7-24-17


Hello everyone!

Time just keeps flying by! I can't believe it's already Monday! This week was a pretty normal week compared to the past few. We had a great P-Day fishing the Kenai but the run wasn't in yet so we didn't catch anything but it was still a good time! The big thing we have been doing this week was a lot of service and I mean a lot! It just seemed like we were getting phone call after phone call about service for people which was great but tiring. We had one service for a non member where we brought some young men with us where we did a lot of yard work for her. She was super happy with us and just kept telling us how much it really meant to her. She is friends with recent converts and now our Relief Society President as well, so that's how we got in contact with her. We didn't really now her situation very well but come to find out that her husband has had some serious health problems and close calls as well as herself. It was just a great feeling that is hard to describe when you know you helped one of Gods children. Everyone came up to us at church the next day and told us how she wrote this big long post on a Facebook about how much she really appreciated our help and that made me feel so good! Doing service for someone is the fastest way to feel true charity for them. So on top of that service we were also in the parade for Soldotna Progress Day. The holiday is to celebrate Soldotna progress but it was started because the Mayor was Mormon and wanted to celebrate pioneer day. In the parade we held up banners for this old folks home. It was a lot of fun and really good exposure! So that was the big thing this week. We also had a great lesson with some recent converts on Sunday. I love teaching Hara and Jena! They both have great testimonies and ask a lot of great questions. They are so excited for the temple they just grilled us with questions about it and it was a lot of phone explaining what it's all about. A bonus was that we also had a great BBQ with them as we were teaching. Reindeer sausage is super good! Oh and Elder Hatch ate is first caribou yesterday so that was exciting for him. So ya that is what has been going on this week. Well hope all is well! Love you guys! Got to go 🎣


-Elder Barney


2 Timothy2:3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

7-17-17

Hey guys!

Wow! This week flew by so fast! It seems like so much has happened! So to start out the week.  Last pday we had the whole Zone together for the first for Zone Conference. All the other Elders flew into Anchorage then drove down to Soldotna. We then went on a hike to some water falls together which was a lot of fun! We saw some salmon jump out of the water into the falls which was super cool! Blows me away how beautiful Alaska is! That was a great pday!  

The next day we had Zone Conference and met President Toone for the first time.  He is super awesome and very knowledgeable! He definitely likes to drop a lot of doctrine in his training's.  We were also able to have interviews with him for the first time and it was really great just to get to know him. Love him already!

 At zone conference the biggest thing that kept hitting me was how important it is to endure to the end. For me I kept thinking about how I want to end my mission. I want to end it on the highest note possible by working my hardest! One thing that one of my Zone Leaders said is "live every day like it's your last day of your mission." I have been asking my self a question every morning when we plan now and that is if it was my last day what would I do? It has really made a difference in deciding what's important. Anyway on top of Zone Conference we had to keep a 2nd companionship busy all day so we went OYMing on the beach for the rest of the day. The cool part is that we got permission to wear sandals or flip flops on the beach so it was awesome to feel the sand on my feet for the first time like ever! It is insane how many people are in Kenai for dip netting! It makes it great for us but bad for traffic! I got to go on exchanges again this week. I went with Elder Hunt and it was a lot of fun! He is from Samoa and is learning English which just made the exchange even more fun! He taught me some Samoan and it was a lot of fun. We also went on the beach for a bit and talked to lots of people! It was funny when people asked me where I was from and I said Utah and then they asked Elder Hunt and he said Samoa their reactions were priceless haha. We had good times! 

Then the next day was my birthday. I love birthdays on the mission! It is the first 2 birthdays in my life where I completely focus of others. It feels so much better that way! I will say it was super nice to have amazing members have us over for dinner and make me a birthday dinner. The people up here are so amazing! I have just never see so much kindness and love like up here! I truly love Alaskans! So my birthday was a lot of fun filled with every other day missionary work. 

Next big thing was Saturday one of our recent converts got married! It was a lot of fun! I'm excited to see them now start taking steps to the temple. It was kinda weird to be at a wedding though. It was definitely one of the most trunky things I have ever done on my mission but it was still a good time! With all the family in for the wedding and plus fishing season there was a ton of people at church on Sunday! On top of lots of people we had 2 investigators come as well! So all and all it was a great Sunday! Today we are all planning on going fishing because the salmon run should be here hopefully so wish me luck! Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and gifts! Love you all so much and miss you a lot!

-Elder Barney 🎣


2 Timothy2:3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Got a few new ties for his birthday to add to his collection

7-10-17

Hey guys!

So this week has been pretty sweet! The 4th of July was super fun and crazy busy! We had all the missionaries in our district in the parade for Kenai 4th of July parade. We all rode bikes in our shirt and ties and sisters in skirts. It was super funny to hear random Mormons start cheering like crazy when they saw us haha! After the parade we all went to the fair for lunch and OYMing. We had reindeer sausages which we super delicious! After all of that was done we were running every which way to all these BBQ's. On top of the awesome food that day we had a great lesson. We were able to talk to a former investigator and recommit him to baptism. We taught him the restoration and at the end of it he told us he was done with chewing and gave us his stash to throw away. We have high hopes for this great guy but didn't see him at church today so hope we can catch him later on. So also this week we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders which was such a party! I got to go with one of my favorite Elders ever Elder Ryan and had a good time. Coolest part was he taught me how to be Californian which didn't work too good haha! We worked hard and had fun doing it, even rewarded our selves with a 

milkshake.  It seems like this week just went by super fast but so much has happened. We really have been trying to ride bikes a lot with the weather being good some days. We have talked to a lot of people and it's been a lot of fun helping Elder Hatch learn to talk to everyone. That's definitely one of my favorite things about greenies is how excited they are to talk to everyone. It gives a lot of funny moments. One thing that I have learned out here is that missionary work is super awkward so we just need to embrace it and have fun in those awkward moments. We had one of those funny moments this week riding bikes. We were talking to this older couple on the street and I thought they were both super nice but after we left my companion said something about the old lady flirted with me the whole time then I stopped and thought for a minute and then it hit me and I just died laughing! It was super funny! Me and my companion had a good laugh for awhile! Good times. Anyway on Sunday a missionary I knew came back to Alaska to visit and brought his family up. It was crazy because he just went home like 2 weeks ago but his family wanted to go fishing so here they are. It was weird to see him with out a name tag and with facial hair. So that was a cool surprise.

 On Sunday we had a missionary

farewell which was awesome! We also got to sit in on his setting a part blessing and had some flashbacks. Time goes so fast! I feel like it was just yesterday but at the same time it feels like a lot has happened. I really love my mission! Alaska is awesome and life is good! Well I love you guys and hope all is well!


-Elder Barney

7-3-17

Hey guys!

So this has been one crazy week for sure! So I picked up my new companion Elder Hatch on Wednesday and he is a greenie from Arizona.  He is a stud and I really like serving with him. I lucked out because I'm pretty sure he came pre-trained! 

 

On Wednesday we got to go to the temple which was super awesome because I got to say bye to

all my friends that were going home. It is pretty crazy to see everyone go home. I will really miss all those missionaries but I'll see them when I'm home. Anyway the drive back to Kenai was great! It is always super beautiful and it was cool to show Elder Hatch how awesome Alaska is.  We have had a lot of fun so far and have done some good work! I'm excited for this transfer. Our district is a lot of fun as well and lot of cool missionaries. Oh and I broke in the new missionary with his first dinner of Chili Mac and Cheese!  

So ya things are going really good!

 Well I love you all and hope all is well!

-Elder Barney