Yesterday was probably the best day of my life. 

We took the O...... Family to the temple visitor center! The parents are not married, and the mom is a member and her boyfriend is not a member. They have been together for like 6 years, but just never got married. The youngest daughter, A....., got baptized a few weeks ago (I think I sent a pic) since she got baptized the mom and the kids have become a lot more active in the church, and Hermano has been a lot more open to the church. 

He sat through two family home evening's with us, and we brought up the topic of eternal families and we invited them to the visitor center! All week I have been praying that Hermano would come, and MILAGRO, he came! He was super into all the exhibits. MILAGRO! We watched the video about eternal families, and of course the video has a grandpa that passes away, so I got all sniffley, but after the video I was able to share testimony about how grateful I am that my grandparents and parents have been sealed in the temple. 

 The spirit was so strong, and all of the sudden Hermano starts bearing testimony about prayer! He said that he can feel such a difference in his family when they say a prayer before they eat dinner, and he just started weeping! Something so simple like a dinner prayer had touched his heart so much. He loves his wife and kids so much. We walked around the temple and once we got to giant doors we asked them if they wanted to one day go to the temple together, and they said yes. So we asked them what is a goal they could set in order to get to the temple, and Hermana O........ said, "Francisco (Hermano) needs to marry me!" It was so great! We invited them to set a date, so hopefully they will choose a date by our next appointment :) I love this family sooooo much.

Women's Conference was great. We watched it in Spanish, and I actually understood it. If everyone talked like the interpreters did, I would be set. They talk so clearly :) I cannot wait for this weekend! It is such a cool thing to hear from the leaders of the church who have been called of God. They teach with authority and with the spirit and with a whole lot of love!

Love you all so much!  

Hermana Moooooo

Some more primary kids!
 I went on exchanges with Hermana Woods this week. Lot's of fun :)

 One of the primary girls! She is so goofy :)


 Our district minus the Zone Leaders because they are always gone



.Biking into the distance :)

Estrella Update! Turns out Estrella's real name is Emily. I freaked out. Plus she got the cutest bunny ever. I love bunnies!!!!!

 Road trip. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the temple. When we got to the visitor center we met some elders who speak Farsi!

 I love the temple. It is so big!

Dinosaur cake we made for our District Leader's birthday

Jesucristo............. "He's a good lookin' guy, but he needs a haircut!"

This week was crazy busy!

I went on two exchanges this week. One in my area with Hermana Henzi and one in the other biking area with Hermana Iglesias. She is Cuban :) Pretty much the week just flew by. It has been a cool experience to go on so many exchanges while still training. Pretty much I am getting trained by 6 different people! Everyone has their different styles and teaching methods. It has been great!

(exchange picture!)

Here are some funny quotes from the week

Estrella (the little girl we are teaching) said, "Are zombies real?" We told her that they are just in the movies and she doesn't need to be afraid of them. Then she asked, "Is Michael Jackson real?" hahaha apparently she had watched the Thriller music video and was a little concerned about it.

We gave a pass-along card with a picture of Jesucristo to this really old man and he said, "He's a good lookin' guy, but he needs a haircut!" hahaha grandpas....

We ran into some guys on the street and one of them told me, "I pray every night to God. That I will have a wife with eyes like yours. Your eyes are celestial." All I said was, "gracias, hermano...esta bien si le dajamos una tarjeta?" (thanks...can we just give you a card?) He kept going on about my eyes, so we just told him we are married and they left.

We ran into one of our old investigadores on the street and she was pushing a GIANT Costco card full of gallons of water and meat, so we offered to push it to her house that was on the other side of our area. I have NEVER sweat so much in my life! There are always opportunities to serve. We just have to keep our eyes open!

I fell down some stairs yesterday. hahaha. We had a really good lesson with a less active member. I was the best I have ever felt with my Spanish, and teaching a lesson that was specific to him. Then I fell down the stairs like a loser. I only scraped up my feet and elbows, so it is all good! All this heat is getting to me!

One of our member's mom is visiting from Guatamala for the next month. She is not a member, so he asked us to come talk with her. She taught us how to make tortillas! yummmmmmm

She is so cute. I am a giant!

We passed a Dinosaur/Cacti farm the other day! Check out the Dinosaurs Peter!

Sorry this is such a random email, but it was a random week!

 I did a lot of studying about the 

Light of Christ  this week. 

 We are taught that Christ rose above all things and descended below all things,

SO THAT HE CAN BE IN ALL THINGS!
It is true.
The light of Christ is all around us and inside of us. Let that light fill our souls!Take off your sunglasses, don't wear sunscreen, put down whatever your umbrella may be and
allow the light of Christ to burn bright like the California sun! 

  Love you! Les Amo!

  Hermana Moo

"We're turning around!"

 

We had a rough week too with our investigadores. Jose (the one who has read the book of mormon twice) is super set on not coming to church again. His family is very catholic and he said his wife is not happy about him coming to our church. We keep asking to meet his wife, but he won't take us inside to meet her! Yesterday we were flying down Sherman Way because it was the end of the day and we were tired, and I looked across the street at Jose's house and saw him on his porch reading the Book of Mormon and his wife was outside cleaning up the yard! I yelled at Hermana Day, "We're turning around!" I learned my lesson to not ignore El Espiritu Santo! I swung around and pedaled right up to their gate and said, "Hola Hermana! Buenas Tardes!" She smiled and walked into the house. PROGRESS. At least we know what she looks like now!  We will not give up on Jose!

 

Nacho Libre...hahahaha. Elote is super yummy by the way!

 Hermana Day doesn't like corn, so on my exchange this week we got some elote. So yummy :) I went on the exchange with Hermana Figueroa

We taught Jose lesson one, and it was not going well. He got really caught up on baptism, and was very defensive about it. Him and Hermana Day were going back and forth and bit, and I felt prompted to talk about The Plan of Salvation. We were about to wrap up the lesson, and I knew I had to say something, so I asked him what was most important in his life. He said his family. I testified about how baptism is just a step. It is a very important step, but none the less it is a step toward more covenants! I told him that it has been hard for me to be living in California while my family is living in Idaho, but that through covenants we make after baptism Heavenly Father promises us that we can live with our families for eternity. He told us that there were a few months he was separated from his family and it was the hardest months of his life. I really love Jose. He is such a kind, cool guy!

 

I am playing the piano for the primary program next month! The kids are so cute :) One of the songs they are singing is "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ..." but in spanish it's La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Utimos Dias. Too many syllables! I have to bend my brain to play these songs differently than I have always sung.

 

Today all the Hermanas went to The Cheesecake Factory! That is why I am a little late today. Sorry to cause any anxiety ;)  It was lot's of fun. I got a roasted pear, blue cheese flat bread. Everyone thought it sounded nasty, but it was delicious (plus it was a whole lot cheaper that everything else there) and of course I got cheesecake...yummmmmmmmm

 

Thanks for all the love and prayers this week. President Henrie just sent out an email that the english and spanish zones are being combined. No one is really sure how it is going to work out yet, but I am excited. Hopefully this will build more unity in our mission. Not sure what they will do with exchanges when one of the sister training leaders doesn't know spanish....hmmmmmm

 

LOVE YOU!!!! LES AMO!!!
 Hermana Moo

I got mad at a drug dealer

I cannot believe BYU football has started up again. I feel like I have been a missionary for like a year, but I feel like I was JUST at the football games! Time is weird.  My good news is that we had two investigadores come to church this week! My first investigadores at church. Get ready for the best story ever. Buckle up!

 Jose. Jose is the best. One day I was on an exchange and from across the street we saw a guy yelling at us and waving a Book of Mormon. This exchange was with Hermana Whittingham (remember our spanish is not very good). We saw him and we were running late for an appointment, so we just waved back at him and kept pedaling. I had never seen him before, so I was a little confused by the whole situation. We finished our appointment and we couldn't stop thinking about this guy! It was late so we went back to the apartment and when Hermana Day got back we went to visit him. As soon as we rang the doorbell he swung open the door and said, "Let me get my book!" Turns out he has read the Book of Mormon TWICE! He pulled out a list he had made of words he didn't understand and had done research on like: apostasy, Zion, atonement...I could not believe it! Some missionaries had given him a Book of Mormon a few years ago, but never taught him the lessons. We asked him if he believes that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and he said, "Yes!" But this story is not all butterflies and rainbows. He told us he is NOT going to change religions. He said, "I have been Catholic for 70 years! I don't want to change!" We got him to come to church, so slowly but surely I hope he sees how much the church can bless his life. He said he liked sacrament meeting so that is a good start. Hermana Day and I are starting a scripture class that will be on every Wednesday. He said he is very interested in coming to these classes!

Here are some insights from Elder Hamula:

   One thing I loved was he gave us

  A Pattern to Change Your Nature

           1. Accept your agency. Get beyond yourself and          accept that nobody is perfect.

           2. Turn outward when you want to turn inward

           3. Allow Christ into your life

 He also taught us how to get answers to our prayers. He compared King Herod to Joseph Smith. I don't have a lot of time, but look up how Joseph prepared himself to receive an answer from God. Then study how Herod asked Jesus Christ questions in the New Testament. Joseph got a answer. Jesus Christ told Herod nothing!

Elder Hamula also said, "Jesus is known with the Spirit or not known at all." The Spirit is everything! So many people saw, touched, heard Jesus cristo, but they still rejected him! Look for and remember those times where the Spirit confirmed something to you. That is your most powerful witness that God exists. 

Random Story: I got mad at a drug dealer. So we were teaching a less active member and he invited his buddy to talk with us. The "buddy" has a reputation as a drug dealer and he kept telling us about his "side job." Anyway he was talking to us about how he just got out of jail and while he was in jail his girlfriend had their baby. He said, "I was locked up because I messed up my baby mama because I needed to put her in her place. If she doesn't let me see my baby, I will do it again." I stopped him right there and said, "You will not mess up the mother of your baby! You can get counseling, but you are not going to touch her!" I had a lot more things I wanted to say, but thankfully Hermana Day stepped in. I left that conversation a little fired up...I am very grateful for the kind, respectful men in my life like Dad, Brennan, Uncles, Grandpas! On a side note he had a huge tattoo on his neck that said, "the struggle is real" I had to laugh because that is what my friends would say when we were like 16!  hahaa

Love you so much mom! Thank you for all the letters and updates. You know me so well! P.S. I think some important birthdays are coming soon ;) 

Here is my quote for the week,

"Work hard at being grateful. You will see that it yields wonderful results" (true to the faith)

       Hermana Moo

These drunk guys yelled to us the other day, "You be careful out there, but don't worry WE GOT YOUR BACKS SISTERS!"

I think I need to go by Hermana B!

Phew what a week! Transfer calls were on Saturday. 

I am staying in El Camino with Hermana Day, but Hna Day got called to be a co-sister training leader. We are not really sure what the means yet. We will get more info tomorrow. My last transfer of training might be kind of crazy! 

(I looooove mail! One from mom, marysa, and Jordan!)


This week we got to do a mini mission with some of the youth in our zone. The girl I was paired up with did not know how to ride a bike, so i ended up being in a trio with Hermana Day and an 18-year-old girl named Magana. She was so cute! That poor girl biked in the heat with us for 4 hours! She shared some awesome testimonies with the people. Members coming out with the missionaries is so powerful! They ended the mini mission with a fireside. They asked me to play the piano and the Hermano directing the meeting introduced me as Hermana Barrsuf. Then Magana went up to bear her testimony about her mission experience and she said, "I was paired up with Hermana Day and....sorry I can't remember the other one's name." I think I need to go by Hermana B!

Here's the deal...we are not really teaching anyone. We are having a hard time finding investigadores. Our only investigador dropped us last week. We have one lady right now who has a lot of potential and hopefully her second appointment works out. Usually the people will listen to our first lesson, and we set up and second appointment and they never let us back. It has been kind of hard, but I know the Lord is preparing people! We work a lot with the less active members and we have seen some progress with one of the families which has been such a blessing!

Fun things:

1. We taught a lesson in a casa full of cucarachas. Oh man...i was so afraid one would crawl up my skirt.

2. We had a birthday party for one of the Hermanas in our district at a members house on Wednesday. The food was soooo good. This house was really nice and they had a Parrot! Birds still scare me and the Parrot just walked around their backyard, so I kept a close eye on it :)

3. These drunk guys yelled to us the other day, "You be careful out there, but don't worry WE GOT YOUR BACKS SISTERS!" 

This week I learned that every day is an opportunity and a blessing. So much can be accomplished in one day! I am going to work on three things this week, and I am going to invite y'all to do the same. Presidente Henry B. Eying said that three traits he admires most in people is when they have:

1. a pattern of prayer

2. a habit of service

3. a rock hard decision to be honest

I want to be a little bit better everyday, find a few more opportunities to serve everyday, and make sure I am being honest with myself and with Heavenly Father!

Love you all sooooo much!

    Hermana Moo

This week was crazy! Busy, busy, busy. Plus it was the scariest week of my life...I will explain :)

So Hermana Day was made sister training leader along with another Hermana in our zone. That means I will go on an exchange every week. This past week she and her co-training leader wanted to get to know each other better so they decided to go on an exchange for a day...the problem is the other Hermana's companion is in training too (it is Hermana Whittingham from my CCM district) so Hermana Whittingham and I had a full day together...and we both are still learning Spanish. Oh man was I nervous!I prayed and prayed and prayed that the day would go well, and guess what? WE SURVIVED! I was sure the day would crash and burn, but we had an awesome experience.

 A less active member who recently moved to the area called the Elderes because her baby was sick and needed a blessing (crazy that you told me that lady's story in your email) the Elderes were not able to go until later in the day so they sent us over to talk with her. We biked over and my stomach was turning because I knew she was not going to church, but she just exercised her faith so much by calling the elderes to get a blessing, and I just wanted the visit to go well. We got to her apartment and she was so kind. And the biggest blessing was she was easy to understand. She spoke very clearly. I explained to her that we are newer missionaries and that we are still learning Spanish, and she was so patient with us. Turns out she was raised in the church and served a mission in El Salvador! Her husband is not a member and they have been living in the states for a few years. She had her baby almost 2 months ago and she said the doctor told her that the baby was ok, but it is her first baby and she was nervous so she asked for a priesthood blessing. I asked her if she wanted to come back to church again and she said, "Yes Hermana, I have given too many excuses." We sang a hymn and shared a scripture and testified of the blessing that will come to her, her baby, and her husband as she decides to come to church again. The spirit was strong and the Spanish was clear. What a blessing! Seriously....such a blessing.

 

We had to send emails from the library this week, so I do not have a lot of time. I will tell you about Elder Hamula on Monday! Right now I am at the library and the guy next to me is snoring...he keeps waking up and looking around all paranoid like I am trying to take his computer hahahah it's kind of funny.

FUN THINGS

1. I can almost order my whole meal in Spanish at Subway. I didn't know the words for cucumber, sweet onion sauce, and double chocolate chip cookies :) we have a member that always takes us to Subway because she is trying to loose weight hahaa

2. I tried the Biscuit and Gravy chips...they reminded me of dad!

3. One of the Hermanas in my zone forgot her nametag when she went to the mission conference and at the conference she was chosen to be interviewed by Elder Hamula, so she ended us wearing my nametag during the interview :) Elder Hamula served his mission in Germany, so I told her to tell him that Barfuss is German! Hahaha she is from Mexico, so I am sure he was a little confused about the Latina with a German last name...she explained the situation hahaha

Alright thanks for all the love and support! I love you all so much! Have a great week, and I will talk to you again on Monday! Hopefully this computer will let me send pictures!

LOVE,

   Hermana Moo