Pedregal - one big hill

REPLY!!!! NOW. GO!!!!

Hello my dear family.

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes and all the love that I have been getting. It's great. Thanks for the package... I literally got it... today, two hours ago but I haven't opened it yet. With the mail strike and everything I was thinking that I was going to sing like Harry Potter. "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, no presents, no body, happy birthday to me." But now I won't have to. The mail has opened up and I got flooded with letters today. One even all the way from Kenya (Elder Hodges). That was an awesome suprise. He is already done with his first transfer. That's just crazy.

Something that totally turn my world over was that our mission president said we could get on Facebook ONCE and update it with our testimony. I thought that was pretty smart.

Well, I'm actually doing pretty great. Wonderful actually. My companion and I are doing our best to milk our area, leave with members everyday and talk with more people. We are having some pretty good expereinces but wow... we are working so hard that when Sunday comes... we are so tired... we literally can't get out of bed. But we do. We go to church and word a little bit more. It's pretty fun.

Life is just flying by. Honestly... it's crazy how fast it flies by. When I got the email asking when my release date would be my world basically turned upsidedown shook itself for a while, did a couple of backflips as my body exploded. The computer quite literally went straight through my mind. But normality has been established and with a quiet fright, I move on. It's literally coming too fast.

Anyways. Just so you know I'm wonderful.

On the 10th of Nov we are going to have some visits from general authorities, Elder Mazzarguard and Elder Evans. It's going to be so cool. The mission has been quite low in baptisms in the last while. Honestly, it's like we were running, then got tired, now we are walking taking a joyride looking at all the cool things. But me and my companion have been seeing some amazing things happen around us and with us. Missionaries finding miracles and receiving blessing, baptisms happening. My district leader is having weekly baptisms and I want to be like him. He is actually one of my old companions, Elder Romero, if you remember him. He is an amazing missionary and is baptizing almost everyweek.

Anyways. I'm sending some pics. I hope you like them cause I do.

So I have been working on memorizing D&C 4 this week and it has been giving me added strength. It's so cool to see how scriptures help. Honestly. Memorize one. See the added strength you with receiving.

Endure to the End

I love you

Signing Out
Elder Barry

Forgiveness

Hello my dear family,

So I'm not as tired today, So this letter will probably be a lot better. I hope.

The only problem is that I have no clue where to start from. I don't know.

Well, today we had interviews with our president and that was pretty fun. Also the Sister of the mission went and looked at our house and let me tell you, it was not very good. Our house is pretty much a mess. From other missionaries to us. We just haven't cleaned it up yet. We started and halfway through our process, Sister Gaertner went to our house. So that might be an interesting thing for you to hear. I'm still working on those clean organized skills unfortunately.

So yeah. Mission.

So in the area I'm working in right now I have only worked about 3 full days. Because of sickness, trainings, district meeting and trades I haven't had a lot of time in my area. After 2 weeks, I don't know any of the members... yet. But I will get to know them and me and my companion have high hopes that we will get done what needs to be done.

So lately I have read "the Miracle of forgiveness" Wow!!! That is a great book. It is so spiritually strong and is amazing. I loved it so much. The way it is written is so good and I loved learning about Forgiveness that we have for the wrong things we do. I am working to be better everyday so that I can help God even more everyday.

Well I Love you

Endure to the End

Signing Out
Elder Barry

Transfer - Pedregal

Caro Família


It is 15:30 hours and I'm doing good... and you?


So, news. I have been transfered again. I left Valparaíso (which probably is my favorite area up to now in all my mission, I was sad but I know that the Lord needs me somewhere else) and I am now in Pedregal. Pedregal is just a hill... from what I've seen in the last 2 hours... I think I'm going to have pretty toned legs after this area. Wow... Hills, hills and more hills. This area is famous in breaking missionaries too. There was a missionary who broke his foot here and also an other who got knee problems from this place. I'll take pictures of the crazy hills for you... They literally are crazy... you will get tired just from looking at them.


I don't know anything about the area, nothing about my companion except that his name is Elder Johnson and he is from Ogden, Utah. Elder Johnson has about 1 year and 6 months on the mission and from what I've seen this transfer is going to be awesome.


Pedregal is a branch but it is really close to becoming a ward. Really, really close. This place (from what I've heard) is just a miracle. It's growing so fast and the branch is working so hard. We will see what happens... I'm excited to be here.


I want to do an activity with you.


Grab a paper


Write down something that is really noble, something that is noble to do or to say. Anything and everything.


John 15:13 is a good and noble thing.


Matthew 22:36-40 is also something noble and is actually a commandment.


There are many things that are noble in our lives. Many many things. Just remember to do them. Do the right things. Be noble


Endure to the End


Te amo


Signing Out
Elder Barry

Become 'fat'

Dear Family,

Yeah, that is kind of bad about the mail strike. I don't know what will happen. If the package you sent gets here and just sits at the post office then someone might think... "Hey, I wonder what is inside this one. It came from the United States. I wonder what will happen if I open it." I'm just kindding... maybe. I don't know. I don't know how long it's going to be out of service. The banks are on strike too. They don't accept the public inside. You can go to the ATM. But besides that... it's nothing. The good thing is I only need the ATM..

I just am feeling old. Really old. I don't know why. I just do.

Wow, I saw the photos on the blog of Leah's break and wow, I don't think I've ever done it that way... ouch. I think it might have hurt and it makes me cringe a little. Leah, I know your pain. I got my arm "Manipulated" which means they are going to rebreak it. So I might of felt what you are feeling.

I wish I would of gotten 8$ per tooth... wow.

I hope all the neices and nephews are doing great. I think it's weird that there are a couple... not a couple... there are a lot I don't know yet. They are growing up. People are changing. It's so weird. How is this all happening. It's going by too fast. 21 Neices and Nephews is a lot. wow...

I would love to hear from you Fam. Any news, even insignificante to you is wonderful for me. I love you, so the things you love are the things I love too. That's what love is, isn't it?

When they announced the second temple in Provo, I was in the "English room" with a whole bunch of missionaries. I'm the only one from Provo, Utah. I literally screamed with shouts of joy. I can't wait til it's done.

Man, Costco... that is something I haven't heard about for about a year. I forgot about it.

Anyways. CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!!!!

I LOVED IT SO MUCH

IT'S LIKE THE SUPERBOWL FOR MISSIONARIES!!!!!!!

I had 3 talks that I loved the most. 2 for now and 1 for the future that I liked.

Elder Holland's talk was amazing. It was powerful, bold, vigorus and had so much love. It makes a person want to change. I want to change. I want to be on the right team. I want to open my mouth. I need to continue to become better and better. That's why I loved this talk.

Also Matthew O. Richardson was amazing. I loved how he talked about teaching. It was something that I can apply here on the mission and also think about after the mission. But for now just for the mission.

Then the talk about raising your daughter. Honestly, I'm glad I don't have to worry about it right now but it's amazing how the Lord will calm our fears or give us information to keep so we can use them in later years. God is thinking about the past, the present and the future all at the same time. He knows that there are many men who needed that talk.

I was looking at my notes this morning from conference and I came to the conclusion that the theme in General Conference was 1 Timothy 4:12. We must look to the youth. Help them grow by being an example to them, an example in everything. That scripture was used so many times during conference and I think I could sum everything up in it.

"Be thou an Example of the Believers"

I like how it doesn't say "Be thou an Example" or "Be thou an Example of Men" or "Be thou an Example of the World". It tells us to be an Example of the BELIEVERS". It tells us to be an example to our friends in church, at school and with everyone who believes.

How can we be "Examples of the Believers"?

The scripture answers it for us. In word, thought, deed, charity, purity and others too.

Well how do we gain these things?

Lets go the the scriptures again.

2 Nephi 31:20. Feast upon the Words of Christ for they will show you all things that ye must do.

2 Nephi 25:26 We preach of Christ, teach of Christ, talk of Christ so that our posterity will know by which source they should look to receive redemption, forgiveness and love.

Ether 12:27 We are humble before Christ so that He can make us strong.

D&C 112:10 Be thou humble

And there are so many more. Feast on them. Learn of them. Study not just read... FEAST!!!

Who goes to a giant banquet and only eats 1 pea? Now we go to eat everything we can until we can't. Then we stop, wait some more and then do it all over again. It's just like Thanksgiving. How many times a day do we stuff ourselves on Thanksgiving? Many times.

The scriptures are the same thing. We will feast then the next day feast again. Then the next day feast again. With food that is probably an unhealthy habit but with the "Words of Christ" we will grow and learn. We will become better. We will have more knowlegde.

So let us study everyday.

Let us become "fat" on the "Words of Christ"

Endure to the End
Be Thou and Example of the Believers

With Much love

Signing Out
Elder Barry