ONE MORE DOWN! 1/27/2013

-What have you been up to lately? Any good investigators?

Just trying to keep busy... And we just got two new investigators that are way awesome!!! We had one of them come in from an online referral and she called the other one and both are way interested! It is cool to see how the Lord prepares people to receive the gospel... :)

 

-What were your good experiences lately?

Well those two new investigators have been the best experience lately... It is just awesome! I wish I could tell you the whole story, but it'd take too much time... Just remind me to show you in my journal when I get home in a couple months.. ;)

-Are the members still feeding you good? Getting some great upper body mass?jk

Yeah we are getting fed really well... :) And I'm trying to get rid of the upper body mass I have gained... haha I turned my closet into my workout room... :) I don't know if I told you this but my closet is an entire room... haha

-How about you & your new comp...E' Foster?

What about us?... haha

 

-Where is he from & how long has he been out?

Hes been out 17ish months and is from Texas...

-Are you doing good with your B of M reading? How close are you to the end of it?

Well it finished a while ago and just finished the new testament a couple weeks ago... I plan on reading the BoM three more times before I get home, and I am going to finish the D&C once before then too... :) There is a tradition in the mission that when you have 138 days left you read the D&C backwards till the day you go home... I think I'm on 119 or something...........

-So how is it going in AZ? Looks like you have had some nice weather this past week. I would love to be outside in warm weather! Anxious for spring!!

Freaking amazing! haha I love it! :) It has been great weather! I have been driving with the windows open and the other day I went out and washed cleaned and waxed the jeep! It felt so nice! haha I think I'm the only missionary that takes care of the cars... My Jeep, I call it mine because I've had it for so long and taken car of it, but it runs a lot better then any other Jeep in the mission... :) Plus it looks almost brand new... :) Thanks Dad! :)

 

-Hey is your come home date May 27 or 28? Just wondering

I will fly home on the 28th... Probably early in the morning... But yeah, the 28th... :)

-When you do come home don't forget to bring back the GPS so we can use it on our trip to Nauvoo!

Good thing you said that, I was going to forget it... haha

 

-What are your plans when you return home? Besides getting a job of course!

I don't even know... I use to have plans... haha But besides getting a job I want to get a car as soon as possible... I'm hoping Marci finds a good one for her and sells the accord to me... haha But that's about the extent of my plans... :)

So yeah, it's been a good week... Not great but good... It is going to be a LONG transfer... :\ I already have insomnia ... ... So needless to say I'm not getting any sleep anymore...  ... But it's the situation God wanted me to be in...  But really, pray for me... :|

I hope all is going well back home still! I can't wait to be home, but I don't want to leave Arizona...

 

Love you all!!!

Love

Elder Barlocker II

Just Chugging Along...1/21/2014

I have no idea who that family is you were talking about in the ward... haha But that's cool! :)

 

Things are going good down here... :) We just had transfer calls last night, and it turns out I'm staying another transfer here! That is very rare that anyone stays in an area for five transfers... I even started packing before we got the call because I was sure I was leaving... haha I got quite a bit packed and still haven't unpacked it... haha But I'm getting an Elder Foster... I served around him in the Gila, he's pretty cool... It should be a good transfer... :)

But we are just trying to stay busy... We are getting a lot of referrals but none of them are going anywhere... We don't even get to meet half of them... Nobody is ever home!!! But it's all going good... :) Plus the ward is starting to get on things more... Which is nice... :)

But yeah... My mind is all caught up in transfer stuff right now... I can't think of anything else to say... But I'll fill you in on everything next week!!! I'm sure I'll have a lot to say... :)

Love you guys!

 

See ya in a couple months!!!

Elder Barlocker

WAZZZ UP? 1/13/2014

Well I'm glad my mission got you out of a calling... I can come home now and have served a complete mission... haha

But things are going good down here... :) The weather is awesome! haha The other day we were driving all day with the windows open... It was in the mid to low 70's... :) But it does get a little chilly at nights... I'm just glad I'm coming home in May, and not during the winter time... The heat has gotten to me... :\

So on Saturday we were supposed go hear Elder Holland talk up in Phoenix, but his schedule got changed so we didn't get to see him... But we still did go to the mtg. and got to hear from Elder Wright from the seventy... It was a good mtg...

Yesterday was the sacrament mtg. out on the res.... Our ward mission leader usually conducts and presides at the mtg, but on his way down his car broke down... So he gave us permission, through the bishop, to run the mtg... :) I took charge and conducted and set everything up... It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be... It was just weird being like the presiding authority... haha But we had a good mtg. down there and I guess our ward mission leader got his car fixed and all is good there... :)

 

Other then that this week has been pretty normal... Nothing else too special... But things are going good... We have transfer calls next Sunday so we'll see what happens with that...

 

Well I gotta get going, the timer is running low... I'll see ya in about 4 months now... :|

 

Love ya'll

 

Love

Elder Barlocker II

YOUR YEAR TO COME HOME! 1/6/2014

-What did you guys do New Years Eve?

Elder Larsen fell asleep early, so I just tried to stay up... I ended up falling asleep on the couch, but woke up about five min till midnight... So I went to the fridge, got the Martinelli's out, poured a glass, and waited till midnight; at which point I drank the cider, and went to bed... At that point my year was complete... :)

 

The holidays are hard out here... Nobody in Sells was home so we didn't get to go out this week, but we did have a better time in town... The other day we didn't have anything to do, so I brought up the idea that we should drive down to the more densely populated part of our area and ride our bikes to all the members and less-actives! And that is just what we did... :) Biking is fun when you don't have to do it everyday... Even when I did do it everyday I still liked it; it just is hard to ride with someone who doesn't like to ride... haha Plus mtn. biking is fun too if you have someone who is willing... :)

 

Yesterday was nice! We now have 11 o'clock church!!! It is nice to have time to really study in the morning... Plus when we would have ward council, we'd have to wake up at 5:00 and get ready fast then head out to the church... Driving 40 min to church early in the morning is not fun at all...  But this new time is awesome! We usually don't fill up the chapel at all during sacrament, but yesterday we did!!! We had to open up the overflow for a few people even... haha It is really really unusual for that to ever happen... We all decided it was because of both the new time and people starting on their n/yrs resolution to get back to church... haha But it was cool to see so many people there!

 

The most recent convert got up and bore his testimony... It was amazing! You could tell he knew what he was talking about was true! I had gotten up and sat on the stand before him, but let him go ahead of me; it made my testimony easy to give... haha Not much I could say after it... :) But yesterday was like the second or third time I had felt the 'burning in the bosom' on my mission... While I was sitting in my seat I knew I just had to get up there and do it... Someone in the audience needed to hear it, but so did I... It's cool how the spirit can touch so many lives in a simple moment of ones testimony... :)

 

But yeah, this week has been slow... But we did get to see one of our investigators and a bunch of other people that needed an uplifting... :) One lady we visited while riding our bikes had moved in in July and nobody had been able to get a hold of her since then... And we just showed up at the right time! They have had a really hard time in their family... Just before they moved the dad died (in fact that's the reason they moved), and right after that the moms dad died, and I guess a couple weeks ago she just lost her job... But things are going to get moving now that all the ward leaders know when and how to get a hold of her! I love how the spirit directs us to places and people without us even knowing it... :)

 

Well, this week should be a good one!  We are going to the temple tomorrow and we have a bunch more appointments set up! I'm excited!

 

Hope all is going well back home still! :) Keep up the good work!

Love you all!!!

 

Love

Elder Barlocker II