Hey Mom,
lol, unlike you guys i had not noticed that there are 17 emails left.
what are we doing in san antonio? i think one thing we could do would be to say hi to Elder Manzanara's parents if we are going down anyway. em says that you enjoy talking about how much time i have left now at Church and thats ok i guess. i see all the moms here waiting for thier kids to come home and its not too embarrasing for thier missionaries. in some ways i look forward to coming home. i dont like being apart from you guys and everyone in utah for one. but like you say it might be a rough transition for me and ill just try to make the best of it like i have learned to do out here.
week went well. we were in that conference FOREVER. i remembered why i didnt like school very much. just sitting and listening for hour after hour after hour. i was really excited to get out and do some real work. i guess they are changing the curriculum in the mtc and wanted to put us all through it. they wanted to work on us asking questions and finding the pathway to people's hearts through following the Spirit. both of those are skills that i have developed alot as a missionary. i think it was good for younger missionaries but man was i bored. i did learn some things and i got to spend lots of time with missionaries in my zone and practicing with Elder Manzanera which was deffinately worth spending time on. i also got to spend quite a bit of time with Elders Haupt and Gibbons which i enjoyed alot. i was really impressed with how much they have grown since we were companions. they are rockstars now.
duke's and gray's are still tearing it up. the duke's passed thier interview this friday and the gray's will be interviewed this saturday. bro duke is studying the scriptures like a madman. it is really meaningful for him as well as he has great questions and insights into what he has read.
bro and sis gray are as ready as can be, and i am sure that they will do well in thier interviews. thier son jaxson keeps giving me big hugs during our lessons and then stealing stuff out of my pockets. he is a happy guy.
kahumoku's are not doing as hot anymore. aislin has backed off a bit. she is going through i guess some kind of identity crisis that we can help her sort through hopefully. i think she needs to spend less time worrying about who she is and more time reading and praying and trying to do what God wants. we will see if we cant convey that in an uplifting, kind, and encouraging way in our next lesson. i hope that we can make that work out.
1 week from saturday is our modern day waters of mormon experience! i am excited as can be except that i dont know what we are going to do after we finish teaching them.
lol, President Cook wrote me this week: "Thanks for your work with the Duke family. We enjoyed meeting them. Let's find some more investigators just like them." (President Cook interviewed the duke's and sis Cook came out to meet them.) it was a good experience for the cook's because they havent seen too many of the miracles and fruits of thier work yet, only meetings so far. :) both Elder Manzanera and i have felt that there is another family for us to find and baptize and we have been praying to find them. we have a few good leads but dont know who it is yet.
love,
Elder Barron
2 comments:
Well, here we are and it's now August! Unbelievable! Can't believe how fast the time passes. Don't know if that's how it is for you.
We enjoyed a great trip to Hawaii this past week and got home late Saturday. I am very jet-lagged. Can't fall asleep until 2 or 3 in the morning--which would be 10 or 11 Hawaii time.
When there, we always attend the BYU Hawaii wards and we love them! The students are from all over the world. Most are converts and they are so humble and devoted. Grandpa knows Benson Massey who is from India and just graduated. He will now go to London for his Masters in Business Administration. If you have the Ensign and have read the stories about the new converts in India, well he was one of the missionaries that taught them. He is amazing. I enjoyed meeting him and hearing his stories. He was in a video that Grandpa's team just finished for BYU Hawaii.
Our Sunday School teacher was a young man from Zimbawee named Simon. I was so impressed with his knowledge of the scriptures. All of these kids appreciate so much the gospel and the opportunity they have of being students at BYU-H. They are so grateful for their sponsors who pay their tuition.
We are excited for your upcoming baptisms and hope everything goes the way you have planned. I know Heavenly Father must be smiling at your progress and will have more for you to do. It will come. I'm sure you will be telling us all about everything soon.
I'm not good at sitting in long meetings either. I guess it is one way we learn patience! :-) Hope you have an absolutely amazing week and know we will be thinking of you as we always do. Love you tons, Grandma Sue
The time always goes way too fast when I'm working in Hawaii. It seems like I just get there and get things rolling and its time to come back home. (and my body just starts adjusting to the difference in the time and then we turn around and change it back again.) Anyway, I got quite a bit done and had a good time too. We saw a couple of quite large turtles on the beach taking a rest. They probably weighed something like 3 or 4 hundred pounds. Big dudes. Took some photos of them. We also saw the Black Pearl, the pirate ship in the Disney movies featuring Johnney Depp; "Pirates of the Carribean." (Yes, filming in the Pacific Ocean, go figure.) They were filming the next film in Oahu and it was docked where you could see it. They also filmed a sequence there on the far west end of the property at Turtle Bay where the Banyon trees are. The set was still there when we went to look at it.
Well, enough of that mumbo jumbo. We had a good time and it's not a bad place to go for a week of work. I'll be going back in November for some donor meetings---which is the reason I was there---to help plan and prepare for those meetings.
We're all looking forward with you to this next weekend. I'm sure it will be a memorable one for you and for your companion. But, I'm thinking it won't be the last such weekend for you. I believe you when you say you sense that the Lord has others for you to teach and baptise before your mission ends. But, remember, the Lord loves a cliffhanger. He might continue to test your faith. You'll just have to keep working and see what happens. :-)
The Lord's hand is moving across the world. He is gathering Israel. He is preparing a people to build Zion. (I get to see so much of it happening at BYU Hawaii, where they are coming from all over the world. These are young Israelites who are, for the most part first generation members of the Church. They just glow with the Spirit. They are articulate, bright, and so very much filled with faith and hope. The Church is in good hands in these far-flung parts of the world.) The day of the Savior's return is drawing ever closer. You will continue to play a role in this ongoing work of the Restoration as you faithfully follow the Spirit now and in the years to come. Who knows, you may even see that day happen when the Savior returns. If not, well you can join with those of us on the other side of the veil by then and we'll party with those who are here to welcome him back for that grand second visit.
So, okay, I've used up my alotted number of words. We love you. We continue to pray for you, your companion, and for your investigators. We're hoping this week is the best ever for all concerned.
Grandpa Ron
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