Stephanie and Eli @ the Famous Magie Moo's the next day14
Sister Ryder, Sister Glad, Sister Schimdt, and Me up in Parkersburg for our P-Day!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Cutting Trisha's hair. She only let me cut of an inch!
The Elders so kindly smashed a cup cake in to our front windshield and I could barely see out. Some kids laugh and asked us " Are thoes cup cakes?" when we pulled up to the gas station.
yet again the Elders placing more sweets on our car.
The Elders so kindly smashed a cup cake in to our front windshield and I could barely see out. Some kids laugh and asked us " Are thoes cup cakes?" when we pulled up to the gas station.
yet again the Elders placing more sweets on our car.1/2 WAY THERE
Dear Fam
Can you hardly believe it, today is actually 9 months to the day that I entered the doors of the MTC. Crazy it was great to have some family there. But little Sammers didn’t give me a hug; I better get a huge hug in 9 months. 9 month that’s like waiting for a baby to be born I’m sure the pain is a little different but we both get huge blessing after wards. I'm still finding it hard to believe that I have been serving the Lord as a full-time missionary for 9 months. My comp and I are actually in the same boat so we are definitely planning on celebrating today! There is a missionary tradition of burning something at certain month marks...And I burned some nylons for my 6-month. Tonight it’s going to be a little bigger than some dud nylons.
P.s. Nylons do not burn as well as I would have liked them to. We actually sprayed them with hair spray to make it look cooler for the picture. In real life it was not that exciting. So bigger and better hopefully for the half-wayers tonight. So-just think of a nice big bonfire for this evening!! :P I'm very excited!We had an appointment with Sylvia but unfortunately she was not home. So we are going to try and stop by another day this week. We are still excited and positive that we'll be able to continue teaching her. One thing that is hard to remember sometimes that our time is not the same as everyone else's time. We feel that things go rather slowly when to someone else, major changes in a matter of months is very hard to adjust to! You'd think we would remember that from when we go to the MTC and from there to the mission field, but we don't.
They cram everything well everything that we think we should know into three weeks. We just sometimes want our investigators to learn that fast. But we don’t get everything we what. It a good thing though.We taught Stephanie about The Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to pray about being baptized. We saw her briefly yesterday-unfortunately she was not able to come to Church on Sunday on account of a VERY grumpy rebellious baby (Eli decided to not go to sleep until 5 am Sunday morning). You won’t believe where we went, you guess it Maggie Moo's yes indeed, and we might have had it the day before as well. But I will have to tell you that a got a wonderful gift card there from Bryce and Marica and we of course were craving it. Oh and for dad’s sake we have talked to people there and handed out some pass along cards. So its like the two best things sharing the gospel and Maggie Moo’s ice-cream. It’s quite sad that my companion doesn’t get to enjoy this glorious ice-cream because she is lactose intolerant. But she loves the Zoomer drink so it’s all good.
Saturday went to Erica Pender's baptism, she's an eight-year-old in the ward. It was great to see Trisha our investigator there making sure they wouldn’t drown Erica.Our Sunday evening ended with a phone call from our investigator, Sister Hart at 10:30pm...And we talked or rathered listened on the phone until sister Glad fell asleep around 2am. She's having some financial/emotional struggles and she needed to call us and have a little bit of a break down. So sister Glad listened for hours but only because I have listened the night before. It was crazy we just listen...and listen some more. The crazy thing is I don’t know how I stayed up on the phone so late before. Absolutely crazy!
Our referrals in the Office have been doing really well lately. A lot of people are ordering Book of Mormons or Bibles. Can\'t have one without the other, right?! Well, at least that\'s what we\'re trying to show people who are willing to listen.
Sister Glad and I actually received a referral for Teresa Casto. She ordered a Finding Faith in Christ DVD and we had a bit of an adventure getting to her home. The directions to her house were hilarious! It took us a while to find her...In true West Virginia sense we took "Davis Creek Rd, past the fast check, turned left down the one lane rd, over the bridge, past the stop sign, right at the fork, right past the concert pile, past the private property and go to the last trailer on..."I kid you not!
Sister Glad and I eventually found it with some help from some people! It was a neat experience, and we ended up teaching Teresa and her boyfriend, Gary Jr. They have two children, Gary III (2) and Jeremiah (7 months). I got really excited on this visit about sharing why we come out here and serve the lord. She mentioned wanted to raise their kids up in a good environment. It makes me really happy when I see people trying to do the right thing, some of us don’t realize oh lucky we are to be born in a stable oh wait that was Jesus… some of us don’t realize how lucky we are to be born in a stable home. I’m really grateful for the stability and effort that you all did to make a home a better place. I’m also glad you taught me to brush my teeth, every one of them!!! This is a shocker but I will tell you something I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own two eyes, that someone in their 20’s could have NO upper teeth at all. Well it was proven that day. Crazy, but I think they look better gums and all with no teeth at all rather than some rotten stranglers.
Today we went up to my last area (Parkersburg) for another zone’s p-day. We drove up last night so we could spend the day with Sisters Ryder and Schmidt, as well as joining the rest of the St Albans Zone for the day. We played a little b- ball and Phase 10. (That game reminds me of the time we all played it and everyone hated because they couldn’t move a head except for Danica.)
Can you hardly believe it, today is actually 9 months to the day that I entered the doors of the MTC. Crazy it was great to have some family there. But little Sammers didn’t give me a hug; I better get a huge hug in 9 months. 9 month that’s like waiting for a baby to be born I’m sure the pain is a little different but we both get huge blessing after wards. I'm still finding it hard to believe that I have been serving the Lord as a full-time missionary for 9 months. My comp and I are actually in the same boat so we are definitely planning on celebrating today! There is a missionary tradition of burning something at certain month marks...And I burned some nylons for my 6-month. Tonight it’s going to be a little bigger than some dud nylons.
P.s. Nylons do not burn as well as I would have liked them to. We actually sprayed them with hair spray to make it look cooler for the picture. In real life it was not that exciting. So bigger and better hopefully for the half-wayers tonight. So-just think of a nice big bonfire for this evening!! :P I'm very excited!We had an appointment with Sylvia but unfortunately she was not home. So we are going to try and stop by another day this week. We are still excited and positive that we'll be able to continue teaching her. One thing that is hard to remember sometimes that our time is not the same as everyone else's time. We feel that things go rather slowly when to someone else, major changes in a matter of months is very hard to adjust to! You'd think we would remember that from when we go to the MTC and from there to the mission field, but we don't.
They cram everything well everything that we think we should know into three weeks. We just sometimes want our investigators to learn that fast. But we don’t get everything we what. It a good thing though.We taught Stephanie about The Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to pray about being baptized. We saw her briefly yesterday-unfortunately she was not able to come to Church on Sunday on account of a VERY grumpy rebellious baby (Eli decided to not go to sleep until 5 am Sunday morning). You won’t believe where we went, you guess it Maggie Moo's yes indeed, and we might have had it the day before as well. But I will have to tell you that a got a wonderful gift card there from Bryce and Marica and we of course were craving it. Oh and for dad’s sake we have talked to people there and handed out some pass along cards. So its like the two best things sharing the gospel and Maggie Moo’s ice-cream. It’s quite sad that my companion doesn’t get to enjoy this glorious ice-cream because she is lactose intolerant. But she loves the Zoomer drink so it’s all good.
Saturday went to Erica Pender's baptism, she's an eight-year-old in the ward. It was great to see Trisha our investigator there making sure they wouldn’t drown Erica.Our Sunday evening ended with a phone call from our investigator, Sister Hart at 10:30pm...And we talked or rathered listened on the phone until sister Glad fell asleep around 2am. She's having some financial/emotional struggles and she needed to call us and have a little bit of a break down. So sister Glad listened for hours but only because I have listened the night before. It was crazy we just listen...and listen some more. The crazy thing is I don’t know how I stayed up on the phone so late before. Absolutely crazy!
Our referrals in the Office have been doing really well lately. A lot of people are ordering Book of Mormons or Bibles. Can\'t have one without the other, right?! Well, at least that\'s what we\'re trying to show people who are willing to listen.
Sister Glad and I actually received a referral for Teresa Casto. She ordered a Finding Faith in Christ DVD and we had a bit of an adventure getting to her home. The directions to her house were hilarious! It took us a while to find her...In true West Virginia sense we took "Davis Creek Rd, past the fast check, turned left down the one lane rd, over the bridge, past the stop sign, right at the fork, right past the concert pile, past the private property and go to the last trailer on..."I kid you not!
Sister Glad and I eventually found it with some help from some people! It was a neat experience, and we ended up teaching Teresa and her boyfriend, Gary Jr. They have two children, Gary III (2) and Jeremiah (7 months). I got really excited on this visit about sharing why we come out here and serve the lord. She mentioned wanted to raise their kids up in a good environment. It makes me really happy when I see people trying to do the right thing, some of us don’t realize oh lucky we are to be born in a stable oh wait that was Jesus… some of us don’t realize how lucky we are to be born in a stable home. I’m really grateful for the stability and effort that you all did to make a home a better place. I’m also glad you taught me to brush my teeth, every one of them!!! This is a shocker but I will tell you something I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own two eyes, that someone in their 20’s could have NO upper teeth at all. Well it was proven that day. Crazy, but I think they look better gums and all with no teeth at all rather than some rotten stranglers.
Today we went up to my last area (Parkersburg) for another zone’s p-day. We drove up last night so we could spend the day with Sisters Ryder and Schmidt, as well as joining the rest of the St Albans Zone for the day. We played a little b- ball and Phase 10. (That game reminds me of the time we all played it and everyone hated because they couldn’t move a head except for Danica.)
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Devil Eyebrows!!!
Well, we attempted to read The Book of Mormon all day Thursday. Alas, it did not come to pass. sigh : ( We got a phone call that side tracked us and instead we went over to a member's house to talk about an investigator that we are now teaching. it was a bit of a long day...But we are still trying to read The Book of Mormon before the end of the transfer by listening to it whenever we are in the apartment. So that has been working out.On Saturday we did service for Angela and Robert Dorsey. Part Member family. Every year on the 26 and 27 of May they do a fundraiser four people who need glasses and hearing aids. So Sister Glad and I headed over to the State Capitol and scooped strawberry short cake with ice cream for 4 hours! We got an assembly line going between the two of us.
She got out the cake, I scooped the ice cream, and She poured the strawberry topping on top and gave it to Phyllis for the whip cream topping and then to the customers. We stayed pretty busy the entire four hours! I got quite a bit of ice-cream on myself and she got some strawberry gunk on her...Needless to say that We got my 'fill' of strawberry short cake to last us for a very long time. But it was a lot of fun and was for a good cause. We actually saw several members of the ward and also the office couples (we have two right now)! It was a lot of fun!!! Later that evening we had horse-shoe throwing and guitar playing at the Casdorphs' home. I even managed to get one horse-shoe within a 2 inch radius of the pole! While the Elders serenaded us with a Johnny Cash song! It was all to much fun!!Sunday was missionary talk day....Well, only in regards that three out of eight missionaries in the ward spoke.( Elder Jenkins, Elder Oliverson and I.) My luck. I tried finagling out of this one but it wasn’t as easy as my Farwell talk. Ha ha. We all spoke on experiences in our youth that helped us to become the people we are today. It was neat to see how different all of our individual talks were. Elders Oliverson’s relayed his to basketball and his friends. Elder Jenkins was on the importance of family prayer.
And I talked about a couple of things like:How my family has been a huge influence on me. From day one I remember always reading scriptures at 5:45 before seminary together as a family no matter what. Even if it meant that my mom would take extra time and read after with us little kids the Book of Mormon stories editions. My parents knew how important the Sabbath was. We never missed church. Now that doesn’t’ mean we were always on time but we never missing church for any reason even when we were on vacation. This was important for me to see how essential the Sabbath Day is. We spent time with one another and had Family Home Evening. It was so natural to spend my Sabbaths for the lord and my Family. My parents taught me in a way that I never felt like I was missing out on the out side world. Being with my family was cool. I gained love and trust from spending time with them. Because of my families example all the things we should be doing came second nature. Then I shared about EFY. When I was old enough I had the privilege to go to EFY. This was never a struggle to get me to go because I knew there would be a lot of Mormon boys there. It took me totally off guard when I gain a testimony instead of a boyfriend. To look back and remember this experience brings a smile to me. We were all sitting around studying before we headed of to bed. I felt the spirit so strong as we read from JSH, I could not put the book down nor did I want to do anything but read. I wanted to read the whole book. This was so unlike me I hated to read and I never felt like I could read but this I jumped right into. I knew it was true. The spirit was too strong for me to forget. I could not believe that I had been missing out on reading the scriptures and feeling the spirit. That night I didn’t even talk to my roommate, I was too indulged with the story of Joseph Smith. And how then it finally clicked I gained my very own testimony of Joseph Smith. Then of course after high school I did what any Mormon girl would do and went to a LDS school. At BYUI I was hoping to find me a Mormon boy BUT again taken totally off guard instead of a fiancé I gained a testimony of Missionary work. I t was in my BOM class. My teacher did not teach the spirit taught! He would have me coming out of class gleaming. There was one class period in particular on a Change of heart. I realized I could have a change of heart and the girl next to me could have a change of heart and it wasn’t just for the people in the scriptures but it was for us to learn and grow from. This was so exciting to me I raced home and told all my roommate and that wasn’t enough I had to go tall other people’s roommates. Emily and I talked for hours. I remember feeling the most happiness from sharing what I know to be true with others. It was the most incredible experience. I then knew I could have this same kind of feeling all the time as a missionary and that is what I wanted. And that is what is happening now. I’m sharing with others the most wonderful message of all.
Sister Glad sat in the congregation with Trisha, a new investigator of ours. She is 35 years old and has come to Church three weeks in a row! She wants to bear her testimony this coming Sunday! She's an amazing woman. She is practically deaf (50% in one ear, and 60% in the other) and can read lips REALLY well, and also signs. Luckily we have a return sister missionary who has been willing to sign throughout some of the meetings which has helped Trisha to keep up with what is going on better than she can read lips. There are a few members who speak really fast and then will look away from Trisha, and then she doesn't know what they are saying...It's pretty exciting to help her needs, but we love teaching her and seeing the changes that she wants to make in her life for the Gospel to really take root.We actually were invited to a family party on Memorial Day and we spent it with the Penningtons, which is a big family in these parts. They've been central to the Church's growth here for at least the past 50 years/more. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of laughs. WE ate a lot of shrimp!!!! And let me tell you something, they are crunchy when you leave the shell on. The Grandmother (in her 80’s) was a hoot she found out I was a beautician and asked me if I could make her beautiful because when ever she looked in the mirror she can’t see what she is doing…. So I shaped her up with some nice trimmed eyebrows. It was great. She went and told every “Look at me, now I’m beautiful!”Then we ended our Memorial Day with the Humphrey family. I gave their son, Jeremiah, a hair cut (wild child) and then Brother Humphrey taught us about Our Loving Heavenly Father. We go walking with Sister Humphery. It will be neat when they get sealed to each other.
By the way it is soooo hott here like humid hottttt. I don’t even need to put lotion on my face any more because it is sooooo humid.We had an appointment with Stephanie (21yrs old) and her friend was visiting from her home town. She's Stephanie’s age and also has a little boy, who's almost two. We spent some time with them and then found ourselves over at Maggie Moos where we each had some very yummy ice-cream! And we also bumped into Annie Ostler, a member, who works at Maggie Moos. (She decorates cakes!) She and Stephanie got to meet and talk for quite a bit. It was wonderful! We've been wanting Stephanie to meet members of the ward, and we had mentioned her to Annie before and Annie just started chatting to her. An amazing person is Annie! Now she getting some friends in the ward and it will be great. It’s important that everyone has a friend at church.
Anyhow-afterwards I shared an experience with Sister Glad... during my interview with President, he mentioned that we never know what's going to happen about 3 o'clock this afternoon...And when Stephanie and Annie met this afternoon, it was 3 o'clock. Amazing, huh?! And all because we let Stephanie talk us into going to Maggie Moos....Just really neat. A tender mercy of the Lord, reaffirming to me that He really is in charge of His work, and He allows us to be apart of it! President also said that I need to take more charge. So I have to work on that.Today has been good. We played some around the world, horse, I learned “You are my sunshine” on the guitar and I plucked sister Glad’s eyebrows...She asked me if I could help make her 'devil' eyebrows go away...I replied “Gladly”. So...they might be slightly red, but that’s normal. No more devil eyebrows for her!
Love you all,
Sister Barrand
She got out the cake, I scooped the ice cream, and She poured the strawberry topping on top and gave it to Phyllis for the whip cream topping and then to the customers. We stayed pretty busy the entire four hours! I got quite a bit of ice-cream on myself and she got some strawberry gunk on her...Needless to say that We got my 'fill' of strawberry short cake to last us for a very long time. But it was a lot of fun and was for a good cause. We actually saw several members of the ward and also the office couples (we have two right now)! It was a lot of fun!!! Later that evening we had horse-shoe throwing and guitar playing at the Casdorphs' home. I even managed to get one horse-shoe within a 2 inch radius of the pole! While the Elders serenaded us with a Johnny Cash song! It was all to much fun!!Sunday was missionary talk day....Well, only in regards that three out of eight missionaries in the ward spoke.( Elder Jenkins, Elder Oliverson and I.) My luck. I tried finagling out of this one but it wasn’t as easy as my Farwell talk. Ha ha. We all spoke on experiences in our youth that helped us to become the people we are today. It was neat to see how different all of our individual talks were. Elders Oliverson’s relayed his to basketball and his friends. Elder Jenkins was on the importance of family prayer.
And I talked about a couple of things like:How my family has been a huge influence on me. From day one I remember always reading scriptures at 5:45 before seminary together as a family no matter what. Even if it meant that my mom would take extra time and read after with us little kids the Book of Mormon stories editions. My parents knew how important the Sabbath was. We never missed church. Now that doesn’t’ mean we were always on time but we never missing church for any reason even when we were on vacation. This was important for me to see how essential the Sabbath Day is. We spent time with one another and had Family Home Evening. It was so natural to spend my Sabbaths for the lord and my Family. My parents taught me in a way that I never felt like I was missing out on the out side world. Being with my family was cool. I gained love and trust from spending time with them. Because of my families example all the things we should be doing came second nature. Then I shared about EFY. When I was old enough I had the privilege to go to EFY. This was never a struggle to get me to go because I knew there would be a lot of Mormon boys there. It took me totally off guard when I gain a testimony instead of a boyfriend. To look back and remember this experience brings a smile to me. We were all sitting around studying before we headed of to bed. I felt the spirit so strong as we read from JSH, I could not put the book down nor did I want to do anything but read. I wanted to read the whole book. This was so unlike me I hated to read and I never felt like I could read but this I jumped right into. I knew it was true. The spirit was too strong for me to forget. I could not believe that I had been missing out on reading the scriptures and feeling the spirit. That night I didn’t even talk to my roommate, I was too indulged with the story of Joseph Smith. And how then it finally clicked I gained my very own testimony of Joseph Smith. Then of course after high school I did what any Mormon girl would do and went to a LDS school. At BYUI I was hoping to find me a Mormon boy BUT again taken totally off guard instead of a fiancé I gained a testimony of Missionary work. I t was in my BOM class. My teacher did not teach the spirit taught! He would have me coming out of class gleaming. There was one class period in particular on a Change of heart. I realized I could have a change of heart and the girl next to me could have a change of heart and it wasn’t just for the people in the scriptures but it was for us to learn and grow from. This was so exciting to me I raced home and told all my roommate and that wasn’t enough I had to go tall other people’s roommates. Emily and I talked for hours. I remember feeling the most happiness from sharing what I know to be true with others. It was the most incredible experience. I then knew I could have this same kind of feeling all the time as a missionary and that is what I wanted. And that is what is happening now. I’m sharing with others the most wonderful message of all.
Sister Glad sat in the congregation with Trisha, a new investigator of ours. She is 35 years old and has come to Church three weeks in a row! She wants to bear her testimony this coming Sunday! She's an amazing woman. She is practically deaf (50% in one ear, and 60% in the other) and can read lips REALLY well, and also signs. Luckily we have a return sister missionary who has been willing to sign throughout some of the meetings which has helped Trisha to keep up with what is going on better than she can read lips. There are a few members who speak really fast and then will look away from Trisha, and then she doesn't know what they are saying...It's pretty exciting to help her needs, but we love teaching her and seeing the changes that she wants to make in her life for the Gospel to really take root.We actually were invited to a family party on Memorial Day and we spent it with the Penningtons, which is a big family in these parts. They've been central to the Church's growth here for at least the past 50 years/more. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of laughs. WE ate a lot of shrimp!!!! And let me tell you something, they are crunchy when you leave the shell on. The Grandmother (in her 80’s) was a hoot she found out I was a beautician and asked me if I could make her beautiful because when ever she looked in the mirror she can’t see what she is doing…. So I shaped her up with some nice trimmed eyebrows. It was great. She went and told every “Look at me, now I’m beautiful!”Then we ended our Memorial Day with the Humphrey family. I gave their son, Jeremiah, a hair cut (wild child) and then Brother Humphrey taught us about Our Loving Heavenly Father. We go walking with Sister Humphery. It will be neat when they get sealed to each other.
By the way it is soooo hott here like humid hottttt. I don’t even need to put lotion on my face any more because it is sooooo humid.We had an appointment with Stephanie (21yrs old) and her friend was visiting from her home town. She's Stephanie’s age and also has a little boy, who's almost two. We spent some time with them and then found ourselves over at Maggie Moos where we each had some very yummy ice-cream! And we also bumped into Annie Ostler, a member, who works at Maggie Moos. (She decorates cakes!) She and Stephanie got to meet and talk for quite a bit. It was wonderful! We've been wanting Stephanie to meet members of the ward, and we had mentioned her to Annie before and Annie just started chatting to her. An amazing person is Annie! Now she getting some friends in the ward and it will be great. It’s important that everyone has a friend at church.
Anyhow-afterwards I shared an experience with Sister Glad... during my interview with President, he mentioned that we never know what's going to happen about 3 o'clock this afternoon...And when Stephanie and Annie met this afternoon, it was 3 o'clock. Amazing, huh?! And all because we let Stephanie talk us into going to Maggie Moos....Just really neat. A tender mercy of the Lord, reaffirming to me that He really is in charge of His work, and He allows us to be apart of it! President also said that I need to take more charge. So I have to work on that.Today has been good. We played some around the world, horse, I learned “You are my sunshine” on the guitar and I plucked sister Glad’s eyebrows...She asked me if I could help make her 'devil' eyebrows go away...I replied “Gladly”. So...they might be slightly red, but that’s normal. No more devil eyebrows for her!
Love you all,
Sister Barrand
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Green Peppers?
Angela Kelly (an investigator from my old area) just got baptized on the 19th. Angela was just driving around and felt impressed to call the number on the outside of the building. She came to church and met Bishop Long and us sister. As soon as we meet her we felt joy and her eagerness to know the truth. I felt the spirit of peace and I knew that her desirous were pure. We started teaching her and the power of the Holy Ghost bore witness to her. She knew and said “God wants all of his Children to know about the gospel and wants all of his children to know that it’s true.” Angela knew that she wanted to partake of this gospel and be baptized/confirmed as a member of the true and living restored gospel.
She earnestly prayed and the power of the Holy Ghost bore witness to her of its truthfulness. She said that “The role of the Holy Ghost comforts, witnesses and testifies of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Also reveals and tells the truth.” Angela was way excited and we were also. She made sure that I was a part of it and ask me to talk at her baptism. So on Saturday we are driving up to Parkersburg (old area)for Angela’s baptism then driving back down to Charleston for Carrissa’s baptism. Carrissa is really special it even proves it in her name with the extra “R” and “S”. At least that’s what she told us. When Carrissa was only five year old she had said that her Papa would baptize her. Her papa was not even a member. She held on to what she had said when she was five and her papa did join the church a couple of years ago and was able to perform his first baptism on Carrissa. These two sisters were both smiling the whole time; we could not get them to stop. I t was wonderful to be a part of both of their new life’s.
Stephanie Hendersen our gator is amazing she’s reading so much and has notice how much better she feels when she reads. We got some of the best ice cream with her at Maggie Moo’s. Oh it was the best ice cream I have ever eaten. It was kind of like cold stone but better.
The Elders are happily giving us one of there investigator because she was getting a little attached to one of them. She’s hard of hearing and has some incest problems. It’s a sticky situation one minute she knows everything and wants to get baptized then the next minute she flipping out and saying she doesn’t want to learn any more. She called us really late last night. (If you want to say 10:30 is late) well it is to a missionary. We are worn out. Anyways she called last night and said it will only take a minute but it ended up being an hour and some. Man I don’t know if I’m the same person anymore because I don’t know if I like talking on the phone as much as I use too.
Oh something else that is new is I ate a whole green pepper and I had never eaten them before. I always thought they were hot so I stayed away from them but I got some really good ranch dip and sat and ate the whole thing. I’m so proud of me with trying all these new foods. You will not even know what to do with me.
Love ya all
Sister Barrand
P.S. We work with a senior couple in the office and Sister Reddish reminds me of Grandma Hogan. So that’s great.
She earnestly prayed and the power of the Holy Ghost bore witness to her of its truthfulness. She said that “The role of the Holy Ghost comforts, witnesses and testifies of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Also reveals and tells the truth.” Angela was way excited and we were also. She made sure that I was a part of it and ask me to talk at her baptism. So on Saturday we are driving up to Parkersburg (old area)for Angela’s baptism then driving back down to Charleston for Carrissa’s baptism. Carrissa is really special it even proves it in her name with the extra “R” and “S”. At least that’s what she told us. When Carrissa was only five year old she had said that her Papa would baptize her. Her papa was not even a member. She held on to what she had said when she was five and her papa did join the church a couple of years ago and was able to perform his first baptism on Carrissa. These two sisters were both smiling the whole time; we could not get them to stop. I t was wonderful to be a part of both of their new life’s.
Stephanie Hendersen our gator is amazing she’s reading so much and has notice how much better she feels when she reads. We got some of the best ice cream with her at Maggie Moo’s. Oh it was the best ice cream I have ever eaten. It was kind of like cold stone but better.
The Elders are happily giving us one of there investigator because she was getting a little attached to one of them. She’s hard of hearing and has some incest problems. It’s a sticky situation one minute she knows everything and wants to get baptized then the next minute she flipping out and saying she doesn’t want to learn any more. She called us really late last night. (If you want to say 10:30 is late) well it is to a missionary. We are worn out. Anyways she called last night and said it will only take a minute but it ended up being an hour and some. Man I don’t know if I’m the same person anymore because I don’t know if I like talking on the phone as much as I use too.
Oh something else that is new is I ate a whole green pepper and I had never eaten them before. I always thought they were hot so I stayed away from them but I got some really good ranch dip and sat and ate the whole thing. I’m so proud of me with trying all these new foods. You will not even know what to do with me.
Love ya all
Sister Barrand
P.S. We work with a senior couple in the office and Sister Reddish reminds me of Grandma Hogan. So that’s great.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Grass...Hair???
Hey there
Being a media sister is a little different. It’s nice to help out the other missionaries, do office work, be so close to President and still have investigators. Love my new comp. Sister Glad she really can be expanded by her last name. Her and I both came out together. We like to get the work done around here, so I think this will be a great companionship.When I got up here to South Charleston we went over to President’s house and celebrate his 58th Birthday. He started getting teary eyed when we stated sing to him. He is the best President I could have asked for with the biggest heart.Brenda in the ward wasn’t able to mow her lawn because she didn’t have any gas for her lawn mower because she didn’t have any money since the gas prices are up to $3.24 per gallon. Crazy uh. When I first got out here on my mission it was $1.98per gallon. So we fixed her up with some gas and I mowed her foot and half long grass.
I have never sweated so hard and much in my life. I was all excited to cut the lawn because it’s similar to cutting hair. But it’s a little different. Instead of cuts on my fingers I have blisters on my thumbs. I hope you don’t think I’m complaining just explaining why women stick to the heads of hair not lawns of grass. Not to mention pulling the gas to get it started uses a little more muscles than flipping a switch on the blow dryer. Again I’m not complaining. I would be more than thrilled to mow the lawn again. But there is one more thing instead of dandruff jumping out at you; you have to be cautious of cute little frogs.Stephanie (investigator) is amazing.
She has been reading and praying. She takes notes and loves being taught. She’s been out of town and hasn’t been able to come to church but she went to go find the church building and said it looked really friendly. Yeah!We were over at a 10 year investigators house Angela, who husband is a convert. Angela works hard and unfortunately always falls asleep during our lessons. We are working on keeping her awake, and helping her husband Robert recognize the spirit. For some reason he thinks he has never felt the spirit even being a convert into the church. We kindly shoved it down his throat about recognizing the spirit.Mother’s day was great. I loved hearing from home. It’s good to hear the voice of your own parents. Just wish I got to hear from the other mothers in my family. Even the bran new ones!!
Love ya
Sister Barrand
P.S. My new address is
888 Oakwood Rd. Ste. 310
Charleston WV, 25314
Being a media sister is a little different. It’s nice to help out the other missionaries, do office work, be so close to President and still have investigators. Love my new comp. Sister Glad she really can be expanded by her last name. Her and I both came out together. We like to get the work done around here, so I think this will be a great companionship.When I got up here to South Charleston we went over to President’s house and celebrate his 58th Birthday. He started getting teary eyed when we stated sing to him. He is the best President I could have asked for with the biggest heart.Brenda in the ward wasn’t able to mow her lawn because she didn’t have any gas for her lawn mower because she didn’t have any money since the gas prices are up to $3.24 per gallon. Crazy uh. When I first got out here on my mission it was $1.98per gallon. So we fixed her up with some gas and I mowed her foot and half long grass.
I have never sweated so hard and much in my life. I was all excited to cut the lawn because it’s similar to cutting hair. But it’s a little different. Instead of cuts on my fingers I have blisters on my thumbs. I hope you don’t think I’m complaining just explaining why women stick to the heads of hair not lawns of grass. Not to mention pulling the gas to get it started uses a little more muscles than flipping a switch on the blow dryer. Again I’m not complaining. I would be more than thrilled to mow the lawn again. But there is one more thing instead of dandruff jumping out at you; you have to be cautious of cute little frogs.Stephanie (investigator) is amazing.
She has been reading and praying. She takes notes and loves being taught. She’s been out of town and hasn’t been able to come to church but she went to go find the church building and said it looked really friendly. Yeah!We were over at a 10 year investigators house Angela, who husband is a convert. Angela works hard and unfortunately always falls asleep during our lessons. We are working on keeping her awake, and helping her husband Robert recognize the spirit. For some reason he thinks he has never felt the spirit even being a convert into the church. We kindly shoved it down his throat about recognizing the spirit.Mother’s day was great. I loved hearing from home. It’s good to hear the voice of your own parents. Just wish I got to hear from the other mothers in my family. Even the bran new ones!!
Love ya
Sister Barrand
P.S. My new address is
888 Oakwood Rd. Ste. 310
Charleston WV, 25314
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Me at the Hospital!!
Don't Worry
Don’t worryI’m doing a lot better.
On Monday around 9:40 a.m. I answered the phone and felt really dizzy and so I handed the phone to Sister Ryder. I laid down and it only lasted for about a minute until I felt better and the dizzy feelings went away. Went off to District Mtg. and it happen two more times. The elders gave me a blessing and we were off to lunch. During lunch it happened two more times. We went home and I had 7 more episodes of this weird feeling of dizziness and not really being all the way there. While I was on the phone with the doctor he tried figuring it out. Finally we just headed off to the doctors, luckily it was only 5 minutes away. They did some testing and were waiting for the result . While the nurses were out I had another episode. Sister Boning ran out to get the doctor and it was like I was passed out. I remember him pulling my eye lids open and pinching my arms. They said that I was having Pseudo Seizures caused by stress.
The weird thing is I don’t feel really stressed out. I love my companion, the area’s progressing and we have two baptisms coming up. Another weird thing is that I had these “Pseudo Seizures” about a year ago out in Utah. Megan thought is was constipation but its not. It was my first CAT scan and I had to be in the room with a young man with out my companion and it was really weird. When I got home I receive one of the most powerful blessings from Brother Hungate. He assured me everything was going to be ok. His mouth poured out and I heard everything I needed to and felt the saviors love wrap around me. The other Elders that were standing in both agreed that that was the most powerful and spiritually experience that they have had on their missions. I had a MRI and I have an EEG test tomorrow just to make sure that everything is ok. President wanted me to talk you my family and I’m glad I did cause I feel much better. Today at transfers President Cowley gave me a blessing to assured me everything will be ok. I feel better just a little weak. I’m staying here in Parkersburg till the testing is all done.
But before all this happened I was going to be transfer to the Media office. So I’ll be there at the end of the week. Yeah I am a media Sister!!!. Hey cool story while I was sitting here a man asked me if I was Judy and I pointed out my name tag and said no I’m sister Barrand. I started asking him some question and he started talking about the church. I guess he had the 12 lessons a long time ago and has some issues but we will get those all straighten out. I’m so proud of my little model nephew I knew he was the cutest little boy and that I might have a problem know that my kid are never going to be as cute. So if you can pray that everything will be ok and the test results come back positive and I will not get stressed out. I love you all. Thanks for all you do.
Love
Sister Seizures Barrand
On Monday around 9:40 a.m. I answered the phone and felt really dizzy and so I handed the phone to Sister Ryder. I laid down and it only lasted for about a minute until I felt better and the dizzy feelings went away. Went off to District Mtg. and it happen two more times. The elders gave me a blessing and we were off to lunch. During lunch it happened two more times. We went home and I had 7 more episodes of this weird feeling of dizziness and not really being all the way there. While I was on the phone with the doctor he tried figuring it out. Finally we just headed off to the doctors, luckily it was only 5 minutes away. They did some testing and were waiting for the result . While the nurses were out I had another episode. Sister Boning ran out to get the doctor and it was like I was passed out. I remember him pulling my eye lids open and pinching my arms. They said that I was having Pseudo Seizures caused by stress.
The weird thing is I don’t feel really stressed out. I love my companion, the area’s progressing and we have two baptisms coming up. Another weird thing is that I had these “Pseudo Seizures” about a year ago out in Utah. Megan thought is was constipation but its not. It was my first CAT scan and I had to be in the room with a young man with out my companion and it was really weird. When I got home I receive one of the most powerful blessings from Brother Hungate. He assured me everything was going to be ok. His mouth poured out and I heard everything I needed to and felt the saviors love wrap around me. The other Elders that were standing in both agreed that that was the most powerful and spiritually experience that they have had on their missions. I had a MRI and I have an EEG test tomorrow just to make sure that everything is ok. President wanted me to talk you my family and I’m glad I did cause I feel much better. Today at transfers President Cowley gave me a blessing to assured me everything will be ok. I feel better just a little weak. I’m staying here in Parkersburg till the testing is all done.
But before all this happened I was going to be transfer to the Media office. So I’ll be there at the end of the week. Yeah I am a media Sister!!!. Hey cool story while I was sitting here a man asked me if I was Judy and I pointed out my name tag and said no I’m sister Barrand. I started asking him some question and he started talking about the church. I guess he had the 12 lessons a long time ago and has some issues but we will get those all straighten out. I’m so proud of my little model nephew I knew he was the cutest little boy and that I might have a problem know that my kid are never going to be as cute. So if you can pray that everything will be ok and the test results come back positive and I will not get stressed out. I love you all. Thanks for all you do.
Love
Sister Seizures Barrand
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Parkersburg Pic's
This is Parkersburg and across the bridge is Ohio
Angela's experiment room with flowers, vegetables(tomatoes and waltermelons), swamp plants, mold, gupies and shrimp!
Can you believe this is their Highschool...
And this is where they live.Loin Cloths
Well next week is transfers and this transfer went by quick. I think that I will be staying here in Parkersburg with Sister Ryder. Although there is talk of a threesome but I guess we will find out soon.Jennifer is a 13 year old girl nonmember that has been coming to church with Jessica D. since February. Every time we tried to set something up with her she would be upset because of Jessica uninviting her to activities and girls camp. Theses girls would get into physical fights and banter with one another. Jessica even though treated like an out cast would still come to church. The two girls were just better off not being friends.
Now that she been hanging out with other young woman and taking the lessons, her countenance has changed. She is not rowdy or rude, she sits peacefully with us and other families and her family saved up to buy her a shirt instead of the ripped jeans she previously had been wearing. Jennifer and has told the Hungates and us that she feels that this is the true church. After church she was asking about how she can become a member and what goes on if she is baptized. She also wants to go with the youth to the temple to do baptism for the dead. Wow what a change the spirit can have on a person. We have some new investigators, like Angela Kelley. She was driving around thinking about getting direction in her life and happened to pull up to our church building and called bishop Long.
We meet her and are teaching her. Is that the direction of the lord? I believe so. I’m sorry I know so. I just hope I stay here because things are going really well and people are progressing. On P-Day we went on a Beautiful killer 3 hour hike and I pulled two muscles in the first ten minutes and was kinda in pain the whole time, but it’s all good I kept going, but I will tell you something it’s a whole different ballgame when it hot and there is humidity. It’s really hott. The Elders were crazy they were jumping off cliff, throwing boulders, climbing trees, doing back flips off of trees, running down hill, and to top it off loin cloths to add to their attire. I’m just glad I’m not their mother. I kind of reminded me of Aussie.
I love you all
Sister Barrand
Now that she been hanging out with other young woman and taking the lessons, her countenance has changed. She is not rowdy or rude, she sits peacefully with us and other families and her family saved up to buy her a shirt instead of the ripped jeans she previously had been wearing. Jennifer and has told the Hungates and us that she feels that this is the true church. After church she was asking about how she can become a member and what goes on if she is baptized. She also wants to go with the youth to the temple to do baptism for the dead. Wow what a change the spirit can have on a person. We have some new investigators, like Angela Kelley. She was driving around thinking about getting direction in her life and happened to pull up to our church building and called bishop Long.
We meet her and are teaching her. Is that the direction of the lord? I believe so. I’m sorry I know so. I just hope I stay here because things are going really well and people are progressing. On P-Day we went on a Beautiful killer 3 hour hike and I pulled two muscles in the first ten minutes and was kinda in pain the whole time, but it’s all good I kept going, but I will tell you something it’s a whole different ballgame when it hot and there is humidity. It’s really hott. The Elders were crazy they were jumping off cliff, throwing boulders, climbing trees, doing back flips off of trees, running down hill, and to top it off loin cloths to add to their attire. I’m just glad I’m not their mother. I kind of reminded me of Aussie.
I love you all
Sister Barrand
Testimony
The other day we set out to find all of the people that were interested but could never get a hold of. We prayed about getting a hold of them. We were able to get in and teach and the spirit was strong with both Kimberly’s. Any time we get to bare a solid testimony on the restoration I feel the spirit so strongly. We had an experience the other day where a less active member had some way different concerns. We bore our testimonies and even thought she had not been to church in over twenty years and her husband took his name off the records after being in the temple, she bore a simple but powerful testimony so simple that she did not even realize why she hadn’t been to church. She figures that that anti had a lot to do with it and regrets ever reading any of it. She worries about having lead her children astray.
Of course the Atonement of Jesus Christ plays a big part and can make her feel whole again. We gave her the official church website and we’ll pray that the testimony she has now will grow. From the first time she had the sister come over a couple of months ago, she was upset and didn’t want any other contact with any members. Her heart has softened; she is open and earning to fill her heart with the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ again. You don’t know how much it means to me to be an instrument in the Lords hands, when all I do is heed to the promptings of the spirit. This is the best work anyone can ever imagine. I have so much to be grateful for. Beside that we had our first exchanges. Yeah! I went up to the Media office with Sister Quinton. I made sure she knew how much I loved her and was grateful for being such an awesome missionary. We helped start a clean up at this deaf ladies home who had no room at all to even just stand. We barley made a dent but at least it’s a start.I love you all soooo much
Sister BarrandI’m so proud of you AussieMom and Dad have a blast in Costa Rica. Dad: throw away all those plans and have fun with your wife!!!! Let me know if you are getting a new partner at work1Siblings: man I love hearing from you. And the rumor about getting no mail after 6 months is true.:( Oh I can’t wait to talk mission talk with you all!!!!!
Of course the Atonement of Jesus Christ plays a big part and can make her feel whole again. We gave her the official church website and we’ll pray that the testimony she has now will grow. From the first time she had the sister come over a couple of months ago, she was upset and didn’t want any other contact with any members. Her heart has softened; she is open and earning to fill her heart with the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ again. You don’t know how much it means to me to be an instrument in the Lords hands, when all I do is heed to the promptings of the spirit. This is the best work anyone can ever imagine. I have so much to be grateful for. Beside that we had our first exchanges. Yeah! I went up to the Media office with Sister Quinton. I made sure she knew how much I loved her and was grateful for being such an awesome missionary. We helped start a clean up at this deaf ladies home who had no room at all to even just stand. We barley made a dent but at least it’s a start.I love you all soooo much
Sister BarrandI’m so proud of you AussieMom and Dad have a blast in Costa Rica. Dad: throw away all those plans and have fun with your wife!!!! Let me know if you are getting a new partner at work1Siblings: man I love hearing from you. And the rumor about getting no mail after 6 months is true.:( Oh I can’t wait to talk mission talk with you all!!!!!
Tracting?
Thing are good here. My comp and I are awesome together. The food is pretty good haven’t had anything gross lately and the weather has been awkwardly cold and everyone keep complaining about their plant being killed by the freezing weather but I think its going to warm up here pretty soon. Pretty sad about the whole Virginia Tec tragedy we are about 5 hours away but I knew a lot of the students and professors that attended there. I was able to call them to make sure everyone was accounted for so far so good.
My old Stake President, President Hendrix works as a professor down there. He was in his office and put his desk in front of the door so the gunman would not be able to get in. The gunman giggled the door and tried to get in, but I guess went for a different target. I’m grateful for the promptings we get from the Holy Ghost to protected us.Apparently the whole door to door knocking is not over with selling pest control was not enough. Our zone goal is to knock together in each of our areas from 6-7. Man when I heard this I wasn’t too excited. I think I might of tried to persuade them otherwise. I tried explaining that we usually have other appointments at that time and a bigger window of time to tract would be better. I felt bad all the next day and had a strong impression to go tracking no matter what even if it was our only time to eat.
Well on Friday the thirteenth we ate on the run so we could track from 6-7 cause we had interviews at 7. Something kept telling me that it was possible. We both had a feeling that we should track around the church building. We found a street and parked in the middle. We started at the last house on the street. Drew a 15 year old boy came to the door, in most cases I would have given him the whole shpeal but felt inclined to ask for the owner of the house, knowing that most member join from teens to mid twenties. Tonya came out, we were taken a little off guard when she said that she wanted to hear more. She told us that she had been talking with some people she works with about getting back to church. And that this was meant to be.
She said that the message was beautiful and that we were like angels. She wanted to meet again to hear more. She was looking for something like this to come along and she found happiness in what we had shared with her. She had never even heard about the church until we came along. To think that she hasn’t ever been introduced hurts me inside cause she only lives two second away from the church. We excited to share more with her and have been enjoying tracking. The not even on disabilities, she’s basically normal. We told the Elders that they win and that they were inspired. I love this work. It makes me so happy to see others happy through this gospel.
Love yaSister Barrand
P.S. I hope my talk went over well. At least I made them laugh twice about praying for a deer.P.S.S. o oe, ole Tama numela Tasi.
My old Stake President, President Hendrix works as a professor down there. He was in his office and put his desk in front of the door so the gunman would not be able to get in. The gunman giggled the door and tried to get in, but I guess went for a different target. I’m grateful for the promptings we get from the Holy Ghost to protected us.Apparently the whole door to door knocking is not over with selling pest control was not enough. Our zone goal is to knock together in each of our areas from 6-7. Man when I heard this I wasn’t too excited. I think I might of tried to persuade them otherwise. I tried explaining that we usually have other appointments at that time and a bigger window of time to tract would be better. I felt bad all the next day and had a strong impression to go tracking no matter what even if it was our only time to eat.
Well on Friday the thirteenth we ate on the run so we could track from 6-7 cause we had interviews at 7. Something kept telling me that it was possible. We both had a feeling that we should track around the church building. We found a street and parked in the middle. We started at the last house on the street. Drew a 15 year old boy came to the door, in most cases I would have given him the whole shpeal but felt inclined to ask for the owner of the house, knowing that most member join from teens to mid twenties. Tonya came out, we were taken a little off guard when she said that she wanted to hear more. She told us that she had been talking with some people she works with about getting back to church. And that this was meant to be.
She said that the message was beautiful and that we were like angels. She wanted to meet again to hear more. She was looking for something like this to come along and she found happiness in what we had shared with her. She had never even heard about the church until we came along. To think that she hasn’t ever been introduced hurts me inside cause she only lives two second away from the church. We excited to share more with her and have been enjoying tracking. The not even on disabilities, she’s basically normal. We told the Elders that they win and that they were inspired. I love this work. It makes me so happy to see others happy through this gospel.
Love yaSister Barrand
P.S. I hope my talk went over well. At least I made them laugh twice about praying for a deer.P.S.S. o oe, ole Tama numela Tasi.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
I have the best family Ever
Well we are working hard and seeing the results. We taught the most lessons out of our whole zone. That’s pretty neat to say when you’re a sister missionary. Sister Ryder and I always seem to notice how by being obedient we can feel the spirit stronger.
Easter was great we had Angela show up with her mom. Angela has some social problems ( and some more) so she stuck around us. She feels like the roles in the LDS are unfair. We prayed for her and wanted some of her underlining questions answered. As we were sitting there in Sunday school the lesson was on Family Responsibilities. It was perfect. She was really intrigued so we let her barrow the Gospel Principles book and went or the next day and she had read half of the book. She understands but feels like she is not suppose to raise a family under her disabilities. Her mom has some mental problems and doesn’t want her kid to turn out like her own family. It was sad and emotional with both Angela and Remy (sisters).
They both told us that we were so lucky to grow up in the circumstance of an organized family in the gospel. We had them read from the Strength of Youth pamphlet. We all disused how wonderful life would have been to have learned simple guild lines in their youth. Even as simple as using appropriate language or not smoking or drinking. I guess this just really made me think how incredible grateful I am for the choices that have been made and how blessed we are to have such wonderful siblings, parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on and so forth. This gospel really does bless families and it all starts within the walls of our own homes. It reminds me of Nephi and how he was born of goodly parents and how I was born of goodly parents. Who taught me everything I needed to know to have eternal happiness, you diffidently did your responsibility. I am eternally grateful for you all. Man my heart is swelling with love for my family right now.
That reminds me that when Laura got baptized/confirmed she said her heart was warm but that she was cold. The other day in District meeting Elder Poulton was reading from 3 Nephi 11 and for some reason those scriptures as he was reading them hit me so hard that my whole chest was burning and the rest of my body was freezing cold. It was the strongest feeling of knowing that my Savior came and those people heard his voice. I felt so warm for the rest of the day. For anyone not to feel that confirmation of the Holy Ghost is unaware and should search with inside themselves to be aware. Cause not everyone has been confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. But don’t you worry we are working on that.
Well on the other hand those same elders, left opened hidden cans of smelly sardines to rot in our apartment. Man it doesn’t feel like I’m severing with a whole bunch of teenager at all. At lunch as a district and I was the oldest one there. One of the Elder said I had a gray hair (which I don’t) and that I was old. Man I’m getting old and Fat. Oh don’t you even think for a second that just because I’m a missionary that I don’t care if I’m gaining weight and getting old, cause I still do.I love you all and appreciate all of you writing me
Love Sister Barrand
Thank you so much for the Easter Packages. I receive a lot of marshmallow bunnies, which blow up quiet nicely in the microwave. Oh and some great Matrix shampoo and conditioner (so thoughtful).
Easter was great we had Angela show up with her mom. Angela has some social problems ( and some more) so she stuck around us. She feels like the roles in the LDS are unfair. We prayed for her and wanted some of her underlining questions answered. As we were sitting there in Sunday school the lesson was on Family Responsibilities. It was perfect. She was really intrigued so we let her barrow the Gospel Principles book and went or the next day and she had read half of the book. She understands but feels like she is not suppose to raise a family under her disabilities. Her mom has some mental problems and doesn’t want her kid to turn out like her own family. It was sad and emotional with both Angela and Remy (sisters).
They both told us that we were so lucky to grow up in the circumstance of an organized family in the gospel. We had them read from the Strength of Youth pamphlet. We all disused how wonderful life would have been to have learned simple guild lines in their youth. Even as simple as using appropriate language or not smoking or drinking. I guess this just really made me think how incredible grateful I am for the choices that have been made and how blessed we are to have such wonderful siblings, parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on and so forth. This gospel really does bless families and it all starts within the walls of our own homes. It reminds me of Nephi and how he was born of goodly parents and how I was born of goodly parents. Who taught me everything I needed to know to have eternal happiness, you diffidently did your responsibility. I am eternally grateful for you all. Man my heart is swelling with love for my family right now.
That reminds me that when Laura got baptized/confirmed she said her heart was warm but that she was cold. The other day in District meeting Elder Poulton was reading from 3 Nephi 11 and for some reason those scriptures as he was reading them hit me so hard that my whole chest was burning and the rest of my body was freezing cold. It was the strongest feeling of knowing that my Savior came and those people heard his voice. I felt so warm for the rest of the day. For anyone not to feel that confirmation of the Holy Ghost is unaware and should search with inside themselves to be aware. Cause not everyone has been confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. But don’t you worry we are working on that.
Well on the other hand those same elders, left opened hidden cans of smelly sardines to rot in our apartment. Man it doesn’t feel like I’m severing with a whole bunch of teenager at all. At lunch as a district and I was the oldest one there. One of the Elder said I had a gray hair (which I don’t) and that I was old. Man I’m getting old and Fat. Oh don’t you even think for a second that just because I’m a missionary that I don’t care if I’m gaining weight and getting old, cause I still do.I love you all and appreciate all of you writing me
Love Sister Barrand
Thank you so much for the Easter Packages. I receive a lot of marshmallow bunnies, which blow up quiet nicely in the microwave. Oh and some great Matrix shampoo and conditioner (so thoughtful).
Friday, April 06, 2007
Happy Easter!
Hey there
Man you two are so lucky to be able to work at the temple. Dad you’re a stinker! Elder Barrand still believes that you are injured! The only April’s fool that we got was the elders called sister Ryder in the morning and said the prophet had died. I t didn’t last to long sister Ryder caught on real quick. Yea so I had dinner over at the Wilson’s and their daughter Hillary starts talking about her missionary serving in Colorado, it’s Elder Elliot and I hope your taking care of him, cause her families is taking care of me. We had a great chat about mission experiences with her dad. And no they did not feed me any more squirrel. I know you should have seen me eat that squirrel, or even better yet watching one of the Elder’s not being able to eat the squirrel. At least I ate it and didn’t say anything about it to them.
Oh dad I told my comp about where you grew up and she said she goes shopping there she is from Kelowna, the Okanagan Valley. The only thing different about her is that she says “Beg” instead of “Bag” which I think I do also, “mum” instead of “Mom” and when we are driving says “turn right at the lights” instead of “ turn right at the light”. But beside that she is a great missionary and we have the same goals, so work goes very smoothly. The place is a lot bigger than Radford around 45,000 compared to Radford of 12 or 15 thousand. So I’m bound to find more here to accept this gospel. We are working with three sisters right now Remy 25, Angela 23, and Teresa 22. They are all making progress in their own little ways. They do have a 17-year-old sister that got baptized when she was 11. But these three sisters live pretty close to each other and have there own interesting lives. Angela read the BOM in two weeks and knows the book is true and know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. Although we are working on helping her recognized the spirit she believe she not and Man or Woman but more of an “it”. She says her self that she is different than anyone that you will ever meet.
Well we prayed that Teresa would be ok after going into the hospital for over dosing and that she could make it to General conference the next day we walk into the church building and there Teresa is with mike a friend of hers ready to watch General Conference with us. I was amazing that she came. She really thought it was neat to hear how many members and temples were all around the world. She also enjoyed and agreed with all the talks like Richard G. Scott’s on Prayer and Jeffery R Holland’s on Tongues of an Angel.
I too enjoyed General Conference, it was even greater knowing that there was some that tried to end there life last night that was sitting next to me, that also was there enjoying the words of the Prophet and apostles. Wow what a powerful experience of deep sincere humble prayers. In all the talks I felt the warm comforting love of my Heavenly Father threw the spirit. It was a great way to spend some time with our investigator. Teresa later had on a smoking patch to quit smoking. Although it did not last long she knows she is able to do so. We read about Enos and how he prayed for his brethren, She didn’t understand why the Lamanites were continuing in wickedness. We shared with her we continue in sin today and that is why we need the atonement. She made the connection that the “lamanites” relay to us today and we all need to work on repentance. Just like Russell M. Nelson talked about a full repentance it’s a complete conversion.
And as for James E. Faust talked about the power of Forgiveness, we all need to listen and abide to these teaching because we know where they are coming from. Just wanted to let you all know how privilege we are that we all know that are Savior and Redeemer lives and we are able to celebrate not only on the Sabbath but every single day. Christ was resurrected. Who’s on the lord’s Side? I am! I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.
P.S. How did the bunny hopped into this glorious day anyways?
Love Sister BarrandO p.s. could you get me thoses adresses of the other missionaries?
p.p.s. I liked the cucumber talk, but all i could think about is how gross pickles were!!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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