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 :) :)

Old Spice deodorant works WAY better than women's foofoo garbage stuff.

Can i just say how hard i laughed when you titled your email "worship emily week"!!?? hahahaha Man i got going on that one.... hehhehe

FUN FACTS:

1. I use Old Spice deodorant now. it works WAY better than women's foofoo garbage stuff.

2. I was at Five Guys this week and the Bittersweet Symphony came on the radio and i almost had to run. that is my FAVORITE. bahhhhhh. just when i had forgotten about it!

3. the best feeling in the world is when you hear someone talking about how one of your past companions is super good at something that you both worked on really hard when you were companions :) makes me smile

4. went on an exchange with a spanish sister this week and she kept calling me "Hermana Barfuss" hahaha In MY DREAMS!!

5. we knocked on the door of a guy that is a recent covert  and right when he opened the door his little brother who is 4 said "Oh man!! I just farted!!"and then he ran into the bathroom and hid the whole time we were there :) hahahahahaha

6. talked in church this week. there were two people. i was last. i had about 8 minutes. hahaha.

7. my sleep talking was a wreck this week!! since i slept at 3 different companionship's apartments throughout the week i got to hear each of them freak out on me in the morning and tell me everything i said. my favorite one was that i was planning my lunch for the next day. hahaha

8. we started riding bikes in the morning for exercise. my bum HURTS. my legs feel gooooood. 

9. we did service for a Polo club this week. Polo, as in that sport that you play with horses and a stick :) hahaha it was wild. some how i feel like you have to have a lot of money to play that sport......? mAAAybe.

since it was MTE (missionary training exchange) week, i got destroyed. i'm pretty sure that sister landeen and i only had 1 full day in our area because we had to go "coach" the other missionaries. bahaha as if i have tons to offer them. i got a headache on monday and then tuesday and the wednesday and then thursday and then friday. not saturday. one on sunday. so then yesterday my head erupted. i haven't had a migraine for like 9 months so it's okay, it was time. i just laid on my bed in the dark with my sunglasses and took the nose shooter things that go up your nose and then down your throat. BLEHHHHHHHH. i feel a lot better now. but man, my body needs to stay in a routine to be happy. 

Well here's a funny for ya... and i'm going to embarrass myself totally, but whatever right!? so the other morning i decided that i want to get ready really fast so i could study for more than an hour. so i did it and i was so proud of myself. I sat down with 20 extra minutes and started sipping my smoothie while i was reading the conference ensign. well i tried to get the smoothie out but the top layer was stuck so i shook it a little bit and BAM!!!!!!! the whole dang thing came sliding out ALLLLLLL over me. 

i'm not kidding right now, my shirt got slammed, my skirt got slammed, my undershirt got slammed, LIKE EVERYTHING. I was so mad that i didn't even make a noise and i just started fuming. i went down to the wash room with my skirt catching everything that was dripping and took off every blasted thing i had on and threw it in the washer. 

(note that sister landeen has no idea what is going on at this point). i wiped all the smoothie off my chest and then i looked in the mirror and saw that it had spilled on my face in such a way that it looked like i has a smoothie goatee. my smoothie decided to mock me!!!!! 

so pretty much by the time i got everything back in order and took care of all the smoothie drama it was time to start studying like normal. hence my bad mood for the rest of our studies. 

i'm on a smoothie protest for a couple of days. they are rude.

loves you mamas :) you are my favorite!

sister barfuss

BURN BABY BURN!!!

 Malia made me a bracelet for my birthday!

i slept on the couch cushions in the middle of their beds. i was out in the valley 1,5 hours away. i got back to SD at 10:30 this morning

it was 100 ALLLLLLL WEEK!!! it was so hot

 sunsets during the fires, taken driving 55mph no I wasn't driving :)

The title of my email is supposed to be said like the Grinch when he burns the Who's Christmas tree down! BURN BABY BURN!!! 
But the reality is these fires have been super destructive - so
 PRAY FOR US!!! PRAY FOR SAN DIEGO!

Well this week was somethin' else... here are the FUN FACTS!

1. it was over 100 degrees all week. it go to the point that i could not function. i had sweated (swat?) out of my three layers and i didn't have a drop of water left in my body. we had to take a break in the church. yeah, yeah, all you missionaries that served somewhere hotter (brennan) are thinking that i'm a baby, but holy cow it was HOT. let me complain okay?? :)

2. you know how we have snow days in idaho and we get school off? well here they are called fire days. and you get school off.

3. it was so hot this week that my vaseline melted in my drawer. it was liquid.

4. my favorite feeling is getting up at 6:15 on saturday mornings and going to do service at 8:00 AM. yeah boy.

5. i hit 13 months this week..... STOPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!

6. there was a parade going on in ramona while i was mowing a members lawn. that was fun!

7. there was a camel farm in ramona. CAMELS. what the hay? ......do they even eat hay??

8. this week we taught a family and for dinner they fed us hot dogs wrapped in bacon. 

ohhhhhhhh sweet mercy.....

9. sister kylie mckee and sister brittney baker from pocatello are companions now. hahahhaha

10. when my GPS says certain names it says them wrong. like in-n-out burger is "in north burger."  4S ranch road is "four south ranch road" hahaha

11. check out the hash tag "#realbookofmormon" or "#realbom"  it's a campaign for the REAL book of mormon because the book of mormon play is coming out this week downtown. there will be pictures of me and sister landeen on that twitter account

12. i love the indian dish "dhokla" man that stuff is good. it's like corn bread with cilantro. mmmmmmmmmm :)

13. this last transfer sister landeen and i gave out 44 copies of the book of mormon. most of them were on the street!

14. we did some service in ramona and we went to "the back 40" meaning THE BOONIES! we went over cattle guards, through gates, next to tractors, over dirt roads. it felt SOOO good. 

15. this week divorce, drugs, anorexia, and anxiety became even more real. we meet a lot of people that have very difficult lives. some self inflicted, some not so much. 

hey some of my YSA ward members are taking a road trip to Idaho over memorial weekend!! they are bringing a bag of stuff :) you gotta realize that you are going to meet my ward mission leader and my relief society president! they will have talked to me like the day before they see you! haha

okay lets talk about the fires!! so the first one started right after i emailed you last week. and it was in our area! like our stake was burning! so the closest fire to us was the Bernardo Fire. we couldn't go to that part of our area for 3 daysish. it was about 10 minutes from where we live but it was TOTALLY in our area. i think 3 companionships actually got evacuated. it was super smokey and way nasty. the YSAs in our ward from the west part of our area had to get evacuated. missionaries almost had to stay at our house for the night. our stake and the stake next to us were a mess for a little while, but it's all good now! i'll send more of the fire and then the aftermath in just a bit. pretty much i SUPER DID NOT LIKE not being able to watch the news... BUT! i made up for it by going "fire chasing" from afar... i had to bribe sister landeen with Subway so she would give up her dinner hour so i could fulfill my fire chasing dreams!! hahaha Mamas you know how that is with me :) STORM CHASING!! it was wild. 

i love you guys! like super super lot :)

sister barfuss