Tuesday, August 29, 2017

God Bless Texas

This is the first email we received August 28, 2017


Good morning mom and dad! I just wanted to give you an update on how things are going down here. Currently where I am at in Tomball things are fine. We have been told not to leave our apartments so I haven't seen much of what anything else looks like, but outside our apartment everything is fine. There is no flooding as far as the eye can see and we are up safely on the 3rd floor. It's getting a little boring inside the apartment but I've almost finished the New Testament.

Anyways, I hope that all is well and just know that your prayers have been felt.

Love, Josh

This is the one we received later in the day. 


Whelp this has been a weird week with an unexpected turn of events to cap it off, but I'll start with the positive. We visited Sergio and Perla, a part member couple whose parents are active in our ward. As we started to get to know them a little bit, Sergio mentioned to us that he wants to get baptized and sealed in the temple with his girlfriend. Kind of a shock to us because we had barely met him, but not unwelcome. They are going to get married on December 15th but we will teach and meet with them leading up until then.

As well, another part member family named the Morales just returned from Mexico so we met with them. They talked about how much they liked the church's focus on strengthening families and raising children in good homes. The wife Itzia talked about how she's inactive and some of her doubts and concerns. Her husband Jose talked about how much he liked going to church, but he hasn't been able to go for awhile due to work. We asked some more question and asked them what their goals are and how they expect to achieve them. They opened up about how hard it is to change their lifestyle. So we just testified about how God will help us if we make sacrifices in order to follow him. It reminded me of a scripture in The Book of Revelation 12:11 in the Bible that describes how the war in heaven was won:

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

I thought about that last line in the verse and how it applies to me. It is possible to love our lives unto the death. Sometimes we can get very distracted here in this life and lose sight of the purpose of our very existence: to make it back to God's presence. Satan has done a really good job of distracting us of our ultimate divine purpose. If we wait too late to repent and become true followers of Christ, we will not be able to reach our potential as children of God.

As well, midweek we received an email from President Peterson about a tropical storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico headed for the Texas coast. Eventually it developed into a category 4 hurricane that hit the Texas coast just west and south of Houston. It has been raining ever since Friday. Apparently there is some catastrophic flooding in parts of Houston, but where we are at there isn't much. But they canceled church yesterday and we have been instructed to stay inside both yesterday and today. So I've read a good portion of the Bible and I've wiped the floor with Elder Garcia in chess. We've definitely prayed a lot and continue to pray for those impacted by the flooding in various parts of Texas. We are anxious for the storm to die down so that we can get out there and start helping with the recovery efforts.

Anyways, be safe y'all. God bless Texas.


Pretty much sums up the last few days

Barbecue with the Reyes family


Shout Out to Elder Garcia!

This email was sent August 21, 2017

Hey y'all honestly it wasn't too eventful of a week this week but a few things did happen. First and foremost I would like to give a shoutout to mi hijo amado Elder Garcia who had his 8 week follow up training on Wednesday. He did really well and it was an edifying meeting. It was interesting attending the meeting from the perspective of a trainer.

This week we focused a lot on receiving referrals. The key with gaining the trust of the members is getting to know them. So we tried to stop by whatever members were in the area whenever we were out knocking and ask for a drink of water or to share a 10 minute lesson. It worked really well. We feel like the members know us and can trust us. We got some good potentials who we are going to visit this week so I'll let you all know if we pick up some solid new gators next week. 

Elder Barrus
THM

It was a L-O-N-G Saturday

Stabio Family Farewell Party

This email is from August 14, 2017

What's up fellas? This week was kinda slow but we had a lot of fun. First off it's been very rewarding to continue to work with Pascual and his family. They are making lots of progress and there is a special feeling in their home. Pascual told us this week about some goals he's made recently. He is planning on saving money with his wife so they can buy a house and move their family out of their mobile home. He works as a welder and actually makes a lot of money, but in the past he blew a lot of it on beer. Now he's using that money to put his family in a better neighborhood. The Gospel not only helps people be happier, but also helps them achieve their goals.

As well not too much happened besides the fact that we knocked lots of doors. We didn't really find any solid people to teach but we'll keep at it and they'll come. The prepared people are out there, we just have to find them. I have learned that we can't force the issue as missionaries. If people don't want it, we move on. It's as simple as that. Find out what people want or are looking for, help them understand that the Gospel will help with that and promise specific blessings.


Going away party for the Stabio family


On Friday we went to a going away party for the Stabio family. They are a super cool family that is going up to the University of Wisconsin so the father can get his master's degree in business. The wife didn't speak any Spanish 4 years ago, but then they decided to attend a Spanish ward and her hand was forced. So she learned and now speaks it better than a lot of the missionaries that come through here. They are good examples to me of a strong family that loves, serves, and does all they can to live a quiet, Christlike life. I want to be that type of member when I return from my mission.

That's about it from here. Ándale pues!

Elder Barrus

THM

"And he inviteth them all to come unto him..."

This email is from August 7, 2017

Que onda y'all? This week was definitely the most gratifying of my mission thus far. Pascual and his sons Oscar and Angel were baptized on Saturday and was a baptism that I will not soon forget. I had the honor of baptizing Pascual and Elder Garcia baptized his 2 sons. Pascual has come a long ways since when we first knocked on his door about a month ago but he was very prepared and progressed very rapidly. It was an especially happy day for his wife Yami who had been praying for him to change for awhile before we showed up. I already know that the Oropeza family will be a strong family in this church that will be leaders and will send their boys on missions. It was days like Saturday that made all of the sacrifice, frustration, and hard work of the mission worth it. I've been extremely blessed and fortunate to be in the position I'm currently in and to have had the
experiences I have had thus far on my mission. Just makes me want to continue to do my very best because you never know who may be on the other side of that door.



The Oropeza Family


Elder Barrus, Pascual, and Elder Garcia

The District 
Besides the baptism we've been working hard to refill the teaching pool so we can continue this wave of momentum. On Sunday we stopped by a guy we talked to about a month ago named Kevin who we gave a Book of Mormon to. He came out a little bit drunk and started going off on how everything related to Mormonism was wrong because there's a depiction of a white Jesus appearing to the ancient inhabitants of the Americas in the pictures section. He talked about racism and how we are racist and how he will grow up telling his son that Mormons are racist and not to associate with them. And then he said "Your belief in a white Jesus is ruining the future of this country!"  We honestly didn't say much to him, we both were just shocked by how bold he was. I wanted to point out a Book of Mormon verse that says:

"...And he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his
goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white,
bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and
all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile."

But ni modo, I wasn't upset, just amused at how passionate some people can be about simple things.

That's about all from here, look forward to hearing back from y'all next week!

Elder Barrus
THM

Monday, August 28, 2017

Transfer Calls--We're Both Staying!

This email is from July 31, 2017

Last night we got the transfer calls but Elder Garcia and I are staying together for one more transfer so I get to continue imparting my wisdom with him. 😀 We've got things rolling here and are excited to reap the harvest over the next 6 weeks.

To start out we finished teaching Pascual and Oscar the lessons on Friday and he understood and liked the commandments. He's been listening to the Book of Mormon every day at his job as a welder and is now in Jacob. We've seen such a change in him. His whole countenance has changed since we first met him. He came to church for the fourth week in a row and is ready to be baptized this Saturday with his son Oscar!

Also on Friday we visited a Venezuelan family that had been coming to English class and it went super good! They talked about their transition from Venezuela to here and how they had to start at square one economically and socially. But we shared 2 Nephi chapter 1 verse 6 that talks about how those who come to this country are brought by the hand of God. Neysi, the mama of the family loved that scripture and how after it talks about the Lord prospering those that keep His commandments. They committed to come to church and Neysi actually ended up coming and loving it.

That's really all the noteworthy things that happened this week but I'll try to include some better stories and stuff next week.

Elder Barrus
THM

Exchanges with Elder Hunt. I love this guy!







"Why I Believe" Fireside

This email is from July 24, 2017

Well, this week I think I officially hit 6 months til I get home. Elder Garcia's been whipping me into shape and we've been going running 2 miles every single morning for the past week. It's been rough but it's made a difference already.

This week was business as usual and Pascual is still the man. He's been telling us about the changes he's seen in himself since we started meeting with him and even his wife agreed. The wife never lies! As well we met his oldest son Kevin this week. He's really shy but he's super open to learn more and change his life. He'll come around. Pascual even referred us to his neighbor Jose though! He told us he's not much of a church person but that Pascual raved about how we were helping him change his life and be a better husband and father and he said he was down to learn more. So we'll go back this week to see what's up.

Today we got a text from the Honduran family telling us that they didn't feel ready to be baptized and are going to discontinue receiving the discussions and coming to church. They didn't really tell us why but we'll try to stop by this week to get the story.

Lunch with this cool family--the Arredondos

Boris at the "Why I Believe" Fireside
Also on Sunday we went to an English "Why I believe" fireside that was pretty darn cool. At the end I noticed a Venezuelan guy from the audience that looked kind of familiar and he came up to me and said he remembered me! His name was Boris and way back when I was in Katy, Elder Sellers and I visited him once and then could never get back in because he was super busy. Come to find out that he's going to be baptized this Saturday. I guess you'll never know the impact of your missionary service until later sometimes. That taught me how critical it is to know our role and be true disciples day in and day out, regardless of the numbers or immediate results.

Elder Barrus
THM

Bowling with the District