Dirty Harry's Balcony

 เฮลโล Hello!

How are all of you wonderful children of God doing? Good? Good. This week was a little bit rough for several reasons haha. But there are always highlights when you're a missionary, so here are a few!

JAI WENT TO CHURCH

His entire life is changing. There is an undeniable light in him. It's like it's trying to beam out of him. He loves the Book of Mormon, and his understanding of the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation is amazing! We extended a baptismal date for him on Wednesday. He took a few seconds to think about it and confidently said that he absolutely wants to get baptized. He's a miracle. I can hear you thinking from behind the screen, "but what else, Elder Barrett?? What else about Jai?!?!" I'll tell you what else! HE CAME TO CHURCH AND HE LOVED IT!!!!!! And it just so happened to be one of the most powerful fast and testimony meetings I've ever been to. Absolute miracle! Church was amazing. He's amazing. Miracles are real.

PROFILE OF A PROPHET

I listened to a bunch of BYU speeches this week. They're awesome. I especially liked one called "Profile of a Prophet" by Hugh B. Brown. He tells the story of him presenting his case for the Restoration in a legal setting. When he reached the point of God speaking to his children, the judge said that direct communication with God ended shortly after Paul's experience on the road to Damascus. Here's the direct quote from the speech:

Brown: "I am submitting to you in all seriousness that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to man.”

Judge: “I think I will admit that, but it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.”

B: “Why do you think it stopped?”

J: “I can’t say.”

B: “You think that God hasn’t spoken since then?”

J: “I am sure He hasn’t.”

B: “There must be a reason. Can you give me a reason?”

J: “I do not know.”

B: “May I suggest some possible reasons? Perhaps God does not speak to man anymore because He cannot. He has lost the power.”

J: “Of course that would be blasphemous.”

B: “Well, then, if you don’t accept that, perhaps He doesn’t speak to men because He doesn’t love us anymore and He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.”

J: “No,” he said, “God loves all men, and He is no respecter of persons.”

B: “Well, then, if He could speak, and if He loves us, then the only other possible answer, as I see it, is that we don’t need Him. We have made such rapid strides in science and we are so well educated that we don’t need God anymore.”

And then he said—and his voice trembled as he thought of impending war—“Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why He doesn’t speak.”

My answer was: “He does speak, He has spoken; but men need faith to hear Him.”

And my witness and testimony is the same. That God truly does speak to his children, just like he always has. The church of Jesus Christ was restored in its fullness through the prophet Joseph Smith and that through the gift and power of God he translated the Book of Mormon from gold plates. It may sound like an insane story from an outside perspective, but having read the Book of Mormon and having studied it out in my mind and my heart, I know with 100% confidence that the Restoration needed to happen, did happen, and is ongoing today.

เอ็ลเดอร์ นอนหลับ (Elder Asleep)

Elder Barrett 

Dream Floats For Life

 เฮลโล Hello!

It's been a grind of a week, let me tell you. We didn't have much success with our progressing friends, and Jai has stopped meeting with us entirely and won't tell us why, so please pray for him! But that doesn't mean that this week was all bad.

BURIEN BOYZ

I got to go on exchanges with Burien this week. It was pretty fun! I did a lot of service and so much teaching!! I can't tell you how nice it was to spend a day teaching rather than just knocking doors. I met some cool people, including an excommunicated member who is trying to come back and made us some amazing fruit smoothies. It was a full day, and I loved it!!

ALKI IS AWESOME

Alki YSA is the absolute greatest. We can finally have activities in person again! The new branch president has been having us over for dinner on sunday nights, and he is really going all in on the ministering effort. It's been so cool to watch and be a part of. For FHE this week, we played dodgeball, which I havent played since junior high. Did I go too hard and end up sore? Of course! We have also been having a lot more lessons with members and one of them even made us a japanese meal! Pretty cool!

POWER OF THE SPIRIT

I've been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants a lot recently. I used to barely care about D&C, but it is so so applicable once you actually dive into it. So if you haven't been doing Come Follow Me, first of all how dare you, and second of all, get going on it! It's the best! One passage that has been hitting me hard recently is D&C 42:14,16. It says, "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach. (...) And as ye shall lift up your voices by the Comforter, ye shall speak and prophesy as seemeth me good;" I have not had the spirit in everything like I would like to, but that's what repentance is for, right? 😂 But, if I pray in faith to have the Spirit, I'll have it. And I'll be able to speak and act and teach in the ways that the Lord wants me to be able to. So, pray in faith! Look for areas in your life where you may be spirit-deficient, and pray to make them more spirit... efficient? Yeah!

LAST THINGS LAST

- Elder Knapp and I made a Facebook video! If you wanna see me talk for some reason, you can see it at Church of Jesus Christ in Seattle (not a sponsor).

- Jasmine rice is the best rice, let's just let the truth be out there.

- The Puget Sound is so cool when the sun is actually out.

- I love you, I love you, I looooove you!

เอ็ลเดอร์ นักเกมส์ (Elder Gamers)

Elder Barrett

"Everything they say is true!!"

 เฮลโล Hello!

Another week in the books. It was an awesome one. We finally have some people to teach!!! We had a few days where we only had like an hour to find new people. It was awesome!

KNOCK KNOCK

This is the part where you say: "Who's there?" We did a lot of finding this week, because we gave ourselves a hefty goal: 50 new people to teach in the future. What did we actually get? 50 exactly, let's go!!! Alki YSA does not mess around. It was fun to meet a lot of cool people, meet a few angry people, even knock some houses. That last one only lasted for like 6 houses. It wasn't great.

TEACH AND PREACH

We finally have people to teach. One, we had a lesson at her doorstep. She is very interested and has been reading the Book of Mormon in her free time and said that the Restoration makes a lot of sense, because it does!! Another one was actually Eric's wife! She's been going through a tough time recently, and she has a LOT to say, but I'm so excited to finally be able to have a teaching pool. It's really fun to see the blessings that come to someone who accepts the gospel.

INSTRUMENTS IN THY HAND

Alma 17:9 reads: "And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren [...], to the knowledge of the truth..." That is what every missionary should hope for an work towards, to be an instrument in the hands of God. It's hard, no doubt about it. At times it can feel like I'm just out here by myself and the help that I'm getting from God is just encouragement. But my friend, Jai, shared with us what really happened last week. He was sitting in his apartment, not wanting to live anymore. He was just done. He was asking God, "why am I even here anymore?" And at that very moment, he heard a knock at his door. When he found out it was the missionaries, he thought he would scare them away by telling them that he was gay. But when they didn't care, he was surprised and interested in what they had to say. They gave him a Book of Mormon and a verse to read. He's been reading a lot out of it. And he has felt the spirit for the first time. Now, he doesn't want to die as much. Maybe there's something to live for anyways. I can't tell you how grateful I am that I could be an instrument in God's hand to bring some light and truth into Jai's life. I was truly an instrument in his hand. And the crazy thing is, I had no idea that something that incredible happened when I first met him. But it was definitely a miracle and had been in God's plans for a long time.

LAST THINGS LAST

- I got thrown out of an apartment complex this week! I can't believe it took this long for that to happen.

- Yesterday was Pi day, you all better have celebrated properly.

- Mexicans make outstanding hot dogs.

- I love you even more than PC Laptops does.

เอ็ลเดอร์ สามจุด (Elder Three Point)

Elder Barrett

Khakis and a Fanny Pack

เฮลโล Hello!

How is everyone doing this week? I'm doing pretty well myself, thanks for asking. This week was faster than fast, but it was amazing. Elder Knapp and I are staying in Alki YSA for one more transfer! That's insane! So, here's to more of the YSA life!

Uh oh, this man has พระ (priest)

We tracted into a guy who invited us inside for a Pepsi. We went right in and he started talking to us about what makes our religion different. He was genuinely listening. He even took out a pen and paper to jot down some notes. Now, this man was some kind of super genius. His questions were so hard to answer, because he used so many big and fancy words in rapid succession. We had an awesome conversation and we offered to give him a Book of Mormon. He said he would love to read it, and that he actually wrote down a goal to read it once he finished the Buddhist book he's been reading. When we pulled one out and handed it over to him, he said, "is this the actual Book of Mormon?? Cool!" He then showed us his "altar" in his room with a bunch of idols and incense and stuff. It was surreal haha. Reminded me of Thailand. 

SEASIDE MIRACLE

We were tracting again one day and we weren't getting any success, so we decided to try something new. We went over to Seahurst Park, which is a beach right in the Puget Sound, to do some street contacting. We talked to a few people who weren't very interested and we decided we were gonna head back home for dinner. We saw a lady painting rocks under a pavilion and almost just walked right past her because we had been rejected so much that day. But we went and talked to her anyways. She was very nice and told us she had actually met missionaries in Kirkland a few weeks ago and they were going to send her information over to some missionaries in Tukwila. We just happen to be some missionaries in Tukwila. We had a cool talk with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. Hopefully we'll see her again!

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

This is one of the most meaningful experiences of my entire mission, so if you read anything in this email, please read this story. One man we tracted into this week tried to shut us right down by telling us he's gay and he knows we hate him for that. We told him we don't hate anyone because he's gay and he started to listen. We had a cool doorstep lesson and he told us to come back another day. So on Sunday night, we stopped by. He opened up and we explained the Restoration a little bit more. At some point, he interjected and told us that he didn't want to live anymore. He said he just doesn't want to wake up again. We really didn't know what to say. We stopped teaching and we just talked to him man to man. We talked about how we sincerely wanted to see him the next time we come over. It was a good conversation. He thanked us for coming over, especially because he told us to, and he was really happy that we both remembered his name. It really meant a lot to him. He said he couldn't promise that he would be around for us the next time we stop by, but we got his phone number and told him to call or text us anytime that he needs someone to talk to. He's been texting us youtube videos of carpool karaoke and stuff. 😂 He's a really funny guy. But the biggest thing for me is that just being a missionary might have saved someone's life. And that is all I need to know that this is where I need to be. That just being out here has made an impact on someone's life.

LAST THINGS LAST

- The weather was good enough to bring out the short sleeves and fanny pack! Classic TBM look.

- The Elders Quorum President snapped at the Sunday School teacher during our first week back to in person church.

- Microwave burritos make decent enchiladas.

- We had a pool table show up at our front door one day. It's made a great table to play Pokemon on.

- Just a quick FYI for you, I love you!

เอ็ลเดอร์ ไม่ไหว้รูปเคารพ (Elder does not worship idols.)

Elder Barrett

I am the Dog Whisperer.

 เฮลโล Hello!

Welcome back to another week in the life of Elder Barrett. This week was ZION week, meaning 3 things: exact obedience to the daily schedule, always acting on promptings, and repenting immediately. Was I perfect? Not by a long shot. Was it a good week? You bet!

TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH

One of my favorite scriptures is Ether 12:6. It says, "...I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Let me tell you, this could not be more true. I had a very long week. Not that I wasn't having a good time, but there was very little visible progress in the missionary work. It was a little frustrating at times, but we kept going. On Saturday, we were doing some tracting and were getting very little interest. Eventually one lady screamed at us to get off her *freaking* porch (censored for the children). It felt a little fruitless to keep going, but we didn't have anything else to do, so we persevered. We moved onto the next building and the very first door was a YSA aged girl who said that our message was "something the world really needs right now." And that she would definitely talk to us some more next week! Then a few days later, we met this guy from Honduras who used to meet with the missionaries a few times a week in his home country! He talked to us for like 45 minutes it was awesome. Suddenly, it was going so well that we were late for an appointment! We definitely didn't receive our witness until after the trial of our faith.

LEARN YOU SOME EDUCATION 

We have a few friends who are progressing really well. I'll sum up a few of our experiences this week. 

Jesus - We had an awesome member present lesson. We shared about the Plan of Salvation, and he really liked it! He's on date to be baptized the second week of March, so we'll see how he keeps progressing.

Eric - He always lets us in. He's a super sincere guy and I can tell his interest is increasing every time we come. He has met with a lot of pastors and ministers before, but just hasn't felt comfortable with many of them. He told us that we feels differently about us! He's going to be praying about the Book of Mormon and to know if he should get baptized.

LAST THINGS LAST

- Dogs just flock to me. And sleep in my lap. It makes me feel like a Disney princess.

- Sometimes a smoke break is a great time to run into missionaries! Who knew?

- This week, we got snow, hail, and rain. What is this place?

- I love you more than I love Costco muffins. I would be honored if I was you.

เอ็ลเดอร์ ไม่สนุก  (Elder is not fun.)

Elder Barrett