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!