Best Week Evahhhhhhhh!!!

Can I just start off by saying that I love my life?? Okay cool. Thanks for letting me start off that way :) So basically this week was the most crazy exciting week of my mission so far... let's just get right down to it okay!? So first of all Sister Strasser and I made it through transfers untouched!!! We thought for sure that she would get transferred because NO ONE stays with their trainer after they are done training now days. But I am the luckiest sister on the planet! :D Seriously our whole zone got destroyed and people got transferred all over the mission, but not the good ole Pacific Beach sisters! So we went on with life... but then we realized all of our friends were getting transferred (cue my heart dropping)... seriously if there is anything that makes my heart hurt more I will let you know. These missionaries have seriously become my family and it's so hard to see them go. After we had our last Pday sports with them, we all said goodbye and then Sister Strasser and I got in the car and just cried. But this cry is not quite the usual cry for me. I was crying because I was SOO happy that Heavenly Father let me be friends with them if it was only for a few weeks. The only other time in my life that I've cried like that was when Katelyn and Todd said they were pregnant after the Brian Regan show we went to. I remember I just wept and wept and wept! It was because I was so excited and so sad that they were moving but I was SOOOOO excited! I'm convinced that my mission is just as much about meeting certain missionaries as it is about meeting certain investigators. Every single day I feel like one missionary or another does something or says something that blows my mind. They make me think. They make me change.

So uh no big deal or anything but the work is hastening in San Diego. Why do you ask? Well let's just say that President Clayton at transfer meeting called two English speaking elders to learn Arabic. ARABIC!!!!!!!!!! Did I just say Arabic?? Yes I did!! Here's the scoop... the 2nd largest group of Arabic speakers in the nation is in El Cajon and President wants to reach out to them. So he decided that we needed Arabic speakers and since the MTC doesn't teach that (aka- there is no such thing as Arabic speaking missionaries) he decided to make them up! He prayerfully picked two elders that have been here for 2 transfers each and asked them to dive right in. WHAAAAAAT!??? So you heard it here first... Arabic speaking missionaries are going to change the world! They need prayers from everyone.

Let's see here, now we're about to Wednesday this last week. Well life went on as normal and then we got to Monday morning. Sister Strasser and I were just studying and such and then BAM!!! we get this phone call form our zone leaders. They are the type that mess with you, so we never believe anything they say (granted I may have egged some of that on... hahaha) but they told us that one of the sisters in our zone that has been waiting for her visa to Australia got it and she was leaving in a few hours!! They asked us to take her and her companion to the airport in a few hours and we said yes. And then they told us that we were going to form into a tripanionship with her companion and double cover both of our areas.... WHAAAAT!??? So now I am proud to announce that both Sea World and the San Diego Temple are in our area!! :D :D :D We are double covering over in University City with Sister Montgomery!!!

Sis. Montgomery is so stinkin cool! The reason I really like her is because she has so many things working against her but she doesn't let anything stop her. She has a bad hip that has given her lots of pain her whole life and she has dyslexia. Despite all of those struggles, she is as nice as can be and super supportive. For example, we went running this morning and she is a monster when it comes to running. Here I am moving at 0.2 miles per hour and she is running up and down the street and every time she comes by me she says "Sister Barfuss you look so good! You're doing so great! Keep it going baby!" And she's being genuine! I can't wait to see what this transfer brings. So far we know we will be going to 6 hours of church every Sunday, we'll be putting in a lot of miles on the car, and we'll be planning for two areas everyday. I'm SUPER excited! Seriously though, bring it on.

FUNNY STUFF FROM THE WEEK:

1. I went to throw away our garbage one night when it was kind of dark and when I got up to the dumpster there was someone in it just chillin there. I'm being serious. There was a person just standing in the dumpster. Yeah talk about awkward right!? So I said "Hey! Uhhh could I sneak this in there real quick. Okay sweet thanks!" Hahaha! I love my life!

2. Apparently rollerblading is cool now? Someone please tell me! Because people around here come flying by on their blades all the time and I can't even handle it! :D Haha  Seriously... isn't that how Napoleon Dynamite got around Idaho?? Yes. That's what I thought too.

3. We were over at Nancy and Cameron's house the other day and Cameron decided he wanted to add both of us on facebook. So he asked me what my first name was and then he said that I looked like a Marysa. Then he asked Sister Strasser what her name was and she said "Marnie." Nancy and Cameron started laughing so hard and they were all like "That's our neighbor's dog's name!! Hahaha!" And of course I had to join in... Hahaha Seriously though, those two are so great! They are getting baptized this Wednesday!! We are so thrilled :) So mamas if a Cameron asks to be my friend on facebook say yes!

4. Every time we go to a members house to eat I always ask to go to the bathroom so I can snoop around their bathroom and find a scale. Well guess what!? Sister Montgomery has a scale!! I jumped on there last night and I haven't gained any weight... thank heavens.

5. We helped a lady move this week and she had us use a whole bunch of tie-downs. Well once we got to the new house we needed to loosen all of them and the Elders were being all manly and not letting us help. So they tried to loosen them and in the process made them tighter and tighter and tighter (sound familiar?). Pretty soon the organ the tie-downs were keeping steady was lifting off the ground because they were getting so tight! I knew that I knew how to loosen those things because dad taught me forever ago and he always had me help him with them... but I didn't want to say anything and hurt the Elders' pride (bahahaha). After 10 minutes I said,  "Hey, so can I take a crack at them real quick? I think I know how to use them." BAM!!! Sister Barfuss loosens them for the win. The Elders were like, "Yeah it looks like it was caught and your little fingers were able to loosen it." My response: "Are you all even for reals right now!?" :) hehehe

And as the closer to this email this fine Tuesday morning... ELDER BALLARD IS COMING TO OUR MISSION TOMORROW!!!!!!!!! :D From 10-12 we get to sit there and learn from an apostle. Could tomorrow get any better? I submit that it cannot. (Elder Ballard is the mission president father-in-law)

I love you tons and tons! Keep having fun! Keep telling Heavenly Father about your day!

Sister Barfuss

1. the font hasn't been cleaned or used for a while so we got it all sparkly for Nancy and Cameron!

2. both of us in the font :) haha

3. down town San Diego baby! right after we dropped Sister Bennion off at the airport

4. Nancy and Cameron!!!!! :)

5. A plumaria for my hair :)

6. The Elder Blair croquet pose

7.  taking our recycling to the place where they pay you for it! this is a collection of about 6 missionaries for       about a month... we got 11 bucks :) haha i love california!

8. Sister Barfuss at mission bay