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!