The poo pourri is the most amazing thing on the planet!

First of all, I absolutely loved loved loved talking to you guys! Seriously, it was so refreshing to hear voices and to laugh with you. I miss laughing with you. I was so pleased with every minute of that phone call... cloud nine may be a good way to describe it!

 You know how I told you that I was going to go have an egg mcmuffin with everyone in the house after I got done talking to you? Well I did, and one of the oldies in the house said, "Sister Barfuss you looked like a CEO out there pacing back and forth!!" Haha! I forgot that when I'm on the phone for a while I always have to walk around. I'm not very good at holding still now and days :) haha Oh guess what!? The guy I'm talking about (the old fogey) is the famous Covey's brother in law! Remember how I went to Steven R Covey's house with Meg and Nate one time? Haha! #smallworld

The poo pourri is the most amazing thing on the planet! I'm not even joking right now! It works so well!! I am still shocked every single time! You all need to buy some and give it a whirl. It will change your life! How much did you pay for that!? Hahaha! Katelyn you are so stinkin funny :) you know me too well!

Fun fact time!

1. This week I ate chicken gizzards with a Brazilian family. I didn't know they were gizzards until after the meal :) haha

2.  In the past month I have had ham, corn, and potatoes 11 times. All at different houses.

3. I got the hiccups for the first time on my mission. "Have you ever *hiccup* heard of Joseph *hiccup* Smith?"

4. I for realsies almost hit a dog, a skunk, and a peacock this week. I am not even kidding in the slightest.

5. This Sunday I gave the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting and then taught gospel principles.

6. Sister Bauro and I went to a "Kiribati Party" the day after Christmas! There were 6 Kiribatians there and 1 white girl. It was awesome. I understood nothing.

7. Sister Bauro's dad is out of the hospital and doing great! 

So the other day Sister Bauro and I put on some service clothes and I looked at her shirt and I said "Is that a beer shirt?" because there was some foreign word on it and then something that looked like beer to me. She told me that it was Fijian word and that it was a lemonade drink, not beer. So I moved on. Well later that day we were with the Martin's and Sister Martin said, "Is that a beer shirt!!??" Sister Martin typed the word into good translate and BOOM!! it was an Irish word that meant "cheers!" And yes, there was beer on her shirt! The Martins and I laughed and laughed and laughed. They bought her a new Tshirt and hopefully she threw the other one away. 

Okay here is some bad but good news... Grandpa Ted fell again and hit his head really hard. They took him to the hospital and they ended up finding that he has cancer all over his colon. He came home two nights ago and he has stopped eating and rarely goes to the bathroom. They said he only has maximum 6 weeks. So we went over and talked with him and took some last pictures together :/ it was sad. They haven't told Grandpa that he only has that long yet, but that's coming soon. Prayers for Grandpa Ted. Missions really take your heart out and stomp on it and wring it out. The up side to all of this is that we taught Grandpa Ted the plan of salvation about two months ago and he was baptized on Thanksgiving! So he is prepared to continue his journey to eternal life. What a blessing to have the knowledge he does! Here is my favorite memory of him that I'll never forget! Every time we came over he would be sitting in his chair watching TV... I would ask him "How are you feeling grandpa!?" he would always say "Awful..... awful good!!" And he would laugh every single time!  :) Haha! I love him.

Alrighty! The new year is upon us and I wish I had some super cool inspiring thing to say right now, but I think my cousin (Tanner) that's on a mission summed it up pretty well in his email. "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." :) Don't you love that!? I did! I'll let you know what my goals for 2014 are in my email next week, I'm still working on them a little

. PLEASE tell me what yours are! 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE :) 

 thank you. love you.

i love you so much. so so much.

sister barfuss

Let Him in. He is right there waiting!

Let Him in. He is right there waiting!

 (sorry - I don't have permission to post the investigators faces :)

YES we got the box! Oh my lanta mom you are THE BEST!!! Stockings! Ginger snaps!! President Eyring books! A sock monkey! A santa hat and antlers! AND PRESENTS FOR BOTH OF US!!!!??? :D :D YESSS!!! Here's what we've opened so far...

1. ctr rings... and my PAM ring (Filipino CTR Ring) thank you! thank you!

2. the mac and cheese chapstick and pizza. hahahahhaha! it TOTALLY smells like mac and cheese!

3. the febreeze!! and the cracker jacks and america wipes! i forgot that i liked febreeze! seriously though! you guys know me so well :)

4. mormon ads, strength for youth, and STAMPS!!!! what? -  Harry Potter AND Disney! seriously though you guys rock!!

5. Candy and the Idaho Necklace!!! it's so cute! and the heart is over Pocatello! :) ahhhhhh!

cheers to the rest of the 12 days!!!

Today is my 8 month mark peoples... that is craaaaazy. So our computers got jacked by some other missionaries,so my time is a little limited. Here we go!

Fun Facts:

1. I got a Christmas card from the Summers :) i love them!

2. Thanks to your prayers and lots of good advice, I am proud to say that I am down to only 1 or 2 headaches a week!!!! That is amazing. Truly amazing. During this whole process Heavenly Father has also taught me about how I need to treat my body better (Elder Scott's conference talk anyone!??) and my diet has changed and my time focused on treating my body well has gone up. I believe I was "snatched" (see Mosiah 27:28) by Heavenly Father and now I have some great habits going!

3. We found a LA from Sister Bauro's country and she fed us dinner! I ate so many things I have NEVER had before, like milk fish, kale, purple yams, and real coconut.Yummah lummah in my tummah.

4. I walked into the bathroom and there was 8 inches of hair in the trash can. Turns out Sister Bauro was ready for a change! She had me do a few touch ups after she cut it!

5. I met someone from Rupert this week! Idahooooooooo... Idaaaahooooooooooo!!!

6. We helped a potential investigator this week with her garage sale. We had to be there at 6:45. Good thing we get up at 6:30 everyday! Haha! It was super cold... good thing they had coffee there for everyone.... BOINK!

7. I am sad to say this, but I officially can spot a drunk person by the smell of their breath. Alcohol smells SOOOOO bad. Oh my lanta that stuff is rank. But knowing what it smells like has helped me identify who is interested and who is being friendly only because they are drunk.... BOINK!

8. There is a shop nearby called "Shakira's pastry and bakery." Hahahahaha! Moo will get a kick out of that one :) hehe

9. We visited an older woman who has some memory issues and she told us stories about how she used to play with President Monson when she was a little girl in SLC. I was kind of believing her... but then she said that she used to play with Shirley Temple too.... BOINK!

10. Grandpa Ted is back and just moving slow now. We think he will be able to get back to his normal self in a few weeks! What a blessing!

This week we were teaching a LA woman in her living room and all the sudden 3 policeman came in the front door with a flash light and they said, "Where is Mike?!!" The woman we were teaching got up real fast and took them to the back room where he was (we didn't know he was there) and they said, "It's the Sheriff,  Mike! Come out immediately!" He didn't come out very quickly, so they sent one cop to stand outside his window just in case he tried to run! Eventually he came out and swore a whole bunch and asked why they wanted him. Turns out that he had a warrant out for him. The handcuffed him and took him out the back door so the kids couldn't see him, and then the lady we were teaching came and sat back down and said, "Sorry about that." UHHHHHHHHHH................. At one point one policeman turned to us and said"Hello ladies." We just sat there the whole time thinking "what in the good gracious do we do right now? Are we safe??" That was pretty crazy. He's in jail now. 

Okay it's official, Christ is our Savior. He really did pay the price for my sins and for yours.

 Let Him in. He is right there waiting.

I love you!

sister barfuss :)

ps- i LOVED the quote you sent mamas. i'm really learning a lot about obedience and self mastery recently. you are a TERRIFIC example of that. and just so you know, today i talked with a member about sleep overs and she begged me to never let my children go to them ever. i told her that you had that rule for us growing up and she said "your mother is divine. be so grateful you were honored enough to have her as YOUR mom." so with that being said :) i love you mom. thank you for taking the time to email me even when you were super tired and worn out. thank you for teaching me the piano too.i practiced for 20 minutes today! :D "scatter sunshine" and "called to serve"

NEWS FLASH: I still get super car sick in the back seat.

Sis. Barfuss and Sis. McKee! (from Pocatello)

Beautiful Christmas Lights at the San Diego Temple

(A wonderful thought for all the Missionaries out there!!)

"On this Christmas I send my love to every missionary, every man or woman in the military, every student, and every employee and traveler who won't 'be home for Christmas,' as the carol says. Keep your faith. Look for the good in your situation. Do something kind for someone. Seek Christ devoid of wrapping and tinsel. You will find that despite external circumstances, Christmas, like the kingdom of God, is 'within you.'"

--Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Christmas within You", December 2012 Ensign

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

First of all... did everyone see Katelyn on page 77 on the December Ensign!? Hahaha! I did! (apparently she  thinks Katelyn resembles this pic) Basically this week it finally got cold. Crazy, I know! But for reals, it's only like 39 when we exercise in the morning, so now I finally feel like it's Fall :) haha! We had some frost and such.

Thank you for the update on Sarahr... I love her so much. Sarah would always say "WHO ARE YOU!!??" When I would hang out with Kyle in the seminary building (she had a crush on him haha).

Christmas questions and answers: I get 40 minutes on the phone on Christmas day. So let me know what time is best to call... we're pretty open :) haha! A family invited us over for dinner that day. That was VERY nice of them! Thanks for sending me things and making me feel happy :) Sister Bauro gets to Skype because she's a foreign missionary. Her dad is owns a grocery store, she is an only child, and she didn't finish high school. So basically she and I are complete opposites in virtually all things, but our service to the Lord, that's all that counts right!?

Sounds like you and moomoo and papas are pretty darn busy! It feels nice to not be in the hustle and bustle. I have an new zone leader and he is one of the only missionaries in our zone that was here last Christmas (so many of the missionaries are new!) and he said that if you are homesick, you need to dive deeper into the work. Isn't that the truth!? So here is how I am diving deeper... I'm keeping the speed limit Hahaha! Here's the story... an elder in my zone asked me how many "check you speeds" TIWI yells at me everyday and I said 10 (they have a monitor on their car that checks their speed). He laughed and said "yeah right! I followed you for about 3 miles and I think you had 10 there!" And then later that day we followed our zone leaders to the temple and they drove 65 the whole way there. Well let's just say I don't go 65 and neither do people in San Diego. I made fun of him once we got to the temple and he told me that when he decided to start going the speed limit, his mission completely changed. WHAAAAAT!!??? So I tried it. I loved it. I was calm and the Spirit had lots of time and opportunities to speak to me because I was just casually driving and enjoying the day. Who would have ever thought this was possible!? (heheheehe) Well my zone leader took this as an opportunity to also teach me about the "good, better, and best of obedience." Pretty much you can be good at being obedient, better at it, or best at it. And someone who is "best" at obedience, goes the speed limit, writes in their journal everyday, says their personal prayer before 8:00 so they can start studying at 8:00, etc. So here it is, my gift to the Savior this year is being more obedient so that I can have the Spirit with me more often. I know this will lead to miracles. "Obedience leads to success, exact obedience leads to miracles."

So this week Grandpa T came down the stairs and asked Sister M if he could get fitted for a suit!! Yay! And then he handed her a coupon! Haha The sad part to this story is that he had a right brain stroke on Sunday and now he's in the hospital :/ So we're feeling really grateful that he got baptized a couple of weeks ago. If he had waited, it may have never happened. They said he'll be in the hospital for 2 weeks and then he'll be moving really slow for a while at home. I love him so much you guys.

This week I also took a moment to feel old... we were at our zone meeting and they played a "get to know your companion" game. One of the questions was "what is your companion's full birthday?" One of the elders went and he said he was born in '95!! '95 people!!!!!!!!! I just sat there and looked at him saying "whaaaaaat theeeeee...?" So they thought it was SUPER funny when I said when I was born.

"Grandma Barfuss" is the term they like to use :) haha

My headaches have been wonderful this week!! I'm not sure what is helping but something is! Here are the possible culprits... stretching in the morning, taking Magnesium, my reading posture, my water intake, going to the chiropractor, not having sugar, and getting good sleep, AND a Priesthood blessing. And I'm being serious about the sugar, although it's impossible to cut it out completely because it's in virtually everything, I've been trying SO hard to not take in unnecessary sugar. Thanksgiving was a beast and same with the Christmas party, but I came out victorious!

I also had an opportunity to stand up for what I believe in this week. We went to a less active's house that I'm very close with and she asked us if we would go get her some groceries because her car broke down... and she asked if we could pick up some cigarettes while we were there. Uhhhhhhhhhh no, duh. She looked at me and begged! Literally begged me. She said "I'm so stressed!! Please Sister Barfuss! Please! You're going to make me walk all the way down to seven11??" Bahhh!! I looked at her and said "I love you too much to buy you cigarettes." If I have learned one thing in Spring Valley, it's that cigarettes are the most horrible, terrible, destructive, wasteful, disgusting pieces of garbage on the planet (I would like to include alcohol in here too). I have seen too many peoples' lives destroyed. I've seen too many people become slaves to them.

We got to go to the San Diego Temple Christmas light/choir show last night! We took our investigator P and then two other members in the ward. We all crammed into his 5 seater and had fun. NEWS FLASH: I still get super car sick in the back seat. Hahaha! Good thing Sister Bauro is an international missionary so I get to drive the whole transfer! HOLLAH! The temple was all lit kinda of like a mini temple square. We went and enjoyed the choir and then talked all about why the temple is so important. Why is the temple so important eh!? Here is my current favorite part of the temple: It's a place where everyone becomes equalized and unites in their mutual love for God and the Savior. You can get answers there because the Spirit has less it has to fight against to get your attention. There you can find peace. There is no such thing as that kind of peace anywhere else in the world. You can also learn. I'm finding that my conversion can always be deeper. It can ALWAYS be rooted farther and farther down so I can become stronger and stronger through Christ.

I love you mamas :) you're my favorite

Sister Barfuss

The Turkey Trot

So transfers are tomorrow and ill be getting a new companion! :) So it looks like I'll be in Spring Valley for the holidays!! (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years). And guess whats happening on Thanksgiving!? Grandpa Ted is getting baptized!! At 10:00 sharp! He said to make sure the water is warm (last time he got baptized it was in a river in the winter hahaha they had to cut a hole in the ice). Mamas, I'm playing the opening and closing songs at the baptism! Yay! So we'll be putting on a baptism at 10 and then families have invited us over at 12, 1, and 4!!!! PARTY! I'm not sure how this whole no sugar thing will work.... And we already had a mini thanksgiving on Sunday with sister H..

 

random facts...

1. I got my debit card! I spent some money today but it was because I got Christmas stuff and sent it. I'm not going to use anymore this month

2. Your Christmas packy is on the way!! I want you to open it on Christmas eve before K&T&P leave :) but not until then!!!!

3. Grandma Preece sent me a really nice card and she emails me all the time :) i love her to death. i'm going to spend some time with her when i get back.

4. I went to a Catholic funeral this week with a potential investigator! It was so different! And the whole thing was in spanish. We were on the front row so i was praying that no one would come up to me and say anything. And I was on the very end, so if a priest was going to do something, he would start with me!! We stood up and sat back down like 10 times and they had their version of the sacrament. They had an organist and a priest that did the whole thing. I only felt the Spirit once...when the organist sang "Ave Maria" :)

5. We had lightning AND thunder this week!!

6. I got to feel all cool and talk about HAM radios with a member. Dad would have been proud! :)

7. I got my mission call a year ago on Thanksgiving!! remember when we were in the hotel room before going to Dree's and Dad checked and it said "assigned"!!?? :) :) :)

8. We had two Portuguese speakers in sacrament meeting that used a translator :) it was awesome.

 

Has anyone read "The Strength To Endure" by Richard J Mayne? The one that compares basketball to your testimony? That talk spoke to my heart and pierced my soul. i loooooooved it!!

 

 

What the December!?? Okay we went to the temple today, so I have to rapid fire this email... so here we go!

My new companion is Sister Bauro (like "can I borrow your jacket for a sec?"). She has been out for 15 months and is from Kiribati. That's an island kinda by Fiji. She was baptized 4 years ago and loves to laugh. She has a pretty thick accent, so I do a lot of the talking. One morning I woke up and she was eating breakfast... a bowl of mashed potatoes. So basically we can say she is an intense woman. I laugh all the time now because it's so funny to see how different we are. In a good way though! She had to learn english on her mission, so California is VERY different than home. 

On Thanksgiving Ted got baptized!! I'm so happy that you got those pictures! Funny story... Ted is so old that bending backwards isn't very comfortable, so we had two people in the font with him. He almost couldn't do it, so it was a blessing that it all went well! After the baptism we realized that they forgot to pull the plug to drain the font SOOOOOO Sister Bauro just straight up put on Ted's wet baptismal suit and went swimming. She unplugged it and then we went home and got her changed! Once again... she is an intense lady.

Thanksgiving morning I did my own version of "The Turkey Trot" and guess what!? I WON!!!! :) Hahaha! Sister Bauro isn't so into running, so I do my own little out and back run on the straight road we live on. I get a pretty good work out and then I come home and stretch and stretch. Especially my neck! That feels real nice.

FUN FACTS!

1. I love magic tricks so much. Seriously, they are my favorite thing!

2. We went into Subway this week and I didn't recognize ANY of the music playing!! Yay! It's so nice to not get trunky in every restaurant!

3. We have our own little Charlie Brown Christmas tree :) he's cute!

4. We went to the temple today and I got both of my questions answered by the Spirit, plus more! So if you can go to the temple this week, you should go. Seriously though, you won't regret it. We did some initiatories after too! What a blessing to have a temple. And the Christmas lights are up too! It's beautiful inside and out!

5. "The Testaments" movie is the silliest thing ever... hahaha! I watched it last night and I was laughing so hard the whole time. Like whaaaaat!?? Anyone feeling me here!?

Sounds like Thanksgiving was way fun at Cam's! You guys know how to cook stuff the right way baby! :) And yay that you got to see Grandma and Grandpa Barfuss! Now that I'm with  olderish people all the time, I miss them! I wish I could give them a big hug and a kiss.

I wish I could give YOU a bug hug and a kiss!!

love you mamas :) with alllll my heart!

sister barfuss