When the Mormon Helping Hands get rolling, they can't be stopped!! :)

Thank you so much for telling me about how Sister Strasser and I are making a difference in Pocatello. It really means a lot! We can honestly feel your prayers... it's weird, but it's real. This week has been one for the record books! I have broken a lot of personal barriers and we have decided to go into what our zone calls "Beast Mode" :) Haha!

I'll start off with some random details. Some of the Elders in my zone have found out that I can get pretty worked up when provoked, so they call me Sister BarfyBarf all the time :) Haha! They just want a reaction. Bunch of sillies. So I'm pretty sure we live like 10 miles away from Sea World because I see signs for it ALL the time. We had one of the Wendy's new waffle cones... awesome little treat right there. You should go get one right now. And I had my first fish taco! It was yummy while I was eating it, but then ohhh man! Sister Strasser and I both got so sick. Bleh. Lets just say we're probably not going to have another fish taco. everrrrrr. So i'm pretty sure I'm scared of the ocean. So much for going on a cruise!! I would be so scared AND I'd probably get sea sick hard core... well good thing I don't have any money to go on one anyways :) Haha!

President Clayton reminds me of Dad so much. But really though... When he talks I sit there and I'm like "Dad? How did you find me? How in the world did you know I was going to be here today??" Haha! It's actually turned into a huge blessing because I respect him and love him and I'm not scared of him. Some of the missionaries are terrified of him and I just remember he's a dad and a grandpa, not some mean guy. A funny experience with President... We went to some training this week and we had to role play with another companionship. So my zone leaders are like, "Be with Us!!" So it's kinda scary to teach them right!? Well while we're teaching them the assistants come over and start observing so they can give suggestions. (BAHHH!!!! SCARY!) And then President comes over and just sits down to enjoy the Sister Barfuss freakout show! Seriously, that was one of the most intimidating things I've done so far on my mission.Turns out that all of them are so nice and so cool. They gave us great feed back and now we're friends. (WHEW! Had to put my big girl panties on for that one!)

WE GOT TO TEACH THIS WEEK!!! I taught the restoration for the first time! Not going to lie... the lady we taught was as drunk as a skunk, BUT! we taught! (boooo beer!) We also taught a recent convert that lives in a trailer in the back yard of a member. We sat out in a circle in camping chairs and used the motioned censored light by the porch for light. It was so awesome. He is the most humble and loving man I know. And lets be real... it felt nice to be in a camping chair at night :)

This week I met someone from Egypt, Italy, Finland, Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico, and Iran!!! I also met a pro skateboarder and a 99 year old grandma! I can't believe how many people come from so far away to San Diego! I've found that 99% of people we meet here are either Catholic or Atheist. I had one lady tell me that she hates religion because it tells you to have children and every child that is born is ruining the earth more and more. Uhhhhhhhhhh........? I'm not gonna lie. My response to her was "Yeah. Okay. Well there's this museum in old town about the Mormon Battalion that settled San Diego. You should check it out!" (Que Sister Strasser with the pass a long card).

Yesterday I didn't email because we had a Sister Missionary Brunch. All the sisters in the mission met up and Sister Clayton had a good message for us and some yummy food! Watch for those pictures on the mission blog. After the brunch we went to zone sports where we we played basketball and volleyball. Okay I'm going to get all weird for a bit... but hang in there with me. Yesterday basketball and volleyball became a spiritual experience for me. I COULD NOT BELIEVE how good it felt to be in a gym with a volleyball. I sat there and passed against the wall for ever and ever. Then I set against the wall over and over. It was so therapeutic! So many memories of being in the gym came to my mind and I felt a part of me come alive that's been quiet for a while. I could not get enough of it! I felt so powerful and I felt like that was where I belonged. How many hours do you think I've spent in a gym playing volleyball mom? Seriously though? Hey Moo! I can still pass against the backboard more than 10 times in a row ;) Haha! Then we played basketball and I played SO hard. Seriously I have never had so much energy in my entire life. I felt like I was dropping pounds of stress and worry as we played. The sisters in my zone aren't too into sports, but I HAVE to have it! The elders took it easy on me at first but they're like,  "Kay we're done babying you Sister Barfuss. Lets play for reals!" And then we go crazy. It feels so good to sweat! It feels so good to wake up sore. My testimony of the Word of Wisdom was strengthened yesterday. Our biggest gift from Heavenly Father is the fact that we have bodies!! When we treat them well, other things (both physical and spiritual) come quicker. The Word of Wisdom is not all about not drinking beer or coffee, it's very much about the good things we should be doing also. I'm trying to be better each day! Join me!

And let's close with Al! Oh Al! Bless his heart. So we went over on Sunday and he pulls the same, "My dinner is on the stove!" I just kept it real and said that he was having dinner last time we came at 7:00 and now he's having dinner at 4:30? (Yeah right!) He told us that he still wasn't ready to talk about religion and that he wouldn't be for a long time. So I told him that that was just fine because we still didn't even know if he had kids, where he grew up, what he did for a living, what he enjoys reading, what his religious beliefs are, what his plans for the future are, and what he does with his time now! (GOT YA AL!!!) You might think that I'm being rude to him, but trust me, I'm not. He needs someone to be in his grill and he knows it. He told us about how he admires us and all that jazz but that Mormonism isn't his thing, and that if we talked to him about his life we would hear a whole bunch of sarcastic stories that would offend us. He said that his sarcasm often does that to people... hehehe WELL AL!! Let me introduce you to Sister Barfuss! I live and breath sarcasm! I told him to try it out on me to see what would happen :) We're going back later this week to clean up his yard. He's going to try and get us to leave, but sorry! When the Mormon Helping Hands get rolling, they can't be stopped!! :) 

I LOVE all the stories I'm hearing about you being brave and talking about the gospel! Keep it up! Heavenly Father is so grateful for you!!

I LOVE YOU TONS AND TONS!

Sister Barfuss