Hola Amigos!

September 26, 2016

Hola Amigos! 

Como estan?

This week was a pretty good one! 

We got dumped on with rain on Saturday. That was fun. We decided to walk most of that day so needless to say we were a little soaked by the end of the day. It ended up being a lot of fun! And we actually met quite a bit of people walking which was a blessing! 

We went a visited a lady this week and she let us in. It's been a little over a month since we first met her, but she just started talking to us and she told us that her son was in a SUPER bad motorcycle accident and he got flipped over a van. But because she had gotten him super good riding gear, it actually saved his life and all that happened is he broke his knee cap and arm... The medics said that he should have died and it's also a miracle that he did get run over because it was on a highway. I truly know that God has a hand in our lives.

So funny story of the week: We had an investigator that we were going to have a lesson with but before we went to see him we tried to see if his neighbor was home because we still had a few minutes till our lesson, but right as we rang the neighbor’s doorbell we realized that our investigator was sitting outside so we tried to shove ourselves into the doorway to avoid him seeing us.... But it kinda failed and made the situation even more awkward hahaha. Fact #1 of missionaries: WE ARE ALWAYS AWKWARD. It's just a fact that every missionary has to come to terms with. But it's okay because everyone else is awkward too...

I love you all and hope you have a great week!!! 

Love,

Hermana Rebecca Lynn Barnes 

Dinosaurs and Mission Tour

September 13, 2016

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great week!

Life here in McMinnville is going good.

We have a few new investigators with quite a bit of potential. I just
love being able to help people come into Christ and see that light
fill their lives as they learn snd make changes in their lives to
follow Christ, it's got to the be most rewarding part of this work.

So the other day we were out tracting and we probably walked whet felt
like 50 miles (probably more like 2-4) because we are really bad at
mapping out where our investigators live, not to mention it was about
90 degrees that day. But anyways, while we were out we decided to stop
by a less active members house and visit her. Her daughter got a
dinosaur costume and was showing it off to us. It's probably about 7
feet tall. Funniest thing ever!😂😂😂 She tried doing a push up for us
too, which is what the video is.

So yesterday we had a mission tour where someone from the Quorum of
the 70 came and spoke to us. It was super good! Something that we
talked about is things we are good at, talents God has given us. It's
interesting because as disciples of Christ we try to be humble and not
boast about ourselves and a lot of times that means we don't recognize
our talents. But he encouraged us to recognize what we are good at so
we can know what tools we have to help us progress in life and help
others as well. He also told us that we the only God allows for us to
covet is other people's gifts(ex. The gift of service). It's okay to
covet these things and then ask God to help us develop these talents
that we admire. So I am now trying to better recognize my talents and
gifts and see what I want to be better at.

So last thing before I go, but, I cut my hair!!! It's super short and
really strange. But I like it. It was kind of a last second thing, but
I like it.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you all!!

Love,
Hermana Barnes ❤️

Transfers and Miracles

September 5, 2016

Hola familia y amigos,

Como estan? Estoy muy muy bien :) 

So good news! My companion and I are staying together for another transfer!   So I will be sending her home in 6 weeks when she ends her mission. It's bitter sweet. We are excited to be staying together because we are starting to see lots of miracles, but it's also sad that we only have 6 weeks left together. But we are determined to make these next 6 weeks full of fun, hard work, and miracles.

So more exciting news! We have one of our investigators getting baptized this month! We are shooting for the 24th of this month! Her name is Alondra and she is 10. She is SUUUUPER excited to get baptized and her knowledge of God, Jesus Christ and this gospel is incredible. It always surprises me when I talk to kids because they are like sponges, they soak in everything they hear and they are so humble to be taught. Its just so awesome! :D  

So one of our elder halves of our branch is heading home this week, so we got a goodbye picture with him! And also like half of our district is being changed as well. When we took the picture with our district the power actually went off so we had to do my last new missionary training in the dark, so that was fun haha! 

I hope you are all have a great week! 

Inspirational thought for the week: As we work on who God wants us to become, our to do list won't seem to be as much of a burden. So work on your to be list, and your to do list will become easier and you will do all that you need to.   

I love you all! 

Love,

Hermana Rebecca Lynn Barnes 

Miracle Family and The Gift of Tongues

August 29, 2016

Hey everyone, 

How are you all doing?

This week has been good! So the Elder's in my district ran into a guy the other day from Mexico and he told them he wants him and his family to be baptized! He used to be a member in Mexico but isn't anymore. But it was super awesome, and they came to church yesterday and we got to teach them this morning.

We are super excited for them! And for all the miracles we are seeing. 

Haha so our church plants roses but everyone likes to pick them... So the picture is the result of what we have now.... 

We also had exchanges this week which was super fun! I stayed in our area and had an English speaking companion so that was fun and also a little terrifying. But I was able to communicate just fine in Spanish which was a huge confidence booster. It was also really humbling to see just how much of a blessing the gift of tongues is. ​​

Sorry this isn't a long email; I just don't have a whole ton to say this week. But we have transfers next week so we will see if my companion and I are staying together for her last transfer. 

I love you all. Don't forget to keep your faith and build upon it.

Have a great week! 

Love,

Hermana Rebecca Lynn Barnes 

Miracle couple and 911

August 22, 2016

Hey everyone!

We found this SUPER awesome couple on Saturday and we went back and
saw them last night and they were waiting for us and we are going back
again tonight but they are super open to hearing our message and the
Hermana was even crying last night from part of our message. They seem
so open and its super cool. And they are so sweet to each other which
was really cool because you don't tend to see that a lot on your
mission.

Also we called the cops on some people this week as well and turns out
that my dad teaching me to be observant has really paid off. The guy
had a knife in his pocket and was fired up about something and was
screaming foul things at his wife and wanting to fight a guy that we
were talking to so we left and then called the cops and I was able to
tell them lots of things my comp didn't even notice, like about the
knife. And we are pretty sure he beats his wife because her arms and
legs were covered in bruises... It was a little scary but we got out
of there as fast as we could and got in our car and then like 6 cops
came.

"President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “God sent you here to prepare for
a future greater than anything you can imagine.” That future, a day at
a time, comes alive when you do more than just exist; it comes alive
when you live your life to fill the measure of your creation. This
invites the Lord into your life, and you begin to let His will become
yours." (Discovering the Divinity Within)

I have been learning more about submitting to the willing of the Lord.
It's super difficult but we have been seeing so many more blessings
pour in as we strive to do this. It's really incredible how many
blessings the Lord has promised us if we will just do his will and
follow his commandments.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Hermana Barnes

The church is true

August 15, 2016

Hey guys,

I hope you all had a great week! I want you all to know that I love
you and that your Heavenly Father loves you.

This week we had a really cool experience. We were out tracting in 100
degree weather on Saturday and we were ready to be done but we decided
to try one more house before going to dinner so we went and there were
a bunch of Hispanic guys outside and we started to talk to them. I was
able to have a conversation on my own with one of them and I shared
the Book of Mormon with him and Moroni 10:3-5 with him and it just
touched his heart that he invited us to come back the next day and
share more. So we went back Sunday and he said that before we had come
Saturday he had prayed to God to help him find his bible but we showed
up and gave him the Book of Mormon and shared the scripture and he
told us he knows it's a sign from God. And he just asked us over and
over how we knew to give it to him. But we are going to start teaching
him and he is super excited to come to church this next week, so
that's awesome!

I read a super awesome Poem this morning from Elder Packer that I
wanted to share with you guys:
            In ancient times the cry “Unclean!”
            Would warn of lepers near.
             “Unclean! Unclean!” the words rang out,
            Then all drew back in fear,

            Lest by the touch of lepers’ hands
            They, too, would lepers be,
             There was no cure in ancient times,
            Just hopeless agony.

        No soap, no balm, no medicine
          Could stay disease or pain
          There was no salve, no cleansing battle
          To make them well again.

            But there was One, the record shows,
            Whose touch could make them pure;
             Could ease their awful suffering,
            Their rotting flesh restore.

            His coming long had been foretold.
            Signs would precede His birth.
             A Son of God to woman born,
            With power to cleanse the earth.

            The day He made ten lepers whole,
            The day He made them clean,
             Well symbolized His ministry
            And what His life would mean.

            However great that miracle,
            This was not why He came.
             He came to rescue every soul
            From death, from sin, from shame.

            For greater miracles, He said,
            His servants yet would do,
             To rescue every living soul,
            Not just heal up the few.

            Though we’re redeemed from mortal death,
            We still can’t enter in
             Unless we’re clean, cleansed every whit,
            From every mortal sin

            What must be done to make us clean
            We cannot do alone.
             The law, to be a law, requires
            A pure one must atone.

            He taught that justice will be stayed
            Till mercy’s claim be heard
             If we repent and are baptized
            And live by every word. …

            If we could only understand
           All we have heard and seen,
           We’d know there is no greater gift
            Than those two words--“Washed clean!

I think this is an awesome poem of the atonement and I am so grateful
for the sacrifice that our Savior made for us so we can be cleansed
from our sins and have our pains and sorrows taken away.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Barnes

Miracles and The Atonement

August 8, 2016

Family and Friends,

I hope you are all having a fantastic week and that you have been able
to see the hand of God in your life this week. :)

My week was pretty good, we have seen many tender mercies this week.
We have really been seeing the work pick up and more people becoming
interested and it's really great. You just feel so much better when
your able to get out and do the work of the Lord and be busy.

We have an awesome family we are working with right now. They have a
really strong faith and a desire to learn and it is so awesome. The
whole family has only lived here for a year so the kids know hardly
any English which for some reason is hard for us because the kids
usually only speak English, it's very interesting. But they are always
super excited when we come over, and it's awesome :)

I have also been learning more about the Atonement, or sacrifice of
our Savior for our sins this week. It's quite an incredible thing. I
have been learning to rely on it a lot the last couple months,
especially since I haven't been feeling good I have really been coming
to realize that our Savior suffered for more than just our sins, he
suffered for all our sicknesses, pains, and sorrows. I found a quote
that I really liked. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shared the following
testimony that the Atonement can lift our burdens from us:

“Are you battling a demon of addiction--tobacco or drugs or gambling,
or the pernicious contemporary plague of pornography? Is your marriage
in trouble or your child in danger? Are you confused with gender
identity or searching for self-esteem? Do you--or someone you
love--face disease or depression or death? Whatever other steps you
may need to take to resolve these concerns, come first to the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Trust in heaven’s promises. In that regard Alma’s
testimony is my testimony: ‘I do know,’ he says, ‘that whosoever shall
put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their
troubles, and their afflictions’ [Alma 36:3].

“This reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center
of the gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement
lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of
our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair [see
Alma 7:11–12]. From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us
both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our
burdens and take up our salvation” (“Broken Things to Mend,” Ensign or
Liahona, May 2006, 70–71).

The Atonement is such an incredible thing and it is only through
following the example of our Savior and using the Atonement that we
can return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Families forever.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love,
Hermana Barnes