I'm giving my neighbor a Tattoo OR Sonic will put Nerds in your slushy

 San Diego, "BABY"

 purple sheet and pink pillow - my "bed"

"Nerds" in a Slushy

How does she have room for the Taekwondo stuff in her suitcase????

AUGUST 12th

FUN FACTS:

1. went to the temple today and felt more peace than i ever have ever ever ever. i love feeling like i'm "home." ahhh man. the temple does a really good job at focusing me and helping me remember the eternal scheme of things. reminds me to chill out and that everything is going to be okay. i should probably go to the temple every week for the rest of my life... if possible.

2. president schmitt said that the script for transfer meeting made him feel like bob barker on the price is right "sister smith your new companion is??????? sister jones!!!!!!! COME ON DOWN!!!!" hahaha

3. got to sit out on the pool chairs for a bit at lunch and soak in some rays. i got some nice color on my white fleshy flesh.

4. remember the old man named Al in Pacific Beach that was super rude to me and asked me all those hard questions about his wife's death? well.... i found out he died :( i wanted to go see him after the mission and be friends... the Spirit World Sisters will go get him for me :)

5. elder van alfen said to sister landeen "did you medicate her [me] this morning??" HEY NOW!!!! hehehee

6. in response to your question on whether or not i licked the chocolate fountain..."to heck with love. i'd rather fall into chocolate!"

7. we're moving :/ saddddd face. I LOVE THE QUIGGLES. i have lived with them for close to a 1/3 of my mission! the quiggles have someone moving in with them and we can't be there anymore, so on the 1st we are moving to a member's granny flat in their back yard! should be exciting!

8. we're like 96% sure that we're getting iPads in september  #hashtags

9. remember those MTE exchanges i went on like 3 months ago where sister landeen and i go with different companionships for the day and night after some training from president?? and we get wrecked from doing like a million of them over and over? well my first one is tomorrow!! yay :)

 

alrighty. 

the gospel is true.

 this thing i am sure of. 

other things are debatable... but Jesus is the Christ. 

i know that.

 i know it.

 

i love you!!

Happy Peter Ashton week! :D
sister barfuss

AUGUST 19th

FUN FACTS:

1. found a family that doesn't allow face cards in their house but they play Rook ALL the time! I just laughed and laughed and laughed. no one understood why. but you will :)

2. it was 113 degrees Wednesday #wantedtoshavemyhead

3. "no peep hole!" that's the best!!"

4. met some crazy dude on the side of the road that loves acronyms... P.U.S.H. = pray until something happens. I asked him what his name was and he said "doctor jay" :) hehe then when we were walking off he was all like "hey ladies!! Shake your Bible!! Shake your Bible!!!!!" uhhhhhhhhhh..... my Bible is too heavy for that....

5. 16 months (that means 10 weeks left people!)

6. two different people have made Harry Potter references to me this week while teaching the gospel. it was awesome. apparently harry potter is a member........

7. spent some time in Chula Vista this week were the filmed The District 2. like the exact church building! haha. the biggest problem for those missionaries is that everyone goes to Tijuana for the weekend. chula vista is like a mile from the Mexican border

8.  was told I have an accent. I asked what it was and he said "a northern one. elongated vowels." haaaaahaaaaahaaaaa (get it?)

9. President Schmitt said that our Pday is Tuesday because it's "Taco Tuesday" around the whole mission... fish tacos for 99 cents! haha not really.... he was joking

10. one of the grandkids staying in our house had a birthday and her older brother sang "happy birthday to you. happy birthday to you. you smell like a monkey. and you look like one too." LOVED it.

11. did you know that Sonic will put Nerds candy in your slushy? I totally did it this week and had "blue raspberry with Nerds" ohhhh yeah baby.

12. some elders texted me one night and said "are you related to april barfuss monson?" (that's my Aunt) turns out they were having dinner with someone who was talking about a "sister barfuss from Idaho that they served their mission with" and the elders connected the dots. SMALL WORLD!

13. met a girl that said her name was misty.... but it was spelt mysti because it's short for mysterious.... hehehehe

14. I have a horrid red patch of skin right next to the corner of my mouth and every time I look at myself in the mirror I feel like I look like a vampire who was sucking someone's blood and then wiped it off my face but it left a stain.... i wish you could see me right now. makeup is not enough.

15. President Romney is in our Stake Presidency. he is mitt's son. he came to our ward on Sunday!

16. went to an appointment with a less active member and when we got to his door he came flying out. i asked him what he was up to and he said "I'm giving my neighbor a tattoo right now. sorry. can we meet later?" WAHAHAHAHA man, i almost died. (secretly i wanted to go to his neighbor's apartment and witness it, but then i was like "maaaybe not")

mamas -  way to be on your missionary work!! i totally agree with the "be friends before sending missionaries" honestly though, people need to realize that we are called to TEACH, not to fellowship or stop by and introduce ourselves. we want people to get to the point that they are perfectly taken care of by a member friend and we just come in and teach a lesson and then leave. BOOM! all of the success in our YSA ward have come from members. 20somethings DO NOT CARE about the gospel and they don't want to talk to us. but when they have a friend! things change!

okay so we got a new bishopric on Sunday (such a bummer because we LOOOOVE them, we're also VEEERY excited for our new one!!) and when our Bishop gave his testimony he talked all about how every sunday after his interviews he would go take out the mother's room trash so it didn't smell horrific by the next sunday. he was always the last one out, so he just did it. at first it was nasty and he thought it was just his duty, but then he said one day he learned something. one day the Spirit whispered "this is what Christ does for you EVERY week. He takes out your horrible nasty embarrassing garbage and then opens up a brand new bag for you. Christ will do this over and over and over and over and over and over." our new bishop's wife bore her testimony and said that they did not start their journey the normal way. he was less active and she wasn't a member, but the decided that they were going to have an active family that was sealed in the temple and went to the celestial kingdom together. then she ended with "if we can do it, so can you."

CHANGE. it's good stuff. 

remember the young little baby sister barfuss that hated change? 

BAH! 

I'm so grateful for opportunities to show faith and in turn learn more about Heavenly Father and Christ.

love you!! love you!! love you!!

sister barfuss

 

i NEVER cry, but good glory - it hurt so bad!

Jumping in the RAIN!

Saying Good Bye to Sis. Strasser

Aug. 5th

FUN FACTS:

1. sister landeen and i aren't getting transferred.... that's FOUR transfers together!!! 6 MONTHS PEOPLE! holy lanta. we couldn't even believe it. seriously.

2. dropped sister strasser off at the airport this morning :( sad face. i cried. i looooooove her. 

3. last week during pday we were playing chair soccer and i got SLAMMED in the face. LIKE DEMOLISHED. someone kicked the ball and nailed me and i cried! i NEVER cry, but good glory it hurt so bad hahaa

4. i prayed to be in a happy mood one day this week and Heavenly Father TOTALLY answered my prayer. He is listening!

5. i put my fake lizard on the toilet seat and then put the lid down and tried to scare sister landeen.... i think she likes lizards or something, it never works!

6. a returning less active we have been working with got her temple recommend this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as exciting as a baptism!

7. been having some headache troubles again... went to the chiropractor. 

8. did some service that requires *SLAMMING* wood with a hammer.... i volunteered. it was AWESOME. before each swing i would say "this one is for________!!!!!! and this one is for_______" hahaha fill in your own blank

9. went to Julian this week! it's the farthest away and smallest our area gets... like smaaaaall. a member in our ward lives up there and his graduating class was.... 15. bahahaha

10. IT RAINED!!!!!!!!!! oh my lanta i just stood there and let it destroy my hair and make up. i loooooove the rain.

11. have you ever played with a "go pro" camera? it's like an indestructible camera on the end of a stick. a member brought one to fhe last night and they were taking pictures under the water and up super high in the air. it was AWESOME. *i may or may not of used the 7 foot stick to creep on people and take pictures of them from behind bushes*

been learning recently that...........

he's going to get it figured out,

she's going to get it figured out,

i'm going to get it figured out,

and we'll get it figured out.

until then, love.

i love you! i love you! i love you!

keep working hard :) stay classy

-sister barfuss

July 29th

alright you party animals!!! i'll try to make me email more exciting than partying in provo together.... bahaha! 

FUN FACTS:

1. the quiggles brought us waffles with chocolate ice cream on them one morning.... whew mama!!

2. i have a fake lizard that an elder gave me and sister landeen took it and put it in my closet and uhh........ i embarrassed myself with my reaction

3. painted the whole inside of a house this week and got more paint on my red shorts! YES!

4. Christmas music in July! whoop whoop

5. I was so exhausted this week that had to take a nap to even function... as soon as i fell asleep i had the weirdest dreams of my life.... like Katelyn Hall status  :) :) hahaha

6. "oh sisters!! don't come in! i just cooked broccoli! NOTHING is worse than the smell of a house you just cooked broccoli in!"

7. walked past a members fridge and there was a picture of Trogdor on it........... hahahahaha i seriously almost died! then i was singing the Trogdor song for 3 days......

8. i got to go on an exchange with sister strasser!! she was my trainer :) she (FINALLY!) goes home next week! we served 15 months of our mission together. not very many people get that much time with their trainer!

9. "sorry sisters. we can't meet today. my WHOLE family has lice."

10. made homemade butter. nooooot that good...

11. sister landeen did some math and she figured out that she will have to spend 3.62 hours with a guy EVERYDAY for TWO YEARS before she has spent more time with him than me. bahahahaha poor girl had to live with me FOREVER

12. talked to a super old lady and her advice for us was "don't get married until you are 26!!" then she told us how she married her husband at 18 after knowing him for 3 days.... uhhhhh......

13. so we spend a lot of time with YSAs right!? well this week we had to talk to all the RS presidents in the stake and a lot of them are the moms of people in our ward... so we were given the task of not laughing when the mom answered the door and she looks JUST LIKE HER SON!! like exactly!! hahahha it was so dang funny! it happened over and over and over. we couldn't hold it together. do i look that much like my mamas?

14. we had a guy RM come out with us this week and in the prayer before we left i said these two things... "thank you that he wants to go out with us tonight" "please bless us to take advantage of him" In ANY other setting that prayer would have been SUPER WEIRD hahaha #missionlife

been thinking a lot about this song i love... it's called 

"More Like Thee"

 by Suzanne Disparte 

 We Must Sing album. 

maybe the best song of my life. you MUST listen to it....

"faith to move what can't be moved

that which proves what can't be proved

hope to make the world seem light

shining through the dark of night

grant me these that i may be

more dear Savior, more like Thee

light that burns away my doubt

casting all the shadows out

love so pure it flows like rain

bringing life where once was pain

grant me these that i may be

more dear Savior, more like Thee"

more like the Savior everyday. 

that's the plan. 

trying alone, i'm sunk. 

 together He and I can get somewhere :)

LOVE YOU!!

sister barfuss

Everyday He gives me a little Present

We had our first personal interview this week. Pres Schmitt asked to take a picture with me and said...

 "will you forward this to your family? I want to thank them for sending and supporting their daughter!"

Best regards,

Jonathan S. Schmitt
California San Diego Mission

7-22-14
HAHAHA!! Oh man, i laughed at the storm story forever! I can just see it now, dad getting NAILED by the water! We need that water down here! Tyler is doing great! We have kept good contact with him and he is getting the Priesthood on Sunday! I'm praying super hard that the iPads come before I leave!!! But honestly, i don't really have 400 bones to blow on one of those babies for just a month of using it.... so yeah either way is good :)  IT'S ABOUT THE TEMPLE KELLIE!! hahaha i love her so much! And man, the story about tiff is awesome! Stuff like that is what missionary work is ALL about! Stories like that keep me going. Way to be a missionary mamas :) i love it when you tell me that you take the sisters shopping and go out teaching with them. YOU ARE AMAZING!!! you have no idea how much members like you mean to us missionaries :) oh and ps- i was waiting for you to say FLAP :) hehe

FUN FACTS:

1. i got a box of cracker jacks this week and my "prize" (that's pushing it) was a sticker with a canadian baseball team on it.... BOO YOU CRACKER JACK

2. last pday i was talking to an elder and i remembered that he can do back flips, so i said "do a back flip!!" well i didn't know that he did them on command and he did one right into the sister behind him and DESTROYED her. it was SOOO awkward. she's okay now.

3. popcorn and hot tamales is the best combination of life. you must try it. 

4. chew with your mouth closed

5. the new insult in our house from the grandkids is... "you're a diaper!" "you're a diaper face!!" "you're a smelly diaper!!!"

6. i met the blonde version of wolverine this week. BWAHAHAHA!

7. had a member pull out their weed wacker and ask if anyone there knew how to use one.... #toowell.......

well well well... another week eh!? man, about 2 weeks ago I asked Heavenly Father for help in making my prayers more sincere. To keep it short, my companion and i have had numerous experiences the last two weeks to give EXTREMELY SINCERE prayers. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father always listens to me. I know He is there. I know He cares. The reason I know He cares is because everyday He gives me a little present. Sometimes the present is in the form of someone calling and asking for a appointment. Sometimes the present is that a memory comes back to my mind of something i loved. Sometimes the gift is a member that feeds us. Sometimes it's a cloud in the sky. Some of my very favorite presents recently have been realizing how much of my "load" Christ has accepted from me as I slowly give it to Him. Another favorite is understanding the New Testament better then in the past. I've been trying to see the slow progression that Heavenly Father has guided me through the past while. I'm so grateful He is patient. And understanding.... let's talk about being understanding for a bit. 

Understanding.... People (myself included) often think that Heavenly Father gets mad at them when they mess up. We think that He looks at us differently and gives up on us. But what really happens is that WE think that about OURSELVES. He doesn't think we're stupid for doing something stupid. WHY? because He understands us better than we understand ourselves. He's been my Father in Heaven for a super long time and He knows what my tendencies are and where they came from. He knows what upsets me and what I do when I am upset. He knows why I get embarrassed doing certain things and He knows when I am giving my best effort. He doesn't look at where I've been, but looks at where I am going! Can you even imagine the plans He has for you!? Man, He wants to get us to Him and give us everything He is! (spoiler alert... that's EVERYTHING!) So sometimes we might think Heavenly Father is distant or that He is mad, but we have to remember that is WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG. He never leaves us alone. He never betrays our agency. He never forces us to do anything. He patiently waits, while fully understanding us, until we are ready to fully understand Him.

i love you! i love you!

sister barfuss

7-15-14

nah, you don't need to worry about sending me mail.... i pretty much came to terms with the fact that no one was really going to send snail mail to me for the rest of my mission. haha! it's all good! moo's stories about boys are THE BEST. like seriously, i was crying because i was laughing so dang hard!!! she is a good sport! but it's because she is TOO dang good looking! the pingpong story is the best! that is CLASSIC idaho right there.... classic. oh man! moo is wiping bums now!!?? hahahahhah! EWWWWW! i dont even like wiping my own bum. #wipeywipey 

FUN FACTS!

1. it rained for like 3 minutes this week while i was eating breakfast! i closed my eyes and soaked it up!! it was such a beautiful moment.

2. one time i ordered a hamburger at a mexican restaurant.... the waiter was disappointing in me. he was like "look at this WHOLE menu! and you want a hamburger???" hahaha i was sick of mexican food that day.

3. did any of my grandmas or great great great great grandmas serve a mission when they were young? am i the first? maybe.

4. i found a hand dryer in the Target women's bathroom that blows so hard that it makes me skin flab back and forth in the wind tunnel it creates! like when you jump out of an airplane and your face gets flabby?? well my hand was getting flabby and i was getting PUMPED.

5. you know how we have the TIWI in our car that records everything we do and it yells at us?? well i kicked it out on accident this week and our fleet coordinator called and said "what are you two doing!!??" hahahahaha

6. we moved rooms in quiggle's house! i sleep on the top bunk of bunk beds now (since i'm the shorter of the companionship..... NOT!!)

7. FREE 7/11 SLURPIES!!!! :D

8. have you ever had Takis? they are yummmmmmmm

9. we see hot air balloons every single day

10. remember when i grew up in idaho and i was afraid to drive on a 2 lane interstate? well now i drive on like 9 lane interstates and it's no biggie...

11. we've been playing air hockey with the quiggle's grandskids this week and I am the reigning champion!!!!! BOOYAH LITTLE KIDS!!

12. we got a New York Giant Pizza this week and it 28 inches across

13. taught the stop smoking program to a guy this last week and it worked!! he's been smoke free for a week plus!

14. i've served in the following kinds of areas.... the beach, rich rich rich, high rise apartments, dangerous hooligan areas, UCSDs campus, SDSUs campus,  and country roads. it's been fun :) what area is next??

15. been out for 15 months

16. i was thinking about how mom and dad used to come pray with us at night and help us with out personal prayers...  i LOVED that!

so we got an "anti throw-down" from one of our investigators this week... it was rough. man, it hurts when people think that youtube is more reliable than my testimony... but here's a little tid bit of the conversation.... after he went off on us for 15 minutes with rude and not true cr*p, i just sat there quietly and asked "are you done?" he said yes. and then i started talking. he instantly interrupted me and i said "whoa whoa. i sat quietly and listened to EVERYTHING you just said that whole time, now you listen quietly to me." he stopped talking and i kept going... but then he interrupted me again and i said "hey now. there you go again." after i finished bearing my testimony i told him that we're not going to tell him what he wants to hear... we're just going to tell him what God has told us.

"I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and i could not deny it."  -joseph smith 

i love you bunches :) please send me grumpy cat memes (and funny memes too!!) i love those!

sister barfuss

"you talk TO a dog. you talk WITH people."

4 of the 5 Companions Marysa has had

 Schmitt kids

 Schmitt Family

 4th of July

FUN FACTS: July 8, 2014

1. the Preece reunion is my favorite thing on the earth. i'm so glad i NEVER have to suffer through not being at one of those again! SHEEZE!

2. the Arabic elders in our mission had their first baptism!! they've been building it up for A YEAR. A YEAR people.

3. drove past a kid texting while riding his horse on the side of the road. NO PHONE ZONE BRO!!!

4. a member in our stake had a prompting to pull over and talk to a girl on the side of the road. she did and turns out the girl had just wrote a goodbye note to her parents and was walking to where she was going to go commit suicide. the member stopped the whole thing. WOW. 

5. rang a door bell this week and the "chime" was The National Anthem. good thing we were already standing.

6. #grumpycat. will someone PLEASE send me some grumpy cat memes!!?? BRENNAN????

7. Quote from someone - "Sorry. I had to talk to him on the phone for a bit. He's cool though. He's in a warewolf band."

8. finally talked to that guy that i thought i had a class with at BYU. yeah, he was totally in my class.

9. gave a giant hug to my favorite friend right before church and got her makeup ALL over my white sleeve. the whole ward took this as an opportunity to say "SOMEBODY GOT YA!!!!" like 87 billion times hahaha

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE SCHMITTS: (new Mission President)

1. they have 4 kids from 6-15 years old. they are all super social and smart. not surprised!

2. they recorded opening their call and they all danced around going "BOOYAH!!!! BOOYAH!!!!!!!" it was so funny to watch

3. they have just a touch of an accent :) but one of the boys said "i was going to say 'hey yall', but that's too texan."

4. the Schmitts are in their early 40s. we did the math.

5. the Schmitt kids favorite thing is that the mission home has cable and "we never had cable back home because our parents hate everything about cable."

6. Elder Bednar set them apart

7. when they got called they were told they were going to preside over a "spanish speaking mission" they thought they were going foreign for sure

8. President Schmitt was a bishop and then a stake president for like 8 years. he knows his stuff.

9. he ran like 2 marathons earlier this year

10. we invited him and his boys to come play basketball with us today and they are coming!! haha! since he has a family his Pday is on saturday, so he gets to have fun with us on tuesdays!

so basically the Schmitts have brought some amazing energy to the mission! i love them to death already. like seriously. at MLC he kept it SUPER real with us (you know i appreciate that) and asked what the mission is good at and what need to improve. we set some great goals. he has kept all the rules we had in the past, so not much has changed in that regard. i can tell he is going to be VERY influential here because he will come to our level and play BB with us, but still demands dedication and enthusiasm. he keeps saying "you talk TO a dog. you talk WITH people." another favorite... "of all the people on the earth we should be smiling the most! get a bigger smile on!!!" 

well i'm just doing jolly over here in SD. it's hot, but man, i don't even care that i sweat now. LET IT POUR BABY! the sun comes out everyday all day. the nights are cool and crisp. palm trees are still stunning. my bed is my worldly treasure. i love my companion. my mission president and his family are wonderful. i love my family back home (so much that i can't even think about them). it's july! i got to send home like 6 billion pictures this week. the Quiggles have doritos waiting for us at home. we get to play BB today! the Van Alfens come back from Utah this week! seriously... life is gooooood. double good. :) like a double double with onions, fries, and a chocolate shake. #innoutburger 

loves and stuff  :)

sister barfuss

FUN FACTS:      July 1, 2014

1. I got highlights last pday!! i was SOOO sick of my hair. i was going to shave it off. but instead i got some highlights. ohhhhh yeah....

2. we played missionary mafia for pday last week. SO FUN! i forgot how much i love mafia. and guess what... my companion and i were the "murderers" and we TOTALLY won like a bunch of bosses.

3. a lady TOTALLY paid for our groceries last week!!! interesting to note that i only had like 10 bucks left on my missionary card and Heavenly Father took care of me!

4. one night at like 8:50 PM we were in our car with the windows rolled down in our driveway making some phone calls and all the sudden "BAM!!!!" yeah. a dog got hit by a car like 15 feet away from us.... it died....... ohhhhh man it was terrible.....

5. after such a horrific moment as that night i decided to wake up the next morning saying "i love my life i love my life i love my life" it made me feel good :)

6. the Quiggles got their fire pit going and we had smores the other night :) yeahhhh boy

7. we had to call President Schmitt yesterday for permission to do something and it was SO crazy!!! after we hung up we both started jumping up and down and screaming! haha we meet him tomorrow!!!!

8. for the 4th of july we can only let freedom ring until 7:00 PM and then we have to come inside. I remember last 4th of july.... that was bad. man i missed you guys SO much and EVERYONE in pacific beach was partying for the whole week! 

9. whenever i tell people i started my mission in Pacific beach they say "ohhhhh man. i'm sorry." PARTY CAPITAL OF SAN DIEGO.

10. you know how i don't like dogs? like at all??? well this week i ate my words. i fell in love with a dog. LOVE, TRUE LOVE. like seriously i would buy her if i could. her name is Mandy and i love her :)

11. there is a girl in our ward named Hollah. like seriously. so whenever i say "HOLLAH!!!!" when i'm excited she thinks i'm calling her name :) hehe

12. i drank 3 liters of water everyday this week. yesh.

so i got a blessing yesterday and in it it said "i bless you that you will be able to think rationally and slowly." VERY good word choice there. very good. 

i love you!!!!!

sister barfuss 

"i would rather boil in tar than dance."

 does this picture not look like the moment when the Grinch crashes the mini "Who car" and the gas leaks and he gets up to run away and it blows up behind him and it's all in slow motion????

HAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAAAA YES. YES IT DOES

JUNE 25

oh my lanta. what a week. so basically it was the longest/best/hardest/mostwonderful/weirdest/lovely week of my life....

FUN FACTS:

1. Sister Quiggle's mom passed away. And Brother Quiggle told us that his parents got sealed when they were 88 and 90!! whoa! They set a record for the San Diego temple!

2. This week we tried contacting someone by text in French hahaha -  they didn't respond, but we tried!

3. I ate a hot dog this week and thought, "i'm eating this so fast that i feel like joey chesnut!" hahahaha i thought it was funny

4. sister landeen has a space pen and i tested it out by writing upside down for a while... it still worked!

5. i gave a geography lesson this week to a person that pocatello was next to boise. i made the whole mid west to the west west map and it was fun.

6. there was a YSA conference for the whole san diego region this week that we helped at and they fed them a meal... there were 15 crock pots around the church with pulled pork and 16 watermelons!

7. you know Jennifer Hamson that plays volleyball and basketball for BYU?? well this week we met a Hamson boy that was super tall and i thought to myself.... "he's gotta be in the family!" i asked him and she was totally her cousin!! he said that Jennifer's brother is 7'3" and on a mission in california!! WHOA.

8. we cleaned the quiggle's windows and now all the birds are running into them... heck yeah! we did a DANG good job!!

9. sister quiggle has a essential oil diffuser and man, i love using it. the oils might be voodoo, but i love the smell of them!

10. I SAW THE MARTINS FROM SPRING VALLEY AT THE YSA CONFERENCE!!!!!!! i seriously almost died. they are my favorites. they saved my mission in spring valley. angels from above!

11. just got our transfer call and we're both staying again! that means this will be three transfers for us together here! haha HOLLAH!

12. at the YSA Sacrament meeting there were 5 Sacrament tables and 28 guys passing the Sacrament. whefff.

13. president clayton goes home in 4 days... president schmitt comes in 4 days!!!!!! crazy bus. we'll meet him next friday! 4th of july!

Tyler told us that he wanted to get baptized this week rather than in August!! we couldn't even believe it.. seriously. talk about having a "fourth watch God" ("Bread and stones: Understanding the God we pray to." Michael Wilcox). Sometimes we have to wait a REALLY long time in between baptisms and then at the very bitter end we have to have an anxiety attack for no blasted reason... but THEN the miracles come and we become useful to Christ!! talk about "being proved." Heavenly Father pushes us to the limit, but always gives us the strength we need. so in the long run we'll have more strength!!!

Tyler's baptism was lovely. absolutely wonderful! the ward came for fhe and everything went perfectly! he knows that the gospel is true because of the Book of Mormon. that's where it's at. seriously though. I LOOOOVE the Book of Mormon. i just started it over again and i love Nephi. like seriously.... he gets it. he gets the gospel. he lives it. i want to be like him. TODAY!

i love the gospel. faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, enduring to the endure.

doesn't get much better than that.  :)

loves loves loves,

sister barfuss

June 18

Well hello peoples :) my eyes hurt so bad from looking at the screen... what is that??? haha

FUN FACTS:

1. we have been running and biking for exercise and man, my legs are feeling it. one day my legs will be BEAST MODE.

2. i invited someone to be baptized this week! haven't said that for a while!

3. i received a "token of friendship" from my district leader. it's a plastic lizard. he chose that because he knows how much the little lizards that run around here freak me out!!

4. it was sister landeen's birthday on fathers day, so the quiggles made us breakfast! we had cake too. yum face. 

5. everyone that gave sister landeen a present, gave one to me too because the said they felt awkward just giving it to one of us :) hahaha YAY FOR PRESENTS EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT MY BIRTHDAY!!!

6. had a sweet potato cinnamon roll this week

7. helped moved someone on the third floor. ended up walking up/down 800 stairs. yay for leg muscles!

8. "i know who Jesus is! Everyone thinks they know who He is, but i REALLY know! It's Bill Clinton's son!!" ummmmm...... not quite.

9. last week at Target i saw a variety pack of flaming hot chips and i said "I WANT THAT" (napoleon dynamite vioce). so i bought them! i LOVE hot stuff!!

10. one night this week when sister landeen and i came in to our room at night, i turned off the lights and came at her with a glow stick and somehow she knew exactly what i was doing and ripped one out to attack me with! we basically played "ninja" in our room for like 15 minutes until she slew all my limbs off and i was dead on the floor. 

11. i almost hit a vulture while we were driving in the back country of Ramona. those things are UGLY (super super ugly)

12. for FHE yesterday they learned how to line dance. a bunch of people were trying to get us to come dance and i have NEVER been more grateful for my name tag in my whole entire life (sorry we can't!! imma missionary!) . elder van alfen put it best "i would rather boil in tar than dance." hahahaha

13. sometimes you want you 14th fun fact to come sooner so you make up a 13th fun fact :) haha

14. today is 14 months

we had our last zone conference with the claytons yesterday and it was so good and so sad :( after it was over we all signed a table cloth for them and then we got to hug them both. i just sobbed and sobbed. they have NO IDEA how much they have changed my life. because of them, i will never be the same. i didn't know what to say to them, the only thing i could say was "thank you. thank you." over and over. that kinda how i think it will be when we see Christ. we won't have any words, just tears. thank you isn't going to be enough but that's all we'll be able to say. I'm so grateful for my Savior. 

been trying to learn more about the Holy Ghost... seriously though. not like the "how do i pay attention to His promptings" stuff. more of the WHO is He? We know He is VERY important.... questions questions questions :)

love you!!
sister barfuss

It's "get your BIG GIRL PANTIES ON" week

 the BYU hat came from a guy that walked past us :) haha  mormons are everywhere!!

well well well.... looks like what goes around comes around eh!?? i get so pumped when i hear that moomoo is sassing you :) hahaha "it's an honor mom!!" haha! i love her. you'll do great mamas. seriously though, you're a beast. you've been through hard things, you've handled them with grace. you know how to make people laugh :) you know how to speak in public and you've been able to observe a lot of important people in your life. you've got everything you need. SEND ME A COPY OF THE TALK!!??? my only piece of advice... personal stories, personal stories, personal stories. that way you're not preaching, you're sharing! helps me a lot. (you help me a lot too mamas. i love you)

FUN FACTS:

1. the people in my ward that came to Pocatello never stop talking about the juice you gave them to drink! they always talk about it! STILL!! haha

2. we were so tired this week that we decided to have companion inventory under the stars. at 9:30 we put on sweats, went in the back yard, and laid down under the stars until like 10:28. ohhhh yeah. 

3. i walked in our room one day this week and there were like 15 flies on my bed...? not black ones, not fruit ones. whattttt theeeeee? do i smell THAT bad?

4. went on an exchange this week and a sister talked to me until midnight about all her boy folk. hahahahahahahahaha. sometimes you really don't want to talk about boys. ("sometimes" is actually "always" on a mission)

5. we did some service for a family and the little kids we were helping were kinda (super) annoying. i had a thought *WASH MY CAR!!* they totally washed our car. am i an evil person?

6. during sacrament meeting i heard someone snoring... naturally i started laughing but holding it in... so it all came out of my body by shaking. but then the whole bench was shaking. bad idea in a singles ward. well turns out it was the senior missionary behind me :) hehehehehe i gave him SO much grief for that one

7. are you kitten me right meow!??

8. an elder in my district is Elder Murdoch. well yesterday i asked him "do you know mary murray murdoch??" and he replied "WEE GRANNY!!!???" so yeah. we're cousins. he's from shelley :) hahahaha

9. i received the best "excuse text" this week of my WHOLE MISSION. it reads "I'm sorry i can't come to church today. i didn't sleep well. the medication i am using for my warts made me feel like my fingers were being chopped off." hahahahahahah whew. and he was SERIOUS too.

10. i've gotten really good at drawing palm trees. i draw them on everything. they are usually included in a beach scene. i always draw a shark jumping out of the water behind them. heehhee. the shark is super ugly.

11. sister landeen's birthday is on sunday! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY!! (dont worry this isn't all the recognition you will receive hehe)

12. we have somebody with a baptismal date for the 23rd! OH MAN I LOVE TEACHING!! he is dating a girl in our ward :) ahhhhhh lovey love love. 

okay peoples... the sisters brunch thingy went great! i talked about TRYING to be like Jesus. went through the whole children's song. talked about Alma TRYING to teach the wicked zoramites. also that we should TRY the word of God with an experiment like Alma 32:36 tells us. basically i kept it real and said that Jesus does not expect us to be like him today. we're fallen. we're human. we're a work in progress. but He does expect us to be TRYING to be like Him. when the scriptures say to be "perfect" like Christ is, the real meaning is "complete." perfection comes with time. LOTS OF TIME. Heavenly Father wants people who are willing and open to new things. people with soft hearts. people that will TRY. and guess what!? "triers" become "doers."  :) i will go and do the things that the Lord hath commanded. boom.

i love ya. i love ya so darn much it's not even funny. WHY DO I GET SO LUCKY AS TO SPEND ETERNITY WITH YOU!!!??? bahhhhh YES!!!

sister barfuss

ps- i'm always disappointed at how short my emails are. i spend like 14 hours on them and then i look up and they are super short. i promise this is my best effort!

I'm at the San Diego ZOO - saved $60 bucks baby!

 Well this week i'm emailing kinda late because we went to the zoo as soon as our day started! We have some members that can get people in free if they go, so they took us!! YES! Saved 60 bucks baby!! 

FUN FACTS!

1. at the zoo 9 different mormon families stopped us and said hi!

2. i got the packy!! thank for the ginger snaps :) oh my lanta those are so good. last time you sent them to me i served in the same zone as the Lao elders and they ate like 50 of them each. so i took them some of these ones and they said "WE LOVE MAMA BARFUSS!!!" so yeah, they say thanks too :) and my quad is awesome too!!

3. i got to go on an exchange with sister strasser! we stayed up until like midnight yacking in the dark! hahaha she goes home in 8 weeks! isn't that crazy!!??

4. since our members all work at fast food places we get free food from them every once in a while. on thursday we got free Taco Taco and free Coldstone! HOLLAH.

5. you know the senior couple we serve with in our ward? the van alfens? well elder van alfen told me that on fast sunday everyone has "moose breath" hahahhahahaha could not have described that better :) heh

6. there is a girl in our ward that has cerebral palsy and she doesn't have the function of almost anything in her body. she uses a power chair to get around. i have become her "take the sacrament helper!" i take the bread and rip it to the smallest little piece and put it on her tongue and then with the water i put the cup up so it barely touches her lips. reminds me of helping out Buddy in seminary!!! I LOVE HIM!!

7. for FHE this week we had a pool party and then we learned how to crochet. hahahhaa. yes, i know can crochet you something for Christmas. any requests??? it's weird how many non members come to these activities!! it's the best place for missionary work!

8. elder christofferson is coming this next week for some Priesthood leadership training and then he is doing an investigator/recent convert fireside and missionaries don't get to go :( sadddddd day

9. there is a elder in my zone that went to mountain crest mamas!! i told him that you chose the colors and mascot of all that! oh yeah.

10. there is a guy in my ward that i had a sociology class with at BYU. it's kinda weirding me out. i haven't told him yet. i don't think he recognizes me.

11. we only have 1 person from utah in our district. THAT'S UNHEARD OF.

12. the Laotian elders and the Arabic elders both had a baptism last month!! the first ones they have had since they added those languages like 9 months ago! whoa.

13. there are 5 zones assigned to street contact in down town all day since the Book of Mormon play is out right now. they said it's been crazy!! people think they are cast members and want their autograph!! hahaha

14. did a whole bunch of service at a horse arena again this week. we raked and shoveled horse poopoo for like 4 hours!! i felt like a REAL woman right then. after we were all done the owner showed us his horses and i brushed one of them! she ended up getting all close to me and gave me a horse hug :) one of the elders has the pictures of it so i'll have to steal them from him... but it was tender. i've grown a tad bit more fond of animals on my mission. NOT DOGS THOUGH. bleh. 

we are having a "sisters retreat" next pday where all the sisters in the mission go to the SDSU institute and eat lunch and then have like an hour meeting about sister stuff. i got asked to give a talk at it that is "motivating and uplifting" BAHHHHHHHHHH who gave someone that idea!?!?? BLAST YOU!!!! so next week i'll probably email late again... if i don't pass out and die during my talk!! I'll probably work in my Trafalga story ;) hhehehehe I use that one EVERY TIME!! that's a money story. 

well sister landeen and i went to the Claytons very last mission leadership council meeting this week :( they go home in like 20 days. sad face. they gave us all the info on how the transition is going to work and when President Schmitt is going to bring his family to meet all of us...it's so crazy!!! Basically President Clayton said that if you call after 11:00 am on the 28th that President Schmitt is going to answer. whoa. i'm really excited to meet them!! President Clayton talked to us about opposition and how satan is working hard on our mission right now because he knows it is a time that he could get into our hearts more than usual. i've not going to lie, the last two weeks i have felt it and noticed it. we've been having problems with all sorts of silly things that haven't been a problem in the past in our zone. so sister landeen and i are trying hard to be good examples of a few specific things hahaa. 

all the missionaries in our zone say "I'm so sorry you have to serve in a YSA ward!! that must be so hard. especially in the summer when nobody has school and they are always hanging out and partying and dating!!" so yeah, that's been a fun challenge for us. Basically if I'm keeping it real with you all right now, here is my life....... Pool parties, fun FHEs, 20 something year old girls, 20 something year old guys, the summer, institute, Bible study, and yet i can DO NONE OF IT!!!!!!!! 

i'm basically living in the life i left at BYU but i can't let myself be part of it. We HAVE to go to all the activities because that is where we meet all the members' nonmember friends!! that is a challenge. okay i'm going to stop whining. but seriously, keeping yourself on task and focused at all times in a YSA ward in sunny san diego is not something i thought my mission was going to consist of..... bahhhhahahhaha whatevs. 

on the upside, our bishopric is AMAZING!!! they really take care of me and sister landeen :) out of the 150 companionships in our mission (not counting senior couples) there are 8 that serve in YSA wards. yay for us!!

okay my eyes hurt now. i'm not used to staring at technology for this long..... hahaha

LOVES!!!

sister barfuss :) :)