5-23-16

Hey everyone,

So this week was awesome! We were able to go to Tok for the weekend!
It was about a two hour drive but was totally worth it! One of the
best parts was the cabin we were able to stay in. A member runs B&B
down there and let's us stay in it when we come down. It felt like a
mini missionary vacation staying in a B&B. They had a wood stove in there! Although it wasn't very cold I had to start it up just to say I did haha.

 The families are so nice down there. They don't get much
visitors so when they do it is very exciting for them haha. The Branch meets and the Branch Presidents house. There was probably a total of 10 members there. Small in numbers but are strong in faith! Nicest people you will ever meet! Tok is a small town with houses very spread out. We were able to visit with a lot of people. We were also able to knock on some doors down there. People seem quit surprised when they
heard a knock on the door. They don't get to many visitors randomly knocking on their door in the middle of no where. I think everyone there owns a minimum of 6 dogs haha. We call all those dogs the Alaska doorbell. They had some small shops there and one restaurant that wasn't half bad. It was like a smaller Delta Junction which I didn't think existed. Everyone there as some type of farm animal. We were
able to check out a members goat pin and hold some baby goats. That was cool.
So as we were leaving Tok Elder Dalin and I decided to stop
by a small native village which is on the way out. It was super cool. It seemed like a small neighbor then a village. We sure did stand out
with our white shirts and ties. The village was called Tanacross. Nice
people there. Tok is surrounded by beautiful nature! The drive down
was the coolest thing ever! Never seen more green in my life! Safe to
say Tok was the highlight of my week! Love you guys and hope you all
have a great week!

-Elder Barney

Driving to Tok

This is the scenery driving to Tok 

5-16-16

Hey everyone!
So this was another great week here in Delta Junction! We did a lot of
service this week. We helped an investigator put up a fence for his
farm for a couple hours then we went and helped plant some trees and
helped out around an Alpaca farm! Everyone here sure does have a farm.

We also helped out with some garden work with an investigator. Lots of great service this week! The people up here are just the nicest people

around. Even though we are doing service they help us out and give us fresh food from their farm. 

We were able to go to Fairbanks for a zone meeting which was great!  The drive up was sooo beautiful! So green up here.  At the meeting I learned how  important it is to take the harder right and be obedient so we can be blessed. The Lord has truly been blessing us up here. We hope to see those blessing continue as we travel to Tok later this week. Tok is this tiny town in our area. It is about 2 hours away from delta junction and 4 from Fairbanks. We will be traveling down for a few days this week to go see some people. It will be very awesome! I will let you know how all that goes. I am pretty excited. Oh and also just to let you all know it actually gets hot in Alaska! Yes hot! We hit 90 degrees up here the other day. Also I am convinced I will never see the night again. The sun seems to never go down. It looks like noon at 10 pm! It is crazy

and it's somethings to get use to haha. I hope you all have a great week and stay safe! Remember how obedience and diligence can bring blessings. The Lord loves you and how great it is to have him always there for you! Thank you for all your prayers. Missionaries definitely feel the love and support on those prayers! Love you all!

-Elder Barney

No where else to go the high  ends here

Got my hair cut today the lady used VINEGAR to wet it down

5-9-16

Hello Everyone!!!

I hope all the mothers had a great Mother's Day! It was great to talk to my family. Feels like forever haha. So this was my first week in Delta Junction. It is super awesome up here. Although it is super super small it is still awesome. The ward up here is great and everyone is super nice. It is sooooo green up here! I can't believe the green! If you go up on a hill and look out all you see is green pine trees for days! Beautiful up here! So the people that don't live in town are like the Alaska bush people you see on tv and yes we do teach some of them. There are times we are driving down a long dirt road to a members house or investigators and we see a random house in the middle of no where, so of course we knock on the door. We definitely meet some interesting and fun people! We do have to be careful we don't get lost in any of the back roads up here! This is such a fun area, we are about 2 hours from any missionaries so for pdays we just go check out Delta and hang out. 

Also there is only one grocery store in town and it cost an arm and a leg for anything! A gallon of milk is like 6 bucks here! We do get to go to Fairbanks for a day for a meeting so we will probably have to get some stuff there. We also are going to a small small town called Tok this transfer. We will have to stay a few days there. Crazy stuff! So excited for this new area. I know that being far a way from everyone obedience will play a huge rule in our success as missionaries. I have already seen the blessing in just the few short days I been here!

I just wanted to say thank you to all the amazing mothers out there!
As a missionary I realized how much my own mother is like the mothers  
of the stripling warriors. I love you mom and I love you grandma!
Happy Mother's Day! Love you!

-Elder Barney

Oh my HECK I'm in the wilderness

Great they are FRIENDLY 

5-3-16

Hey everyone!

Well I did get transferred. I am going North to Delta Junction. 

You will have to look it up on google maps! It is a really tiny town about
an hour from the North Pole. It is super bush (what I Alaskans say for
middle of no where)! I will tell you more what it is like next week. I
fly up there on Wednesday. I am so excited! True Alaskan experience! I
can't wait to go serve the people up there. I truly believe everyone
gets called to a certain area for a reason. I can't wait to go work
hard to find my reason. Although I am very excited I am also very sad,
weird I know. The ward I'm in now feels like home. The ward here has
helped me sooooo much! They are some of the nicest people I have ever
met! I will miss dearly all the people I was able to teach here. It's
so amazing to see people use the Atonement fully in their life. The
change the gospel makes in people's life is mind boggling to me. The
Poole family that was baptized just last month is the standing example
of that. They are happier and you just feel the difference by walking
into their home. By teaching so many amazing people here I realized
that missionaries really don't do much. All we do is tell the people
the truth and the Holy Ghost does everything else. I have had so many
powerful experiences here that I will never forget. I'm am very
grateful for the time I had to serve here. The people in this area
will always have a special place in my heart. I will miss the ward so
much. Not only because they feed us like kings and get me super fat
but because they are amazing people.


-Elder Barney

The picture of the food is last nights left overs haha.

Shout out to all my favorite families in the Airport Heights Ward! Love ya guys!

Poole Family