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!