33rd Letter: "FAMILY!!"

Hey I got a second to write you a quick not before I head to ABQ tomorrow to find out where I am going tomorrow. I got some super crazy news last night that threw a whole new bunch of emotions in the mix. President Miller called me and asked me to be a ZL.... Yeah I am super nervous to say the least. All I know is Alamo and Navajos and now most likely I will be in the heart of ABQ with more than 30 missionaries to watch over. I just trust in the Lord and know that he qualifies those that He calls. Yesterday at church we watched the "work of salvation broadcast" and something that I really heard gave me comfort and strength. The bishop said: "no matter how many imperfections that we have, if we do all that we can do then we wont fail". That is exactly what I am relying on right now. I am still a really young missionary and have plenty of imperfections, but I am going forward trying to do all that I can that I wont fail because the Lord will be with me to help me. So when President called me he said, "Hows my favorite missionary doing? Me: Im doing alright, you pulled a fast one on me President. President: What? who told you that you were leaving... Me: haha I think you did President?... President: Hey I had all intentions of leaving you there, but the Lord needs you as a Zone Leader right now..... That phone call gave me so much comfort even though I recieved the scariest news of my life. But it really touched my heart and the spirit witnessed to me how inspired of a man President is and that this calling and me moving is inspired by him. So I will have my first Zone Training that me and my companion will do this Friday!! Super nevous for that especially, going to embarrass myself!!

So leaving Alamo was incredibly difficult, I didnt think that I would have to leave home twice. I cried like a baby in my testimony. I think what has hit me the hardest is just how unexpected everything has been... Saying goodbye is never fun... I'll just say that!

 

The baptism on Saturday went great!! It was a great way to leave Alamo. Billy Joe is a heck of a guy. Super humble and wants to follow the Lord. :)

 

Well thank you so much family for all that you have done for me and for the love and support that you have given me to this point in my mission. I dont know what I would do without it.

 

Love,

Elder Barrus

32nd Letter: "HELLO!! :)"

Dear Family,

Hi my wonderful family it is great to be able to sit and write you all again!! Sounds like everyone is doing pretty great except for Amanda.... Sorry that you are not feeling very good!! :( I'll be praying for you!! So I have been doing great! Staying very busy and working very hard!! We have had a very good week and are continuing to see progression out here in Alamo. Like I have said in the past our branch has been exploding! We have had 60 plus for the last 2 months and thus people are seeing the parking lot packed and so it is sparking interest with the rest of the reservation so we have been starting to talk to some new investigators so that has been good.

The reason that I am emailing a little bit later today is because Billy Joe had his baptism interview with the Zone Leaders and he passed!! Yay!! It is kind of annoying because I am district leader, it means that the Zone Leaders have to come to do the interview and they live 2 hours away so scheduling them can be kind of tricky sometimes, but it always seems to work out in the end. Anyways though I am super excited for Billy Joe to join his wife Charolette in the church. He asked me to baptize him which is awesome, it is always such an honor!!

 

So Crystal and her son Daman who I told you about last week are doing very well also. Crystal came to church on Sunday and they are looking solid to be baptized in the near future!! It definitely was a golden find, the Lord has been preparing them for a while now.

 

So Anita has continued to spoil me here, she really has adopted me into her family! All of her family calls me their cousin or brother...etc It is pretty funny! I love them so much they mean a ton to me. Well she got me a legit penalton blanket!! It is super nice, I will be sending in home with the Navajo rug that she made me here in a little bit.

 

Well I don't have too much to report on this week. I really appreciate all of the letters and the support that you guys have been showing me thus far it really means a lot!! I love you all so much and miss you all a ton!! Looks like I will be on the Res for another splendid 6 weeks but I am looking forward to what work the Lord has in store for me!! It has been exciting to see the Lord gathering the Lamanite nation they truly have been blossoming as a rose as it says in the scriptures. It is just another witness to me of the closeness of the second coming, we truly live in the last days we are a chosen generation. I just finished reading Jesus the Christ as I have told you, man that book is amazing. I seriously recommend it to all, there is a very special spirit that is felt when reading about the Savior and his ministry. I cant believe how much my testimony has been strengthened from reading it. I am now going to read through the New Testament I am looking forward to it.

 

I love you all family! Take Care and have a blessed week!! :) :) GOD BE WITH YOU!!
Love Elder Barrus

"Come what may, and love it" - Elder Joseph B Wirthlin   

Moroni 10:32

31st Letter: ":) HI!!"

Dear Family,

Oh how great it is to write the family!! Tis another week has gone by and here I am again to share my wonderful experiences here in Alamo. I have been doing great, been working really hard so thus I am tired both physically and mentally, but I am great!! The work in Alamo is still going splendid, we had 75 at church beat the record that we set last week. Our little building is packed!! We are desperate for an expansion, I have talked to President Miller about it a lot and we have been brain storming and working together on how we can get things progressing to such. First off he wants to bring a cattle trough so that we can do baptisms in Alamo haha I think its kind of ghetto but would be pretty cool at the same time not going to lie. And he has also been talking to the Stake President to see what we can get done. I am amazed with all of the progress that has taken place here in Alamo. When I first got here there was about 30 at church if we were lucky, but now that has exploded. The Lord is gathering his sheep!! :)

So by far the highlight of my week and of my mission was going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with my Shi'ma Anita. What an incredible experience that was. We did the work for her parents and for her grandparents. She wanted me to be baptized for her father and grandfather super spiritual, definitely felt them while I was there. Anita was a little nervous at first, but she really enjoyed the temple. I was super glad that I was able to go with her for her first time. She also got her first calling in the church Secretary in the Relief Society. She will do great! Perfect calling for her. 

Another highlight of my week was a new family that we met Crystal Monte and her 5 kids. Crystal is the Crofts neighbor, and so she went over to their house and expressed her desire to be taught by us!! She has been going through a hard time, recently got a divorce and so she is a single mom raising these 5 little kids which has been super hard for her. They are a handful. So we went over there and had an amazing lesson with her I have never felt so prompted by the spirit before in a lesson to say certain things than I had with her. We taught her the Restoration and she really connected with Joseph Smith she knew that he is a prophet of God, because she knows that God answers prayers. We committed her and her 11 year old son to be baptized and they accepted. Super excited for her to experience the peace and comfort that the gospel will bring into her life.

So Billy Joe (Charolettes husband) is looking very solid for baptism next Saturday. We went through the baptism questions with him this morning and it went great!! I love baptisms!! YAY!!

I am amazed with myself I am finishing up Jesus the Christ, I would have finished a long time ago if I wasn't called as District leader and have to prepare for meetings during study. But nevertheless I am finishing it up and it has been an amazing read!! I recommend it to all. 3rd greatest book ever written. I have grown to know my Savior and who he truly was as I have read it, how grateful I am for the knowledge that I have gained of him!! :) 

Well know my family that I am doing great!! I hope you all are doing the same, because I love you all and want you to be happy!! And so does Heavenly Father, and my promise is that we will be happy if we are living the gospel. So if you aren't happy evaluate your life and your relationship with Christ, and make the necessary adjustments!! And I promise you will find joy, usually the reason that the majority of the world is sad and depressed is because they are putting something before that Person that has given them ALL. Don't let that happen to you. Pray often. Study the Scriptures. Magnify your callings. :)

LOVE YOU ALL
ELDER BARRUS!! 

Scripture: 3 Nephi 11: 35-36

30th Letter: "FAMILY!!"

Dear Family,

Hey!! Its weird being here on Tuesday to write you, but tomorrow I have a leadership meeting in ABQ all day tomorrow.... fun... I hate meetings, all we do is role plays. I have never been a big fan of them (just like grandma), in lessons I am dependent upon the spirit to discern the individuals needs and teach them accordingly, but in role plays I struggle to find that spirit to help me teach. But I try my best!! Well I am doing great, and it sounds like you all are doing pretty great as well!! I am not in the biggest mood to write right now, but I will try my best to update you on what all is going on.

 

So President came to Alamo on Thursday and interviewed us, it was amazing. This man truly is incredible, one of those people that just being around him your immediately uplifted and feel the spirit super strong. I had a super good interview with him, he expressed his happiness on the way that Alamo has been going. He told me that he doesn't want to change things that are going good, and then said I hope you are liking Alamo because I have no desire in moving you anytime soon. Looks like I will be here till at least October 24th now!! :) Good Stuff!

 

Charolette's baptism was amazing! She asked me to baptize her, which is always a choice experience to enter the water. She had a bunch of her family come too and the majority of them are non-members, I guarantee that they felt of the spirit, because it was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have been to. Billy Joe didn't end up getting baptized though, we still have a couple more lessons that we need to teach him first, and he needs to come to church a couple more times too, just so he knows what covenant he is actually making. But he is looking solid for August 31st.

 

This Sunday we had 70 people at church and the 4th Sunday in a row that we had more than 65 people. Truly a miracle!! When I first got to Alamo we were averaging around 30-40 people per week and now we are overflowing the church!! :) I hope that this only continues so that we can get an expansion on the building and become a ward. When they first put the church on the Res they never expected to fill up that little church, but now look what it has turned into.

 

Yesterday for p-day we went on a hike of course, but after we went to the Wellness center and played basketball... haha some Navajos wanted to play us in bball and so of course we did!! Haha lets just say that Navajos make me look like MJ!!! #brakingankles Ha they aren't the fastest and most coordinated of people, but it was fun to play!! And I told them to come to church and they said they would, so hopefully it payed off. They wanted me to come play on their team, I told them that if I could then I most definitely would!! 

 

Well I got to get heading to ABQ we are staying there tonight so we don't have to wake up at 5 in the morning to get there on time. But know that I love you and that the Lord loves you!! Take care and know I love you sooooo much!! ALL of you!! :) Write ME!!

 

Love Elder Barrus

Scripture: D&C 133:58

Message from President Miller

Elder Barrus received this message and wanted to share with family. He has a great Mission President.

"Elder Barrus, I hope you know how much I love you and feel of your strength. When it was time for transfers It was so very evident to me that you are touching and changing lives in an area that our Father in Heaven has directed you to be. There is a great work yet to come and I testify that you will be in the heart of it."
-PM

Pictures

Elder Barrus sent us his SD card so I'll update on his pictures. I'm not sure what some are so he'll have to explain them to us one day :)

29th Letter: "3 its a lucky number!! :)"

Dear Family!!

Hey my beloved family!! What a pleasure it is to sit down and write the greatest family in the whole world. I am doing magnificent, never been so tired both physically and mentally in my life, but I have never been happier!! Last week was super stressful, every baptism week is super stressful!! The whole week you are doing all that you can to make sure that the baptism will happen, and at the same time Satan is putting all of his forces against it. It definitely was a battle, but once again Satan can't win, and so he didn't.... what a loser. The baptisms were amazing, super strong unexplainable spirit was felt. As you guys know I have been working with Savannah my whole time here in Alamo, she has been a real struggle for me, I have felt super discouraged with her at times but never gave up. What a miracle it was to me to see her finally get married and then less than 48 hours later enter into the waters of baptism and make a covenant with God. Truly was a testimony to me that our hard work is worth it and to never give up on anybody, because Heavenly Father never forgets about them, He knows his sheep by name, and knows how to best help each of them individually. Flora was also a miracle to see get baptized, she is another one that I have been working with since the beginning, she always said that she would get baptized when it got warm, but really Heavenly Father was in control and it was until Vince was prepared to be baptized also, and it just happens to be warm outside too. She doesn't weigh more than 90 pounds!!! Vince was awesome too, he has changed his life drastically in the last month, it has been awesome to see his transformation.

 

So President Miller is coming tomorrow to interview us, and it just happens to work out perfectly so he can do the bap interview for Charlotte and Billy Joe Guerro. They are set to get baptized this Saturday, they are looking really solid they both came to church this Sunday and are super excited to get baptized. I just pray that they pass the interview, it is always a little stressful until they get in the water. Man I cant say it enough how truly grateful I am for the many blessings and opportunities that the Lord has blessed me with so far in my mission, I truly am humbled. The most baptisms by a missionary in Alamo before I got here was Elder Lish with 6 and I will be blessed to have participated in 11. It is not because of me at all that is for sure. I'm dumbfounded!!

 

I have a pretty big feeling that this will be my last transfer in Alamo, it makes me so sad!! Its not for sure, but I really feel this way. I don't know what I am going to do when I leave. It is going to be like leaving home again!! I love this place so much!! Navajos annoy me at times just because of there attitudes, but I have never loved a group of people more than them. I think it is because I really connect with them and there culture. All of them consider me there own. We were at the Crofts Monday and Anita called and told Sister Croft that she has been really sick and depressed, she talked to Sister Croft for a while and then Sister Croft asked her if she wanted to talk to any of us Elders and she said she wanted to talk to her son (me). Anita has been engulfed in the Family History spirit, she has 3 of her ancestors names reserved for he for when she goes to the temple to do baptisms. She really wants me to go with her to do her Dad and Grandfather, I will have to talk to President about that one ha.

 

Know that I love you family so much!! I care about each of you! Mom, Dad, brother, sister, G&G....etc. I miss you all tremendously! There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think or pray about each of you. I know that God is blessing and watching over you and me because of my service and that makes it all worth it. I love this work because it is the only work that can bring us true happiness and true joy, and that is because it is "His" work and "His" way. I know that my Savior lives because I work beside him everyday, he loves and knows us each individually because he has felt our pains and our sorrows. Only Him. It is only through Him that we can return to our Heavenly Father let us never forget that.

Love Elder Barrus

 

Scripture: 2 Nephi 9! :)

 

Weather update: Muddy truck....down pour