1-16-17

Hey guys!
So this has been a very long and busy week with lots of traveling and
hard work. First off the traveling all went great! The ferry ride is
always great and always beautiful. Spent the night in Juneau with 3
other missionaries and met my new companion Elder Hall. He is a great
guy and is from Texas. He has been on his mission a little longer then
me so just a little over a year. Definitely love my new companion! The
next day after picking up Elder Hall we flew back to Skagway. Oh my
good heck!!!!! That was the coolest thing ever!! So we took this tiny
little bush plane that seats 4 people including the pilot and went on
a little tour on our way back. We asked the pilot if he could take us
over the ice fields to see some cool sights and because it was such a
beautiful day he did it! Alaska is soooo beautiful! We were dipping
down in valleys, going over huge mountains, and flying over a glacier!
It was sooo cool! There is no way and I mean absolutely no way this
world was created by some Big Bang. This is truly a creation from God!
We were so lucky to take that flight on such a beautiful day! People
pay a lot of money to take that tour we did and we were blessed enough
to do it! Okay so that was probably the best part of the week. The
drive back to Whitehorse was great as well. As soon as we got back we
got to work. The past 4 days of been exhausting because of how much we
have been doing. Talking to lots of people and having lots of funny
experiences. One funny thing that happened on Sunday is my companion
found out he had a talk to give that day. He gave a great talk but it
was funny that was his first talk he has ever given on his mission and
he had no time to prepare! That is what happens in tiny branches
hahaha! Well I hope you all have a great week! Oh and I wanted to tell
my grandparents I love them so much and so grateful for them! Love you
guys!!!

-Elder Barney

1-9-17

Hello everyone!
Well this has been a pretty great week with lots of news. First we got
transfer calls Friday night. I am staying in Canada but I will be
getting a new companion. My current companion, Elder Parker, is going
to Wasilla which is a city near Anchorage. I will be getting Elder
Hall. I am really excited to go pick him up because it means I get to
go to Juneau which is always fun! Of course we will be taking another
7 hour ferry ride on Tuesday then on Wednesdays I will be taking a
tiny sea plane back to Skagway then drive 3 hours back to Whitehorse
with Elder Hall. So once again a lot of traveling which is okay
because we get to talk to lots of people on the ferry so we still get
to do missionary work, no days off ;)

Okay that is the biggest news but there is still big news! Well I
guess it's just big news to missionaries so I think it's huge! Anyway
there has been a change in missionary schedule now across the world.
Before we wake up and 6:30 work out and prepare, 8:00 am is personal
study then companionship study at 9:00am then leave at 10:00am. Then
at night we plan for the next day at 9:00pm then bed by 10:30 pm. So
that is how its been my whole mission but now it's changed! So we
still get up at 6:30 but then it's pretty much up to us to chose how
we use the morning. We have to plan for a half hour for our day and
still need to work out for half hour and personal study for an hour
but we can pretty much do it in any order we want. We still need to
leave by 10am but now there is no companionship study in the morning.
We do companionship study for half hour any time of day we choose. And
we don't plan for the next day at night anymore. It might not seem to
big but after doing the old schedule everyday for a year and now
changing it, it just feels......wrong. I guess I'm not use to it yet
but it's pretty weird and a big change for missionaries. So it's been
an adjustment. Oh! And one of the weirdest things is that our pday
starts at 8am instead of 10 am now! Weird.

Alright that's the 2 big things that has happened this week. Other
then that it's been a pretty normal week. We have done a lot more

tracking this week which is always an interesting experience to do in
Whitehorse. I did see a miracle during it though. So it was freezing!
It was about -25 degrees outside and my fingers were just frozen even with 2 pair of gloves. We had a long way to go and I just said a
little prayer that my fingers would stay warm and I kid you not the
next 4 doors we knocked on said "come in and get warm!" I couldn't
believe it! We have tracked in colder weather and not a sole would let us in but as soon as I said that little prayer people opened their
doors. I wish I could say they let us teach them but they didn't. We
were able to warm up and after that I didn't feel cold at all. God
answers prayers. No matter how small it may appear we can pray for it. God truly cares about us and what we need. I was not expecting people to let us in because we pray all the time for people to let us in and they don't but this time that is how God answered my prayer and I am so grateful for that. Prayer is real! Well I hope you all have a great week and hope all is well! Love you guys!

-Elder Barney

1-2-17

Well hello everyone!

It has been a interesting week this past week. First to start out on a
good note we had a miracle happen this week!! So we have this

investigator who is from East India. She is soooo awesome and funny! She has been meeting with missionaries for about a year now and she has wanted to be baptized for a long time but she has to have permission from her mom (culture thing). Her mom said no. So we have just been reading scripture with her since she has been taught all the lessons 3 times. Then on Tuesday we invited her to a baptism for a 8 year old. She felt the spirit strong and said she wants to be baptized soooo bad! We told her to pray and we will pray and fast that her moms heart will be softened. So she called her mom and asked once again and prayers were answered! She said YES!!! So now she will be baptized in March. I can't wait to see her enter into the waters of baptism! She has been such an inspiration of faith. Ever single week she is at church and every single month she pays tithing. She is the most elect investigator I have ever met.   One thing that she told me that really hit me was: "Elder Barney you are suppose to  be here for me, Your prayers work." It was really hard to fight the tears and then tell her that it was not me but  the Lord heard her and others many prayers. I know she is someone I was suppose to meet. I know with out a shadow of a doubt that God hears us and answers us every single day! It is on his time  and his schedule. I can't wait to see her get baptized!  Moments like that make up for all the discouraging moments. That was the big thing of this week! Other then that it has been a little struggle. I was sick most all weekend so it has been a health building week. Well I love and miss you all so very much!

 

Happy New Year!

 Love ya!
-Elder Barney

12-26-16

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! For me it has been one crazy busy week! I will start with Christmas though. So we started the day off having a Christmas breakfast with waffles at one of our investigators. Then we had church where I gave a talk. It went good I think. I talked on the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." I have never given a talk on a hymn before but I think it went pretty good. After church we got to Skype our family!!! That was so great to see them! I can't begin to tell ya how great it was to see and talk with them! I love and miss my family a ton so it was great to be able to see them. It is really crazy to think that I will be with them next Christmas. I only have 1 more Skype call left! Time flys! So after we Skype we went to a Christmas dinner at a members. I was stuffed!!! It felt like thanksgiving all over again! After that we finished the day at our Branch Presidents house. All and all it was a pretty good Christmas!

So the rest of the week was eventful! So last pday we were in Juneau so we went shopping with some other missionaries like all day! They have some super cool stuff there and awesome sites to see. It pretty much rained the whole time we were there but hey that's Juneau for you. It was a really fun pday! For dinner that day my companion made everyone some Thai fried noodles which were the bomb. Then the rest of the missionaries landed and one of the Elders I came out with got to stay in the missionary trailer with me so it was a party! The next day was Zone Conference and everyone was there!!! That is a big deal here because everyone is usually on their own island or in our case a different country. It was a lot of fun and I learned a ton! All the trainings was great! One training that a member of the Mission Presidency gave really hit me. He drew a big shifter (one you use in a car) on the white board and said what gear are you in? I hope I am in 5th and not reverse. It was humbling to think about that question. There was a lot more I learned, but that was the main thing that hit me. The rest of Zone Conference was a blast! Since we are all so far away from one another President let us watch a church movie and then we played basketball after Zone Conference.

I tell you what, Zone Conferences in Juneau are the best!!!! It is so great to see everyone come together. All transfer long all you see is other missionaries on a tv screen for district and Zone Meeting but for Zone Conference you get to see them in person which is a party!! 

 The day after Zone Conference we flew a tiny plane back to Skagway and drove 3 hours back to Whitehorse. The plane ride was absolutely beautiful! All and all the trip to Juneau was super

awesome! Left Sunday morning and got back Wednesday night. Although it was a lot of fun it was good to get back to work in Whitehorse. 

On Christmas Eve we hit the streets hard and talked to a lot of people. We OYM pretty much all day long. For Christmas Eve dinner we went to one of our investigators who is from India for real authentic Indian food. It was actually really good! I have definitely not been has picky with food on my mission as I was back home hahaha. So this Christmas weekend was great! Now we are off to do some Boxing Day shopping which is like Black Friday in America so this will be interesting! Love you guys and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Remember that Christ during this holidays!

-Elder Barney