9-11-17

This has been a great week full of wonderful miracles! First of all! I have such a strong testimony of goal setting now! Elder Hatch and I prayed about what number should we do for baptism goals for the month. We got the answer for 2. One name came to our minds which was an investigator who has been meeting with the missionaries for a super long time and keeps every commitment but says he hasn't got an answer that it's true. It felt like we have tried everything with him. And no other name came to our mind but we felt like there was another person that was ready this month in our area so we went with 2. That night Andy, our investigator, told us at our lesson with him that he got his answer and knows for sure it's all true. He will be baptized this coming Saturday! Then just 2 days later at church a man walks up to us and tells us how he just moved into our area with his family who are all recent converts and that he wants to be baptized as well. He said he knows it's true and has finally quite smoking and has taken all the missionary lessons in his former Ward. Our jaws just dropped to the ground! We are meeting with him this week to see where his at and hopefully pick a date. I know that was an answer from Heavenly Father that there are people here who are ready and we just need to have faith to find them. Setting that goal was the act of faith we needed. I am so pumped for this month and the months to come!
I also need to talk about how Andy got his answer that the church is true. So we asked him to fast in the lesson we had with him and he told us he already has his answer. So I guess one day he was cleaning out his gun and accidentally shot it off. The bullet went right past his hand and was so close it burnt his hand. The bullet went through the floor and down to the first floor and missed all of his family who had just seconds ago were standing in that room. He slammed the bullet down on the table and said "baptize me! I know it's true!" I can't even describe the joy I felt in that moment. I am so happy for him! This gospel is so true! He is one of the most ready people I have ever met. There is no reason to wait for him so on Saturday he is getting baptized. Also this week another amazing experience happened when I interviewed a couple for baptism. The husband has a serious past and I mean a crazy one! I knew of his past so as we sat down i asked him to tell me how he has changed. He bore one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard about the Atonement. This man has done a complete 180. We talked about his past a little bit and how it is now in the past and is to be forgotten. He told me that he can't even describe how happy he is to be baptized and put it all behind him. His wife was the sweetest lady! She is pregnant with their first child and is so excited to be in the church to raise their child in the covenant. I am super excited for Josh and Jaselle! The crazy part was when I was feeling out the paper work I realized that they are only like 2 years older then me. I was so blown away! So anyway the other crazy miracle happened Sunday. So we were out at this little town just north of Kenai called Nikiski. All of our appointments fell through and we were stuck. I just started driving and ended up at the Olson who is a less active family. They were coming back to church for a long time but we hadn't seen them in about a month. After some small talk Sister Olson says you are probably here because we haven't been to church. She explained how she got offended by a leader in the Ward who didn't help her in a time of need. The spirit was so strong when we testified to not let that make them stop coming to church. We shared a Mormon message about forgiveness which was about a man forgiving a drunk driver. After the video they were crying. We found out that brother Olson lost a daughter to a drunk driver. I felt super bad but the spirit told me no, they need this. At that moment they started talking about the pain they felt I felt it too. I literally felt their heart break. It was the most sad I have ever felt but instantly as I asked them to look into my eyes as I testified of the Atonement of Christ I felt joy and determination like never before. I begged with them on the saviors behalf to please forgive those people who wronged them. The spirit was so strong there was not a dry eye in that room. They said they would come to church and try hard to forgive. I know that this gospel is true and the Atonement is real with all my heart. It is sufficient to cover us and to heal us completely. I love you all and hope you all have a great week. I am sorry this was so long but this was one of the most spiritual weeks of my mission! 

Love you guys!

-Elder Barney

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


P.S. The picture of the missionaries is in district meeting when I had the whole district make a Rugby scrum haha!