Hey Mom,
sounds like a fun utah trip! that t shirt that grandpa stan got is pretty cool. how do i get one of those?
i dont really understand what you want me to do as far as that residency thing goes... i am sure that i can find someone who does know and can help me figure it out. i bet Elder Christensen would know as well. are we going for utah residency?
havent gotten the package yet but i am looking forward to it! sometimes it takes awhile, everyone is really busy this part of the transfer in weeks 5 and 6.
this week was good. we finally finished all the paperwork that we have to do and had leadership council which is like a second zone conference. probably took 24 man hours between us over a week and a half while we had to do 3 exchanges. we pick up the vista zl's on the way to C-Bad so i got to see Elder Miller for quite a while. the council was amazing. we talked about preparing the mission for President and Sister Cook next transfer and some other stuff. President finished by allowing us to ask questions about anything and one of hsi responses was really cool. he said, "the closer you get to Christ, the less tolerant of sin you will be and the more tolerant of sinners you will be." he brought a baseball bat that we all signed for President Brady that said t-baller on the fat part. Elder Miller changed it to say, "dont be a teeballer, play major league." it was pretty funny because President says there are four kinds of missionaries, 1 major leaguers, 2 little leaguers, 3 teeballers, and 4 whiffleballers. he got some funny pictures of President with the bat that we will have to get from him one of these days. this time all the district leaders were invited so i got to see Elder Haupt alot as well. it is so awesome to see him after so long. it has been a year since we were done being companions now. we have both grown up alot as missionaries and we laughed about some of the things we did as young missionaries. it seems so long ago but just like yesterday at the same time. after all that was over i was just plain exhausted and ready to do regular ole missionary work.
this week we had an amazing lesson with dana. we wanted to teach her the Restoration to invite the Spirit and figure out what has been holding her back. we started to teach and the Spirit was really strong. the Reid's, whose home we teach her in on saturdays were great and shared thier testimonies and everything was really powerful. i shared the first vision and as per usual the Spirit was like a nuclear bomb in the room when we share it. we invited her again to be baptized and she again told us that she couldnt do it now and we asked her about how she felt. she said that just like the last time we taught the Restoration she felt a distinct peace and calm but she shared that she felt that she "couldnt take it". we invited her to tell us what she meant and she shared that she felt like she was half taking the lessons because of an lds kid that she had been dating. the Spirit continued to be strong as we told her that it was okay that that was why she started to meet with us and we asked her to pray to be investigating 100% for herself. then the reids started to tell her how much they cared about her and we closed and then there were hugs all around except with the missionaries of course. she made a point to thank everyone especially for that lesson and i am really excited to see what comes out of this. she is a really smart girl and uses words that sometimes i dont even know so we havent been able to quite "crack into" how she really feels and what her motives are. now i feel that we are headed into a really good direction especially because she will be able to start going to Church soon. (here graduation is this week.)
caitlyn is doing good i assume still. we taught her tuesday last week and it wasnt too exciting and she has been out of town since then with her dad. i think she has been heavily influenced by her anti side of the family so we will work on breaking that wall down. that is really all we have going right now. we tract about 10 hours a day.
i have been studying lately how to make all my lessons as powerful as the Restoration and have learned alot, i also study the doctrines that we can teach members and missionaries and have studied what blessings i have recieved from different aspects of the restored gospel and Church so that i can bear a more specific and powerful testimony.
have a great week!
Love,
Elder Barron
2 comments:
Wow sounds like you have been really busy with all the meetings, teaching and tracting! How fun that you got to visit with your former companions and spend time with the mission president. You'll have to tell us what you know about your new mission president too. Did you say his last name was Cook? That could be interesting!
We sure enjoyed having your mom here for a few days. She probably told you all about the parties we had for Grandpa Stan. Everything went really well but wore us out! Your mom was a big help for me with putting everything together. I really didn't want her to leave! I'm so glad she will be coming back real soon for a longer visit.
My mom is slowly improving which I consider a true miracle. When I was down there for mother's day, I told her that I really believed that her getting better was an answer to our prayers. She said it was nice that we prayed for her. Her memory is not very good right now. We are not sure if that is permanent or not.
Well, Elder, we are so happy that you are enjoying your mission so much. You are setting such a good example for all the cousins. They are all very aware of where you are and what you are doing. Hope this next week you are able to find more people to teach and that Dana continues to do well. Take care of yourself. We love you tons! Grandma Sue
It's apparently a very busy time for you right now, changing President's on top of it all. We will all be anxious to hear how quickly the new President is able to pick up all of the pieces so the mission keeps moving forward. He'll likely be looking to his zone leaders to help him some during the transition. I'm sure you'll find him a great leader and you'll learn a lot from him too. Be sure to tell us a bit about him when you can.
We always enjoy having your Mom around. She brings out the best in everyone around her and she was a lot of help putting the birthday party together for Granddad Stan. Two guys came that I haven't seen for about 50 years, and it was wonderful to see them again. And, dad was delighted to see them too. He is still talking about how much he enjoyed having everybody come---including your Mom. The T-shirts where fun. We've saved you one as you might already know by now.
I enjoy each and every letter you write. Your full commitment to the work, the effort you put into it, and the experiences you are having are always heartwarming to me and Grandma Sue. My words seem a bit trite, but I'm very proud of you. You seem to me to be of the same caliber as Moroni, Alma, Ammon, and Heleman. If the world was full of young men like you and those that are serving with you, can you imagine what a different world it would be. Why, the Savior would find it an inviting place to come to visit and stay.
Love you.
Grandpa Ron
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