WINTER IS TRYING TO COME… NOV 18, 2013

-How have you been doing? Good... :)

-Have you been using the GPS? Does it work? Yes and yes! It helps a ton!!! Thanks!!!

-What was your favorite thing(s) we have sent you? The GPS and the fixin's for peach cobbler... :)

-Do you need to send a few things back before you come home?

Probably, I'm gunna try to slowly get rid of things this last little bit... But we'll see...

-Anything funny/fun happen these past few weeks?

Um... People have answered the door this week! haha It's kinda funny to think we have to worry about that... lol But it mostly is a problem that their gate is going to be locked, everyone out here has a gate... :\

-What are your spiritual experiences lately?

Just the lessons we have with our investigator! He is freaking awesome! It's hard to find a person that is so willing and wanting to learn of the gospel, I always look forward to the one hour drive to his house! haha

-Will you please send a pic of you & E' L? No...

-Are you two getting along ok?

Not at all I hate the kid to death... lol It would be really hard not to get a long with him! He is an awesome missionary and friend!

-Any investigators? One... :)

-What is your best memory/experience so far on your mission? Let me get back to you on that... :)

-What pranks have you done lately?

None... :( Elder L doesn't like pranking... But I always have silly string and a water gun at the ready... haha

-What pranks were pulled on you? I'll have to write about it all... But none lately

-Who is your Dist leader? Elder L... Hey question: was dad any type of leadership on his mission?...

-Do you know any Spanish speaking elders? Elder L and about half of our mission... haha

-DO YOU STILL HAVE THE CHRISTMAS TREE & DECORATIONS? Or do we need to send more?

No. And if you want to send me more you can, but please nothing with the tinyest bit of glitter...

-What are your plans for when you come home in 6 months? I have no idea... haha

-Any questions or concerns? Too many... haha

But this week was a good one... I was going to bring my journal so I could tell you what went on but i forgot... ha-ha Plus all the spanish missionaries have taken over our library and I had to wait over an hour to email... ugh... So I forgot half the things I was going to tell you... ha-ha But if I do get around to writing a letter, I'll tell you everything... :)

And honestly, members have the easiest job in missionary work... I can't wait till I get home and have it easy... ha-ha But like you said it does take a lot of getting use to... Please utilize the gospel and its blessing as much as possible... No matter what... It's worth getting made fun of or ridiculed over the gospel... :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Hope you week turns out great!!!

Love

Elder Barlocker II

WHATEVER NOV 12, 2013

Sorry I didn't email yesterday... Dumb holidays... haha At least I get to look forward to Christmas and Mothers day! haha :)

This week has been interesting... I didn't think what happened would effect me so much... It's weird to think of how fragile our lives are... The lives we live are fragile, but the life we have is not... Idk if that makes sense... But the treasury makes cents so... ;) But I got a blessing from my comp a couple nights ago and that really helped... :) I'm am still amazed at the power the gospel has in everything...

But this week has been the same old same old... Except for we went down to sells three times this week... haha I wish I could always be down there, we have a lot more success on the nation then in town... haha Unfortunately we had to cancel the sells mtg. this week because someone else had the building we use reserved... The member that coordinates it tried to get another building, but no luck... We're shooting for next week so hopefully it happens!!!

My birthday was good... Birthdays on the mission are dumb... haha Can't do anything fun, just the same old same old... And in three points it gets really old... haha but I like it out here... Not too many people can handle this area, but so far i'm holding up... I just hope I stay this next transfer so I don't have to move before Christmas again...

But yeah, it's been a weird week... It's picking up though! And i'm sorry that I don't have a lot to write about, my minds been going nuts the past few days...

I'll be sending more letters out as they come! Thanks for not forgetting about me! haha

I'm so dang close to the end of my mission... Crap... You guys better be ready for me when I get home... I don't know if i'll be ready to come home... haha But I'm staying strong!

Thanks for everything!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Love

-Elder Barlocker II

Ps I wrote a poem in honor of Ryan... I'll attach it also... It kinda shows how precious life really is...

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PICS

1. First egg nog of the year!!!

2. My last District... well minus two

3. One of the other two not in the picture before! (Elder Huff - awesome kid!)

Missionaries over for dinner 11/6/2013

Hi Bro. and Sis. Barlocker,

We recently had your son, Elder Barlocker, and his companion and two sister missionaries in our home for dinner. After dinner, I took a couple of pictures of them and I thought you might enjoy seeing them. I've attached them to this email. I also want to let you know that your son is doing very well here in southwest Tucson. He's served in our ward for a couple of months and he's an outstanding missionary. He and his companion, Elder Larsen, are very hardworking and diligent and we are very blessed to have them serving in our ward. They definitely brought the spirit into our home this evening and we appreciate so much all that they do for our ward.  Thank you for raising such a fine son. 

 

Take care!

Marilyn Baird

WEEK OF FUN & OTHER THINGS NOV 5, 2013

-How was your week?

It has been good! :)

-What is your new comp like?

He is awesome! Think of the nicest person you have ever met and thats him! ha-ha

-Where is he from? WV

-Getting along so far?

Heck yeah! ha-ha It would be hard not to get along with him... :)

-What's the weather like lately?

Great! Not too hot and the nights it gets cold!

Well this week was just another stressful week... Not too stressful though, Elder Larsen has made it the most bearable transition so far... :) We've just been getting him use to the area... There is a lot to get use to cuz it is so different from all other areas in the mission... ha-ha. I took him down to the Nation (reservation) last Saturday and we didn't get as much done as I wanted, but we had a good time! It just makes me sad how little attention they get down there... I hope you guys are giving the needed attention to people back home - you have not excuse not too, they're all within walking distance! Just sayin'...

But it's still the same old same old... It's going well though... :) Sorry I didn't email yesterday, Elder Larsen got really sick... So we spent the whole day at home... But he is doing better now! It was really hard for me to be stuck in the trailer all day long... ha-ha But I got a lot of study in, so that's good! :)

Sorry I don't have a lot to talk about... Everything is going good and nothing too exciting has happened yet, so... I'll let ya'll know if something does come up... :)

I'll have some pics next week too... sorry...

Love You ALL!!!!

Love

 Elder Barlocker II

KEEPING BUSY OCT 21, 2103

This week was kinda slow... Not much went on, just a lot of locked gates, people avoiding us, and empty houses... :\ But it has been a good week nonetheless... I kinda figure that it you cannot judge the day in the moment, because we are all going to have good and bad parts of the day. And to gauge your day, I believe it comes from your end result feeling - the things you learned and grew from. Plus writing in a journal really does help a lot! I have a habit of writing at the end of each entry "Tomorrow IS going to be a great day!" A positive attitude is needed, even when it's not necessarily wanted... :)

Last night I had a cool/interesting experience with scripture study... I was listening to that song by the UT sate prison, and reading random scriptures... And I don't know what happened but I just felt the spirit way strong! At that moment I knew what I was reading was true! It was just a special moment in life that I'm sure will go a long way! :)

This week we went to the Saguaro National Park! It was...cool.... We live in a desert so to see it condensed isn't too much to get excited about... haha But it was cool to see how many cactus' can be in one place! And some of them get huge! It's amazing to see how tall and what shapes they get into sometimes... haha But it was cool... :)

The other day my iPod fell out of my pocket and cracked the screen... :\ But it still works fine... :) Elder Seare was more sad about the screen breaking then I was... ha-ha I really didn't mind...

So I have been trying to get out letters... They are coming... Slowly... :)

Well that all I have to say... Sorry I don't have a lot to say.. :\ Thanks for all you guys do for me!!!

I love you all!!!

Love

Elder Barlocker II

FALL COLORS OCT 15, 2013

When fall comes in Arizona the colors don't change too much... ha-ha It goes from green and brown to yellow and brown, and the green isn't a real green to start with so... ha-ha But I do miss the fall colors changing... Those bushes look way big... I remember them being a lot smaller... Wow, I guess it has been over a year - but still!

Things have been going good down here... The weather is so dang nice right now! It's cold at night but by morning, when we do our studies, it is just the right temp to open the door, let some cool air in; and by the time we have to leave, it is nice and warm and it just feels good... haha Now only if it could be like this all the time... Plus it would be nice if it would snow... :\

The work is going... The whole zone is kinda struggling right now, and the ZL's are freaking out about it... ha-ha But such is missionary work, sometimes it's up and others it is down... Elder Seare and I have been getting a lot done in this area, well more then this area is use to... ha-ha But I am starting to see the work pick up, so that's good... :) Plus we have this one guy we are teaching that is awesome, and there seems to be a little more potential out on the reservation now...

We had our Sunday mtg. on the reservation this last Sunday. It was a good turnout. :) There were a total of eight people from the reservation there, including our investigator! Yeah- go us! haha It was a good service... Usually our ward mission leader does the whole thing by himself, but this time we got it all organized and had other people do the talks and stuff... It was a good Sunday...

Well not much else has gone on lately... I have been sending letters out as I get them, so expect some mail! I've got nothing else to say so, I'll let you guys get back to your busy lives! Save some yard work for me! ;)

Love you guys!

Love'

 E Barlocker II

CONFERENCE BLISS…OCTOBER 7, 2013

I got to see all of conference... And I don't remember who said what, but I did take notes for each speaker so if I had that I could tell you... haha But one thing I remember was stressed a lot was everyone being a missionary and how we have to prepare ourselves for things to come... It was a good conference. :)

YES SEND ME SOME JAM!!! :)

-Are you getting things done that you want to?

More or less... This transfer is weird... I thought I knew what I wanted to do but each day I find something else I want to accomplish .. But I am sticking with what I need to do first. :)

-How are things going at your place?

Good... We had inspections the other day, and seeing as it was the first one in well over a year and I don't have much time to deep clean, we have to find some time to deep clean everything... And on top of that our fridge isn't working. I will turn on them after a while it will turn off... I have taken it apart a couple times to see if I can do anything... And each time I do it runs a little better... Haha

-What spiritual experiences have you had in the past few weeks?

Just seeing the change in our investigator... He knows what he need to do and is doing it! I haven't had an investigator like him my whole mission. He is enjoying the BOM and getting stuff out of it, plus he is praying and getting his whole family involved! He is freaking legit!

-Where did you watch conference?

We watched the first Sunday session at a members home. The dad there reminds me a lot of uncle Lynn, just w/out all the guns... ;) And the rest we just watched at the stake center... :)

-How much were you able to watch/listen to? Watch/all :)

-Are you staying healthy?

As far as I know... I found out I cannot fast anymore... :( Every time I do, I get a migraine and last time my fingers went numb... But there have been some special occasions that I have been able to fast so... But I am healthy and still alive!

-Good things of the last week?

The whole week was just good... The days fly by so fast I can't remember a lot but all I know is, as God would say "it was good"...

-Hopes and wishes? I hope things don't fly by too fast, but I wish I was home with you guys right now... haha

-Goal for the week/month?

One goal I have is to read Jesus the Christ... It will take a while, but I have been enjoying it... And on top of that the President Killpack challenged us to finish the New Testament before CHRISTmas... 

-Anything FUN happen? Yes, but I can't remember... I know something fun must have happened...

-Pranks?

Yes... When we were at the Priesthood session we carpooled with a member, so our car was just sitting at their house. So when we got back it was covered in Oreos... And I have been using silly string a lot... :) Right now we are about to finish another one... I have to write about it and tell you how it goes...

-What is the weather like down in AZ?

It's is pretty good... Has it's hot parts of the day, but I like the weather right now... :)

-Are you happy? No, not at all... ;)

Well I tried to get letters out last week, ended up only getting one written... haha I will work on that though... :)

I hope all is going well back home! Things are going great down here!

Love you all!!!

Love

E Barlocker II