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! 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!

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

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!