Oct 29

So you’re saying there’s a chance!

What a crazy week! I still feel like there is not such a thing as a normal week out here, is that bad? It keeps things interesting, so I don’t mind it one bit! Do y’all ever experience ‘normal’ weeks? What is real life really like? What is normal all along…. And on that note, my week was great!

Up: Certainly one of the best ups for me this week was the chance I had to go back and spend a day in the Lost Mountain Ward! It was incredible! I love that place! We were blessed to be fed by the Phillip’s (don’t worry, it was just a ‘snack’). And also the Wallace’s and Collin’s had us over too! I got to reconnect with several investigators that I had taught. Last but not least, I got to spend time in the place I once called home…. The Carnell’s basement! It was good to see them especially! It was like this half déjà vu half dream come true ©. That rhymed. Copyrighted ;) . Everyone seems to notice how much weight I have lost. I will call it, the MARTA Diet!

Up Up: Bro Hoyt will be baptized on the 3^rd of October!!! We are making final preparations, but it will be an incredible day! The ward is awfully excited for this! He has been a long process, but all is well! We also had Alonzo come to church again, and he also attended a fireside out in Douglasville (which we had to help coordinate). Sunday was a good day. I happened to bare my testimony as well, haven’t done that in a little while. It was a year ago that I first bore testimony from that pulpit. The Nostalgia!!

Up Up Up: General conference weekend!!! It is like Christmas all over again! Spiritual presents are being placed under our trees. The only problem is that we aren’t sure which tree to go to because there is so many here…. Kind of a problem. Maybe we just need to check under the tree of life :) Write down a question before conference, and I promise it will be answered as you watch! Soak it up!

Down: We need to find more families! You can never be teaching too much. Families need what we have in order to be happy forever. The Doctrine of Christ and the Doctrine of the Family are inseparably connected!

Well that is an official wrap to my week! Thanks for emailing and letting me know of yours! Keep fighting the good fight of faith, endure and enjoy to the end, look up and smile! Have another blessed up week! Love you all so very much and I look forward to hearing from y’all in a week! Let me know if there is anything that I can do!

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes

 Patient Progress makes an Eternal Difference.

Sept 22

There’s a snake in my boot,

Not really, I don’t even have boots in the first place, but! We did find a snake outside our apartment! So we did what Moses invited the children of Israel to do, look and live! But needless to say, all is well in the grand land of Georgia! God is still in the soil! He also seems to be the temperature, because He is turning down the heat in Hotlanta. We’ll just see what we can do to light it up with the baptism by fire, yea, even by the Holy Ghost. It was a stellar week! I am so happy to be alive and to be serving the Lord! Surely there is no place that I ought to be right now.

Ups: The greatest news that we received was for a many that we are teaching, and that missionaries have been teaching for a good minute, finally has decided to pull the trigger on baptism. Bro Hoyt will be baptized not this weekend, but the next! We have some things we need to iron out, but the miracle was that we set the date for the 18^th, and apparently the 4^th seemed better to him. He has never been happier; they even had us over for a deep fried turkey feast.

 Another great miracle was that we were having a longer day, even a member was out with us. No one, nor their dogs, nor their dog’s dogs were answering the door. And lo and behold, as we were backing the car out, a young man (25) came and starting speaking with us saying,” Y’all seem really friendly, do you represent Jesus Christ?” Alonzo and his Mom came to church and loved it. They both accepted to be baptized on the 18^th of October! Many are prepared! That is a scientific fact! 

I got to spend a lunch with the incredible Miller Family! It was good to see them, and we will be working with Bro. Miller because he is the Stake High Councilman over missionary work. They are amazing, truly! I am so blessed to have had the chance to get to know them so well and many others in the Lost Mountain Ward. I got to see Krysta (investigator from Lost Mountain) and it was so incredible to see her too! She is doing well and is looking to be baptized in December! I hope I am there for that! She is amazing! I also had the immense blessing of seeing the Phillip’s family! I love them so much! I am at a lack of words with describing how legit they are! I was so happy to see them!

Down: It isn’t really a down, but we didn’t achieve the goals we were hoping for. We had everything set up for the lessons we hoped we would teach, and things fell through. I may be a little disappointed about not reaching as many people, but I am certainly not discouraged. Good things are to come this week! I know it! I also think I could use the Book of Mormon more. Once again, not really a down.

All Arounds: I just want to have an all around thank you for everything that everyone has done for me! Prayers, emails, letters, packages, love, and what have you. I am surrounded by amazing people, and for that I am eternally grateful. I don’t know where I would be without y’all! So, simply stated,Thank You.

That is about a wrap! Thanks again and keep on keeping on! Fight the good fight, have a blessed up one! And we will chat in about weeks time! Let me know what I can do to further help you! Love you all so very much!

Love,
Elder Dallan Barnes

Only when you pause and ponder is it that we see His Hand and His Plan Unfold.

Sept 15

Buenas Dias!
It is so darn good to hear from y'all again! What a glorious day to be living in! I am so blessed and highly favored as my people around here would say! What's good? Well let me go ahead fill you in!

Up: I have officially landed in a foreign land, called the Kennesaw Mountain Ward. Coincidentally next door neighbors to the Lost Mountain Ward! Powder Springs is the place to be! I absolutely love it here and I am so ecstatic to be back! There surely is not a better place to be serving! I got to see some familiar faces! My companions are great! Elder Kennedy is from Portland and is waiting on a visa! We have served around each other and I am glad to be his companion! Good things are to come this transfer! Elder Pack is a great new missionary that I get to work with! I have been so blessed with all of these great missionaries. Case in point, my mission experience is the greatest, no question!
　
Down: I didn't get much of a chance to say goodbye to many of the people in Decatur. That place has a portion of my heart there! I will miss it dearly!
　
Up: First day in the area, we were out with a member, and he offered to take us to Golden Corral (missionaries could never say no to that sort of thing!) No joke, the first person we saw, Kenyetta, lifted her voice and told us that we need to say a prayer with her and her coworker! We prayed right there (we didn't get much of a discount... Maybe there are coupons or something in heaven). She has been looking for a church lately, she was supposed to come, but Satan kept her from coming by her getting called into work. She hasn't committed to a date to be baptized, but she is praying about one.
　
Up: We are teaching a man named Bro. Hoyt. He is from New York. He and his wife have the best accents I have ever heard. It resonates so well because all we hear is some Southern. I can't go over there and not get a good laugh while teaching the Gospel! He is moving towards baptism real soon! Just have some things to work through!
　
Sounds like everyone has up and left! I hate to say I am part of that Mom. That is some ridiculous money though Mom! Maybe she can treat you to something. Hang onto the memory card though, for now. I need to take more pictures for sure! I'll do better. I just don't know what to take pictures of or when to stop, we are so so busy! I still do have a car, the weather is cooling, which is nice.

Our Address is:
2105 Mesa Valley Way Apt #104
Austell, GA 30106
　
That is a wrap, thanks for fighting the good fight! For emailing, and everything else! I really appreciate it all so much! Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you! Have another blessed up week! Be grateful the Lord exects so much of us!
　
Love,
Elder Dallan Barnes
Know His Plan

Sept 8th

The Transfer Fairy!

First off, Jesus Christ Lives! And all good things that we have received, are receiving now, or will ever receive is because of Him! I am so grateful for what he has done for us all. He live! As for the fairy, I didn’t put a tooth under my pillow, but we still managed to get a call this morning. The Lord is calling me another direction! For which I am eager and excited, but I would be lying if I didn’t say it was a little saddening. Bittersweet is the best term that I can come up with to describe my feelings. The Twin Oaks Ward and the Decatur Area will have a very fond place in my heart for eternity. I could spend a whole mission here, it truly is a grand land. Georgia is incredible! Once again, I am excited for what the Lord has in store for me. I remember the long cold snowy trek from Lost Mountain to Twin Oaks as if it were yesterday. It feels like it has all been such a great dream. I know in whom I have trusted, and I know what I have promised. I am so grateful to be serving a mission, to be on the Lord’s errand, and to labor amongst His children and help them receive His greatest blessings! God is good!

Up: We had a Fast Sunday Miracle, with a young man I had taught a while back, that finally came to church, Paul is his name. He came an hour early in his mom’s car to make sure he could find the church, then took the car back home, then walked to church. He is 19 and I can see him with the Badge, and having received the call to gather the lost sheep. He has agreed to be baptized on the 27^th of September!

Up: Everyone managed to notice our subtlety matching ties! Thanks Mom! I will make sure to attach a picture. You make us look real good! It is good to be “Back in School.”

Down: No further downs, your Honor.

Up: Funny moment of the week involved me and Elder Olive (I was in the MTC with him). We were on exchanges and we were wrapping up the day. A member told us that he met a man named Steve in the complex and he was the only white guy he knew of. We joked and said we were going to start yelling for Steve. No joke, we walk around the corner, seeing a white man walking his dogs, and we start speaking with him. I mustered up the courage to ask, “Would your name happen to be Steve?” To which he responded, “Why do you ask?!” WE FOUND STEVE! He is wanting to join a church and be baptized. God has a sense of humor!

 It appears that it is that time again! Thanks for the email and the status report on what is happening out there in Alpine and the related areas! You are all such examples to me, so keep on keeping on. Fight the good fight, and have another blessed up week! Love you all so much, and let me know what I can do for y’all! 

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes

We are of the Household of Faith, not the Household of Fear.

Sept 2, 2014

Labor Day, the most misunderstood Holiday,

But let’s be real for a moment. Labor Day = Day of No Labor? Someone really pulled a fast one there. Either way, it was a great day, where we actually lived up to the name of the holiday! But first and foremost, Happy Birthday Mom! You are amazing and I love you so very much! I hope that your Birthday was filled with many smiles and much fun! That’s like the very least that we could do for you! You must be like, 25 if my calculations are right. I probably overshot the age, but tell me if I am wrong :)

Up of the Week: We were out laboring diligently yesterday and we were blessed so abundantly! We found a full family of 11, married and looking for a church. They have never joined a church because they didn’t know which one was right. As my Southern Brothers and Sisters would say, HALLELUJAH! Teaching them the Restoration to them was a testimony building experience and the Spirit was certainly there! I sometimes have to pinch myself and ask, like in Alma 32, “Is not this real?” Yes, this is real, the church is true, and God loves each of us!

Down… Rick and Tiny have been evicted and are now staying in their car. Their dog just was attacked and are facing the decision of what they can do with him. If he is anything like Sam, he’ll be A-okay. It seems like it is one thing after another with them. They get a glimmer of hope, and then bam, snatched out of the sky like Ginger and Sam with Dragon Flies at Lake Powell. God is putting them through the ringer, but they will be so battle hardened!

Forever Up: My Family! There aren’t many days that I don’t think of something about y’all. I am so grateful and extremely thankful for being raised in such a loving environment. We put the fun in dysfunctional, but hey, someone has to do it! I see so many families (if you can call them that) which Satan has chewed up and spit out. It is so emotionally taxing to see the effects of his works. Thanks for being who you are and for being so special to me! I know I was far from easy to get along with, but I am eternally grateful for y’all! Love you so very much!

That is about a wrap! Thanks again for all that you do for me, and my companions! The Pizza was spot on Mom! Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you! Keep up the good fight of faith, and never ever give up! Love you all so very much! Have a blessed up week!

Love,
Elder Dallan Barnes

The Miracle of the Atonement is that obstacles become opportunities.

“Every day is a new opportunity to brighten a life.” Sister Harding

“Follow your heart, but don’t forget your Brain.”