13th Letter: "MY FAMILY!!"

Dear Family,

My wonderful family it was so good to hear from you today!! I really needed it!! I smiled like 20 times while I was reading all your letters and I couldn't stop smiling!! I just love you all so much!! :) I really miss you guys and wish I could have been there to help you guys move Zac and Chelsea, but I've been pretty busy. haha Let Gavin know that I love him so much too!! Ha he is a goober. So everything around here has been going really good, a little crazy, but good!! I have so much to talk about, I just hope that I can make sense of everything. 

So Monday, we went to the temple and it was amazing!! I have been sounding like I have been doing amazing, which I am, but this mission is not easy by any means. It's been really hard, like I expected. I love the quote by Elder Holland "How can we expect it to be easy for us when it wasn't easy for him?". So I have just been praying for strength and help each and every day, and the temple was a huge booster. I was kinda upset throughout the whole session because I was struggling to feel the spirit as strongly as I was hoping, I was getting tired during the session even. I really was mad, I was like I have been waiting to be uplifted by the temple for the last couple months and now im going to fall asleep?! I just prayed that it would change. And it gradually did, but when it really hit me was as I was walking through the Celestial room man I felt overpowered by the spirit, I couldn't do anything but just smile!! :) What an amazing spirit that is felt in the house of the Lord. I know that we all hear this a lot, but let us take advantage of this blessing of temples in our lives and go often.  

So this upcoming Sunday, I told you that an Apostle is coming to speak to our stake and guess who it is?..........L TOM PERRY!! Im so excited!! He is one of my favorite!! I'm not sure why he is coming here out of all places, but its great!! I hope to be able to talk to him. We have been trying really hard to get as many people from Alamo to it as we can, but we have to leave Alamo at 7am, and no Navajo wants to get up that early, not even for an apostle.... ugh!

We will find out about transfers next week. I'll most likely stay, but you never know. And Elder Lish is most likely leaving, he has been in Alamo for 7 months. It will be really sad to not be comps with him anymore!! He has been an amazing companion, we have been doing work together too!! But the work must go on, I'm excited to see what the mission has in store for me coming up. 

I'm still doing really good and my testimony is growing each and everyday. We are staying really busy!! We had 31 lessons last week which is unbelievable. Its kinda frustrating at the same time because it seems like nobody is progressing like I would want to, but I guess it is all in the Lords timing. We are really doing work with less actives, reactivating them. I think we had 8 less actives back at church on Sunday which was great.

I have really been hearing some amazing quotes lately and I thought I would share some of them with you guys.

"If we expect Him to give us everything that He has, then we better be willing to give Him everything we have."

-President Cordria (stake president) He is a great guy, he was one of the co-producers of 17 miracles. Cool Story.

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less"

-C.S Lewis

I left my quote book back in my appt. but those have been the ones that have really been stuck in my mind lately. I especially love the first one. It helps me continue out each day doing everything that I can!! Leaving nothing behind! My biggest thing I have been focused on throughout my mission so far has been when I leave my mission having no regrets. I know what the Lord has called me to do and I better fulfill it!! (D&C 50:13-14)

I'm so grateful for all that you guys do for me! Love you all!!

Love Elder Barrus

Ps I heard about the bombing, I was sitting in a buffet in ABQ right when it happened. I felt so sick!! I didn't want to eat anything else!! This world is ridiculous!! God be with us all I pray. Stay strong my family!!