let it rip!

Ok...THIS IS AWESOME!

 I am going to hang this picture on my wall! 

 Sister Clara Preece, Sister Marysa Barfuss, and Hermana Barfuss preaching the gospel to California!

(Great Grandma Clara Preece - 1923 - CA Mission - 2nd row, right end)

This week was great. Elder Zeballos and his wife came and did a mission tour. Elder and Sister Zeballos are from Chilie, so I was able to talk to them for a few minutes in Spanish. They are both very humble and their focus is on LOVE. Elder Zeballos bore his testimony many times on how the very essence of the gospel is love. Here are some nuggets of wisdom from the meetings I had with him:

   1. Faith summons the heart to engage

   2. Recuerde quien eres. Which means "Remember who you are" (that is a quote from Hermana Zeballos) She would tell that to her kids every day before they left for school. She would give them a kiss and whisper in their ear, "Recuerde quien eres!" I am working on remembering my first identity and the identity of everyone that surrounds me. We are children of God! Treat them like that!

   3. When we are filled with the spirit, we are filled with love.

   4. Elder Zeballos has the awesome opportunity to do a temple/testimony meeting with the prophet and the 12 every month. He says that President Monson has a list of the general authorities and he randomly selects 5 or 6 to bear their testimonies (that would get my heart pumpin') anyway...Elder Zeballos says President Monson always ends the meeting with his testimony and he always ends his testimony the same way. He says, "Whom the Lord calls he prepares and qualifies." I know that to be true! The Lord has called each one of us to use our special talents, personalities, and resources to serve others. Don't be afraid to reach out. The Lord will sustain you!

Pretty sunrise from our apartment!

We had a mission leadership meeting on Friday in the San Fernando valley. It takes about 20 minutes to drive down there, but our meeting ended at 5:00 and I experienced traffic on the 405 for the first time. It took us an hour to get home! The funny thing was that the other missionaries that serve in the Santa Clarita valley were stuck right next to us, so we just rolled our windows down and chatted with them hahaa.

Hermana Salazar and I qualified for free tee-shirts this week! We do service for the community clearing hiking trails (I will send a pic of the tee-shirts) We clear trails with these 3 older gentlemen :) and I have made it a goal to have a gospel conversation with Steve Martin every week (yes...his name is Steve Martin) I usually end up next to him chatting about his grand kids and about outdoorsy stuff, but he will always ask questions about the church. Last week we talked about the word of wisdom because he makes his own wine and he wanted to know if I was 21 yet and if I had a favorite wine. This week we talked about marriage, agency, and stem cell research. Good times. I love being a missionary!

Funny story. So we were waiting outside an apartment building for a member to meet up with us for a lesson, and we ran into L's dad (he lives with her) Anyway we talked with him for a little bit and then we went around the corner to wait. I think he thought we walked farther away because Grandpa F let it rip! I have never heard such loud toots! Hahahaaa I was crying I was laughing so hard. I guess it doesn't matter if you are a Grandpa from Peru or a Grandpa from Idaho...they are all the same :)

I love you Mom. I hope you have a great week! I love, love, love you!

Hermana Moo