Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Santee - Week #77 - October 21, 2014

This is the Work that never ends!


Hola familia!

This week was so awesome! MILAGROS. Keep praying for the Gonzalez-Ambriz! They are so excited for their baptisms! These kids are going to change the world and already are. We've started doing missionary role-plays (practices) with them and they are already sharing the Gospel with their friends! 

My favorite quote from 10-year-old Arthur:

"The other day, I was talking to two of my friends, one of them was Catholic and the other one didn't have a church. I asked them if they've heard of Mormons and they told me that going to church wasn't cool. Then I started talking to them about God and then they changed their minds." 

What a great privilege we all have to invite and help people to "change their minds" and hearts by helping them understand how to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love this Work with all my heart. The great part about it is that it is the Work that never ends! I love my Savior, I know His Atonement is real, and I know that He lives! His Gospel and Priesthood have been restored through a prophet Joseph Smith who translated the Book of Mormon so that we could be happy and return to live with Him, Heavenly Father, and our families for eternity! I love you!!

Hermana Barnes


Las fotos:
1) At the Mission President's fireside with the Leon Family, two of our recent converts from Ramona with their parents who are preparing for baptism! Their family is going to be together forever!
2) I love Hermana Fairbourn!
3) "I think I found one!" This is how we find new and prepared people to teach. They are everywhere if you just open your eyes and mouths! 








Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Santee - Week #76 - October 14, 2014

AAHHHHHH!!! The field is WHITE. Part 2

Hola familia!
I have no time but are you ready for this?...
CHAYLA IS GETTING BAPTIZED WITH ARTHUR AND CASSANDRA (Lulu) ON OCT. 25!!!!! AHH!! Prayer is so real and powerful! After so many months, Chayla finally said, "I think I'm ready now. I want to get baptized!!" Mayra burst into tears when she heard Chayla say it. She was crying throughout her whole prayer of gratitude at the end of the lesson, which then in turn made us all cry. I love this family with all my heart. So many tears of joy. This family is one of the greatest change-of-heart miracles I've seen my whole mission. Don't stop your prayin'!
This week was so awesome but I'm out of time! I love missionary work! And I sure love you!! Please go be a blessing to someone else! Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Barnes

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Santee - Week #75 - October 7, 2014

AAHHHH!!!! The field is WHITE.



Hola familia!

I'm going to skip the chit-chat and tell you that...

ARTHUR AND LULU ARE GETTING BAPTIZED ON OCTOBER 25TH!!!! AHHHH!!! TEARS OF JOY.

Okay, here is the run-down story: Thursday night, Hermana Fairbourn and I felt really strongly after 6 months of trying to get the Gonzalez-Ambriz family with a baptismal date, that we should get at least Arthur on board to get baptized because he has literally been begging. After desperately praying in the car on the way to a last minute set up appointment, we were able to set him with a date! The spirit definitely guided that lesson. It was such a miracle!! We were hoping also that it might help motivate the others.
--THEN, just yesterday, we received a call that Lulu got permission from her dad to get baptized!!! After weeks of praying and fasting as a family, her dad said YES!!! We were screaming for joy at the news. It is hard to describe the extent of the miracle but, ahh man it was amazing! AHHH!! Sorry I'm screaming so much in this email. Miracles really do happen when you don't stop praying. Just don't stop praying, ever.

Also, Chayla, the oldest daughter, is so close to accepting a baptismal date! We have a lot of faith that she will. Also, Mayra told us last night that she is ready to get married and she is just waiting for Arturo to propose! She really wants him to get baptized so they can get sealed in the temple. This family is literally SO close, it's literally killing us! Haha it's so amazing to see so much progress!! Ahh! I love missionary work and the Atonement!

District miracle: After an inspired district meeting about the Book of Mormon, a member from the branch invited all of us to eat at an Asian Buffet for dinner. Our hostess take us to our table, asks what kind of missionaries we are, and then runs and grabs something. She then returns and slams down the Book of Mormon in Chinese on the table! She asks us if we could teach her all about the book. We taught her right there, using the things we learned in district meeting, and then she gave us all of her information, including facebook info and email address. We invited her to conference and she accepted. She is so excited to learn more from the Mandarin Chinese missionaries! How SWEET is that?! It was so cool to see our district all come together to help this one lil' lady.

Wasn't General Conference awesome? I loved so many talks, especially Elder Bednar's and the one General Authority who laid it down and told us not to make excuses and take responsibility for all our actions to increase spiritual confidence. I love it when people are bold. Conference was so perfect for so many of our investigators. I love how the Spirit works that way. Julian even came to conference in his white shirt and tie! Another miracle.

I've had a huge realization the past few months. Sometimes, God doesn't allow you to feel too confident in something or else you would become complacent and stunt your growth. I am so grateful for that. I don't think I've ever felt so inadequate in my life! It's a blessing. Just don't get discouraged if you're not constantly seeing progress in yourself. God will give you sneak peaks here and there, but just always strive to be better because every single good choice you make gets you closer to becoming like Christ whether you realize it or not.

I love you!!
Hermana Barnes


Las fotos:
1) The 4 sisters about to fall off a cliff.
2) Snake charmers on Potato chip rock. A super sweet hike our whole zone went on today for P-day. Bring on the soreness!
3) Les quiero a los Hermanos Lopez! These two are like everyone's grandparents in the branch. They take care of us. 






Santee - Week #74 - September 30, 2014

I'll just bap-a-tize myself!



Hola familia!
Another cool week!
We had exchanges in Chula Vista this week and I got to be a bike sister for a day! It was awesome! I was with a new missionary in training and it was cool to see her stop her bike at even the most inconvenient street contacts. She knows her purpose!
I'm sure you've heard about the new film, "Meet the Mormons" coming out next weekend. Well, all the missionaries in our mission got to watch it with our mission president! How weird is that?! I felt worldly for a minute, but it was really good! You should all check it out and see it next week. There are many invitations by General Authorities to invite everyone to go see it to show the world that Mormons are actually normal people! I think you'd all like it.
Update on the Gonzalez-Ambriz: We had a lesson with them the other night about the temple and eternal families, and here are some priceless quotes from the kids:
Arthur (10 yrs. old): "I love the temple because even though we just got to go inside the lobby, I felt like God was walking with me." Who is this kid?! 
Cassandra (8 yrs. old): "Mom, can I please just get baptized? I want to go inside the temple so bad!!" Cassandra is the one that has to get permission from her biological father before she can get baptized. Here is what she said, "Why do I have to get permission from dad if this is MY decision and this is something that I need and really want to do?"
Arthur again: "If dad won't bap-a-tize me, I will just bap-a-tize myself!"
Hahaha these kids are the most ready and prepared kids I have taught my whole mission. We are pretty much just waiting to hear back from the parents on both sides and they will most likely be able to be baptized soon! Please keep praying for this family! Your prayers are really making a difference!
Hermana Fairbourn and I have been seeing miracle after miracle and finding more and more people to teach. We met a girl named Areli who was a member-referral from Laura in our branch. The first thing she asked us before we could even say anything after we introduced ourselves was, "So I heard about general conference and it sounds so cool! Are you ladies going to the conference this weekend?" She is super solid and super excited to learn. Those referrals we get from members really are gifts wrapped up with a bow on top. I love you members.
I love you. One more thing. Keep reading in the Book of Mormon every day! Don't ever underestimate the power of that book and how much it can bring you closer to Christ. It is so true.
Hermana Barnes