Friday, March 28, 2014

can't hold babies?? hold an iguana!

Well this week i decided that i'm going to change something about myself... read the following story from President Packer.....

"My life was changed by a saintly patriarch. He married his sweetheart. They were deeply in love, and soon she was expecting their first child. The night the baby was born, there were complications. The only doctor was somewhere in the countryside tending to the sick. After many hours of labor, the condition of the mother-to-be became desperate. Finally, the doctor was located. In the emergency, he acted quickly and soon the baby was born, and the crisis, it appeared, was over. But some days later, the young mother died from the very infection that the doctor had been treating at another home that night.The young man’s world was shattered. As the weeks wore on, his grief festered. He thought of little else, and in his bitterness he became threatening. Today, no doubt, he would have been pressed to file a malpractice suit, as though money would solve anything. One night a knock came at his door. A little girl said simply, “Daddy wants you to come over. He wants to talk to you.” “Daddy” was the stake president. 

The counsel from that wise leader was simply John, leave it alone. Nothing you do about it will bring her back. Anything you do will make it worse. John, leave it alone. This had been my friend’s trial. How could he leave it alone? A terrible wrong had been committed. He struggled to get hold of himself and finally determined that he should be obedient and follow the counsel of that wise stake president. He would leave it alone. He said, “I was an old man before I understood and could finally see a poor country doctor—overworked, underpaid, run ragged from patient to patient, with little medicine, no hospital, few instruments, struggling to save lives, and succeeding for the most part. He had come in a moment of crisis, when two lives hung in the balance, and had acted without delay. I finally understood!” He said, “I would have ruined my life and the lives of others.” "

Sometimes it's hard for me to let things go. I don't feel like it's huge things in my life, but rather the little things that just bug me!  I want to let the little things go. leave it alone. 

Fun Facts:
1. SDSU is in the sweet 16 and it's definitely march madness around here!! haha seriously there has been SO much traffic from the games! we can tell that there are tons of visitors around because everyone is driving like they've never been here before... hahaha
2. we did a booth on SDSU's campus with the LDSSA club and we got an Arabic referral! that's a big deal around here
3. i have said three prayers in Sacrament meeting in 5 weeks. dang.
4. we've had pizza EIGHT times since the last time i emailed you! seriously EIGHT TIMES!!!
5. there is a homeless guy that sleeps in the gym where we play sports in the morning... they don't know how he gets in the church, but sisters aren't allowed in there until the elders come
6. i got sick last week. i've had three colds on my mission so far
7. we played volleyball last week for pday and we all practiced jump serving! haha
8. At mutual the young woman were learning how to draw with charcoal... so I told them to draw me! haha. well one girl said a few minutes later "i started drawing you, but i got bored, so i started drawing eve." hahahaha WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ABOUT MY FACE!!?? haha
9. we have a member in the ward that has a 20 pound iguana and i decided that i was going to hold the beast... i've changed a lot on my mission.... hahahaha


Quote that i looooove...... "Good people bring out the good in people."


Okay, don't party too hard fam! 
You guys look like you're having a blast! :) haha
i love you!
sister barfuss







Thursday, March 20, 2014

Spanky's Porta Pottie truck in front of me and a Hearse behind me........




Question Answers
- We live in a HUGE apartment complex that's not too close to campus... I think they purposely keep the missionaries away from the party.
- We did get to go to the temple! details later in the email.....
- We don't have any investigators. W are trying to contact former investigators and we've been contacting lots of less active people. Tat's what's hard about whitewashing... usually they put two new missionaries in to get things going again... it's not that fun, but I 'm used to it. I've only ever taught 3 people all the lessons... missionary work is a lot harder here than people would guess. Sometimes you just have to keep truckin
- We have Sister Training Leaders here! A bunch of my buddies were giving me garbage and thought I was going to be one this last transfer but then I went and whitewashed.... being a sister training leader is a lot of work! Thank goodness that didn't happen.... hahahaha

FUN FACTS!
1. Last week we went to the temple and did 9 initiatories, a session, and saw the new movie (go Eve!!), and I got to stand in as a daughter being sealed to her parents for three different girls! That was the best day of my life. No question. I LOVE THE TEMPLE. Here's what I learned at the temple... were are here on earth to have joy! JOY!!
2. A crazy dude street contacted me at 6:45 one morning when we were exercising... he was all like "i just got out of prison and i love Jesus Christ." It was wild.
3. The "voice of American Airlines" (the lady that talks in all their commercials) is in my ward... no joke. She taught us how to have "radio voices" hahaha
4. I got to dress up and be Mary Magdalene in Primary this week. They had us come out of a "time machine" and read a part about ourselves. When i came out a little girl said "I know you! You're a full time missionary!!" hahaha
5. There was one moment when I was driving on the 94 this week and there was a Spanky's Porta Pottie truck in front of me and a hearse behind me... talk about weirdy weirds
6. There is no such thing as Christmas in Taiwan so Sister Haung has never heard Christmas music. And since I LOOOVE that kind of stuff, I busted out all my Tabernacle Choir Christmas music this week!!! OH YEAH BABY.
7. Grube from despicable me and Voldemort are both in my ward... I wish I could take pictures of them soooo bad
8. Best quote from one of the Elders in my district, "we got hugged today!! ...by a smelly old hobo woman. it was nice."
9. Best joke of the week, "there is a great advantage to being 95. there isn't much peer pressure!!" hehe

I'm going to be starting a new section of my emails called "CROSS CULTURE COMPANIONS!" in this section I am going to describe what a sister from Taiwan teaches a sister from Idaho and what a sister from Idaho teaches a sister from Taiwan.....
Taiwan teaching Idaho- if you stab your fork into your food and leave it standing straight up you are going to invite dead spirits. don't do it!! only drink warm water if you're a girl, cold water is bad. 
Idaho teaching Taiwan- how to use a ready whip can (straight in to your mouth!), how to eat a Popsicle, and what Christmas is.

I'm starting to barely understand something about Dad... you know how when he comes home on Sunday for a 20 minute break and he sits on the couch and falls asleep in 4 seconds?? I've always wondered how he could do that, but now I know just a little bit how that is. Oh my lanta  - we come home so exhausted everyday! I got to the point this week that when I finally got in my bed and I had my ear plugs in my hands, I was too tired to put them in. WOW. My zone leader and I were talking and he said he went to bed in his proselyting clothes this week because he was so tired. DANG. 

We did service for a huge park in down town this week and the lady in charge told us it used to be where a nudist colony lived (i was the only one laughing) and then she said they want to clean it up and make it a butterfly sanctuary!! hahhahahaha i almost died. Man, that was the best combo in the world for me!! While we were cleaning it up I took a stick to the eye and I thought I was going to have to start wearing a pirate patch. IT HURT!! I'm all good now. 

Last story! So this week Heavenly Father gave me best present ever! A single woman in our ward wanted help cleaning up her yard (wait for the present, that's not it!) and we said yes. So we go over and she gives me a hand held lawn mower that grandpa barfuss probably used when he was 12 and said "will you mow my lawn!?" So I did and it was terrible. Then she said "will you pull these weeds!?" and it was fine. BUT THEN! she said "will you plant me a garden!?" OH MY HECK YES SISTER LADY FRIEND!!! she gave me seeds, and shovels, and water, and gloves, and I started making mounds and planting squash. Then I made rows and planted watermelon! Oh I went to TOWN BABY! I was in the zone and I got to do the thing I love the VERY VERY MOST. Oh it was such a gift. I was literally in heaven. 



i looooooove you!!! i might have sent a packy for all the girlies today :)
Sister Barfuss


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

"oh my lanta GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!"






okay this one will be a quicky because we're headed to the temple in a sec... 

FUN FACTS!
1. Sister Huang got a love letter from a guy that drew a heart on the paper with his blood.... uhhhhhhh....
2. I've been singing the song from the Price Is Right game that has the yodeler that goes up the mountain "yah dee do dee doh dee do dee dah!"
3. I found a family that calls smoothies "shakes" instead of smoothies -  like all us barfuss folk!
4. I take a benadryl everyday because EVERYBODY has a cat or dog and they make me itchy. I always have to act like I like them and pet them and hug them but secretly I'm saying "oh my lanta GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!" hahaha
5. The Book of Mormon play opened this week in San Diego.... yay for more missionary opportunities!!
6. I frequented a bathroom  that had a black toilet this week and it was so freaky! yeah, I almost didn't go. (what's new right!?) AT LEAST IT WASN'T AUTOMATIC!
7. I hit 11 months this week
8. We went to a baptism for a girl going to China this week and she is only allowed to bring 2 religious books back. craaaazy stuff right there.
9. Everybody tells us their secrets and I am always thinking "bahhh!!!! wait wait, stopppppp!" because i'm not very good at keeping secrets! something about the name tag says "tell me everything!"
10. Two different people stopped in the middle of our lesson this week and went to the bathroom and didn't shut the door. They just walked in there, took care of business, and then walked back out. UHHHHHH.....
11. My dream calling in the church is called "take down dinner and events coordinator" I love tearing chairs and tables down... it makes me feel like a boss.
12. when moo, katelyn, todd, me, tanner, and coray are at BYU we're going to have an intramural team called "PBH" (Preece-Barfuss-Hall) get it? heck yeah. I'm pumped. let's play ultimate!!
13. And one more trunky thing.... SDSU won their game on Friday and they are ranked 8th!! what up March Madness!? All of our members go to the games  because we practically live on campus :) haha they keep us informed. Sister Huang is all like, "what is march madness??"

Well this week I listened to a talk that was all about the fact that "the merciful are the ones that obtain mercy." Made me want to be a little nicer and then try to smile some more. You know what I mean?

I saw a birthday card for a lady we were working with and it said,  "celebrate like someone forgot to lock the gate!" :D oh yeah. that's what I'm talking about. I wish everybody in San Diego would unlock their gates and the dogs would run to mexico (bahahaha probably don't put that on the blog ahhahah)

Helaman 12:6 is one of my very favorite verses right now. check it out. 


I LOVE YOU MAMAS!!!
i'll be better next week :) promise

sister barfuss

Thursday, March 6, 2014

I've always been loud, annoying, tough, and willing to stick up for myself... maybe a little stubborn? haha :)

All of your Andrew (Peterson) comments were awesome! I always loved that kid :) and Jakey's pictures of him before his baptism posing on the rocks were so funny! I was laughing so hard!!
(We went to Jacob's baptism - I said to Andrew, "So, what's up?" I thought he might tell me about playing soccer or what he's reading.........no......."oh nothing, just having a pretty average Saturday" His house is full of all kinds of people - what's average about that?!?!
Andrew was up in the playroom and said to Jacob, "You need to go down to the kitchen.  This is your important day, you need to go interact with people - go socialize!")



Sister Huang is 20, went to the Phillipines to learn Tagalog and English and to work before her mission. She wants to do humanitarian work and go to byu when she's done. It was just her and her mom growing up. She is very smart and very hard on herself. I think that might be a cultural thing. She and I are working on feeling comfortable just chit chatting in English and using gospel vocabulary. She is doing very good at being open to doing hard things. Pretty much the last 7 or 8 months of my mission has been a constant battle of trying to get my companions to believe in themselves, so this isn't anything new for me haha! She will believe in herself soon, it just takes time. I'm grateful that that has been something I haven't had to struggle with a lot. I've always been loud, annoying, tough, and willing to stick up for myself... maybe a little stubborn? haha :

Fun facts:
1. I got to be with Sister Huang when she met her very first african american man. And you thought I was sheltered! haha
2. I can't lose my license because Sister Huang has never driven a car. If I loose it, we're walking!
3. My absolute favorite mexican treat is peanut butter marzipan.... oh my that stuff is AWESOME!!
4. I got my new Idaho license in the mail! I'm all old and almost 21! The weight is wrong though... I for sure weigh more than i did when i was 18! hahaha
5. A lady in our ward has NF disease, it's so crazy. you have to look it up!
6. I held a whale tooth this week! It's called a beline (sp?) you know on Finding Nemo when they get stuck in the whale and it looks like a broom inside it's mouth! yeah, that's what I held! It was from a whale in Alaska!

7. WE GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fingers crossed for the new new video!! 
8. I changed the car icon on my GPS to a bird that flaps his wings around and looks like a dork... every time I look at it I bust up!! man, that thing is funny
9. Everyone in our family is an even age right now! 50, 48, 26, 24, 20, 18. NICE! (hope i got that right)
10. Best quote of the week from an 87 year old woman, "I grew up on a farm. I worked my butt off! Pardon my french!" hahahaha
11. Speaking of French... 4 guys from Africa were yelling at us from a car in French, so I went over and we ended up talking for half an hour! (in english) hehe
12. I've been reading the Old Testament lately at night and I've decided that it's a good read. a little wild and a little "what the heck was that??", but good :)
13. We were teaching a LA guy and he had the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack going in the back ground... I seriously could not keep a straight face... oh man I had the giggles! can't you hear it in your mind right now? "TINA! EAT THE FOOD! EAT THE FOOD!!"
14. I found myself singing "i've been working on the railroad" a few times this week... what in the world is that!? bahhhhh! haha

Well this week we had "San diego's worst storm in 10 years" and it was pretty wild! Just a lot of water! Mamas, I was sitting there thinking "pull up the weather under ground map!! I want to see the radar!! when is the red coming!!?? get in the car!!!! get to the top of Butte Street! We have to go weather chasing!!!!" remember how we used to always do that? :) good memories. I still want to be a weather woman. I want to be too many things. I'm having trouble choosing. but pretty much we got soaked! there was one point where my windshield wipers wouldn't go fast enough and I couldn't see the road at all... I told sister huang to pray quick. man, it was a mess here! but we needed the water really bad. Check out the pictures...


We had a LA lady get SOOOO MAD at us this week. We went over at 7:45 pm and she flipped and was yelling at us through the door. Then she called the office and complained and they had to call the assistants and our district leader. Sometimes I think to myself "do you even know why we're here? i'm at your door at 7:45 at night to try and help you get every blessing that Heavenly Father has waiting for you! this is kind of important!" That was my first formal complaint. baha. 

And here is the closer... I forgot this one last week. So when I lived in my last apartment the porch light was freaking out one day, so naturally I smacked it to try and fix it (yes, yes, i know). Well the cover over it fell off and hit the ground and broke. I was a little mad about that. I tried putting it back on and acting like it was no big deal but then my mind recalled the quote "no one will enter the celestial kingdom unless they are perfectly honest." So i said "fine self!! i'll confess!" We went to the office a couple of days later so I could confess before I moved out and the lady totally lied to the maintenance guys and let me off the hook because I was honest! FIRST TENDER MERCY. but then as we were walking back to the apartment we saw a man that works there that I had tried to contact but he only spoke spanish BUT! I had a new companion for the day and she spoke spoke spanish! So she went over and contacted him and gave him a Book of Mormon! SECOND TENDER MERCY! I would never have been able to contact him if I hadn't been honest.

Heavenly Father blesses us for being obedient, even if it's silly things.

okay peoples :) let's have a good week okay? yolo. 
i love you!!
sister barfuss