Happy Easter! 4/2/2013...TRANSFERS! :(

Sorry I didn't email yesterday. We got transfer calls Sunday night so yesterday we went around visiting people and all that. We ended up getting 'white-washed', both of us left and two new elders are coming in. It was really hard to leave Willcox. Too many good times and learning experiences.

Visiting Tucson!

But I guess the Lord knows what he is doing... :) Now I am in Safford/Thatcher area. I just got here today so I don't know where exactly but I am here. This is the Mormon ville of Arizona. It should be good for me...

Well other than that, things have been going great! The weather is awesome down here. We recently started riding bikes with a member (pics on FB I think...) and the other day we were sweating pretty bad because it got in the 90's! It felt great though. Plus it was the first time I have used my bike since being in Willcox... Glad I did bike riding back home, now I never get tired even after having a three month break from it. :)

Then ten months!?!?!? It doesn't seem that long at all... Dang in two months I will hit a year! That is crazy. Then it will feel like two more months after that I will be home... Time just flies as you get older. This last transfer flew by like nothing... I hate to see how fast this one goes...

Our district was awesome and I made some awesome friends that I could chill, and talk things over with. That is one good/bad thing about the mission, you make really good friends then you make not so good friends. I just reminds me everyday about what kind of people I want to surround myself with when I get home. I will talk more about what went on in a letter or something. :)

But I am starting new again! I hope things go down well. I have met my comp., E' Johnson, once before and blew his mind with a magic trick so we are not total strangers. And it turns out the two magicians in the mission are in the same zone, E' Mauhgn and me. There is a lot expected of us now... :) And I thought I would get out of doing it a lot with the new area and all... haha

So yeah, I am doing better now and kinda over leaving Willcox. Things should be good.

Love you guys, hope all stays well!

Love
E' Barlocker II

P.S. Hey I noticed you haven't been updating my blog and website lately... Are you gunna keep that up or not? Cuz I told some people to follow it... Just checking ;)

P.P.S. So dad, the mission wasn't all fun and games. I have been having a hard time with things and was wondering what kind of thing you went through. Me and E' Petersen, from my Willcox district, were talking and didn't really know what you guys, our dads, went through on your missions. It would be nice to know if you went through some of the same struggles as we do.

Whats next? FALL??? 3/25/2013

How are things in the mission field?
They are going good. Things are getting a bit tough but I am getting through them!

Any new experiences?
I have been able to talk more freely. I came to realize that I have kind of a speech impediment, I stutter a bit and mumble a lot. But last night was a great experience, we were talking with a member about life and how things can get better and I said everything that was on my mind and I do not remember stuttering at all and not too much mumbling...

What have been your ups and downs?
The sky has been up and the ground has been down... But really other peoples problems have been the down side because there is a lot that I, as a missionary, cannot help with. But once they figure it out it make things so much better.

How are your contacts holding up? (need more)
I use them way too long so I still have a bunch... :)

Are transfers this next week?
I think so...

What have you done that was fun this past week?
Just having some time to sit and talk with the other set of missionaries in Willcox. We are way open about out problems and have a great relationship! And sometimes we have a little too much fun, but that is to be expected with 20 year old boys! ;)

Sending pics?
Yes...

This week has been good. There is some problems that still need to be sorted out with some people but things are going good. Our ward mission leader called out the ward, in ward council, about how they were doing with missionary work. So things should look up soon!

Something weird that happened this week, we went with a less-active family to get some fire wood. And while we were chopping and cutting, I noticed my arms looked sun burnt We rode our bikes for the first time in a while that day, so it made sense; but still I have only been sun burnt once on my mission so far. And so I was kinda mad but forgot about it. Then I looked down and there was, what seemed to be a big bug bite, on my arm. Then I noticed little lumps all over my arms! Something in the area we were at made my arms break out in a rash... It was weird. Good thing it went away as we left...

So yeah other then that and having a dead jack rabbit on our hood this morning things have been going great!

Hope all keeps going well back home!

I love you all!!!

Love,
E' Barlocker II

PICS:
1. The rabbit we found randomly on our hood this morning...
2. The Back of my iPod "Talk To The Pod"
3. E' Woodland, E' Mckenna, and I on our trip to Tucson!

4 & 5. We had our car painted and cleaned by some girls... We were having a lesson with her unbaptized brother and they wrote all over our car!!! Too bad I didn't get all of what they did...
6.Saw E' Childs in Tucson as well

Have a great week!

Here comes the YARD WORK!! 3/18/2013

5:40am scriptures....That is way too early to get up. I had to struggle with 6:30, I cannot imagine 5:40! But that is good that you guys get it done. A lot of people do not realize how important it is to read the scriptures. It brings so many blessings and helps make the week go by so much better.

And if I could I would be home right now doing some yard work. I really miss it. The weather has been pretty good and there is just a feel of 'yard work' when it is like it is. Then I think about sitting in the front of the house talking... then I stop thinking about it because it makes me trunky... :)

Today E' Woodland had a Dr. appointment up in Tucson, so that is where I am right now. We had to leave Willcox at about 7:30 to get here at 9:00 for is appointment. Then we went to the Cannatas, from my first area, for lunch! It was awesome! It is weird though, because even though I have been out of Willcox for a while, when I am here, it feels like I never left. I is all so 'normal' to me. The mission life is normal now. When I wake up a little late, I feel really off. It is going to be weird coming home and seeing what that is like again. And I have almost been out a whole year! In two months I will hit one year; it doesn't seem that long at all! Makes me want to work my hardest so I have nothing to regret.

And like I said, it has been warm down here. The other day it was in the 90's and it felt great. We always have our windows open when we drive. Speaking of driving, did I tell you E' Woodland got pulled over too?... He only got a warning for not stopping all the way at a stop sign, but it was just funny.

The work is going, just going. Nothing too special yet, but we have something planned with our ward mission leader to jump start mission work in the ward. It makes things hard when the people expect us to do everything. But we get what we can done. If what we do works, then I will let you guys know what goes on!

Well I hope everything goes well, as far as missionary work, back in Utah. Hope you guys are still doing great!
I Love You All!!!

Love
E' Barlocker II

P.S. Pics to come next week. I kinda forgot things back in Willcox!

Spring is in the air!!! 3/11/2013

That would be nice if our ward did the 21 name list. We are having a hard time getting the ward into the work. They talk about it a lot but there isn't much 'doing' involved. Kinda makes things hard, especially in Willcox... Things are moving forward nonetheless. But once again the sickness has hit Willcox; and when one person gets sick, everyone gets sick and it slows things down for a bit. E' Woodland got sick and is still sick. We still seem to get things done even when bad things are happening.

This week has been good. We have had to deal with some stupid, but things seem to work themselves out. We have been having a lot of fun doing the work down here. I think this is my favorite area so far. A lot of the missionaries here cannot wait to get out of Willcox, but I don't want to leave. Things are going good in Arizona!

Nothing too exciting has gone on. But we have just been doing the work as much as we can. Trying to help those around us.

That's funny that Ed has more policies then Brian. Things just seem to happen when you are doing what is right. Imagine how many you all would get if everyone was going to church and all that. It would be incredible! Our most recent convert has been a great example of how the gospel blesses lives. She sees how our Heavenly Father helps her in everything and tells everyone about it!

Well let me get my camera out so I can send some pics. I will have to do another email with those.

Hope all continues to go well! I am going great down here!

Love you all!!!

Love,
E' Barlocker II

WOW! 3/4/2013

That would be nice if our ward did the 21 name list. We are having a hard time getting the ward into the work. They talk about it a lot but there isn't much 'doing' involved. Kinda makes things hard, especially in Willcox... Things are moving forward nonetheless. But once again the sickness has hit Willcox; and when one person gets sick, everyone gets sick and it slows things down for a bit. E' Woodland got sick and is still sick. We still seem to get things done even when bad things are happening.

This week has been good. We have had to deal with some stupid, but things seem to work themselves out. We have been having a lot of fun doing the work down here. I think this is my favorite area so far. A lot of the missionaries here cannot wait to get out of Willcox, but I don't want to leave. Things are going good in Arizona!

Nothing too exciting has gone on. But we have just been doing the work as much as we can. Trying to help those around us.

That's funny that Ed has more policies then Brian. Things just seem to happen when you are doing what is right. Imagine how many you all would get if everyone was going to church and all that. It would be incredible! Our most recent convert has been a great example of how the gospel blesses lives. She sees how our Heavenly Father helps her in everything and tells everyone about it!

Well let me get my camera out so I can send some pics. I will have to do another email with those.

Hope all continues to go well! I am going great down here!

Love you all!!!

Love,

E' Barlocker II

Here are some pics!
1. Snow!!! Now just imagine this in the dark...
2. Cactus and snow...
3. My ZL left me a cookie........ :|

HOW WONDERFUL THE SUNSHINE IS 2/25/2013.....HEY...WHERE DID THE SNOW COME FROM???

It is good to hear that everyone is doing good. It is sad to see
families down here get ripped apart and what that does to them. I am
glad to have you guys as my family.

I am doing great down here. We have a lot to do and when things get
'boring' we always have something to make it fun! Like the other day
we went on exchanges with the zone leaders, and I was in their area
with E' Larkin. We had some time before and appointment and decided to
go tracting... The thing is it was snowing... And surprisingly it was
sticking! Never thought I would be tracting in the snow in Arizona...

We got a couple of inches of snow from the storm...about two. But I
never expected to see that here. The day before the supposed storm, a
lot of people got a 'Blizzard Warning' on their phones. We all joked
about it and all that, but it turned out to be true. All Thursday it
snowed on and off, sometimes it was almost a little blizzard but but
the end of the day it was just big flakes coming down. It wasn't until
about 8:30, when E' Larkin and I were driving home, when the blizzard
came. It was dark and we couldn't see more then 10 feet ahead of us,
and we still had about a 30 min drive to get home... It was crazy!
Ever since then it has been a bit chilly and we even got a little snow
yesterday.

Other than all that this week has been normal. Although a lot of
little dumb things have happened, but we got over it. It's amazing to
see how hard satan tries to bring others down. Too bad he is never
going to win!

Well I hope things keep going good for you guys! I am doing my best to
help thoes of the Arizona Tucson Mission!

Love you guys!

Love
E' Barlocker II

P.S. The dumb computer I have today doesn't have and USB ports so I
cannot send any pics... sorry... Next time!!

NEON LIGHTS? Feb 18, 2013

The weather has been really good down here. I never thought I would be driving in January and February and have the windows down. Some of the times we are walking outside and I think to myself, "This would be perfect yard-work weather." I have been really wanting to do some yard work back home lately, never thought I would ever want to do that... I cannot wait to be back home, sitting in the front yard and do nothing right after some good yard work. I really don't have too much longer till I will be doing that. Time is going by so dang fast!

Last Saturday we had a baptism!!! It was the absolute best one I have ever been to. There was such excitement and the spirit was really strong! Plus Nancy, the one that got baptized, gave an amazing testimony/small-talk at the end which made it so much better. There were about 80 people in attendance we had to have the meeting in the chapel! And as a result of the baptism three people walked away wanting to see the missionaries. I will never forget that day it was awesome!

And last night we got transfer calls...

Luckily E' Woodland and I are staying together for at least one more!!! He will only be my second companion I have stayed more than six weeks with. And Willcox will be the only area I have served more then three months in! I am way excited!

Well, all is going great down here! Some things are changing and it looks to be an awesome transfer!

Hope all is going good for you all back in Utah! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love
Elder Barlocker!!

P.S. Hey mom, pics are coming in another message... ;)

Baptism!! :)

SNOW!!!

Well balanced breakfast!