conference as to how many referrals we would be able to receive, and God was definitely aware of us! We decided that we would be able to get at least 3,000 referrals (names and numbers of friends and family w/out the gospel for us to call and share the gospel with) from all of the members. That was a pretty hefty goal seeing as last conference (while I was in the MTC) we were able to get about 2,203 as a mission (3 over the set goal). Anyhow, I have never seen the sisters in this mission work as hard (or look as beautiful ;) as this past conference weekend. The Square was buzzing, the loudspeakers were booming the conference talks and Tab music across the grounds, and the Spirit of missionary work was THICK. OOO, I LOVED IT. I thought several times as we were contacting of what an incredible mission this is. Nowhere else in the world can you look in every direction and see sister missionaries and couple missionaries at work and in the midst of building the Lord’s Kingdom. It really was a sight to see.
Another sight to see was MY BEST FRIENDS!!! Andrea, Holly and Garrett found me and I thought I would faint for joy. It was the first time I’ve seen them yet and I just couldn’t imagine life getting any better at that moment. It was a blessing to see so many familiar faces from BYU and pre-mission life (Andrea would laugh that I saw the Rhoads from Platos Closet and John Campbell, haha), and they all helped us out with missionary work as well So good.
Above all else however, were how prepared the members came this conference. Sister Johnson and I were literally floating when we had members offer us referrals and missionary opportunities without us even asking (yet)! For example, there is one RM who is going to college here and he comes to Temple Square all the time. A few weeks ago I challenged him to go through all his missionary planners and find 3 people for me to call and reinvite to have missionaries. He was way excited with that idea and promised he would. Well…on Sunday between sessions we were just contacting when he came and found us. He had a huge smile on his face when he pulled out a list of about 24 people for me to call that he knew/taught from his mission in California but never knew what became of them. “And I’ve only gone through 2 of my planners so far Sister Brett!” haha, jeah. It was so wonderful, and 3 of the people I have called thus far from that list were so excited to welcome the missionaries back into their home and learn more about the message we carry. I even called one woman named Sheila, and she got baptized after Logan had finished his mission! Talk about planting seeds. It was so neat to talk to her and she said something really true, “I’ve been so blessed because so many people didn’t ever drop the ball when it comes to me learning the truth—Elder Nikolas is obviously one of them, tell him thank you a hundred times over!” We can't ever drop the ball when it comes to inviting others to learn about our Savior's gospel!
The urgency of this message is really starting to catch on to the saints and it was proven this weekend!
At 9pm on Sunday evening we had a mission meeting in the Tabernacle with the Sisters and President and Sister Holmes' family (they have 12 grown and married children so their family is large!)—yes, once again I was overcome with gratitude. We met at the end of the 180th conference in the original conference center where the pioneers heard the words of living prophets. Wow. Anyhow, the purpose was to account for the work we had done during conference and to see if our goal was met. Our goal was 3,000 referrals, but guess how many souls/families will be invited to accept the gospel because of the incredible members this conference?....4,782!!!!! Yes, it was a miracle and God was definitely in every aspect of it.
The work continues onward though as we call, teach, testify and invite all of these individuals---and once again they are proving to be prepared. The field is WHITE!!! BEAUTIFUL.
I love this work on Temple Square. We were able to see one session of conference, the Sunday morning, where President Monson spoke of the hope provided through the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, just as he had promised. This is truly the greatest hope we have, and I am so thankful for this Easter season to remind and renew that hope.
I love you all so much, thank you for your prayers, letters, packages(thanks Momma!), hugs (Andrea and Holly), smiles (Gary), and hard work in living according to the knowledge we have been so greatly blessed with.
All my love and prayers,
-Sister Brett#3
Hello! Happy Easter! from Elder Peter Barnes
Whew! It's been a great week. And to top it off, I opened my e-mail box today to find 12 un-read e-mails! Sorry for the super short e-mail last week and I don't have too much more time today but I'll try to fill you in. First, please pass very big thank yous to Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and Sager for the birthday gifts, Tyler, and the Hubler Family for the E-mails, and to Sister Jenae Brett and the Brett family for the packages-- I got them last week and they were awesome! I've already worn my new favorite "Ammon" tie and Spokane shirt (not at the same time), and all of my companions are very jealous. The birthday cake has yet to arrive, but I've got faith that it'll come soon. And I'm so excited! Also, I forgot to thank the 1st/3rd ward primaries for the valentines letters, and cookie mix. Super delicious. I say it a lot but probably not enough, thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, e-mails. I really do feel the love and it makes serving far away seem not so bad at all! I really love serving a mission and I'm a lucky guy to have the world's greatest family and friends. Thank you!
I'm jealous that you were able to watch all of conference! In Latvia and Lithuania, we watched it the following week-end, but in Estonia (the more high tech of the countries) they watch it live and do a direct translation into Estonian! So we were able to watch the Saturday morning session at 7:00 PM saturday evening and the Priesthood session on Sunday. We didn't watch all of them because we were just supposed to watch them in our mission languages with investigators and then next week we'll get to watch recorded English sessions. It was fun to watch it in Russian, and I can understand pretty much everything they say, it's just not quite the same as watching it in English. Especially when President Monson started to "ad-lib" and the translator got lost... But it was a nice teaser to see a little bit and I'm really really excited to be able to watch them all. Conference week-end is one of my favorite times of the year and it just reminds me more and more how true the church is, no matter where you are. We actually had four investigators come on Saturday evening, which was awesome! Two were young guys from our English class, who are pretty interested in the church and really enjoyed it although they said their bottoms hurt for sitting down for so long. Ha, and the other two are a miraculous couple we just started teaching-- their names are Robert and Fiona and they are from China! So I guess their real names are Kong Shw Wu and Wang Pintint (no joke) but they chose English names because they are (a lot) easier to say. They are both 23, will be here for 3 years for studies, met each other here, and they already look and act like members of the church! When they watched the restoration video, in Mandarin, they were so so excited. Fiona pointed at the picture of Christ being baptized by John the Baptist and asked if they could do that too!! Ha I'm not sure how much they understood at conference, but they said they still liked it and that the music was really peaceful. I told them all about Christopher speaking Mandarin and serving in Paris and living in Nan-Jing and they were really interested in that too. I thought about trying to arrange a lesson with him over skype, but then realized that that's probably not allowed and I probably like the idea so much because then i would be able to see Christopher over skype... But there's an awesome member here from China so we'll hopefully teach them together this week. I love sharing the gospel with humble people from all over the world-- it's the best!
I had a very solid birthday. A member who we've been working with for the last few weeks invited us over for lunch and it was really good. (That's probably the 3rd or 4th dinner appointment of my mission. haha!) I didn't tell many other people about it, because it's kind of odd to walk up to someone and say, hey did you know today is my birthday? Especially on April 1st because no one believes you anyway... But my companions treated me very well and we made a birthday pizza and mayonnaise cake(surprisingly really good-- although no comparison to pink elephants.) The assistants told me that last week at church Igor was walking around and telling anyone that would listen that "April 1st is Elder Barnes's Birhtday." And then he'd say-- "oh and it's mine too!" And Karl texted me from Finland too, which was really nice-- i felt the love from all around the world, so thank you! Speaking of Karl, I called him last night just to see how he's doing and he was really happy. He lives 25 KM outside of Porvo (not sure if there are missionaries there...) and he's working 10 hours a day building a yacht and doesn't know how long he'll be there. He misses us and was bummed to miss Conference and his potential baptism, but he started over in the Book of Mormon and is loving it. I asked him where he's reading and he said where Nephi is building the ship. And I said, Karl you're Nephi! And he thought it was a good joke. He's such a good guy and I really believe he'll find his way into the church sooner or later. Welp I gotta run but again, thank you, I love you, keep praying for me and I will for you!
love, Elder Barnes #12
I'm jealous that you were able to watch all of conference! In Latvia and Lithuania, we watched it the following week-end, but in Estonia (the more high tech of the countries) they watch it live and do a direct translation into Estonian! So we were able to watch the Saturday morning session at 7:00 PM saturday evening and the Priesthood session on Sunday. We didn't watch all of them because we were just supposed to watch them in our mission languages with investigators and then next week we'll get to watch recorded English sessions. It was fun to watch it in Russian, and I can understand pretty much everything they say, it's just not quite the same as watching it in English. Especially when President Monson started to "ad-lib" and the translator got lost... But it was a nice teaser to see a little bit and I'm really really excited to be able to watch them all. Conference week-end is one of my favorite times of the year and it just reminds me more and more how true the church is, no matter where you are. We actually had four investigators come on Saturday evening, which was awesome! Two were young guys from our English class, who are pretty interested in the church and really enjoyed it although they said their bottoms hurt for sitting down for so long. Ha, and the other two are a miraculous couple we just started teaching-- their names are Robert and Fiona and they are from China! So I guess their real names are Kong Shw Wu and Wang Pintint (no joke) but they chose English names because they are (a lot) easier to say. They are both 23, will be here for 3 years for studies, met each other here, and they already look and act like members of the church! When they watched the restoration video, in Mandarin, they were so so excited. Fiona pointed at the picture of Christ being baptized by John the Baptist and asked if they could do that too!! Ha I'm not sure how much they understood at conference, but they said they still liked it and that the music was really peaceful. I told them all about Christopher speaking Mandarin and serving in Paris and living in Nan-Jing and they were really interested in that too. I thought about trying to arrange a lesson with him over skype, but then realized that that's probably not allowed and I probably like the idea so much because then i would be able to see Christopher over skype... But there's an awesome member here from China so we'll hopefully teach them together this week. I love sharing the gospel with humble people from all over the world-- it's the best!
I had a very solid birthday. A member who we've been working with for the last few weeks invited us over for lunch and it was really good. (That's probably the 3rd or 4th dinner appointment of my mission. haha!) I didn't tell many other people about it, because it's kind of odd to walk up to someone and say, hey did you know today is my birthday? Especially on April 1st because no one believes you anyway... But my companions treated me very well and we made a birthday pizza and mayonnaise cake(surprisingly really good-- although no comparison to pink elephants.) The assistants told me that last week at church Igor was walking around and telling anyone that would listen that "April 1st is Elder Barnes's Birhtday." And then he'd say-- "oh and it's mine too!" And Karl texted me from Finland too, which was really nice-- i felt the love from all around the world, so thank you! Speaking of Karl, I called him last night just to see how he's doing and he was really happy. He lives 25 KM outside of Porvo (not sure if there are missionaries there...) and he's working 10 hours a day building a yacht and doesn't know how long he'll be there. He misses us and was bummed to miss Conference and his potential baptism, but he started over in the Book of Mormon and is loving it. I asked him where he's reading and he said where Nephi is building the ship. And I said, Karl you're Nephi! And he thought it was a good joke. He's such a good guy and I really believe he'll find his way into the church sooner or later. Welp I gotta run but again, thank you, I love you, keep praying for me and I will for you!
love, Elder Barnes #12
Just hanging out with The Brethren, HAPPY EASTER!!!, from Sister Brett
Hello beautiful family and Happy almost Easter and New PDAY! We have preparation day on Friday now, so that's when my emails will be headed your way.
My first two days in the office have been the longest yet most wonderful days of my mission thus far! We welcomed the new sisters from the MTC at 7am on Wednesday morning, and literally haven't breathed since. Working on schedules for 200 sister missionaries while also trying to take care of the crowds here for conference has been a challenge, but wonderful. I have a perpetual migrane from overworking my little brain, but we can't slow up because this is a HUGE weekend and such an incredible chance to do the Lord's work. I cannot believe conference starts tomorrow!!!! YESSSSSSSS.
Speaking of conference....oh man, I don't even know where to start...
Well, yesterday (April 1st) I woke up and it was already a GREAT day because it was my best friend's birthday (Elder Barnes)...then, we had the incredible privelege of going with the Assistants and one other companionship to help serve lunch to the 1st Presidency, the 12 apostles and Quorum of the 70 between their general conference training meetings at the Church Office Building. Yes, you read that right, yesterday I personally met President Monson, his counselors and many other men called to lead the Church and work of our Savior Jesus Christ! I can't even begin to explain what an incredible experience that was.
The first general authority I met was President Eyring while I was putting punch out. Definitely not a situation I ever expected! He walked right up to me, shook my hand, asked where I was from and thanked us for all our service. I just smiled like a child who had just recieved the best Christmas present ever and said, "...Hi President Eyring...oh, you are welcome....our pleasure!" as if that were a normal sentence to come from my mouth. Pah!
Then, we served and mingled with them for an hour or so as they ate. It was such a neat sight to see because the Presidency and 12 apostles were spread out at the tables among the 70 and some other auxilary leaders, and they just seemed like they were all so happy and content to be together preparing for general conference. As we walked around and helped, they'd talk to us and joke with us---Elder Perry and Elder Holland were especially firecrackers yesterday to us 6 sisters, haha. Then as they began to filter back to their meetings I ran into the 70 from, or over, Riga, Latvia and said "hello" and "thank you" to him in Russian....the only 2 Russian words I know. He seemed pleasantly surprised and responded with a "No, no, no, thank you!" I was tempted to ask him if he knew an incredible Elder who served in Riga for a while, but decided he was probably a little bit busy. ;) Elder Bednar's table stayed an extra 20 or so minutes and Elder Bednar was just teaching the gospel like no one's business. I heard him say, "alright...you study that and so will I, then give me your address and I'll send you my notes." I want to be on that mailing list...
The icing on top came as we were cleaning dishes in the kitchen and President Uchdorf came in, said hi and thanked us, then about 12 minutes later President Monson came in! Actually, it was more like he waltzed in like he owned the place and then he met and gathered us 6 sisters around him and just began sharing stories and talking with us as if he had all the time in the world. He stayed there and talked to us for almost half an hour. He told us about the first time he saw his dear wife Francis and how the only thing he could think to say to her was that her middle name was spelled wrong in the ward directory, haha!!! Needless to say he got up the courage to ask her out. He told us the story that I know you have all heard, about when he met her parents. He came to pick her up for their first date, and upon meeting Francis' dad he ran and got a picture of 2 young missionaries, asking if he was related to the one with his same name. President Monson said it was his grandfather's brother. Because of that missionary (Pres. Monson's great-uncle) all of Francis' family had joined the church, and when they had made this connection her parents both gave President Monson a huge hug and kiss. "Most guys can't say that they got a hug and a kiss from their girl's parents before they even got one from her!" President Monson exclaimed with joy. It was hilarious and he just went on and on about stories from him joining the Navy and leaving his angel, but then eventually returning and marrying her forever. He spoke so fondly of her, and got very sad when he talked about her not feeling well right now. "She promised that she will be right next to me at conference though! Oh, my dearest angel."
It was fun to watch, because when he told these stories it was as if he were right back in 1945 reliving it all, but then he would jump back to reality, look you straight in the eye and say something like, "Sister, decisions determine destiny, every single one." I had to keep pinching myself because I just couldn't believe I was standing there with a Prophet of God hearing his love story and life advice. Even more, when he looked you in the eye, there is no dispute he holds God's authority, ALL of God's authority. It put a whoel new perspective to me on the saying "Eyes are the wondow to one's soul." That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I will never forget exactly how I felt.
Family, I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called to witness of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that his counselors, the 12 apostles and all the other leaders and worthy priesthood holders in this church truly have the authority to act in the name of our Savior for our salvation. This weekend we will be priveleged to hear, through His called servant's, God's instruction for us TODAY. He loves us! So much that He still is sharing with us how we can receive the greatest happiness possible. This truth is proven, above all else, in the beautiful plan He set up for us which is centered on His Son Jesus Christ. This Easter weekend please don't forget about why we are celebrating. President Monson told us that in the Sunday morning session he will be speaking on the Resurrection, and he so humbly said "I think it should be good." Our living prophet will be reminding us of that Sunday morning so many years ago when our personal Savior overcame death, spiritual AND physical, so that we can do the same. What incredible news! He LIVES! I pray every day that we live worthy of this knowledge, and now we have to tell the world!!!
I love you all so much, this weekend will be incredible!
Love,
-Sister Nay Brett#3
My first two days in the office have been the longest yet most wonderful days of my mission thus far! We welcomed the new sisters from the MTC at 7am on Wednesday morning, and literally haven't breathed since. Working on schedules for 200 sister missionaries while also trying to take care of the crowds here for conference has been a challenge, but wonderful. I have a perpetual migrane from overworking my little brain, but we can't slow up because this is a HUGE weekend and such an incredible chance to do the Lord's work. I cannot believe conference starts tomorrow!!!! YESSSSSSSS.
Speaking of conference....oh man, I don't even know where to start...
Well, yesterday (April 1st) I woke up and it was already a GREAT day because it was my best friend's birthday (Elder Barnes)...then, we had the incredible privelege of going with the Assistants and one other companionship to help serve lunch to the 1st Presidency, the 12 apostles and Quorum of the 70 between their general conference training meetings at the Church Office Building. Yes, you read that right, yesterday I personally met President Monson, his counselors and many other men called to lead the Church and work of our Savior Jesus Christ! I can't even begin to explain what an incredible experience that was.
The first general authority I met was President Eyring while I was putting punch out. Definitely not a situation I ever expected! He walked right up to me, shook my hand, asked where I was from and thanked us for all our service. I just smiled like a child who had just recieved the best Christmas present ever and said, "...Hi President Eyring...oh, you are welcome....our pleasure!" as if that were a normal sentence to come from my mouth. Pah!
Then, we served and mingled with them for an hour or so as they ate. It was such a neat sight to see because the Presidency and 12 apostles were spread out at the tables among the 70 and some other auxilary leaders, and they just seemed like they were all so happy and content to be together preparing for general conference. As we walked around and helped, they'd talk to us and joke with us---Elder Perry and Elder Holland were especially firecrackers yesterday to us 6 sisters, haha. Then as they began to filter back to their meetings I ran into the 70 from, or over, Riga, Latvia and said "hello" and "thank you" to him in Russian....the only 2 Russian words I know. He seemed pleasantly surprised and responded with a "No, no, no, thank you!" I was tempted to ask him if he knew an incredible Elder who served in Riga for a while, but decided he was probably a little bit busy. ;) Elder Bednar's table stayed an extra 20 or so minutes and Elder Bednar was just teaching the gospel like no one's business. I heard him say, "alright...you study that and so will I, then give me your address and I'll send you my notes." I want to be on that mailing list...
The icing on top came as we were cleaning dishes in the kitchen and President Uchdorf came in, said hi and thanked us, then about 12 minutes later President Monson came in! Actually, it was more like he waltzed in like he owned the place and then he met and gathered us 6 sisters around him and just began sharing stories and talking with us as if he had all the time in the world. He stayed there and talked to us for almost half an hour. He told us about the first time he saw his dear wife Francis and how the only thing he could think to say to her was that her middle name was spelled wrong in the ward directory, haha!!! Needless to say he got up the courage to ask her out. He told us the story that I know you have all heard, about when he met her parents. He came to pick her up for their first date, and upon meeting Francis' dad he ran and got a picture of 2 young missionaries, asking if he was related to the one with his same name. President Monson said it was his grandfather's brother. Because of that missionary (Pres. Monson's great-uncle) all of Francis' family had joined the church, and when they had made this connection her parents both gave President Monson a huge hug and kiss. "Most guys can't say that they got a hug and a kiss from their girl's parents before they even got one from her!" President Monson exclaimed with joy. It was hilarious and he just went on and on about stories from him joining the Navy and leaving his angel, but then eventually returning and marrying her forever. He spoke so fondly of her, and got very sad when he talked about her not feeling well right now. "She promised that she will be right next to me at conference though! Oh, my dearest angel."
It was fun to watch, because when he told these stories it was as if he were right back in 1945 reliving it all, but then he would jump back to reality, look you straight in the eye and say something like, "Sister, decisions determine destiny, every single one." I had to keep pinching myself because I just couldn't believe I was standing there with a Prophet of God hearing his love story and life advice. Even more, when he looked you in the eye, there is no dispute he holds God's authority, ALL of God's authority. It put a whoel new perspective to me on the saying "Eyes are the wondow to one's soul." That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I will never forget exactly how I felt.
Family, I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called to witness of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that his counselors, the 12 apostles and all the other leaders and worthy priesthood holders in this church truly have the authority to act in the name of our Savior for our salvation. This weekend we will be priveleged to hear, through His called servant's, God's instruction for us TODAY. He loves us! So much that He still is sharing with us how we can receive the greatest happiness possible. This truth is proven, above all else, in the beautiful plan He set up for us which is centered on His Son Jesus Christ. This Easter weekend please don't forget about why we are celebrating. President Monson told us that in the Sunday morning session he will be speaking on the Resurrection, and he so humbly said "I think it should be good." Our living prophet will be reminding us of that Sunday morning so many years ago when our personal Savior overcame death, spiritual AND physical, so that we can do the same. What incredible news! He LIVES! I pray every day that we live worthy of this knowledge, and now we have to tell the world!!!
I love you all so much, this weekend will be incredible!
Love,
-Sister Nay Brett#3
Monday, March 29, 2010
I'm getting Old!
Thanks for all of your great e-mails! Unfortunately i haven't been able to read all the way through them yet (don't worry, I printed them off and will be able to enjoy them later. Your emails are so great!)-- we just got into Riga and we have a council that starts in a wee little bit so we have just enough time to check in and tell you that we are still alive and happy. And I'm staying alive and am very happy!
This week hit us with a few suprises, but like always-- everything will be alright and will work out for the best. The biggest shocker came during our thursday lesson with Karl when he told us that he's going to Finland. (Yet another across-the-sea connection to Sister Richey!) He's been looking for work for the last year and a half and has been doing all that he can to work anywhere. He is a carpenter and has worked with building planes and yachts and houses and everything in between. We've been meeting up with him the last 3 weeks and over the last week and half he's REALLY gotten into the Book of Mormon, reads and prays every day. He says that he's been a lot happier over the last while and can feel that his life is improving. He still misses his wife and 6 year old kid more than anything and it's really hard for him to be apart from them. But he says that he's been praying that God would give him work and boom-- Heavenly Father answered his prayer. It's definitely a tender mercy from the Lord, and even though it's tough to see a investigator leave the country one week before he's about to get baptized, I really believe he will become a member of the church. I'm not sure when, and where, but if I don't get to see it, then Cami just might! His friend who referred him from Riga was planning on coming up to Tallinn this saturday to see the baptism, but Karl is not sure how long he'll be in Finland so we'll have to see. If he'll live in Finland for a long time, he'll probably just get baptized there. I'm not sure in which language though, haha. He's not too great in English and I think he only knows a few words in Finnish-- but could probably learn it quickly because he knows Estonian. Baiscally we still don't know what's going to happen, but the Lord will definitely provide a way!
Well that was the main suprise of the week-- we also took a 2 hour train to visit a less active member, and it turned out to be way worth it. I'm pretty sure I told you about him last week, but he's the one who called us up and wanted to change his life. We were going to go out to him last week but we didn't know how far away he lived until we got on the train (he thought it was about half an hour) but we figured it would be good could to get promission before we took a trip halfway across the country, so we asked President about it and he said go for it. I think he trusts us a lot and he's excited about the work that is happening in Estonian. There are some really great members here who are willing to teach with us and that makes a big difference. We were able to teach Karl 4 times last week with a different member every time and it really amazes me the dedication and willingness of the members here. The church is just plain true!
Sorry this is such a short e-mail but we've got to fly. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and I'm looking forward to trying to eat the cake. Haha. Don't worry if it doesn't come before the 1st because weeks feel like days and months feel like a blur so half the time I don't even know what day it is. All I know is that 3 months too late the snow on the ground is finally starting to melt. Tha's what I'm talking about!
I love you!!!
Love, Elder Barnes #21?
This week hit us with a few suprises, but like always-- everything will be alright and will work out for the best. The biggest shocker came during our thursday lesson with Karl when he told us that he's going to Finland. (Yet another across-the-sea connection to Sister Richey!) He's been looking for work for the last year and a half and has been doing all that he can to work anywhere. He is a carpenter and has worked with building planes and yachts and houses and everything in between. We've been meeting up with him the last 3 weeks and over the last week and half he's REALLY gotten into the Book of Mormon, reads and prays every day. He says that he's been a lot happier over the last while and can feel that his life is improving. He still misses his wife and 6 year old kid more than anything and it's really hard for him to be apart from them. But he says that he's been praying that God would give him work and boom-- Heavenly Father answered his prayer. It's definitely a tender mercy from the Lord, and even though it's tough to see a investigator leave the country one week before he's about to get baptized, I really believe he will become a member of the church. I'm not sure when, and where, but if I don't get to see it, then Cami just might! His friend who referred him from Riga was planning on coming up to Tallinn this saturday to see the baptism, but Karl is not sure how long he'll be in Finland so we'll have to see. If he'll live in Finland for a long time, he'll probably just get baptized there. I'm not sure in which language though, haha. He's not too great in English and I think he only knows a few words in Finnish-- but could probably learn it quickly because he knows Estonian. Baiscally we still don't know what's going to happen, but the Lord will definitely provide a way!
Well that was the main suprise of the week-- we also took a 2 hour train to visit a less active member, and it turned out to be way worth it. I'm pretty sure I told you about him last week, but he's the one who called us up and wanted to change his life. We were going to go out to him last week but we didn't know how far away he lived until we got on the train (he thought it was about half an hour) but we figured it would be good could to get promission before we took a trip halfway across the country, so we asked President about it and he said go for it. I think he trusts us a lot and he's excited about the work that is happening in Estonian. There are some really great members here who are willing to teach with us and that makes a big difference. We were able to teach Karl 4 times last week with a different member every time and it really amazes me the dedication and willingness of the members here. The church is just plain true!
Sorry this is such a short e-mail but we've got to fly. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and I'm looking forward to trying to eat the cake. Haha. Don't worry if it doesn't come before the 1st because weeks feel like days and months feel like a blur so half the time I don't even know what day it is. All I know is that 3 months too late the snow on the ground is finally starting to melt. Tha's what I'm talking about!
I love you!!!
Love, Elder Barnes #21?
Monday, March 22, 2010
part II
Hey again! Okay where was I... oh yeah- Karl! He's the investigator who's a refeferral from a member in Riga. He's come to church the past three weeks, and we've started to teach him with the branch mission leader here and last Friday we taught him the second half of the "gospel of Jesus Christ" and it was super powerful. We've invited him to be baptized a few times already but he always says that he needs to learn more first. During the lesson we asked him if he believed Joseph Smith was a prophet- and he said I'm not sure. So then we asked him if he believed the book of mormon (which he's been reading a lot, and really enjoys) and he says, yeah, everything that's written in there is all correct. So we read the introduction to the book of mormon-- which is so inspired and clear-- and he made the connection. So we invited him again and he said yes! It really has been neat to see the way the Lord has prepared Karl throughout his life to except the gospel-- the crucial part being played by the examples of members and how the gospel has blessed their lives and brought happiness. Karl always talkes about how the members are so happy and how everything worked out for his friend in Riga. Karl will be a great addition to the branch-- and I'm looking forward to seeing the way the gospel will bless him. I read something in preach my gospel a few days ago that I really like. "As people are taught the gospel and live it, their needs will be met." It's so simple and so true. You put God and your family first, and do your best to live the gospel, and everything else will work out.
I mentioned that we found some cool people on the streets sunday evening but what I forgot to say is where they are from--one is named Varoon from India and the other is Chen from Nanjing, China! Hahah i was so happy to somehow have connections to those places, and I even got to use some chinese with Chen. "shei-shei." One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 26:37, it shows that God takes care of us, no matter where we are. That's so true! And I love that I get to help others come to know that.
I love you and please pass a big hello to all of the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents in Utah!
Love,Elder Barnes #12
I mentioned that we found some cool people on the streets sunday evening but what I forgot to say is where they are from--one is named Varoon from India and the other is Chen from Nanjing, China! Hahah i was so happy to somehow have connections to those places, and I even got to use some chinese with Chen. "shei-shei." One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 26:37, it shows that God takes care of us, no matter where we are. That's so true! And I love that I get to help others come to know that.
I love you and please pass a big hello to all of the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents in Utah!
Love,Elder Barnes #12
make new friends, but keep the old! from Peter
Dearest Family,
I don't know about you but this week has flown by far me. The first week of a transfer is also interesting because you spend a day with new companions and it feels like you have already been with them forever. Last trasnfer was a blast and I miss Elders Patterson and Plothow (I sent a picture of us from last sunday-- I'm not sure I've ever sent a picure of us together.) Elder Patterson is in Narva where he started his mission and Elder Plothow is living one stairwell over with a Estonian speaking misisonary that is from from the MTC-- so they are nearby and we see each other often which is good. .
But having said that, I'm again blessed to serve with stellar, very focused and fun companions. One of whom is a foreigner!! Whew-hoo! I've been reading about Sister Brett's companions and their crazy stories and testimonies and was a little envious, but now I've got a non-american companion myself! His name is Elder Koegler. And he's from Canada! That may not seem like a big deal, but it still counts. First, his pass-port is a different color (or colour in canadian), his ancestory is from Germany but he looks kinda french, and he does occasionally use the word eh? and other odd words/pronounciations-- to phone someone, a beg (or bag in American) and there's others but I just can't think of them. But I've decided that I love Canadians because Elder Koegler is the man. He's had quite the ride of a mission, being called to Vladivastok, Russia (furthest east mission) getting kicked out after 3 months because Russia would not renew his visa, he served 2 weeks in the Spain MTC, 3 weeks in Riga and now he's here! He's officially assigned to the Batlic Mission so they'll be sending his luggage here, which will be good because he's gone the past month and some with only the clothes on his back and a backpack with a few changes of socks, ties, etc... The amazing part is that he does not complain one bit and yesterday he said it's been cool to see the Lord's hand in where he has been serving and the specific reasons he's been places. It's his 4th transfer but I'm extremely impressed by his Russian (best accent i've heard from a non-native missionary) and missionary skills. It's a blessing to serve with him. The other key piece to our tripanionship is Elder Reid-- another awesome missionary that I've served around a ton in Vilnius and Riga and been on exchanges with a few times and am excited to serve with. He's had 3 latvian speaking companions so sometimes we SYL in Latvian-- but it never goes very far-- he definitely knows more than I do, but I can understand what he's saying. It's been very fun to speak Russian together on the streets and I can see that I'm learning more quickly than I have in a while. I love Russian and it's crazy how rich a language it is. I don't know how many words there are, but there must be a lot.
Sunday evening we were planning to go out to our area and teach a family but it didn't work out. So we had a free hour and a half and were trying to decided if it would be worth it to travel all the way out there, knock a few doors, and then have to come back right away. So we decided to stay in center and talk with people on the streets and it was the right call! We were able to talk to a few people who were really interested and got their phone numbers and scheduled a time to call them this week.
Losing Elder Plothow from our companionship also took away half of our investigators and less actives/ recent converts we've been working with, so we definitely did some more finding this week. The Lord has led us to some great and interested people including two Russian families that we found while knocking that we should be able to teach this week . We also have a lesson sceduled with two young solid members (one is a returned missionary) and their friend who's come to church a few times. Member referrals are the best!, hold on a sec i'm going to send this first half
funny photos from Peter
on saturday we saw these kids playing dungens and dragons in the middle of the city. They were going after it.
the second picture is on our run this morning. The building behind me is where we have teaching center where we meet with investigators.
the last picture is the ribs we bought from the store and cooked. Lets just say we want be doing that again. They were actually pork and definitely not my baby back baby back ribs.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
RE: Hi from home :-), from Sister Brett
Heya Family and Best Friends!
So good to hear all the happenings on the home front! I forget how crazy busy life always was in our home growing up with family, school, work, sports, dance, music, etc...but it's so fun to be reminded of it and to see that the little sisters are carrying on the tradition! Yeah Josie! Oh that little ham, I just love her :)
I totally understand how Jessie feels too. Senior year was incredible, but that itching to get off to college gets worse and worse until the day it finally comes! Speaking of college, Sister Beylis (my trainer from Israel/Russia) found out this week that she is accepted into BYU-Idaho like Jessie!!! She hasn't heard from Provo yet, but either way she's staying close. YEAH!!!
The work is still going great. The sunshine has been coming more often (although the rain and even snow like to "dampen" every few days still ;). The sun brings more people here though, and it's also been spring break for a lot of Universities so we're getting a whole ton of opportunities to share the gospel with people our age! Sister Sundaram and I cannot wait for conference, we're hoping we will stay together because conference is right at the beginning of next transfer. We'll see though! Time is going by really fast this transfer, does it feel like it's going fast to you too?
We met an incredible guy named Brandon last night. He was here with a few friends and his brother for skiing and they thought they'd stop by Temple Square for a few minutes. He asked if we could show them the tabernacle, and of course we said yes! It was hard at the beginning though because they were wearing sunglasses so I couldn't read their eyes. Eyes are such a HUGE part of knowing if someone is or will be receptive to our message. That whole light of christ thing is REAL, very real. But luckily they took off the glasses in the tabernacle, and as we started to teach the history of our church and about prophets Brandon watched and listened SO intently He had one of those soft looks the whole time where he would meet your eyes and you knew he knew this was something special we were sharing. Neat guy, incredible experiences. God is definitely blessing us. Of course with more good comes more bad and opposition, but we're gonna win the fight either way so we just love 'em anyway!
This past week The 12th day of the 3rd month came about and it was GREAT! In the morning we went and played soccer with 12 sisters, and as I was there I realized I was the only sister from the USA. Same thing in the temple this morning--I looked around at some of my now dearest friends and realized they are from all over the world! India, Germany, Pakistan, Mexica, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Russia, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina, Africa, Tahiti, Jamaica, and the list goes on. The gospel is truly spreading all around the world, and my best friends and companions here are perfect proof! This is an incredible mission and I love the sisters I am serving with so much. What an honor we all have to represent our countries and our Savior at the headquarters of His Church.
I also daily grow in my knowledge and testimony of a living Savior who loves us all so much. This work is incredible and we are so blessed to be on the forces bringing it about in the last days! It's so real and it's so incredible!
I love you all and your prayers are felt every single day.
-Sister nay Brett#3
P.S. Yep! Elyse and Peter Barnes both have birthdays in 12 or so days! And can you believe that this time next year we could be having that long-awaited Barnes v. Brett basketball game?!?! Keep up the skills siblings, we're gonna womp on 'em. ;)
P.S.S. The pictures attached are of my comp and roommates--Sister Kao(Taiwain), Laurente(Phillipines), Sundaram(India). Yes, our house always smells like very foreign food. We also went to East Hish School (where High School Musical was filmed, so I'll send pictures of that soon!
P.S.S.S. Tell Britt and Jer and Kobe to get better! Tell Jess to have an incredible last day of childhood, tell Josie to keep holding down the fort...or raising the roof, either one works, tell the grandparents I love them beyond reason, and Mom give Dad a kiss, and Dad give Mom a kiss for me. I love you all
It's the Middle of March? from Peter
Well it has been an awesome week. I feel like the more the mission goes on, the more all the weeks blend together and they all seem good. But this one was good for a few specific reasons. Here they are...
I love my companions! We find out transfers tomorrow and then move on Wednesday and I'm pretty sure that we won't be serving together any more. Elder Patterson and Plothow have been so easy to get along with, we all enjoy doing this work and our styles blend together well. Maybe a bummer I don't have any juicy stories of us big-time disagreeing or trying to hurt each other, but we really just get along. I will miss serving with them, but we'll still see each other around till the end of the mission and hopefully afterwards. Life is good, especially when you're surrounded by people that you love and like being around.
Our investigators are making good progress-- especially Karl (the referral from the member in Riga.) He's reading the Gospel Principles book and Book of Mormon every day and really likes it. He's hesitant to accept a baptismal date, but I think within a few weeks he'll feel ready. He's mentioned that everything in the gospel priniciples books that talks about families just seems not real-- a little too idealistic. We taught him with a recent convert, Andre Varsha, on Friday, and after the lesson Karl kept saying how good the people are in the church, and that "with you, it's fun." Brother Varsha picked up Karl for church on Sunday, which was perfect because last week Karl came and walked-- over one hour each way! It's not quite a pioneer trek, but it's definitely not warm outside yet, and it showed me the dedication and desire Karl has to find out if this is true. He's a happy, good guy, and I really have a good feeling about him. He also says "znai-yesh" ("you know" in russian, I have no idea how to spell that in english) at the end of every other phrase and when he's reading the scriptures. Sometimes I can't help but laugh, you know? Okay that was bad but you gotta hear it, it's entertaining.
We also taught a few other investigators who are doing well but weren't able to make it to church this week. The main ones are Fred and Maris, the Estonian couple that wants to get married in the temple. They were out of town, but we also found out it takes 30 days to get registered to be married so we'll have to push their baptismal date for April. Is ts really April next month, wowzers. We taught another cool kid we met on a bus named Dima, he's 22 and really smart. After the lesson, he asked us if we believe in Destiny. I'm not sure what official church doctrine we have on that, but I told him that I believe that if we do what's right, things will work out the way they are supposed to. So sure, I believe in Destiny. I hope I didn't teach false doctrine. But I figured, Destiny-Fore ordination; Tomato-Potato.
I also went to Narva for the first time last Tuesday on an exchange. It's a small, quiet, "Russian"-people city, right on the border of Russia. There's a sweet spot where you can look across the river and see an Estonian castle on one side and a Russian castle on the other. If you have a good arm, you can easily throw a rock into Russia. I didn't try because it was early in the morning, and I didn't want to wake anyone. Plus once someone told me that I throw like a girl and I've never really recovered from that. But I took a picture and I'll see if I can send it-- it's a really beautiful place, probably one of my favorites I've seen here.
Wednesday was zone conference, and it went really well. We focused on the Spirit, Planning, and working with Members. It was cool because right after zone conference we didn't really have any concrete plans. We were supposed to teach a guy named Dima who'd called us the day before and said he wanted to "confess his sins". Well that was sort of odd but we said okay, we'll meet up. But he wasn't answering his phone and we didn't know where he lived. So we had a feeling to go out to an area that we hadn't knocked in a little while. We got off the tram and boom, Dima calls and wants to meet up. We asked him where he was and he said that he was waiting a bus stop, which was only 2 stops away on the tram we were just on. So we hoped back on the tram, and met him within three minutes. Miracle! I was a little apprehensive, because it's not super normal to call someone and tell them you want to confess your sins, but it turns out Dima was a very good guy! He was baptized over 5 years ago and fell away after making some mistakes. He'd visited other churches since then, but didn't feel like he'd received forgiveness, and knew that this Church was true. We went back to the teaching center and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and especially how God and Christ will forgive us, so long as we have faith and truly repent. It was a powerful lesson and he ended up helping us teach an investigator the following day and did a great job! So it was a cool miracle and it strengthed my testimony of the importance of the Spirit, Planning and Members in this work. They are all crucial!
You are crucial. Really, I love you so much. And I am grateful to be related to you forever. Life is so good!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.s. We're at the library and the computer doesn't accept cameras so I'll have to send these pictures next week! Just picture me, smiling with my companions and covered in snow. It's still snowing here everyday, but apparently spring is coming sometime soon. Keep your fingers crossed!
I love my companions! We find out transfers tomorrow and then move on Wednesday and I'm pretty sure that we won't be serving together any more. Elder Patterson and Plothow have been so easy to get along with, we all enjoy doing this work and our styles blend together well. Maybe a bummer I don't have any juicy stories of us big-time disagreeing or trying to hurt each other, but we really just get along. I will miss serving with them, but we'll still see each other around till the end of the mission and hopefully afterwards. Life is good, especially when you're surrounded by people that you love and like being around.
Our investigators are making good progress-- especially Karl (the referral from the member in Riga.) He's reading the Gospel Principles book and Book of Mormon every day and really likes it. He's hesitant to accept a baptismal date, but I think within a few weeks he'll feel ready. He's mentioned that everything in the gospel priniciples books that talks about families just seems not real-- a little too idealistic. We taught him with a recent convert, Andre Varsha, on Friday, and after the lesson Karl kept saying how good the people are in the church, and that "with you, it's fun." Brother Varsha picked up Karl for church on Sunday, which was perfect because last week Karl came and walked-- over one hour each way! It's not quite a pioneer trek, but it's definitely not warm outside yet, and it showed me the dedication and desire Karl has to find out if this is true. He's a happy, good guy, and I really have a good feeling about him. He also says "znai-yesh" ("you know" in russian, I have no idea how to spell that in english) at the end of every other phrase and when he's reading the scriptures. Sometimes I can't help but laugh, you know? Okay that was bad but you gotta hear it, it's entertaining.
We also taught a few other investigators who are doing well but weren't able to make it to church this week. The main ones are Fred and Maris, the Estonian couple that wants to get married in the temple. They were out of town, but we also found out it takes 30 days to get registered to be married so we'll have to push their baptismal date for April. Is ts really April next month, wowzers. We taught another cool kid we met on a bus named Dima, he's 22 and really smart. After the lesson, he asked us if we believe in Destiny. I'm not sure what official church doctrine we have on that, but I told him that I believe that if we do what's right, things will work out the way they are supposed to. So sure, I believe in Destiny. I hope I didn't teach false doctrine. But I figured, Destiny-Fore ordination; Tomato-Potato.
I also went to Narva for the first time last Tuesday on an exchange. It's a small, quiet, "Russian"-people city, right on the border of Russia. There's a sweet spot where you can look across the river and see an Estonian castle on one side and a Russian castle on the other. If you have a good arm, you can easily throw a rock into Russia. I didn't try because it was early in the morning, and I didn't want to wake anyone. Plus once someone told me that I throw like a girl and I've never really recovered from that. But I took a picture and I'll see if I can send it-- it's a really beautiful place, probably one of my favorites I've seen here.
Wednesday was zone conference, and it went really well. We focused on the Spirit, Planning, and working with Members. It was cool because right after zone conference we didn't really have any concrete plans. We were supposed to teach a guy named Dima who'd called us the day before and said he wanted to "confess his sins". Well that was sort of odd but we said okay, we'll meet up. But he wasn't answering his phone and we didn't know where he lived. So we had a feeling to go out to an area that we hadn't knocked in a little while. We got off the tram and boom, Dima calls and wants to meet up. We asked him where he was and he said that he was waiting a bus stop, which was only 2 stops away on the tram we were just on. So we hoped back on the tram, and met him within three minutes. Miracle! I was a little apprehensive, because it's not super normal to call someone and tell them you want to confess your sins, but it turns out Dima was a very good guy! He was baptized over 5 years ago and fell away after making some mistakes. He'd visited other churches since then, but didn't feel like he'd received forgiveness, and knew that this Church was true. We went back to the teaching center and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and especially how God and Christ will forgive us, so long as we have faith and truly repent. It was a powerful lesson and he ended up helping us teach an investigator the following day and did a great job! So it was a cool miracle and it strengthed my testimony of the importance of the Spirit, Planning and Members in this work. They are all crucial!
You are crucial. Really, I love you so much. And I am grateful to be related to you forever. Life is so good!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
P.s. We're at the library and the computer doesn't accept cameras so I'll have to send these pictures next week! Just picture me, smiling with my companions and covered in snow. It's still snowing here everyday, but apparently spring is coming sometime soon. Keep your fingers crossed!
LOVE YOU from Sister Brett
Tue, Mar 9
Hey beautiful family!
Hokay, this is going to be quick. We just finished setting up Sister Sundaram's new email address so we just have a few minutes. That may be why I didn't get the other messages though Momma--the old ldsmail accounts are all being deleted and we have new emails. All the messages are supposed to be forwarded, but the old system is a little wacko. But my new email is jenae.brett@myldsmail.net --and no, I wasn't allowed to choose it obviously.
Hey, yet another great week in the life of "Elder Nay" as grandpa would call me. We had sort of a slow, tough week after so many miracles the first few weeks, but God is always aware of us and yesterday lifted our spirits with a few incredible tours and families who are so ready to receive the gospel. I love it when we can take families or couples around and they refer because that is when the gospel of Jesus Christ can make the most incredible impact on us eternally--when the whole family accepts and lives it together.
I love serving with Sister Sundaram. She is so sweet and works so hard. Not to mention she's teaching me how to cook INCREDIBLE Indian food. Curry (Dal Sambar) last week, Papad/Dal this week. mmmmm. But goodness, I can't imagine being in her shoes (she honestly has the most incredible life story...as do all my companions), and her faith and persistence has really carried us through tough rejections lately. We've had some incredible contacts and tours where the Spirit is so strong that we are all in tears, but then they would still say no thanks when we gave them the chance to learn more! WHAT?! In Preach My Gospel it says that some people will reject our message even after they have had a spiritual witness it is true. But dang, it's one thing to read that, and another to experience it. It just makes me so sad. So sad for what they are missing out on. Just the other day we were in the call center, going on our 3rd hour calling and I leaned over and said, "Sister, how ya doing?" With her adorable Indian accent S.Sundaram replied, "Oh Sister Brett, no one is pick uping, and if they do i get hunged up. This hard." We talked and decided that even though it was hard we were going to give it our very best, pray for and invite every person we called, and then have faith the Lord will be able to use us for helping at least someone come closer to Him. Needless to say, that's exactly what happened. As we were leaving the call center a woman from Iowa named Marcia walked up to us and asked if we could take her on a tour. Uh, DUH. :) We took her to the historical buildings, and then into the South Visitor's center which talks about the Temple and families. When we told her that inside the Temple you would never hear the phrase "Till death do you part" but rather "For Time and All Eternity" she started crying and said "really? How?" we shared our testimonies of eternal families and how the authority to bind families eternally has truly been restored. She was incredible and I cannot wait for the missionaries to visit and teach her more.
I love this work. Even when it's hard, I know God is aware of us and I know He is in the middle of all we do. Jessica's letter this week and Grandma Bear and Mom's emails were even answers to prayers. I had been yelled at on the phone and heard words I forgot existed (and wish I hadn't have been reminded), then rejected on the Square, then Sister Sundaram got really sick and I was really scared, but one of the Sisters handed me Jessie's letter, and I read the emails and the feeling of love and support once again reminded me that I'm not alone, we are never alone! What an incredible message. And I know it is true.
I love you all!!! Happy birthday to my big brother and little sister in these coming weeks!!! Dang, we are all getting old... Jess, you simply can't graduate, I won't have it. Remember prom last year and how Jess woke up and I was magically in her bed after the LONGEST drive home from Utah ever? (Dad and I had some car trouble...) haha, I love life.
and I love you all. so much.
-Sister Nay#3
Tell Josie I'll be cheering her on from here all Thursday long!!! She'll be the best Baloo any jungle has ever seen!!! Make sure to send a few pictures of her big debute.
Hey beautiful family!
Hokay, this is going to be quick. We just finished setting up Sister Sundaram's new email address so we just have a few minutes. That may be why I didn't get the other messages though Momma--the old ldsmail accounts are all being deleted and we have new emails. All the messages are supposed to be forwarded, but the old system is a little wacko. But my new email is jenae.brett@myldsmail.net --and no, I wasn't allowed to choose it obviously.
Hey, yet another great week in the life of "Elder Nay" as grandpa would call me. We had sort of a slow, tough week after so many miracles the first few weeks, but God is always aware of us and yesterday lifted our spirits with a few incredible tours and families who are so ready to receive the gospel. I love it when we can take families or couples around and they refer because that is when the gospel of Jesus Christ can make the most incredible impact on us eternally--when the whole family accepts and lives it together.
I love serving with Sister Sundaram. She is so sweet and works so hard. Not to mention she's teaching me how to cook INCREDIBLE Indian food. Curry (Dal Sambar) last week, Papad/Dal this week. mmmmm. But goodness, I can't imagine being in her shoes (she honestly has the most incredible life story...as do all my companions), and her faith and persistence has really carried us through tough rejections lately. We've had some incredible contacts and tours where the Spirit is so strong that we are all in tears, but then they would still say no thanks when we gave them the chance to learn more! WHAT?! In Preach My Gospel it says that some people will reject our message even after they have had a spiritual witness it is true. But dang, it's one thing to read that, and another to experience it. It just makes me so sad. So sad for what they are missing out on. Just the other day we were in the call center, going on our 3rd hour calling and I leaned over and said, "Sister, how ya doing?" With her adorable Indian accent S.Sundaram replied, "Oh Sister Brett, no one is pick uping, and if they do i get hunged up. This hard." We talked and decided that even though it was hard we were going to give it our very best, pray for and invite every person we called, and then have faith the Lord will be able to use us for helping at least someone come closer to Him. Needless to say, that's exactly what happened. As we were leaving the call center a woman from Iowa named Marcia walked up to us and asked if we could take her on a tour. Uh, DUH. :) We took her to the historical buildings, and then into the South Visitor's center which talks about the Temple and families. When we told her that inside the Temple you would never hear the phrase "Till death do you part" but rather "For Time and All Eternity" she started crying and said "really? How?" we shared our testimonies of eternal families and how the authority to bind families eternally has truly been restored. She was incredible and I cannot wait for the missionaries to visit and teach her more.
I love this work. Even when it's hard, I know God is aware of us and I know He is in the middle of all we do. Jessica's letter this week and Grandma Bear and Mom's emails were even answers to prayers. I had been yelled at on the phone and heard words I forgot existed (and wish I hadn't have been reminded), then rejected on the Square, then Sister Sundaram got really sick and I was really scared, but one of the Sisters handed me Jessie's letter, and I read the emails and the feeling of love and support once again reminded me that I'm not alone, we are never alone! What an incredible message. And I know it is true.
I love you all!!! Happy birthday to my big brother and little sister in these coming weeks!!! Dang, we are all getting old... Jess, you simply can't graduate, I won't have it. Remember prom last year and how Jess woke up and I was magically in her bed after the LONGEST drive home from Utah ever? (Dad and I had some car trouble...) haha, I love life.
and I love you all. so much.
-Sister Nay#3
Tell Josie I'll be cheering her on from here all Thursday long!!! She'll be the best Baloo any jungle has ever seen!!! Make sure to send a few pictures of her big debute.
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S DAY! from Peter
Mon, Mar 8
Dear Family,
Did you know that is a holiday? It might be a Europe thing, because they definitely celebrate it here. I think it was mentioned in every testimony in the Russian branch yesterday, and then to cap off priesthood, the branch president gave every male member three flowers and we stormed the end of Relief Society. It was a very thoughtful gesture, and they all really appreciated it. Church yesterday went really really well, and we had a record number of investigators there, ironically the majority being woman! One was a 55 year old lady from England who's name is Nadja. She has read the entire Book of Mormon, loves it, and came to the church because it was called the Church of Jesus Christ, and really likes that the members are all so happy. One of the only set-backs with her is that she feels bad when she comes to church because she always starts crying a lot. Especially when people start "talking about Jesus Christ." I told her yesterday that that is not a bad thing-- it's actually very good! She's a great woman though and I think she'll keep progressing-- we only taught her last week for the first time (outside of England) and she already knows and believes a lot. We also had two new investigators come, Ludmila and her friend Lena. They are both not too young, at least in their 70s, but extremely sharp and in tune with the spirit. It was actually a miracle how we found Ludmila-- last saturday we were standing in line at the ATM to pull out money to pay rent and there was this kind elderly woman right behind us. We sparked up a small conversation and she said that things weren't going too well because her good friend had passed away the week earlier. We asked her if she thought about the questions "where are we from, why are we where, and where are we going". She said yes. We offered to meet up on a different day and she was more than happy. During the lesson she listened really closely and was amazed at our church and what we were doing--she said that she'd love to come to church and would bring one of her friends. She came to church yesterday, brought Lena and they both really enjoyed it. During the testimonies she kept leaning over making comments. "That is so true." , "She's Beautiful" and at the end she was astonished at how every was speaking "so well." Afterwards a lot of the members came up to introduce themselves and welcome them. It felt like a story straight out preach my gospel. I think there's a really good shot they will get baptized. They won't be the most young, hip members of the branch, but they will join the "Bab Squad." That's the endearing term for the 5-7 extremely faithful older single woman who attend the branch every sunday. They are are great friends, and support and strengthen each other.
Another man named Karl is a referral from a strong member in the Russian, Imanta (riga) Branch. Karl's father is latvian, and his mother is Estonian, and his native language is Russian, but he speaks Estonian, and a little english and latvian. He's a good, smart guy who used to build planes, but is a little down because he's been without work for a while and is having some family troubles. But he loved church and also made a comment that every one is so nice and happy. My testimony of how the gospel blesses families has strengthened for a few reasons-- first, so many of the people here who struggle with family probably would not be struggling nearly as badly if they were living the gospel. Secondly, the church here provides a place for those without a loving family environment to come and have a branch that will love and support them. The gospel is just so good!
Speaking of families-- we are teaching Fred and Maris (that I think I mentioned last week) who came to church yesterday, want to be baptized the last week-end of March and then get married in the temple (in a year)! They have yet to be legally married, like many of the couples here, but consider themselves as husband and wife and are willing to get married in order to get baptized. They are a young, (early 30s) really sweet couple; smart, responsible and always smiling. I don't understand what they say because it's in Estonian, but it must be good stuff because they are great!
Last week in Riga went really well, I saw some pictures of Roman who got baptized by Igor! They are both investigators that we taught in Riga, and they looked really really good. Apparently Igor really wanted to get Roman a gift, but he didn't have much to spend so he got him a stuffed animal dog that you can get at the Kiosks after buying a certain number of bus tickets! Hahaha, I love those guys so much and it's so sweet to see them strengthen the church.
Miracles are happening every day, and I am so grateful for your prayers. I feel them, and they help me keep on keeping on! I am a wucky guy. And a very happy one!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
Dear Family,
Did you know that is a holiday? It might be a Europe thing, because they definitely celebrate it here. I think it was mentioned in every testimony in the Russian branch yesterday, and then to cap off priesthood, the branch president gave every male member three flowers and we stormed the end of Relief Society. It was a very thoughtful gesture, and they all really appreciated it. Church yesterday went really really well, and we had a record number of investigators there, ironically the majority being woman! One was a 55 year old lady from England who's name is Nadja. She has read the entire Book of Mormon, loves it, and came to the church because it was called the Church of Jesus Christ, and really likes that the members are all so happy. One of the only set-backs with her is that she feels bad when she comes to church because she always starts crying a lot. Especially when people start "talking about Jesus Christ." I told her yesterday that that is not a bad thing-- it's actually very good! She's a great woman though and I think she'll keep progressing-- we only taught her last week for the first time (outside of England) and she already knows and believes a lot. We also had two new investigators come, Ludmila and her friend Lena. They are both not too young, at least in their 70s, but extremely sharp and in tune with the spirit. It was actually a miracle how we found Ludmila-- last saturday we were standing in line at the ATM to pull out money to pay rent and there was this kind elderly woman right behind us. We sparked up a small conversation and she said that things weren't going too well because her good friend had passed away the week earlier. We asked her if she thought about the questions "where are we from, why are we where, and where are we going". She said yes. We offered to meet up on a different day and she was more than happy. During the lesson she listened really closely and was amazed at our church and what we were doing--she said that she'd love to come to church and would bring one of her friends. She came to church yesterday, brought Lena and they both really enjoyed it. During the testimonies she kept leaning over making comments. "That is so true." , "She's Beautiful" and at the end she was astonished at how every was speaking "so well." Afterwards a lot of the members came up to introduce themselves and welcome them. It felt like a story straight out preach my gospel. I think there's a really good shot they will get baptized. They won't be the most young, hip members of the branch, but they will join the "Bab Squad." That's the endearing term for the 5-7 extremely faithful older single woman who attend the branch every sunday. They are are great friends, and support and strengthen each other.
Another man named Karl is a referral from a strong member in the Russian, Imanta (riga) Branch. Karl's father is latvian, and his mother is Estonian, and his native language is Russian, but he speaks Estonian, and a little english and latvian. He's a good, smart guy who used to build planes, but is a little down because he's been without work for a while and is having some family troubles. But he loved church and also made a comment that every one is so nice and happy. My testimony of how the gospel blesses families has strengthened for a few reasons-- first, so many of the people here who struggle with family probably would not be struggling nearly as badly if they were living the gospel. Secondly, the church here provides a place for those without a loving family environment to come and have a branch that will love and support them. The gospel is just so good!
Speaking of families-- we are teaching Fred and Maris (that I think I mentioned last week) who came to church yesterday, want to be baptized the last week-end of March and then get married in the temple (in a year)! They have yet to be legally married, like many of the couples here, but consider themselves as husband and wife and are willing to get married in order to get baptized. They are a young, (early 30s) really sweet couple; smart, responsible and always smiling. I don't understand what they say because it's in Estonian, but it must be good stuff because they are great!
Last week in Riga went really well, I saw some pictures of Roman who got baptized by Igor! They are both investigators that we taught in Riga, and they looked really really good. Apparently Igor really wanted to get Roman a gift, but he didn't have much to spend so he got him a stuffed animal dog that you can get at the Kiosks after buying a certain number of bus tickets! Hahaha, I love those guys so much and it's so sweet to see them strengthen the church.
Miracles are happening every day, and I am so grateful for your prayers. I feel them, and they help me keep on keeping on! I am a wucky guy. And a very happy one!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Gospel Is So True, from Sister Brett
Dearest beautiful family,
I hope all is well! I didn't get any emails this week, and haven't heard a ton, but I hope that just means you're busy!
We've had another great week on Temple Square! I love serving with Sister Sundaram, she is such a sweet and diligent companion and we are so lucky. we have other sisters tell us all the time that they can really tell we love serving together, because we do!
This week I had 3 of the greatest experiences of my mission-possibly even my LIFE. The first was when we met a man named Calvin. The circumstances were incredible as well, because we were sceduled to be in the call center at 8pm, but somehow it got over-booked (which RARELY happens), and so we volunteered to go back out on the Square. As we went out we saw that there were already a ton of sisters in the North so we thought maybe we would go outside to contact, but then 2 men in the middle of the whole crowd caught our attention, so we went over and talked to them. They said they were cowboys from Texas and they were in town for business and just stopped by for a look. Not seeming much interested we let them know that if they had any questions we would love to help. right then one of them piped up and said, "Well, actually, I do have one question...What is different about your religion and other Christian religions?" ooo, I just love that question :) We told him that we had an incredible display downstairs that answered that question perfectly, so we took him downstairs and taught them about the Restoration. He was amazed to hear that we still have a prophet on the earth today, and he was even more amazed at all of the good that he has seen our church do around the world. "You are truly a religion that stays true to what you preach all week through and in all you do" he said. We shared our testimonies of Jesus Christ, and of how His restored gospel and the Book of Mormon can bring a willing heart closer to Him than anything in all eternity. Then, he asked the question that every Temple Square sister yearns to hear--"How do I get one of those books?" YES. Anyhow, the Spirit was incredibly strong as we taught, and he was so excited to hear that missionaries would come and teach him more. The real miracle came however, when he CAME BACK the next night!!! Some sisters told me that a really nice and excited man named Calvin was looking for me in the North Visitor's Center. Haha, we couldn't even believe it--we rarely get to see people we teach more than once. But we found him and he had the BIGGEST smile on his face and light in his eyes of anyone I've ever met. He proceeded to pour out his heart and soul to us about how he had stayed up all night thinking about what we shared with him. He had gone online and studied it more, and he hadn't been able to even focus or eat the whole day because he had so many more questions. So, he decided to cancel his dinner appointment and come back and find us. He had incredible questions about the Plan of Salvation such as "It doesn't make sense that really good Christian people, and sort of okay/bad people will end up in the same place after this life--what can you teach me about this?" He had read a little on the kingdoms of glory and totally believed it. :) he asked so many questions--with the faith that we had the answers he sought, and it KILLED me not to be able to spend forever answering them. The most we could do was answer a few simple questions, bear our testimonies and share with him that the missionaries who will visit him will be able to answer all his questions and more. When I told him that I was so excited for him to learn and promised he would be blessed as he did he looked me directly in the eye and he said, "I am so excited Sister Brett, your love and excitement what you have shared has already changed my life." I swear in that moment I felt like I had known him forever. Sister Zitting told me in her last letter that she is positive that we covenanted with some of these individuals before this life that we would bring them to the knowledge of the gospel. I'm fairly positive Calvin and I hung out a whole lot in the pre-existence. He is my mission miracle.
Then, I USED MY ROMANIAN THIS WEEK! There have been a few random people I have met who are from Romania or served missions there, but this one was incredible. Sister Sundaram and I were on our way around the tabernacle and we were about to pass a woman who looked like she was in a hurry. Rather than just greeting her, I had the distinct impression to step a little into her path and ask where she's visiting us from. "Romania!" she answered and smiled and began to move on until I welcomed her to Temple Square in Romanian. Haha, i wish you could have seen the look on her face! She practically jumped back and then gave me cheek-kiss upon cheek-kiss (which is very common in Romania). Oh my goodness, then she started asking how I knew Romanian and if i had been there and where I lived. I can't believe I even understood, it has been so long since I even thought about that beautiful language. After attempting to answer in Romanglish, she asked if I will ever visit again. I said I would LOVE to, and she said I absolutely have to stay with her when I do. We talked a bit more, and i found out she is just in the US for a week and heading home in a few hours. She expressed how much she loved visiting and how everyone was just "foarte fericit" (very happy). Then God blessed me to be able to share with her in Romanian that I am a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that there are also missionaries like myself in Romania who would love to come and teach her about why we are so happy as well as the beliefs of our church. AND SHE SAID ABSOLUTELY YES!!! I couldn't believe it. I was floating on a cloud. My experience in Romania shaped so much of my testimony about missionary work. I saw how badly that country and the families in Romania desperately needed the gospel (as they do everywhere in the world), and I prayed many, many times to be sent there on my mission, but God had other plans. If Camelia in the reason I needed to go to Romania and then get sent to Temple Square than it was comepletely worth it, every single second. Maybe that is the only way she would be contacted by the church. God knows so much more than we can even comprehend and He is so aware of every one of His children. The chances that Sister Sundaram and I were the sisters out of 160 to contact Camelia and Calvin this week are so slim, but as I look back I can see how He placed us exactly where we needed to be.
I love this work. God is truly in it and He loves us, each of us so much. As I testified to Calvin I knew that that is what this life is all about and I felt such a love as I never have before. I love you all and pray for you constantly. I hope you can tell how much i love this Gospel and know that it is truly the way to reach the happiness and blessings Heavenly Father has in store for us!
Love you!!
-Sister Brett#3
P.S. Happy 3rd day of the 3rd month tomorrow!!! Today next year I will finish my mission. WOAH.
I hope all is well! I didn't get any emails this week, and haven't heard a ton, but I hope that just means you're busy!
We've had another great week on Temple Square! I love serving with Sister Sundaram, she is such a sweet and diligent companion and we are so lucky. we have other sisters tell us all the time that they can really tell we love serving together, because we do!
This week I had 3 of the greatest experiences of my mission-possibly even my LIFE. The first was when we met a man named Calvin. The circumstances were incredible as well, because we were sceduled to be in the call center at 8pm, but somehow it got over-booked (which RARELY happens), and so we volunteered to go back out on the Square. As we went out we saw that there were already a ton of sisters in the North so we thought maybe we would go outside to contact, but then 2 men in the middle of the whole crowd caught our attention, so we went over and talked to them. They said they were cowboys from Texas and they were in town for business and just stopped by for a look. Not seeming much interested we let them know that if they had any questions we would love to help. right then one of them piped up and said, "Well, actually, I do have one question...What is different about your religion and other Christian religions?" ooo, I just love that question :) We told him that we had an incredible display downstairs that answered that question perfectly, so we took him downstairs and taught them about the Restoration. He was amazed to hear that we still have a prophet on the earth today, and he was even more amazed at all of the good that he has seen our church do around the world. "You are truly a religion that stays true to what you preach all week through and in all you do" he said. We shared our testimonies of Jesus Christ, and of how His restored gospel and the Book of Mormon can bring a willing heart closer to Him than anything in all eternity. Then, he asked the question that every Temple Square sister yearns to hear--"How do I get one of those books?" YES. Anyhow, the Spirit was incredibly strong as we taught, and he was so excited to hear that missionaries would come and teach him more. The real miracle came however, when he CAME BACK the next night!!! Some sisters told me that a really nice and excited man named Calvin was looking for me in the North Visitor's Center. Haha, we couldn't even believe it--we rarely get to see people we teach more than once. But we found him and he had the BIGGEST smile on his face and light in his eyes of anyone I've ever met. He proceeded to pour out his heart and soul to us about how he had stayed up all night thinking about what we shared with him. He had gone online and studied it more, and he hadn't been able to even focus or eat the whole day because he had so many more questions. So, he decided to cancel his dinner appointment and come back and find us. He had incredible questions about the Plan of Salvation such as "It doesn't make sense that really good Christian people, and sort of okay/bad people will end up in the same place after this life--what can you teach me about this?" He had read a little on the kingdoms of glory and totally believed it. :) he asked so many questions--with the faith that we had the answers he sought, and it KILLED me not to be able to spend forever answering them. The most we could do was answer a few simple questions, bear our testimonies and share with him that the missionaries who will visit him will be able to answer all his questions and more. When I told him that I was so excited for him to learn and promised he would be blessed as he did he looked me directly in the eye and he said, "I am so excited Sister Brett, your love and excitement what you have shared has already changed my life." I swear in that moment I felt like I had known him forever. Sister Zitting told me in her last letter that she is positive that we covenanted with some of these individuals before this life that we would bring them to the knowledge of the gospel. I'm fairly positive Calvin and I hung out a whole lot in the pre-existence. He is my mission miracle.
Then, I USED MY ROMANIAN THIS WEEK! There have been a few random people I have met who are from Romania or served missions there, but this one was incredible. Sister Sundaram and I were on our way around the tabernacle and we were about to pass a woman who looked like she was in a hurry. Rather than just greeting her, I had the distinct impression to step a little into her path and ask where she's visiting us from. "Romania!" she answered and smiled and began to move on until I welcomed her to Temple Square in Romanian. Haha, i wish you could have seen the look on her face! She practically jumped back and then gave me cheek-kiss upon cheek-kiss (which is very common in Romania). Oh my goodness, then she started asking how I knew Romanian and if i had been there and where I lived. I can't believe I even understood, it has been so long since I even thought about that beautiful language. After attempting to answer in Romanglish, she asked if I will ever visit again. I said I would LOVE to, and she said I absolutely have to stay with her when I do. We talked a bit more, and i found out she is just in the US for a week and heading home in a few hours. She expressed how much she loved visiting and how everyone was just "foarte fericit" (very happy). Then God blessed me to be able to share with her in Romanian that I am a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that there are also missionaries like myself in Romania who would love to come and teach her about why we are so happy as well as the beliefs of our church. AND SHE SAID ABSOLUTELY YES!!! I couldn't believe it. I was floating on a cloud. My experience in Romania shaped so much of my testimony about missionary work. I saw how badly that country and the families in Romania desperately needed the gospel (as they do everywhere in the world), and I prayed many, many times to be sent there on my mission, but God had other plans. If Camelia in the reason I needed to go to Romania and then get sent to Temple Square than it was comepletely worth it, every single second. Maybe that is the only way she would be contacted by the church. God knows so much more than we can even comprehend and He is so aware of every one of His children. The chances that Sister Sundaram and I were the sisters out of 160 to contact Camelia and Calvin this week are so slim, but as I look back I can see how He placed us exactly where we needed to be.
I love this work. God is truly in it and He loves us, each of us so much. As I testified to Calvin I knew that that is what this life is all about and I felt such a love as I never have before. I love you all and pray for you constantly. I hope you can tell how much i love this Gospel and know that it is truly the way to reach the happiness and blessings Heavenly Father has in store for us!
Love you!!
-Sister Brett#3
P.S. Happy 3rd day of the 3rd month tomorrow!!! Today next year I will finish my mission. WOAH.
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