E-mail #22

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

It's Sister Barnum here, reporting from JUNCTION CITY!!!!! I am still in Junction City and SO HAPPY about that. I also now have a new companion.....her name is Sister Fie'eiki. (good luck trying to say that, it took me 2 days to say right) She is poly-and-tongan and GREAT! It was super sad to say goodbye to sister dent. She was a great trainer and i am so thankful for all that she put up with and all that she did to help. She left me an amazing present that i will cherish my entire life! She is now back at the visitors center and serving in Riverview. She was happy to go back, but also sad because Junction City is AMAZING!! It has been an eventful week with transfers, it was my first time having that happen. You only get a days notice and then you have to find a ride to get us to the transfer bus the next day. But we were able to go with Sister Pace who is an amazing member that we love so much. But back tracking back to the beginning of last week. We went to go see one of our investigators who is struggling with the thought that there is a living prophet so we challenged him to watch the talk by Thomas S Monson before we came back, well when we went back, a total lack of faith on our part, heavenly father put us in check and this investigator had looked up Thomas S Monsons life history.....and printed it out, he brought it out in his hands. The darn thing didn't say prophet on it though......it said president of the church, so he still didn't believe us, but it was a great experience, and HF for sure showed us that we need to have a little more faith!! But it was a great experience. That night we got our transfer calls at like 1027 at night, we are supposed to be in bed at 1030....we were super anxious. It was a crazy experience to know that there for sure were changes being made. 3 of the 4 companionships in our district changed. Elder Nelson is now training (remind you that he just finished getting trained, this is his 3rd transfer, and he is the district leader, but he is so great i knew he would be put in leadership position right off the bat) and we got a new zone leader, and i got a new comp. So its going to be a party. Actually today we are going to Manhattan and we are going to party with them the rest of the day!!!!!! We are not allowed to go out on Halloween unless we have appointments, which we don't, because it is Halloween, so we are going to party it up with our district. It will be a blast! Anyways, going back to Wednesday. So it was sister dents last day and we were running around, we had a lot of appointments and tried to say goodbye to as many ward members as possible if we were near them. Which we thankfully every where we went that day was in the neighborhood of a member, so we stopped in for a minute so we could say goodbye to some of them. Thursday went by pretty fast, we went to the transfer bus in topeka....the transfer bus is literally a big like grey hound bus full of missionaries that picks them up and drops them off where they are going. So we dropped off sister dent and picked up sister fie'eiki. It was a fast and fun first day. Friday was our ward fall festival and trunk or treat....and it was a BLAST!!!! one of our members (the family) is the most funny family i have ever met, every time we are there i am laughing so hard. So their son dressed up as a old lady for Halloween and had a walker and all. So at the trunk or treat, as people were trying to leave the parking lot he would on purpose walk in front of them really slow with his walker and i have not laughed so hard for such a long time. I lost it every time he did it, and at one point he like paused and fell like he was having a stroke. i was laughing so hard! i attached a picture i got of him, he was hysterical. The bishop said to me later that he thought i was crying but then realized i was laughing super hard. It was a great night, so many people showed up and lots of non-members. I hope it was a positive experience for them with out church, i know i had a blast. Then Saturday and Sunday was the MOST AMAZING STAKE CONFERENCE EVER!!!!!!!!!! I love our stake. They are such inspired people. I took 7 pages of notes because it was that good! I should have brought that notebook with me so i could share some great quotes. But just trust me, it was super good and spiritually uplifting. So overall it has been a great and spiritually filled week. I am excited for this new companionship and to see how things go. We have already had such a blast, I'm sure it will just get better. I hope everyone is doing great and you are all having a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Love you all!!!!
Sister Barnum


And remember to write me, my address is still the same
104 W 4th St apt 207
Junction City KS
66441

Updated and Big Apologies

OK Everyone we have the blog up to date...I am so so so sorry we have neglected it, life has just been crazy in the family and we just didn't get to this like we should have...so so sorry...the last time we posted was September 19th, 2011-Email #16 so anything after that is the up to date stuff...again so sorry and we will try to be better but no guarantees...
Hopefully some of the extra pictures I share will make up for it...
Thanks everyone for you support and love for Brooke...she really feels it and is so Thankful.
Thanks from her sister Brittney :)

(My boys and I made some craft animals with our hands and feet and she took a picture with them and sent it to the boys...they loved doing the craft and they loved seeing Aunt Brookie with them...and she said "I crossed my eyes on purpose...I am not a retard...lol")

Here are a couple of videos she has e-mailed us that she loves...Enjoy!
(they are in the following 2 posts)

 

Another Video I Love

Sanctify Yourselves

Video I Love

Opportunites to do Good

Email #21

 E-Mail #21

October 24th, 2011

 

 

Hello all!!

 

It is TRANSFER WEEK!!! woohoo! We will get the 'phone call' tomorrow saying if i am staying, or if sister dent is staying or if we are BOTH staying. I'm pretty sure I'll be staying, at least i hope so. I really want to be here through Christmas. But i guess its what the Lord has planned not me right?! So make sure if you send any mail today until next week that it goes to the mission office address in independence, so that way it doesnt' come to Junction City if I'm not here.

 

 

 

 

 

This week has been good. We had our two that got baptized last week get confirmed this week. It is so fun to have people baptized and then receive the gift of the holy ghost. That is such a AMAZING and precious gift, i am so excited for them to receive that!!! Anthony has left for a month to go to Texas for a army training, which is a bummer, but we are glad he got the holy ghost before he left. Lee Ann is just doing great, she came to the super Saturday on Saturday and had a blast making crafts, she is starting to get more comfortable in the ward, all sorts of good stuff. On of our other investigators who hasn't came to church or anything yet came to super Saturday, IT WAS SO AWESOME!!! she got to meet our amazing women in the ward and get to know people and make some crafts, which she LOVES to do. So it was fun to have her there. Now when she does come to church there will be people who she knows and she will feel more comfortable. So we are way excite for her. This week we got surprised and have another district meeting, which we usually don't have on transfer week, but we do this week!!! so i am excited for that.

 

 

OH AND THE BIG NEWS.....our zone leader Elder Seely is the NEW ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT!!!! We totally knew he was going to be the new AP, because the AP's came out to Manhattan for a like 4 day long exchange. So Elder Seely is the big guy in town now. It will be fun to see him at zone conferences and all that. He will be a great AP.

 

 

 

 

This week was fun on Saturday night we had dinner at the FAMOUS Humbard home. And the sisters from Manhattan surprised us and showed up!!!! so it was a BIG PARTY!!! we had SO MUCH FOOD....i totally over-ate....but it was AMAZING. it was this total breakfast buffet.Biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, muffins, fruit, Cinnamon rolls....oh it was AMAZING!!! we really enjoyed it. and of course the AMAZING Humbard family provided the best comedy of the night. we were all laughing so hard the entire time!!! I will attach a picture we took with Brother Humbard, he cracks me and everyone else up. He is awesome! Last night we had FHE at the pace's which is another AMAZING family in our ward, we had 3 families all together and had a great family home evening, and they made some amazing cookies, i will not admit how many i ate.....they were SMALL OKAY?!!? ;)

 

 

 

So yea, things are going pretty good. I am excited to see what changes happen this week and hope that whatever happens I'll be happy, personally i would love it if everything stayed the same, i love this area and our district. But i doubt that will happen.

 

Love you all lots!!

Sister Barnum

Email #20

E-Mail #20

October 17th, 2011

 

 

 

Hello Everyone.

 

This weeks email will be super short because they needed us to take a survey which unfortunately took up most of my time on the computer.

 

But yesterday we had 2 baptisms, and it was GREAT!!!! it was my first baptism that i taught the person from beginning to end!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! Anthony and Lee Ann. They are two amazing people and i am super excited for them. So it was a GREAT SUNDAY. also in the Spanish branch we had a Spanish investigator show up, which was a big deal, because we haven't been able to get our Spanish investigators to church at all! Transfers are coming up a week from Thursday, so that will be exciting! we will see what happens.

 

I hope you all are doing well. Shout out to my sunrise people, and to Matthew!

 

i attached a picture of the baptism.

 

 

Have a good week!

 

Sister Barnum

Email #19

E-Mail #19

October 10th, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

Well hello everyone.

 

Well i didn't put together a plan of what i wanted to write about this week, so i don't know what to say. Its been a good week. We have a ton of investigators right now and we have had so many appointments it has been great. I have really enjoyed having our days already planned out because we have so many appointments. But unfortunately the problem with that is, if we get to one appointment late, then ALL of our appointments are late.....which is not fun, because i always feel bad for those that are waiting on us. Thankfully that hasn't been too bad this week. I went on exchanges again to Lawrence this week with Sister Harroll. She is a great sister, she is one of the older sisters in the mission but you would never guess because she is so short and tiny, and looks 21. I feel like a giant next to her, always a bonus for self esteem. lol. But while we were there we had an appointment with a girl that we met and became a new investigator when i was on exchanges there a couple transfers ago. It was so great to see her again. I really enjoyed this girl the first time we taught her and it was super nice to see her again and talk to her about the gospel and help her recognize Heavenly Father's hand in her life. IT WAS GREAT! Thursday was great. We drove almost 100 miles Thursday because we went EVERYWHERE!!! We had back to back appointments all across the place. We had our district meeting which is usually on Tuesdays on Thursday and we had the honor of our AP's (assistant to the president) there. We did some fun practices and i learned some great things from it. I love our AP's they are really inspired elders, and very helpful! But i haven't even gotten to the best part yet. One of our amazing and GREAT and WONDERFUL investigators has been super nervous about baptism. we've been talking with her, teaching her, helping her feel more comfortable with it. And finally we prayed with her, right then right there and asked HF if that is what she needed to do, and she decided to go for it!!! so this weekend we will have 2 BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunday we will have a combined baptism for Anthony and Lee Ann!!! WOO HOO!!! We met them both on the same day also, which i think is pretty cool, and now they will get baptized together. It is going to be the MOST AMAZING SUNDAY EVER!!!!! I am super excited for both of these people. We have taught them, gotten to know them, help them feel the spirit and grow and learn, and they both are so ready for baptism!! Now we just gotta keep Satan out of the way!

 

Well i hope everything is going well at home. I love you all and miss you all!!

Don't forget to share the gospel!!!

 

p.s. i woke MYSELF up sleep praying last night....isn't that GREAT?!!?....you know your a missionary when.....you sleep pray instead of talk!!

 

Peace Out

Sister Barnum

Email #18

E-Mail #18

October 3rd, 2011

 

 

 

 

Hello all!

well this weekend hit the 4 month mark since becoming a missionary. Who knew i could do it?! because i didn't think so. This weekend was great with conference. I am so thankful for conference and for what a great opportunity we have to listen to our leaders of our church. Isn't our prophet just the most adorable man ever?! i think he is super cute! This week we have been blessed to find 6 new investigators again, its great! and we have some baptisms that are going to be happening in the next 2 weekends which we are super excited for. Thanks for everyone who has said prayers for me to get some better sleep. The nights that i haven't been sick, or woken up by annoying people outside our apartment have been great sleep. I hope you all had a great time listening to conference, i really enjoyed it. I also hope you are all doing well.

love,

Sister Barnum.

EMail #17

 E-Mail #17

Sept. 26th, 2011

Well hello everyone!!!

 

 

This week has been a CRAZY but awesome week!!! We had zone conferences, we had lots of appointments, we had exchanges, and of course the AMAZING relief society broadcast!!!

 

 

First off, zone conference was GREAT!!! i loved loved loved it. We started this new system at zone conferences, which i didn't notice because it was only my second one....lol....but it was great, lots of moving around and doing things so you don't fall asleep sitting there listening to people, which could happen super easy, because as missionaries we GO GO GO....so when we sit....we fall ASLEEP!!! But we did this practice thing, where there were two rows of chairs facing each other, and you practiced commitments and teaching people, like super fast and short and then we would rotate like every 2 minutes. It was fun, you learned how other people do it, and how you can do it better, and how to apply it to your life as a missionary and when you are teaching others. I really enjoyed it, because elders out number sisters big time i got to meet some awesome elders who are AMAZING teachers!!! it was fun to see how they taught and testified and helped others learn! i really enjoyed it. I forgot my journal that had some great quotes in it from zone conference, so unfortunately i don't have any words of inspiration, so you'll just have to believe me when i say it was GREAT! This week we also had exchanges, i was on exchanges with Sister Lund still in Junction City though. It was a good exchange, its always fun to spend a day with another sister and see how they work, and the things they do as missionaries to learn from. I just started this email and i already cant remember what all i was going to say, i guess that just is what i get for not writing a list like i usually do of the weeks events to make sure i write about.

For those of you who went to the relief society broadcast, wasn't it AMAZING?!!!? i seriously love the church and the amazing leaders we have, they are so inspired and say the GREATEST things ever. President Utchdorf IS GREAT!!!! his talk is going to lead me to always have 'forget me not' flowers in my yard the rest of my life!!! He is such a talented speaker, always has been and always will be. I was so thankful that we had some of our investigators come to that broadcast, I'm SURE they felt the spirit and enjoyed it as much as me!! I cant wait for next week when they get to hear our prophet and apostles speak it will be AMAZING!! October is here, which means our goal of 4 baptisms is right around the corner. We have 2 with a baptismal date....one with a goal for baptism, and one praying about baptism. I am super excited to see where this goes and i know heavenly father will help these people get the answers they need and feel prepared to make those wonderful promises with him, and REAP the blessings from it!!!! I am so thankful to serve these people and to share the gospel with them. For them to find the happiness and peace it brings SO MANY people. What better thing can a person do for 18 months?! I was thinking this week how crazy, this week i will hit 4 months since being a missionary....4 months!!!! before i know it, it will be 6 months and i will only have a year left....which sometimes feels like i am going to die before that ever happens, and sometimes feels like it will be tomorrow. I cant believe September is over, where on earth did that month go?!!??

 

 

Whelp.....that is all i have got to say for now.

Those of you who are sweet enough to keep me in their prayers, throw a little shout out for me to get some sleep, this week was SUPER hard sleep wise.....and when a missionary doesn't sleep, it isn't pretty....but even more than that....when BROOKE doesn't sleep it IS NOT PRETTY!!!! :) lol.

 

 

I love you all!!!

 

 

Sister Barnum

Email #16

E-mail #16
9-19-11

Hello all!!!

Well this week was a COLD week, which was GREAT!!!! I love that the weather is FINALLY changing and I survived the 100-110 degree summer!!! So that is an accomplishment in itself! Well this week was SUPER busy, we had so many appointments it was just insane. We ran around and taught a lot but it was great. People that we are teaching really are coming closer to the Gospel and to their Savior and our Heavenly Father! I love seeing when people embrace that. It just changes their lives and strengthens them so much! We got a new investigator this week that is just amazing, we have done family home evening with her twice and talked with her and she's came to church 3 times now!! She is great!! Her boys go to primary and LOVE IT!!! They told me yesterday as they were showing us their missionary fund jars they made in primary that "before I wanted to be a snake keeper, but since I met you I want to be a missionary" HOW CUTE IS THAT?!!??!!! I wanted to just die, and then turn to their mom and say....so will you be baptized!!?? lol. It was great, their family is WONDERFUL! Saturday we did lots of tracting, and it was really good in the beginning then really rough in the middle then good in the end. We met a lot of people who were willing to let us come back in a really big apartment complex in Junction. Then we went out to Chapman a side town and had an appointment then tracted there, and those people are not the warmest people, but it was a good challenge to keep my head up and push myself. Then the last place we went to, we were seeing if someone still lived in a apartment and they didn't but the girl that answered the door, her son who is 4 came out and it was SO CUTE....he walked out struck a pose and then flexed his muscles so hard he was shaking....then he pulled up his shirt sleeves to show us his muscles....then he struck a pose again and said "you wanna mess with this" and I LAUGHED so hard.....then he kept flexing....then a pose again...and said "what you lookin at" his mom was so funny, her response was "they are looking at you" hahaha. It was great I was laughing SO HARD!! We have an appointment to go back and see her, if anything I am looking forward to seeing that cute little kid, but I also know the message we share with her will bring her family so much joy!!! It was super funny though, I thought I was going to die of laughter! OHHH and I have to tell you about this member that we had dinner with on Friday. They live like a half hour away from junction and in their TINY town they have one diner that is only open on Friday evenings. They serve a steak big enough for two, so they took us to that. Well after we went back to their house and he has the COOLEST BIRD EVER!!!!!!!!! I am going to save up money to buy me one, because the bird is BOMB!!!! I will attach a picture, and try to send the video. but I think the bird had a crush on me, because I was sitting next to the member who owns it and the bird was hanging out on his shoulder, but kept walking along his arm over to me, then the bird would get on my shoulder an say "hello" so I'd say "hello" then it would walk back and I'd start laughing, then the bird would laugh with me. It just kept doing that over and over and over again. Then at one point it was dancing on my shoulder, and it kept walking down my arm by my chest and would cuddle with me by laying against me so I could pet it.....IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!! Yep, I am SO going to get a pet like that one day!

Well this week I have Zone Conference which I am super excited about!!! We have some REALLY good follow up appointments happening this week and hopefully we can get some baptismal challenges at those appointments. We have exchanges and all sorts of craziness going on!!! But it is going to be a blast!!! The week will fly by, speaking of flying by, can you believe September is basically over?!!!?? holy macarolllie.......I have almost hit my 4 month mark.....I make myself so proud every time I hit a new month, because its one more month I was able to stick it out through the HARDSHIPS of being a missionary, because let me tell you what, I have never done anything this difficult in my LIFE!! But I am so proud of all the things I am learning, and the growth that is happening. I hope I never go back in progress and just keep growing.

Welp, I think that's all I've got to say this week. I hope you have a joyful week, and remember

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!!!

Love
Sister Barnum

picture is of me and Sister Dent with the GREATEST BIRD EVER....peaches!

E-mail #15

9-12-2011

Hello everyone!!!

Junction City....i am here to STAY!!! another 7 weeks this place gets to have me in their presence....are they not the luckiest people in town?!!?

Well this week, it has been a good week. I only had like a day and a half of home sickness....not even the 'i want to go home' kind.....just the 'i want to hear my families voice' kind. I tell you what, I've never wished so much in my life that there would be some kind of tragedy so i could hear my family......awful i KNOW!!!! but its true. :)

Well yesterday was ward conference and let me tell you what....ward conference PLUS being a missionary = NOT FUN AT ALL!!!!! It was such a crazy day, the first hour into it i felt like i was going to loose my brain....like it would just fall out and i wouldn't be able to function anymore! It was crazy. But president Knapp spoke and if you don't remember from zone conference forever ago...he is AN AMAZING SPEAKER....he focused A LOT on families and really got into depth about it, it made me want to be an amazing parent when i get to that day, and just never forget the things he said. That is one thing i realized that i love, is that if you go to church regularly and study, and listen, and general conference and all of that stuff they have to help us, IT HELPS US....when we need a reminded to be more thankful, or the be a better parent, or WHATEVER...i just love it. because i don't have to remember all of it right now, because i can keep learning as i go. So i love that. We had a lot of people who we've been working with show up to church yesterday which was GREAT!!! we loved it, but again it led to CRAZINESS!!! and GUESS WHAT?!!? I understood every single word they said in the Spanish branch on Sunday....EVERY WORD!!! and they didn't speak in English...i guess i am really starting to learn Spanish, its amazing....i never knew i would learn so much in a short amount of time, but it was great. it was like i could hear another voice translating it into English.....oh wait....i was wearing a translator headset.....man, maybe one day i will understand Spanish!

So funny story time!!! we were out following up on some former investigators....seeing if they were wanting to learn again and guess what?!!? we stopped at this one apartment, and the notes on the file said they weren't sure how 'accountable' she was. So we knocked in the door, and she yelled through 'who is it?' and said the sister missionaries and she said who is it, and we said the sister missionaries, so she opened the door and said 'oh okay' very nicely(seriously) and then closed the door and locked it!!! while she was closing the door sister dent tried yelling in to her to find out if it was the person we were looking for, but she just locked the door. I walked over to the wall and leaned against it because i was laughing so hard. Sister dent was just standing there like what the heck just happened. It was SO FUNNY....the best part is her window blinds were open and we could see her sitting on her couch watching TV. It took everything in me not to walk up to her window and knock on it to find out if she was who we were looking for! It was such a great moment i wish i had it on video because it was just HYSTERICAL!!!

Well its been a pretty good week. I am glad i get to stay in junction city and keep working with the people that we are working with. Me and sister dent have a goal to have a baptism every weekend in October!!! I think it is possible, we have a lot of people on that path right now and 2 people already planning on getting baptized in October. So hopefully it will be a MONTH of MIRACLES!!!!!

Well i love you and and am so thankful for all your love and support and remember you can send me MAIL!!! :)
104 W 4th St #207
Junction City KS


much LOVE LOVE LOVE

Sister Barnum!

E-Mail #14

E-Mail #14

Sept. 6th, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello all my wonderful amazing supporters out there....well it has been one heck of a week, very busy.

This week we had back to back exchanges, which always makes things crazy. I was on exchanges with Sister Coplan who works in Manhattan, but she came to junction city with me, and i GOT TO DRIVE....for the first time in 3 months!! It was amazing!! We had a good exchange. I really enjoy Sister Coplan, she is awesome and has so much energy and is great. She has only been out one transfer, but we realized that we go home the same transfer which is really exciting, I'm excited to know someone i will go home with. After that exchange we went straight to Lawrence for that exchange. I spent all day Thursday in Lawrence....and we had NO VEHICLE...we walked in 104 degree weather, and I SURVIVED!!! i was super proud of myself, i didn't even get snappy or grumpy about the heat and being in it all day. So go me! I really enjoy being in Lawrence the people there are very nice, there were LOTS of the lords tender mercies. First thing in the morning we ran into a member who gave us a ride to our appointment, which made it so we were not late for the bus. Then later after service we had lunch and realized we didn't have time to walk to our appointment so we called a member who was near by and she came and gave us a ride. And then later when we were waiting for the bus ANOTHER member asked if we needed a ride. It was great!! I love knowing the lord is taking care of us, he is so aware of us and is making sure that we don't die in the heat, and that we can keep our heads up and work hard!

Last week i also passed off lesson 5, and i am now a LEVEL 5 TEACHER!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I know you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but it is way exciting, that means i have memorized the main points and a scripture for each main point in preach my gospel for each lesson, and that means i get driving privileges!!! Which i am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT!!! Last Monday, and yesterday we had a district pday, which was WAY fun, i love our district. Attached is a picture of our district they are so fun. We went on a 'hike' to the top of Manhattan, its a really pretty view from up there! then we played some games and went and got a treat. Then yesterday we played basketball and hung out with the district and with some non-members who love to play basketball with us. I MANAGED NOT TO BREAK ANYTHING!!! How great is that?!

This week is transfers and I'm not sure whats going to happen. We get transfer calls tonight, so I'll find out whats going on. Yesterday my zone leader said he thinks that I'll be staying. So i believe him. Which i really hope is true because there is the Fernandez family that we are working with, that i LOVE with all of my heart, and when they found out transfers were happening they were not to happy about it. So i hope we can keep seeing them progress. Sister dent might and might not go....we will find out tonight. Heck i might even go, but i really doubt it. Which is good because i don't know if i have room in my suit case to move. So make sure if you send any mail this week it goes to the mission home

517 W Walnut

Independence MO

64050

Until next week when i can tell you if i stayed....or went somewhere new. Next transfer will be 7 weeks instead of six because of the fact that this transfer ended a week early. So that will be nice to have a little longer of a transfer. So on Sunday we got the relief society book that they are giving to every woman who is a member....and if you haven't got yours yet, or have got it but haven't read it....WOW IT IS GREAT!!! i have started to take a few minutes out of personal study each morning to read it and i LOVE IT!! its so fun, and you learn so much about the relief society in it. Its great. Well i think that's all i got for today. But i love you all and hope to get mail from you soon!!! :)

Love

Sister Barnum.

p.s....don't worry i still sleep walk and talk....its great....NOT!

E-Mail #13

 E-Mail #13

August 29th, 2011

 

 

Hello everyone!!!

 

Did you know on Thursday the 1st marks me being away from home for a entire 3 months.....who knew it was possible?!!? I DIDN'T!!!! This week has not been as crazy awesome as last week, but it was still a good week. I had some really big struggles this week, and really had to find a way to work through them, I'm glad to say i came out a better and stronger person. Its amazing how quick mission life can change you, and sometimes it is SUPER hard to deal with, but i know its for the better and i know i have my Heavenly Father supporting and helping me. Last week i went on exchanges to Lawrence. That was fun, it was fun to work with another sister that i haven't met before and to spend time with her. It was nice to be in Lawrence on a car week, but this week when i go it is a walking week, so on Thursday say lots of prayers for me....lol. Actually this week i will be doing back to back exchanges, i will be exchanging in Manhattan tomorrow until wed, and then from wed to Thurs in Lawrence. So it will be crazy. I guess its just prep for upcoming transfers. I honestly cant think of much to write about today. I don't know why. I guess this week was not as eventful. But i did learn a lot this week. I learned the importance of being strong in weak moments and how i need to rely on the lord better. I find myself not letting the atonement work fully in my life because i feel bad putting all my pains and struggles on the lord, which i know sounds dumb, but its true. I've realized that there is no point in me carrying all the stuff i feel around with me every day when someone so amazing has already suffered for me, and is willing to remove that. Its still a struggle and I'm not good at it yet. But i am trying. Today we are having a district PDAY and me and sister dent are off to Manhattan to have fun with the elders and sisters down there. We are looking forward to it! It will be lots of fun! and on Sept 8th is transfers so I'm excited to see what changes are made and if there are indeed elders coming into junction city to join us. Sorry this is super lame and short, but know i love you all and hope you all are doing good. Thanks for all the continued prayers and love and support it MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!!!!!

 

Love you all,

 

Sister Barnum

 

 

(P.S. this is Brittney, her sister, and she e-mailed me this picture while we were talking this morning to show to my boys and I am not sure if she wanted it on here or not but it is a cute picture and I know that I LOVE getting to see pictures of her so I thought I would share. Enjoy!!)

 

 

E-Mail #12

 E-Mail #12

August 22nd, 2011

(Again sorry a week behind...one more e-mail and we are caught up...thanks for hanging in there waiting for us. Enjoy.)

 

 

 

Hello Family and Friends!!!

 

Well do i have one heck of a week to tell you all about!!! But to start off i have to tell you why its been a week of miracles! Last Sunday the Spanish Branch started a 40 day fast for missionary work!!! That does NOT mean one person will fast for 40 days, but that means for 40 days straight there is someone in the Spanish branch fasting for us!!!! So that is pretty awesome! The day the fast started we received our first miracle. We got a call from the Elders in Manhattan who said a guy had showed up to their ward and wants to take missionary discussions and be baptized. YEA...I KNOW!!!! He is engaged to a LDS girl who has set the standard that she is getting married in the temple! WOOHOO!! So the week went pretty amazing. We went to Interviews and training on Wednesday. I was able to sit down and talk with President and Sister Keyes. I love them so much!!! President Keyes and i had a great interview, we even have top secret stuff that wasn't to leave that room, and we will check up on each other next time we have interviews!! I LOVED IT!! i feel so special having a secret between me and the president. lol. I also so Elder Christensen from the MTC at the interviews so that was pretty fun. NOW.....lets get to the week of MIRACLES, this all happened between Thursday and Saturday!

Thursday, sister dent and i had a goal to find a new investigator, it was 830 and we had to be back to our apartment by 9....we had to run to a appointments house and reschedule. So while we were driving i was making a few phone calls and sister dent noticed this big group of apartment buildings we drove by and felt like we needed to go there. So after we canceled our appointment we went back, We were guided by the spirit which building of all of them we needed to go to, then we couldn't decide between two buildings. So we prayed, and choose one, and went to the very top and choose a door and knocked! A girl came out and was SUPER NICE and very interested. We gave her a book of Mormon and she said she was going to go straight in and check out mormon.org and she said she'd think about coming to church(but she didn't come) and we have a appointment with her again on Friday! IT WAS SOOO COOL!!!! sister dent and i were like on cloud 9!!! It was awesome! Then Friday we had a appointment with a Less Active, Part Member Family. Who we have been trying to see for a WHILE, and we finally were able to go. So we went and had dinner with them and we talked about the gospel and everything. The wife and daughter and super receptive and became investigators. I know it will be a really slow process with them, but i KNOW they will be members eventually because they are GREAT! I feel very passionate about this family and feel like i was meant for them, so i LOVE IT!!! We also go a new investigator when we had a appointment with another investigator....we were reading a few scriptures from the book of Mormon and before we knew it, this other lady just kept reading and reading as we were talking and she was super interested so we gave her a book of Mormon and set up a time to go back! Then we also had a appointment with the guy who went to the wrong church last week and he is AWESOME and is so ready for the gospel!! We also had a appointment with another referral who's husband is a member and she has been around people in the church all her life, she is awesome, and her and the other guy showed up to church yesterday and we have another appointment with them this week. So between Thursday and Saturday we got 6 new investigators!!! INSANE!!!!! we are so excited!!!

 

So everyone out there, look for missionary opportunities and have your own miracles because they DO HAPPEN!!!!

 

To end, i will finish with a sleep talking story for you all!!

 

So Thursday, i woke up and i thought, wow i had a good nights sleep, it felt GREAT!!! Went about our morning routine in silence because we just don't talk in the mornings....lol, not cause we don't like each other, we just are quiet in the mornings, which i like! ANYWAYS....so we sit down to do comp study and pray and all that, and sister dent tells me about my sleep talking that night and how i woke her up. She said she heard me talking and was thinking what the heck, so she rolled over and i was sitting on the edge of my bed......PRAYING.....OUT LOUD!!!! she was giggling, she said her favorite part was my leg was hanging off the edge of my bed and it was just bobbing up and down like a little kids. She just laid there and watched me and listened to my prayer, which i guess was pretty clear to hear, it wasn't even mumbling. Then she said i finish 'in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen....then sat there for a minute and crawled back under my blanket and went to sleep!!! HAHAHAH!!!!! I was laughing SO HARD!!!! So there is your funny story for today! I hope you enjoy!!

 

Have a good week

Sister Barnum

 

 

 

I attached a picture of the primary class we teach in the Spanish branch. I LOVE THOSE KIDS!! They are awesome and so adorable.

Left to right: Lilly, Rebekah, Gabbi, Behind me is Danny, Me, Tomas(my little heart melter), and Jose.

E-Mail #11

 E-Mail #11

August 15, 2011

(this is Brittney and sorry again for being so far behind...we hope you enjoy the e-mails and photos.)

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone out there!!!

 

Well i survived another week. Last week we found out that they moved transfers and that this transfer is only 5 weeks instead of 6...so we will have transfers the first week of Sept on the 8th. Its really weird that they are happening that soon. But I'm okay with it. We are getting a TON of new people in our mission this transfer, so there will be LOTS of changes, and we found out from our WARD that we are getting ELDERS in this area....I'm guessing at the transfers they will be putting Elders out here, along with us. They want the elders to work on post (Fort Riley) but the ward and us sisters don't quite understand that idea because a lot of husbands are deployed so elders would not be able to get in the home. But whatever is meant to work out, will!! It will be fun to have 2 sets of missionaries out here though. The work could for sure us it!

 

Last week we were....you know....out and about doing missionary work....crazy i know. But we stopped by a part member family home. The sister was outside, so we went up and talked to her. She was super up tight and not to nice to us, but i was like DETERMINED to break down her walls and talk with her, so i just ignored her attitude and kept talking it up with her. It was a fun experience. By the time we finished talked to her she had warmed up to us, and i THINK she MIGHT have thought, maybe once or twice about going back to church. Either way, it was a good experience, and one step closer to the right timing for her to come back into the gospel! We have spent a lot of time on post the last couple weeks. Its been great, i love working on post and wish so bad we could knock doors, because you know there are people on there ready for the gospel and comfort it would provide them in such a tough place, of army and deployment. But we do our best to try and find people without breaking rules they have. We met a referral on post, and she is a super awesome person and i really look forward to continuing to teach her, and i know she will take to the gospel if she lets it happen. She will be awesome to share the glory of the gospel with. This week we also stopped by an elderly womans house who we have stopped by before, and she is just AMAZING. I love her. She is not active due to a few things, and her husband is suffering from cancer. But she is AMAZING. She is an immigrant from Germany, and she is this strong willed and amazing woman. I love listening to her stories, and she cares for us so much, is always giving us advice on which side of town to stay away from, and not be out after dark, and gives us food. She is super cute. I am going to attach a picture of me and her to this email. Because i just adore her!!

 

OH FOOD ALERT!!!!

For those of you reading this and aware of my picky eating habits. I mean, I'm still a picky eater. But you wouldn't believe, i have had AUTHENTIC KOREAN food TWICE since being out here, and its YUMMY!!!! also mom....and dad.....you have NOT experienced carne asada(not sure if that's spelt right??) until you have come to Kansas and had some amazing Spanish ward members cook it for you!! you have no idea what you are missing out on...i could eat it ALL DAY...EVERY DAY!! AND we have FHE with some Spanish ward members tonight, I'm praying for some AMAZING FOOD!!

 

 We also are teaching a cute little guy in our ward, he is 9 and hasn't been baptized yet, so we made some cupcakes with him and taught him. Then on Saturday we went to a little town about 20 minutes away called Milford and went tracting, we knocked 3 houses in a ROW that were interested in what we had to say gave some book of Mormons away, and all that. It was so fun i look forward to seeing where that goes! One lady was SO CUTE!! her husband went and got her, and when she came out she said OOOH I LOVE YA'LL I CAN FEEL YOUR SPIRIT.....it was SO CUTE!! i loved it! So i am looking forward to seeing her and her husband progress it will be fun! and then as far as Sundays go, it will be super weird the day that i only go to church for a 3 hour block....instead of 730AM to 400PM!!! man church is great, but by the end i just want to fall of my chair and go to bed. lol.

 

PS thank you singles ward for the letters, i loved them!!! thanks for all your support and love!!

 

 

Until next week!

 

Love Sister Barnum

Email #10

E-mail #10
Aug. 8th, 2011

Again, I am sorry for posting this almost a full week late. Please forgive me.

Hello everyone!

Well the big news is....I'm still in Junction City with Sister Dent. I am way happy to still be in Junction City, I don't know if I could have handled change very well AT ALL! So I know Heavenly Father is watching out for me. I am the first companion that Sister Dent has had for more than one transfer. I feel bad that she has to deal with emotional me for another 6 weeks, but I guess we will both grow and learn from it. I don't really have that much to tell this week. It has not been to busy, Sister Dent and I were struggling a lot this week because we just are not finding people who are willing to progress! It's very frustrating, because people are willing to hear what we have to say, but they just DON'T keep commitments, it makes me super sad because they are all such GREAT people, if only they would keep those commitments and feel their Heavenly Fathers love SO STRONG in their lives! So that's been a bummer. Sister Dent avoids tracting at all costs, which I understand why, its not the best way to find people, most people just hate us for knocking on their door. But because we were feeling so stuck, we went tracting out in a little town out of Junction City called Chapman. Well the first door we went too.....very cute old lady, super friendly....BUT when we told her what church we were from and that we wanted to share a message she was not so nice anymore. And she was SO EAGER to close her door on us, that she SQUISHED her dog in between her door and screen door, we could see it and heard it yelp....it was so sad....and yet kinda funny, but mostly sad. Then we went to another house, again, a very cute older lady...and AGAIN when we told her what church we were from she just walked away, like AS we were talking to her, and started closing the door, it was super awkward! So Sister Dent and I were not a fan of how things were going, so we went to a members home. They were way nice and made us dinner because we didn't have dinner signed up for that night. While she cooked, we went tracting some more in her neighborhood. THANKFULLY that time was much different. Every door we knocked on they were super nice. Some didn't want to hear from us, but they were nice anyways. We even met a guy who was very clear that he had different beliefs than us, and didn't want us to come back, nice but very clear with it.....and when we went to leave he offered us a glass of lemonade....i thought that was wayyy nice! So tracting started off pretty rough, but it ended on a good note. Other than that, not too much has gone on this week. The heat has FINALLY had a break in it, we have had some good storms roll in, and let loose, so the humidity has been crazy, but the heat is SO MUCH BETTER!!! Last night there was an INSANE storm, literally lightning lite up the sky not even 3 seconds apart from each other. The lightening here is crazy. Like lightening that I am used to will like strike once and go away, but the ones here are like crazy.....I swear they stay lite up in the same spot for...ever! lol. It's pretty intense. But its fun to watch from the comfort of our apartment, now walking out in that....NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!! Speaking of, I realized the importance of a rain coat, and I need to go buy one....lol. We also have been working really hard on our Part Member families list. We have met some great people that I just KNOW are ready for the gospel in their lives! There is one particular sister who we met that I feel VERY strongly about helping her feel her Heavenly Father's love! I really enjoy being around her and can just feel His love for her when we are at her house. I want her to know that so much, and we started her off my committing to pray about starting the repentance process to get closer to Heavenly Father again, and hopefully going to the temple! like she said she wants too! Anyways. I'm keeping things kinda short today. But I am doing well. and love you all! PS you can keep writing me to

104 W 4th St #207
Junction City, KS
66441

I will be here another 6 weeks!


I think this week I'll end with a little testimony....

Well, as a missionary life is HARD!!! I can not tell you how crazy I was to think that it would be easy, and when I say easy, for some reason I thought as a missionary that I would be free from Satan, like doing the Lord's work and I am GOOD TO GO! But I have NEVER in my life had to fight Satan as much as I have as a missionary. Through all the struggles and the words of advice from others, and blessings, telling me to rely on the Lord, I would always think, I already am, how am I supposed to rely even more?! But I have found myself putting EVERYTHING in Him, my worries, my concerns, my being so tired I don't want to talk about the gospel right now, my I'm struggling with reading my scriptures, I am homesick....I just want to find people to teach...everything, I talk to Him about EVERYTHING and He helps me SO MUCH. I feel Him carry me SO MUCH and I am so thankful for that. I couldn't do this without Him. I know that. And I am thankful for this opportunity to learn so much about the gospel that I never knew. And to change peoples lives, show them happiness they have never felt!! I love knowing that my Heavenly Father KNOWS who I am, what a great and strong thing! I love this gospel with all of my heart, and I want everyone to know of it's beauty. I love you all!!

Love Sister Barnum.

E-mail #9

E-mail #9
8-1-11

Sorry this is late, folks :)

Well hello there family!!!

It has been a fabulous week. I am officially 23!!!!

oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY BRITTNEY!!!!

well this week has most DEFINITELY had its ups and downs! As I'm starting to realize that it is just part of missionary life and i should get over it. But its still super hard to deal with! But after i sent my email to you guys last week we got a call from the assistants to the president, telling us that sister Keyes was going to spend Wednesday with us.....yep you read that right....THE MISSION PRESIDENTS WIFE was going to come to the field and work with us.....SO AWESOME!!!! Well Wednesday came and sister Keyes was not feeling well, but we still went to Manhattan to go to lunch with the mission president, his wife and our zone leaders...HOW COOL!!!!!! We ate at olive garden and it was super fun to be with them. Sister dent told me once that your not as much called to your mission area as you are called to the mission president. So i was thinking, well so was i called to president Vankomen or president Keyes. That lunch i realized its for the Keyes'. I feel SO AT HOME when i am with them. I just love it!!! I wish i could see them everyday, it would make the ups and downs so much better! I love being around sister Keyes, she just feels like a mom and i adore that! Makes things easier when i cant be around my own mom. We went to do service on my birthday, and i LOVE service, we do service at the local food pantry and the people there are HYSTERICAL!! they are so fun to be around. They knew it was my birthday so they all sang to me, and surprised me with a cake/bread. It was sooo yummy. I love being around them, it just made my birthday even more awesome. I also appreciate the birthday presents and packages. Lots of stuff that I'm not sure what to do with....but i love being remembered. also i LOVED THE CARD mom......it is so great to hear you guys, i listen to it EVERY DAY!!! Sister dent laughs at me about it, but i just love hearing you guys! Oh and i totally forgot to mention sister dent made me breakfast in bed!!! How sweet is she....she woke up two minutes early and made me a bowl and cereal and brought it to me in bed!!! HAHA!! AWESOME!! oh and she bought me lucky charms for a present, and made me a super cute decorated missionary planner for my next 6 weeks....and a PURPLE pen....and some stickers and stuff. She's super awesome!!

This week is transfers......AHHHHH!!!!! sister dent and i both feel like I'm going and she is staying. In fact we are basically set on that. Which makes me super nervous, where am i going? what am i going to be doing? will i be able to handle it? yea....kinda freaking out here. I've had lots of anxiety about it, but last night i was talking with our district leader and he made me feel better, gave me some awesome words of advice and i am feeling more at peace, than i have the last two-ish weeks.

So if anyone is sending from today until next week all mail must go to

517 West Walnut Independence MO 64050

So that way they can forward it to my new address (if i am transferred) and then next Monday i will hook you up with my new address. If you ever want to be safe rather than sorry just send it to the mission office, they will always forward it to wherever i am.

Well like i said this week has for sure had its ups and downs. I have not been my best, but I'm trying. An example of how this week has been. Last night we didn't have a dinner appointment, so i ate dinner then went to rest for about 10 minutes before we needed to study.....an hour later i woke up....i felt SO BAD!!!! i couldn't believe i had slept through all of my study time. SO LAME! I felt super guilty, but i realize I'm not the first missionary to fall asleep and miss a study time, so I'm not feeling to bad about it. I think HF knew i needed to rest.

I am doing my best to keep learning and growing and find peace when I'm struggling, which has been a lot this week, I'm not really sure why....i think multiple things played into it....Hopie's heart surgery, my birthday, not being focused, being exhausted.....its just been a rough week. But I'm doing better today. I feel that peace inside and i know heavenly father is aware of me, and is taking care of me. Our teaching has not been the best this week, we didn't get as much done as we hoped for, and both of us felt annoyance when we got turned away from people. All i can think is I'm out here trying to share something amazing, life changing, and pure happiness with you, and you don't want to hear it. And how sad are you going to be when you realized what you turned away?! but then i also think of the things that i do, that I'm sure heavenly father is like....well i wish you wouldn't do that.....so the door swings both ways. All i know is a mission gives me this want to be like amazingly perfect when i go home. I want to be the BEST visiting teacher....i want to be the BEST at fellowshipping people....i want to be someone the missionaries can rely on to call last minute if they need help....because that happens WAY TO OFTEN....I just know this has given my life a whole new light. Its crazy.

Anyways, that all I've got for now. Keep me in your prayers this week. Its going to be seriously nerve racking during transfers.....we get the DRAMATIC call tomorrow night telling us what will happen!! AHHHH!!!!

Oh and i must tell you about this morning's events. Me and sister dent, super excited for pday.....because we LOVE PDAY....go out to go do our usual routine...and our car doesn't' start!!!! HOW SAD!!!! we had to go through all this stuff....call people, get someone to come jump our car....blah blah blah....so now we are not a fan of today, because we haven't even gone shopping yet...and our pday is just going by way to fast. Neither of us feel well today so we were wanting to take naps...but there is just too much to get done! So that's super lame! But we got a call saying our car is fixed, so once we are done emailing we will be good to go!

Love you all LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS!!!!

Email #8

Email #8

7-25-11

Hello all!!

well for the record, i still hate bugs! just in case anyone was wondering. This week has been a busy and exhausting week. I do have proof of Heavenly Fathers love for me, and that he is aware of me....i have been in the field for almost 5 weeks and i have NOT had spaghetti yet!!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!??? for those who don't know me, just know i HATE SPAGHETTI!!! so i feel very happy that i have not had it, and i have only told a few people that i hate spaghetti.....i leave it up to them to cook whatever. Anyways, just thought i would share that.




So this week i went on exchanges to Lawrence, they are part time car, and when i was there was the week they didn't have a car so we walked everywhere!!! i must say i have found respect for missionaries who do that every day. I was SOOO EXHAUSTED and not to mention i have NEVER had my body covered in sweat as much as i did that day! I WAS SOAKED and it was DISGUSTING!! But i survived, and i was sore for a couple days, but I'm good to go, i made it! The work here in junction has been good. Sister Dent and i are working hard, we are knockings lots of doors of part member families and so forth. We make a huge list everyday, and unfortunately we only find a couple home out of the big list. So that's kinda lame, but we are working hard. We have found some new investigators that we are happy about, we just pray that they can progress, i ask for your prayers in that too. We are able to find people who are interested pretty easy, but getting them to progress just has not happened at all since I've been here. So it can get frustrating at times, but we just keep praying and doing our best!! We did the other day meet this lady who no longer goes to the latter day saint church. Sister dent and i kinda giggled when she told us she tried to give the bishop a letter of resignation and he wouldn't accept it. I have never heard that before, but it was pretty funny! The heat has been pretty crazy out here. We had a couple people tell us that it hasn't been this hot since 1980--something.....so that always nice to hear as a missionary. I just become more and more thankful for having a car each day. I know we only have about a month before things start cooling down....hopefully?!?.....and so i know i can survive.

This email is shorter than usual, I'm not sure why. But i hope everyone is doing well.....all those reading this out here i would like your extra prayers on Thursday....my amazing aunt is having heart surgery, and prayers make everything better! so please say extra prayers.....thanks so much!!

Love you all!!!!

Sister Barnum.


The pictures: One of them is of me and sister Dent with the Hummbard family, they are such a funny family. Every time we eat there brother Hummbard yells at me, and it cracks me up. The first time he yelled at me for how i was eating my cantaloupe....and i cant remember what he yelled at me about the other day, but usually its about how I'm eating. He cracks me up!!!

The one is of my street here in junction!! i haven't had time to get one of Wilma way, and Hurricane lane.

And the one is of all of us sisters with sister Keyes at zone conference!

Email #7

E-mail #7

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is doing good. First off i must wish a happy birthday to my FOREVER FRIEND DANIELLE!!!! HAPPY 23 GIRL!!!!! (we're so old) ;)

Well everyone, today's theme is I HATE BUGS!!! I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE BUGS!!!! I just want you all to know that. And i am super sick of my legs looking like i am a diseased gross person, so many bug bites it is DISGUSTING!!! They have super ugly gross bugs out here, I'm just saying.....THEY ARE GROSS and LOUD...AND UGLY!!!

Now onto some spiritual things! This week was my first zone conference. It was WAY AWESOME!! we had to travel over 2 hours to get to our zone conference. We stayed the nigh at a members home, which was way awesome, they were super welcoming, and she made us this DELICIOUS breakfast before we left for zone conference. It was way good. And it was way fun to spend time with other sisters, we are all so spread out across the area that we don't see each other. So it was fun. I met our new mission president. They are an awesome couple. I really enjoyed meeting them, super friendly and i think he will be a great president. They had many words of wisdom during zone conference it was great. We also heard from our stake president in our zone, his name is President Knapp, and he is SO AWESOME!!! He went like 20 minutes over the time he had, and no one noticed because we loved everything he had to say, and even when he noticed we wanted him to keep going! Such an inspiring and strong member of the church. One thing I've come to realize this week is how many strong members there are of the church! I mean its so cool! i have never met so many people soooo passionate for missionary work that are not even missionaries. Its just so inspiring and makes me want to be like that when i go home, just so dedicated to the gospel!!! Its super cool. During zone conference the assistants to the president gave little talks also, and it was so good. I really realized that as long as i LOVE MY MISSION....everything else will be fine. If i wake up and just love what I'm doing, then it will all be okay. Finding people will be fine, deciding what to say to them will be fine, being home sick will be fine, EVERYTHING!! I love that!!!

Also this week we had our first exchanges since I've been out here. Sister Glade came to junction city with me. It was fun to work with someone else for a day. It really pushed me to step up to the plate and take charge a little. So that was fun! We went to a less active members home, and i just pulled out my scriptures and shared a awesome scripture i found that week and talked about it with them, and that was my first time doing that, so i was WAY PROUD of myself. I can just tell i am growing and becoming more comfortable with what i am doing, so its is way EXCITING!! I still have moments that i know i can do better, but this is a growing experience so i know that I'll feel that way the next 18 months! lol.

We are also teaching this Spanish speaking family(i don't know if i already told you about them) but they are amazing!! AMAZING!!! i love how great of standards they already have, so its fun to build off of that and teach them the gospel. I am not as involved in the lessons because i don't speak Spanish, but its just fun to be in their home and share the gospel with them.

Today we were washing our car, and there was a guy in the wash next to ours, sister dent and i both felt like we needed to talk to him. We didn't realize either of us felt this way. So before we left i got out a pass along card with our number on it and said lets go give this to him, and sister dent said she was thinking the same thing. I LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!! because you just KNOW that's what heavenly father wants you to do! I was also helping this cute older man at the photo place while sister dent was waiting for her photos. He was super friendly and cute, so we gave him a pass along card also!!! I LOVE sharing the gospel with people. This week we have a zone challenge called the baptismal invite-a-thon.....we are competing to get the most baptismal invites. Inviting people to be baptized scares me for some reason, but i love this challenge because i need to get comfortable with it!

I also had this really awesome experience Saturday night. We were teaching a recent convert, and he was struggling we were talking it out with him....so on....but the cool experience was as i was sitting there i was realizing my relationship with my HF wasn't what it used to be, and i was thinking what has changed.....and i had this really awesome spiritual impression and i just felt my heavenly father telling me how i wasn't talking to him like i use to, during prayers. and i wasn't putting my burdens on him....anyways. So that night i prayed my heart out, just really talked to my HF....and it felt SO GREAT!!!! I immediately felt that impression that HF wanted me to put my pictures away of my family that i had put out. Without hesitation i did what he wanted me to do and i can just feel the blessings surrounding me because i did that! I just felt so good, and i woke up Sunday feeling so good. It was just awesome!

Little background on the family pictures. When i was really struggling about 2 weeks ago, sister Vankomen (mission presidents wife) called me......and she talked with me while i cried and cried....and she told me to put my pictures away of my family that i had sitting out.....so i did. After my blessing i felt like things were good and i was fine....which is true....but i let those pictures come back out and put them where i could see them everyday. And heavenly father just reminded me....that while I'm out here, its about him and me.....and his work. So i need to focus on his pictures and his work, not my family. Which i am totally fine with because its true!

Well this email is super long, i hope you all lasted while you were reading it! This week we have exchanges again, i am going to Lawrence and they don't have a car, so it will be a super long day in the heat, but I'm sharing the gospel so IT WILL BE FINE!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

and if charity is out there reading this.....are you still alive?! I hope work is going good! I miss your face!

Thanks everyone for the letters i keep getting i LOVE THEM!!! oh and tell Maddison her talk was AWESOME!!!! i loved it TONS!!!

DON'T FORGET MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Love
Sister Barnum!

Photos

Photos she sent in a separate e-mail on

July 5th, 2011

(mainly from the MTC days)