6th Letter: Fastest Week of My Life!

Dear Family,

I cannot believe that I am already writing you guys again!! This week has gone by so fast!! Probably because we have been so so busy!! Thank you soooo much for the package, it was perfect!! The jackets will work great, thanks Dad. I think the jerky was what made me smile the most haha I love that stuff!! Thanks for the ties also!! I was getting tired of wearing the same ties over and over again so that was perfect. And Grandma... your a scolar among women. haha thanks for the banana bread, I hid it under my bed so that my companion wouldn't eat it. JK all the way.

So last Friday was Zone Conference and guess who got to speak?...... This guy! ha The Holy Ghost already told me that I was going to speak before I got there so I was already pretty prepared. Either President Miller really likes me or else hes giving me these situations so that I can learn. Maybe both. I talked about the Nature of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I focused on Love of course, and how he desires to give all of us that love!! We had to recite a scripture from memory so I did one of my favs Acts 17:27. It was a good experience and I received a lot of compliments so I dont think that I did too bad.

This last Saturday we went wood cutting again! Ugh that is tiring!! We got 5 quarts of wood which is a ton!! Its hard work, but I need it to work off all of the fry bread and lard that I have been eating. I actually have been loosing weight surprisingly. I go running at least twice a week, its sketchy though cause its still dark at 6:30 here and there are some pretty creepy things that go on here!! Every night Collier calls us on his way back to Mag and says that he just saw a UFO or an owl (evil spirits can take the form of animals especially owls and goats) flying eye level along the car for like 10 miles with him...etc you may laugh but its so true, maybe not the UFO, but everything else I believe him! So at night I am always singing church hymns and practicing my rebuking. Collier said that he had a dream that an evil spirit is going to try to harm us so thats kinda creepy, but I just try to always have a prayer in my heart, and I know that I'll be safe.

So my companion and I are doing great!! I love him and we get along really well. We have really similar teaching personalities so we are on the same page alot during our lessons so that is nice. Like I said we have been really busy, averaging around 20 lessons a week which is really good for Alamo. But like I have said before the Natives really don't like to commit to anything so it's hard to get any baptisms, they just want us to come over and chop their wood and listen to their stories. Ha for example yesterday I was following up on one of our investigators named Anita on wether or not she prayed to find out if she should be baptized or not. She was like yes I prayed, but then my brother called me and said that his neighbor died, it made me scared, but then I found out that he was just kidding... man its a nice day huh Elders.....ha yeah it is Anita but back to praying... ha they don't like to talk about being baptized so they always change the subject. She is one of my favorite ladies out on the Reservation and she is progressing towards baptism, slowly but surely.

One thing that me and my companion have really been praying for is new investigators for the last week. And Sunday I had a dream of someone drinking out a river just desperate for water. So I was really thinking about that all day, and then that night we had a feeling to go over to Colliers Aunts house. Collier hadn't seen her for a while and he really wanted to go see how she was doing. So we went over there and Collier explained a little bit about our church and then me and Elder Lish shared our testimonies with her, and she just started crying, saying that she has been going through some really hard times. Her husband cheated on her and her family disowned her, and she said that she was really praying for help lately. She stopped for a moment, and then said that we were an answer to her prayers. And she was really open to having us come over and share the lessons with her. So that has been one of the most amazing experiences since I have been out here. I loved how you said Dad, that Heavenly Father knows who we are (watch the John Millet experience D&C video). It is so true he knows each of us individually, and he knows the pains and trials that we go through. Its easy to say that to investigators, but its when you have those personal experiences is when you can't deny that there is a GOD and that he knows me!! How great of a feeling that is once you realize that, and that is my joy of being a missionary. Helping others realize that he knows them too! And that he listens and answers their prayers just like he answered a 14 year old boys prayer. How great this message is!!!

Thanks again for the package and thanks Dad for the Red Soxs update, I really needed it!! :) It made my day when you said that Granderson broke his arm on the first game of the year!! Out for the year? I hope. haha ;) Life on the Res has continued to be great, we got a new washer, because our other one was leaking oil... But im doing good, just working hard and eating hard!! :) We went to the VLA (Very Large Array) that was cool. I've been taking alot of pics so dont worry about that! I'll send the memory stick home in the next couple weeks. I can't think of anything else to tell you so take care family, and continue to pray for me and our investigators please!! Love you all!! Tell Bo hi and that I miss him, there are a million dogs out here on the res (litterally 5 dogs to every person) and everytime I see one I miss Bo more and more. Ha

Love, Elder Barrus