ok - before i say this, i promise i am an obedient missionary!

I cannot believe it has been another week. Time is flyin! I had a great week. I have learned so so sooo much. It is crazy to think I only have three more weeks at the CCM. I am going to miss it here!

This week i got a reality slap to the face. My teacher asked me and my companion what our goal was with our investigator Jonaton. We said that we wanted him to make God a part of his family and to be baptized. Hno. Hernandez quickly said that if that is our goal Jonaton will be baptized and probably leave the church in 2 years. We are not just dealing with baptizing investigators. We are talking about eternity here!.Baptism is an important step, but not the goal. The goal is to see him and his family in the temple making covenants that will bless them for eternity! I do not know how i am getting to the celestial kingdom, but i will do it climbing, crawling, and fighting with my investigators in one hand and my family in the other!

Every saturday we do service with the CCM workers, and this week we were cleaning chairs. Usually everyone is afraid to talk to the CCM workers because.......espanol.......................but that day i decided to just open my mouth. I asked her every question that i could, and she was so nice! Her name is Toni, and i told her all about my family and i heard about hers. It was great! It made me excited to meet new people in San Fernando!

We did TRC (Teaching Resource Center (https://www.facebook.com/TrcMissionaryTrainingCenterProvo/info?tab=page_info) for the first time this week and boy was it interesting! They put me and my companion in a closet.(ummm.......a closet? like with smelly socks and everything?)  Literally a coat closet that was filled with mosquitoes. The room was just big enough for three chairs. Our first volunteer/investigator was Abrahan. He is a teacher at the CCM and he did not make up a character. He was just himself. It was interesting to teach a member, but I was reminded that members have needs too! He shared his conversion story with us and we shared our simple testimonies. It was great! Here is where is gets interesting...we teach two people at TRC so Abrahan left and our teacher Hermana Vargus told us that our next volunteer was VERY special, and then she left us in our closet for about 10 minutes, and our minds went all over the place. I was sure that President Monson was about to walk through the door!!!

 But the door opens and...ok before i say this, i promise i am an obedient missionary! But the most handsome latino you ever did see walked through the door. I am used to seeing 100 pound 5 foot 5 latinos, but this Hermano was huge! Like tall and muscular.(!!!!!!!) Oh and his name was Rodrigo...roll those Rs hahah...i mean come on! Anyway he asked where we were from and when i said Soy de Idaho his face lite up. He asked if we had a lot of potatos and i laughed and said yes, and then he contiued to ask questions about potatoes for another 3 minutes. Honestly i had no idea what he was saying, but i kept saying Si! He said he wanted to go to school in Utah, but didn't want to leave his family in Mexico, so i told him how i left my family and went to school in utah, and now i left my family and came to Mexico. I testified how the Lord will watch over his family because i know the Lord is watching over all my loved ones! Turns out Rodrigo is Hermana Varguses little brother! It was a fun day!

Hma. Gogarty was sick yesterday. We went to breakfast and she looked super pale and then she ran to the bathroom and threw up. Not fun. We went to the doctor and she got some meds and she slept all day while i studied in the hallway of our casa. I started to go crazy after the fifth hour of studying by myself. Although, It was nice to have so much time to read el Libro de Mormon! That book really is divine. I read the beginning chapters of Mosiah and i really aspire to be more like King Bejamin! She is feeling better today, so hopefully noone else in our district gets sick!

Here is my challenge for everyone. Go watch Elder Bednars devotional that he gave on Christmas morning to the missionaries in the MTC. I do not know what it is called or when he gave it, but it is great. He teaches about the character of Christ. It was just what i needed to hear! He even does an impression of the cookie monster hahahaa!

We got 78 new missionaries at the CCM yesterday not counting Latino missionaries!!! Crazy! We have about 200 missionaries here but after this week and next we are supposed to double in size! The work is hastening! 

I got your letter mom! It was such a surprise. Thanks for all the info. I love hearing wedding, missionary news. I also liked the snipets from current events. I like staying some what up to date on the world. The decorations from aunt nats wedding were SUPER cute. I can't say specifically who i want to hear from, so just whatever you think is interesting. I will let you know if it gets to be too much! I love you all so so sooooooo much! Have a great week. I am glad stake conference went well!

   Con Amor,

      Hermana Moo

CA San Fernando Mission FACTS

CA San Fernando Mission

Made up of essentially 4 groups with missionaries assigned to them

 Korean Speaking 

ASL 

Spanish Speaking  

English Speaking

The Spanish Elders and Sisters are BUSY- BUSY - BUSY! Many they teach are undocumented and a Mission Nurse told me there are Missionary's that aren't documented - but I'm not sure if that is true.

Last year there were  220 missionaries BUT because of the new CA missions taking from the surrounding missions and the influx of missionaries that came in when the age was changed going home and not being replaced they will be down to 135 by August. But they expect this number to grow back up again by January.

The mission has many bicycle areas. It was created 1994 and Geographically it begins in the South San Fernando Valley about 20 miles from Los Angeles and continues north to the Santa claria Valley where the mission home and office are located. There are 6 stakes in the mission with one being Spanish. One Third of the missionaries serve in the Spanish-speaking units. There are 2 Korean branches and single-adult wards as well. The weather is sunny and mild and in the summer it can get over 100'. Winter time is the rainy season with temperatures much more moderate.

A new Mission President and his wife, 

Kim and Linda Henrie from Park City, UT

will arrive at the end of June.

I could read the texts of the lady on the bus next to us!

Hola Family!

   We just got back from the temple! The temple is under construction so we went to the visitor center! It was great. The temple grounds are beautifull and it is one of the biggest temples in the world! The visitor center has rooms that look like living rooms where the missionaries take people to teach. It is cool to leave the CCM because we are very blessed at the CCM with lots of space and clean buildings, but once we leave its chaos. Driving is insane. I could read the texts of the lady on the bus next to us. I don't know how we didn't get hit!

   I conquered a fear this week. I held a bird. You heard right! We went to the postoffice and the lady came out holding a little blue bird. Mom you would have loved it! So we all got to hold it! 

 

We got new investigators this week, and I got to share my experience about grandpa passing away to our investigator Jonaton. We all got a little emotional and he thanked me for opening up to him. Every trial gives us an opportunity to grow and teach!

 We studied the Brother of Jared in class this week. I love that the Lord forgives Jared and then says Go To Work! Dont get yourself stuck in the past and in past mistakes. Go to work!

 We watched Meet the Mormons this sunday! It was lots of fun. God is the father of diversity. Just look at all his creations! But God is also the father of unity, and in bringing people together to serve with one purpose!

 So yesterday was probably the hardest day here at the CCM. The morning was great and the spirit was strong, but i went into my lesson with Jonatan feeling really confident and then my brain froze. I was having trouble understanding him and i couldnt even think what to say in english. I would say a couple sentences and then my companion would talk for a couple minutes. I was so frustrated. I left the lesson and started crying. Its hard when you study so hard and pray so hard and when it counts nothing comes. Thankfully my companion is great and she cheered me up! I walked into the classroom and everyone kind of stared at me, and Hermano Hernandez, who is so awesome, tried to cheer me up and said he would bring churros to class. Just talking about churros made me feel better hahaaa. Anyway I am learning to be more patient with myself.

The Lord does not send us to fail but to succeed gloriously! I can feel myself streching and it is exciting. I do things every day that make me want to wet my skirt (famous words of Marysa) like a teacher will say Hermana Barfuss come teach me about prayer with no notes. I wet my skirt and say...Of course! I would love to then i bable for a few minutes. It is terrifying but it is wonderful!

The one thing i miss most being here at the CCM, besides my family of course, is musicThey do not allow any music. Not even in our casas. So my tender mercy of the week was when i walked into my classroom after dinner and Hermano Hernanadez was listening to the Motab Homeward Bound. I looooooooooove that song. I felt like i died and went to heaven. I never thought i would say this, but all i want is some MoTab in my life!!!!

Fun things

1. For stress management this week, one of the Hermana teachers had us hold our ankles and run up and down the street. Really weird but it made us laugh!

2. I have had had Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks stuck in my head for a couple days. Really? The Dixie Chicks?!? of all songs hahahah

3. I told Hermano Hernandez that...No tengo suelo...i have no floor. He looked pretty confused but just laughed it off. I later learned that i should have said...No tengo sueño...which means im not tired. Whatever. Mistakes help me learn.

4. we sat next to the latina missionaries at dinner the other day. They gave us a bunch of tongue twisters that made us sound super white. They are all super nice and willing to teach us new words!

I am so glad the Warriors won!!! Oh and crazy story with the Harrisons. I cannot even believe it! So so so so so so scary. 

Happy anniversary! You two are too cute!!! 

I am excited for this week! I have a lot i need to learn before i leave, but i am confident that the Lord will help me! I love you all sooooo much! I pray for you each night! oh and sorry for the punctuation...the keyboards here are nuts.

LOVE,

   Hermana Moo

Everything Seems Shorter Here!

YAY! I finally get to email home! I have so much to say, so I will try to remember everything.

Flying went really well. I met up with about 18 hermanas and 3 elders in the SLC airport. We are one of the first groups to have more hermanas than elders. In total about 10 elders and 20 hermanas came on  June third. 2 hermanans and one elder are going to San Fernando. They are great!

 I love the CCM! It is so beautiful here. The weather is perfect. We have only had a couple hot days and one huge thunder storm. I have never heard thunder so loud! The CCM is surrounded by a wall and on top of the wall there is a fence and on some parts there is razor wire, so we can hear the chaos that goes on outside but we cant see it. I think there was a parade last night hahaa. The food is good. My district hasn't really enjoyed it, but I will eat anything. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing! All of the workers, cooks, and teachers speak Spanish. So about 80 percent of my classes are in Spanish and I understand about 10 percent of what is being said. Thankfully the teachers know enough English so we are not totally lost. Over the past eight daysIi have definitely seen an improvement in my Spanish. I can pray, bear testimony, invite someone to be baptized, say the first vision, and recite my purpose without notes. My brain kind of feels like it is going to explode, but I have been so happy. The Lord has blessed my with energy and patience.

My companion is Hermana Gogarty. She is 21 and from Colorado. We are pretty much opposites. She is 5 foot. I am 5 foot 10. She is always cold. I am usually hot. We work really well together. Out of our district we know the least amount of Spanish, so at first I wished that I got a companion that knew some Spanish, but nowIi realize I would have used that as a crutch. Whenever we introduce ourselves to Americans they laugh out our names...i don't blame them...but whenever we introduce ourselves to Latinos they get really confused...again i do not blame them haha.


We started teaching our first investigator on Friday.Her name is Mariela, and she is just one of the teachers here so it wasn't too much pressure, but we committed her to baptism and really became friends with her. I have a feeling our next investigator is going to be a lot tougher. We will start having two lessons a day next week!


My teacher is Hermano Hernandez. This guy is changing my life!! He is a 23 year old Mexican and probably the best teacher I have ever had. Even though most of what he says is a combination of Spanish and English he teaches with such power. The spirit is so strong. I was so crazy to run into Hermana Silva, I think that was her name, from Marysa's mission. What a blessing! 


Time has been flying by! They keep us so busy that all the days are blurred. I can successfully sayIi haven't cried once since I've been here. Well I have come close after one lesson with Mariela where for the life of me I could not understand what she was saying. But I knowIi was called Spanish speaking for a reason. The Lord has big plans for me!


The most comforting scriptures i have studied have been D & C 68 : 2 - 5 and 3 Nephi 11. I know the Lord is not only trying to do his work through me, but also in me. The Lord stands by us. He loves us. He understands us. He knows that my spanish is struggling, but when i share my simple testimony and teach simple truths, the holy ghost will convert. I am excited to help people develop or discover their connection with God!

Fun Things
1. I have eaten sooooo much pineapple and honeydew.
2. They always have fresh juice with tons of pulp. I always think of dad when i drink it!
3. I have made up a few words during my lessons. I asked Mariela how school was going and i said...difficulte. sorry i cant find anything on this keyboard so that's why my punctuation is wacky. Anyway. She speaks enough English that she knew what i was trying to say. Facepalm...difficulte
4. We tried to play soccer yesterday but after five minutes we were huffing and puffing so badly. We decided to blame it on the elevation hahaa
5. I have had Tengo gozo en mi alma  (youtube it!) stuck in my head for eight days. I love that song!!! And it is fun to sing. My district hates how much i sing it but i don't care. I have GOZO in my ALMA!
6. We get to watch movies on Sunday nights. The joke is next week we are watching Nacho Libre.
7. Fact. Latinos smell good. And they are so nice. Always smiling and it is infectious!
8. Everything seems shorter here. I woke up to pray this morning and slammed my head on the top bunk bed. That really woke me up!
9. We got to watch Elder Perry's funeral. It was such a blessing to hear from Presidente Monson!
10. I ran into Austin Hoffman. He asked how dad was doing and he said more guys would talk to me if dad wasn't the stake president hahaa.
11. We got costco pizza for dinner yesterday. Maybe yesterday...hmmmm some day this week.
12. Rolling our R's in class. Thankfully i can do it. I am one of three people in my district that can. Hno Hernandez got a kick out of us whitey tighties trying to say words like arriba and para hahaa


Aunt Nat looked so beautiful! I'm glad the rain held off. I bet you are happy to not have anything this weekend! I love you all so much. SO so So SOOO much. I pray for you every night, but the Lord has helped me stay focused on my studying!
   Love you!
         Hermana Barfuss/ Moo/ Emily

Hola Mom and Dad!

Hermana Barfuss

July 13 10 - C

Carretera Tenayuca-Chalmita #828

Colonia Zona Escolar, Gustavo A. Madero

07230 Mexico, Distrito Federal

Mexico

emily.barfuss@myldsmail.net

The estimated departure date for your missionary is July 13, 2015. 

The use of theabove address on all correspondence will greatly faciliate delivery to your missionary

at the MTC. Please don't send packages.

Hola Mom and Dad!

  I made it! I only get five minutes so this will be quick. My companion is Sister Gogarty haha like Gogurt. Of course we would be companions. Mexico has been crazy thus far. I just volunteered to give a prayer that has to be in  Spanish so that will be interesting. I love you all so much! This is all so exciting!

    Love you,

         Moo/ Hermana Barfuss

oh and my pday is Thursday but it will not be until next week. Can't wait to tell you all about my week!