Hey Mom,
sounds like you guys are having fun out in the utah land.
transfers are happening today and Elder Gibbons and i are staying. i did though get a call from the assistants and they told me that President Brady wants me to get my liscence so that i can drive here. is there any way that you can just pay off that fine that i have? i really dont care about another 300 bones. just give it to them.
havent heard much about E Haupt and the investigators. i know that E Haupt is still a stud but that is about it. he might be going district leader this transfer because their district leader's 2 years are up. if any were getting baptized i would know but i think they are still stuck in the same ruts that they were before. foothill ranch might be the toughest area in the mission.
for the 4th i think we will do alot of tracting. we also have a couple lessons scheduled so really it will be just another day in the life.
so we have a little bad news. chris was unable to get his sundays off of work so we have to push the baptism back a little bit. our new goal is for the 18th of july. he would be a good guy to pray for. we kind of had a slow week this week.
dan took a couple steps back and decided that he isnt enjoying the Book of Mormon because he thinks it is negative. i dont know why really. he is tough because he seems to be unable to read consistently and unwilling to try to keep commandments that are new to him.
henry is still doing really well. we taught him the restoration and the only thing that he really struggles with is getting to church. i think that if we could get him to church then it would seal the deal.
last week i think we met every pastor that lives in our area. one of our investigators invited two over to talk with us. that was a beating to sit through. but after all that he wants to meet with us again and i think that it was not coincidence that we learned those pastor's church service times. we will meet with that guy when they have to be at church on saturday. or we will try to.
we got a referral from mtc hq for the son of a pastor. havent sat down with them yet but the son has apparently read all the standard works. cant tell if that will be good or not.
we also met one more pastor tracting. he invited us to meet with him and i dont know if we will. in any case i have been studying up on my scriptures this week. we have some other investigators but either they were out of town or we havent got to meet with them a whole lot just yet. hopefully this week will go more quickly.
Hi Grandma,
all the weeks go by fast out here. the last transfer (6 weeks) out here has gone by way fast.
yeah i wish that i could remember a little more about my baptism. i remember that you and grandpa flew out for my baptism and i remember that i was surprised that it was dad that was waiting for me in the bathroom after i was baptized instead of mom. they had always said that it would be the mom. my most vivid memory of anything baptism related is when me and mom and dad and maybe emily im not really sure were at a cici's pizza and i just felt like i should tell them that i wanted to be baptized because i was close to being 8 and i remember that it was going to be my decision. so i did and im not sure if anybody else would remember it but i think that was probably not significant to anybody except me and it wasnt significant until now. i just remembered that experience one day when i was thinking about the significance of the ordinance.
i dont know how much paige knew about why the baptism was done exactly the way that it was but it has been really neat that lots of things take on new significance as you begin to contemplate them more. it is always so surprising to me how often i havent recognized the Lord's hand in my life until years after the occurance. the more i think about things the more my testimony grows and that in itself builds testimony as well.
thanks for writing me. i hope you enjoy the rest of your time with Mom in utah. tell all the great grandparents that i say hi.
Love your favorite missionary,
Elder Taylor Barron
3 comments:
Love meeting with the pastors! That is one thing your mission will have a lot of compared to Denmark. I only met with a few in my whole mission, and I found it interesting how combative they were! I guess they felt they needed to justify, but I always thought it was funny that it was so important to them. I would answer questions, but as soon as they got combative--we just would simply say that the atmosphere wasn't a good one and we left.
So nice to have your mom around this week! I feel a bit sorry that I am not up to her level in energy etc. with the pregnancy and all--she is hard to keep up with when I am in good shape!!! But, it is good to see her. We of course miss Em and you!
Sounds like all is well. We love you!
Elder Barron I can't tell you how heart warming it is to be able to read about the things you're doing, learning, and experiencing each week. This past couple of weeks it has been particularly so. What you experienced with Elder Bednar for a day is along the lines of what I was able to experience with him all the years he was President of Ricks/BYU Idaho. When people would ask me about him in those days I would say that if ever there was a disciple of Christ, it was President (now Elder) Bednar. We had a lot of fun together and I learned so very much from him. When he was called to fill the open place in the Quorum I was at first surprised, but knew he was just that kind of person. Even then it was evident that the Board of Trustees (think First Presidency) thought very highly of him and had great respect for him. So even then I knew I was enjoying a very special blessing to be able to work so closely with him. After he was sustained in General Conference I had a meeting with him about 10 days later in Rexburg and the first thing he said to me was "Ron, did you go to Church last Sunday?" His question caught be a bit of guard, I wasn't sure if he was speaking to me as an Apostle or as a friend. I wondered if this was going to be an official worthiness interview by one of the Lord's annoited, and I'm sure I looked a bit puzzled. But I told him that I had indeed been to all of my Church meetings the week before. Then, with a smile, said he was relieved as he was afraid that his being called to be an Apostle might shake my testimony. I've had the chance to speak with him a couple of times since then, the last time was in April on Monday following conference. He came to our BYU Hawaii meeting in the Church Office Building and spoke to a group of donors to the school. The reason I'm sharing this with you is because when you say you had a great meeting with him I know something about what you mean. He is a great teacher and his mission as an Apostle is to the "one" each day that the Lord puts in his path. He said that is what being an Apostle is basically all about. I would not be surprised at all to see him become the Prophet in due time. (By the way, his wife is a Taylor and descended from the same William Taylor I---and therefore---you are. So, we have a bit of a family connection there.)
When I was a missionary in Concord, New Hampshire my companion and I were invited to join with other ministers in the area for a luncheon each month. It was insightful as I learned that most of them were good men who enjoyed being of service to the members of their Church. But I also learned that most of them had little or no testimony concerning the divinity of Christ. They saw their labors in the light of serving and helping others, not in helping others to come to a knowledge of their savior or the significance of his gospel beyond being good people. They understood little of the gospel, and I felt sorry for them. One of them, who was particularly friendly with us, said he didn't even believe that Jesus was the Son of God. But he knew he was a good man, and one who we could follow knowing that we would be doing good things if we did.
Having your Mom here with us this past week has been wonderful. She is an amazing person. You probably aleady know this, but you are really blessed to have her as your Mom. It's wonderful to see how you aleady honor and love her. You might not ever have another in your life who has given so much to see that your needs are met, or who has fought so hard to see that you were able to get where you are now. She loves you with all of her soul. And, like the rest of us, she is very proud of the missionary---as well as the man--- you're becoming.
We all love you and look forward to the next chapter in your work there in California. Onward and Upward.
Enjoyed your news this week very much. Yes we are having a good time with your mom here. I'm sure I've told you before but I absolutely love your mom and enjoy being with her! The last month has been great because we have been able to spend a lot of time together and have done a lot of laughing! Mostly her laughing at me--just kidding :-).
I'm sure she will tell you all about her time here so I won't go into any details. I got sick Friday--unfortunately and had to miss everything yesterday. But Jay's daughter, Andi, got to go to Stadium of Fire in my place and that was a good thing.
I will be taking your mom to the airport in the morning and we will all get back to normal routines. Grandpa and I are going to Alaska the end of July which we are looking forward to. Maybe you can go with us sometime in the future.
Glad things are still going well for you. I'm sure you will bring us up to date on everything. Be sure to take care of yourself and stay healthy. I'm glad that you don't have any severe weather there.
I will be sending you a small package this week. Wishing you great success. Lots of love, Grandma Sue
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