March 30

Scratch and Ye Shall…

(As we were at a member’s home for dinner, we were talking about the Savior’s command to “ask and ye shall receive”, then one of the other kids, almost all of them are primary aged, said, “Ding the doorbell and it shall be opened unto you.” Then I said what “Scratch and ye shall…” the one daughter concluded my statement with this:) be kicked in the face like the cats that scratch the door. It was truly a hysterical moment, and I am so very thankful that is not the Lord’s policy, otherwise I wouldn’t have many teeth left! There were moments this week where we did receive what we asked for, we knocked and doors were opened, we sought and found. There were also a few moments where foot met face. I’ll explain in a minute, but I can’t let this letter go any further without saying I love you all! Thanks for all that you do for me! Jesus Christ lives! Let me outline the week! 

The Miracle this week has to be our investigator Todd! We have been working with him for a month now, and I am overjoyed to say that he has finally agreed to a baptismal date for April 18th! He made it to church for the 5th time! He has already met many members and is making so many friends! We have him set in three members homes this week for lessons! He is progressing and the Lord is leading him, even if he has been through a rough divorce and a burnt down home. It amazes me how much I need my investigators; I grow with them, and learn so much from them! The gospel is true! We are super excited for Todd in the coming weeks!

We had a bit of a miscommunication with Rosie Sunday morning. She got tripped up and fell on Saturday, bruised up pretty good. We texted her (and this is why texting is dumb) that Satan works really hard to keep people from coming to church, especially as we get closer to Sunday. She interpreted it thinking that we thought she was lying. We got a real talking to, but all was well by the end of it! We got to see her Sunday night; she is doing super awesome though! She is planning to tune into General Conference! Also this week she took hold of the doctrine of Baptisms for the Dead and the Spirit World! It brought a lot of comfort to her, knowing that all her loved ones who hadn’t been baptized could do so now! Her faith is continuing to grow! Like a seed growing, as Alma teaches! 

The Sutton’s were set to come to church as of 9:30Pm Saturday Evening. We got a text at 2:00Am informing us that they wouldn’t make it and that they have found another church. Drive a wedge right in our hearts! They still are going to make us some fajitas. I know the Spirit will start working on them. It will all work out in the end! At the very least, we made some really good friends!

We saw some serious miracles after we had Mission President Interviews. President Harding is called of God! I hope you all get the chance to meet him and his wife! They are some of the highest caliber people I have ever met! He invited us to go out and teach 20 Lessons with Member’s present. I am here to say that with your inspired counsel, my amazing companion, and the goodness of God helped us achieve such! We desired it, prayed for it, then spent and exerted every effort to make it happen. We did our part and the Lord sent forth his power and miracles happened! My faith has grown tremendously! It isn’t about achieving goals alone, but in the service we render! We did much good and that is what fuels me! To see people change and use the Atonement!  

That is an official wrap! Thanks again for all that you do for me! Happy Easter! Enjoy conference! It is going to be dynamite, I can feel it! Fight the good fight of Faith! Thanks for all that you do for me! I love you all so very much! Have a blessed up week! 

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes

Two Simple Words, One Amazing truth: He Lives

March 23

Officially Spring!

As of Friday, Spring is here! Many showers are bringing forth many flowers! The trees are blossoming; it is truly a sight to behold! Georgia is much prettier in the Spring, you have to see it to believe it. I might also add that it is different in Cartersville than Decatur, for apparent reasons!  It has done a whole lot of raining and also a whole lot of sun shining! What an amazing time to be alive! Let me catch you up on the details! 

I am sad to say that not even the yodeling helped the Sutton’s this week. They had a family outing come up in which they met with Labraun’s grandmother to meet her newest grandchild. It isn’t like bad things are getting in the way, but the Adversary is finding a way every week to get them away from the Lord’s Kingdom. We will be getting those Fajitas this week though! We are reinstituting operation Subtle Satan Subdual to Solidify Sutton’s Sacrament Status. It is the real deal! They are doing very well though! It has been such an answer to prayers to have Labraun get a new boss. They are going to be writing up a paper on 3^rd Nephi 11 to present to us, they asked for the assignment!

 Our miracle was that of our investigator, Janet. She committed to come to church three weeks ago. We have maintained contact with her over this time, teaching her probably about once a week. When Sunday rolled around, all of our investigators had fallen through on their commitments to come to church. We hadn’t heard from Janet either. Until at 8:55 that we got a text from her asking, “I am on my way. Could you two meet me at the entrance, please?” My heart jumped and my joy shot upwards! She stayed for all of church and loved every minute of it, even testifying in classes! She then desired to meet with us more regularly and to get her teenage boys involved with the lessons! It is truly a miracle! It wasn’t until after the trial of our faith that we saw it. God is a god of miracles!

Todd is on the cusp of being baptized. He explains that he is close and is seeking for just a little more of a nudge to be baptized! His divorce is done and through now so we can really hone in on the teaching! The Lord will provide him with what he needs as he follows the commandments!

 Rosie also explained that she is right on that edge of baptism! She really wants it! She does though want her life to get into a little more order to help her get over the grief. The Savior can help her overcome it! Surely he has born all of our grief! He triumphed over it! He is risen!! We are excited to help her progress onward!

March Madness, Dad! I can’t say enough of it, Go UTES! 

Well that is a wrap! Thank you again for all the emails, prayer, and love! I really and truly appreciate it! I wish everyone the best week ever! Even the most blessed up one yet! Fight the good fight! Let us live to make men free! Love you all so much! We’ll catch you next week!

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes

No one defines you but your Heavenly Father.

March 16th

Luck of the Barnes!

Essentially, what I am trying to get at, is that if we don’t have bad luck, we don’t have luck at all. Well, some might say that landing a back flip on the air chair was luck, but I beg to differ. Some would say that is was luck that I can eat the most French toast or Tucano’s , once again, beggingly differ! Some might be even farfetched enough to say that it was luck we all ended up together, but that is far from truth! God put us all together! I am so blessed to have a wonderful family and group of friends in my life! As Buck Mendenhall always told us, “Luck is when preparation meets and opportunity.” What an opportunity! What a wonderful life! Thank you very much for the email! Let me give you the collision on how we have been “lucky” this week!

The only pre-St Patrick’s Day Pinch was the one that I gave myself to see if this was reality! Georgia is one grand place! The weather was pristine this week, well, outside of the rain. It is fixing to be warm this week, which means oodles of people outside! We were blessed to find over twenty new people to go teach this past week! God gave the increase! 

Friday the 13^th, I bent my back rim really bad. No, I am not putting on weight! I hit a curb at a wrong angle. We found out that you can tinker with the spokes to tighten and loosen them! The things you learn while in the service of God! That was about as freaky as it got on that day. 

The Sutton’s didn’t make it to church…. However, they did invite us to knock on their door in the morning to awake them. They invited, and we will deliver! We may or may not by a blow horn at Walmart today. We won’t start out with that either. We will begin by knocking, then scratching the windows with our finger nails, then somehow get a rooster into their house, Yodeling belligerently (Elder Terhufen is German, it comes naturally to him), and if all else fails, we will call the ambulance and fire department. They are going to make it to church by golly! They did feed us a wonderful meal Sunday Evening. And they want to make us some fajitas on Wednesday! They truly are incredible!! Labraun got a new coworker, so he is very pleased with that. The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those that put their faith in Him! 

Rosie had a killer toothache and needed to go to the hospital. Thankfully Todd straggled in to church for Priesthood! The adversary will not win this battle! 

One quick miracle for y’all today! It seems like everywhere we went this week the Jehovah’s Witnesses had already been there just prior. We got kicked out of a neighborhood; the Landlord wasn’t kind at all and had us mistaken. We had an appointment with a family, we weren’t tracting! I testify!! We had appointments scheduled with our Ward Mission Leader and his wife. The Lord lovingly rerouted our plans, by allowing things to fall through. We took to the streets to go see a Less Active Returned Missionary. Quickly found out that he moved. As we were reconciling our plans, since the primaries and backups fell through, Elder Terhufen pointed out a gentleman sitting on his porch. We spoke with him, come to find out that he and his wife were wanting to join a church. We hadn’t really achieved Goal Zero until this family, which was Saturday Evening. It was amazing to me that the Lord provided us a way to reach the people we were supposed to! He will always lead us and guide us; our task is to stay humble and receptive to the quiet promptings of the Holy Ghost.  

Well, I am fresh out of things to say! Well, aside from this, make sure to find the color blind person, and pinch them incessantly. St. Patrick’s would be the worst day for the color blind community. But, fight the good fight! Thanks for all that you do for me! I love you all so very much! Keep the faith and have one blessed up week! 

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes

As we provide our will, He will make the Way.

March 9^th 2015

Springing Forward!

Day light savings time is a love-hate holiday. Personally, I think it should be Devils Light Savings, or Day Light Satan’s time. Thankfully, the Lord provided naps. Those are definitely ordained of Him! After all, He did rest on the seventh day! I hope everyone is rebounding from the sleep deficit. Don’t worry though, in due time, we will get that lost hour back. Some blessings come soon, some don’t come until November, others might not come until Heaven, but they will make it to us eventually! At least Spring is coming right up! It got in the mid 70’s this week, and then plummeted to the 20’s. That is so Georgia! Let me tell you about this week! 

A big miracle of ours this week revolves around Rosie! On our way home from Zone Conference, she explained over the phone, that she was extremely depressed. It was a rough day in total, as she pondered on the death of her husband and ex-husband. She had ran out of medication, and told us she had been having very depressed thoughts. Elder Terhufen bore down in pure testimony and we plotted on how we could help her. We decided to get some flowers at Kroger and a card as well. We were going to pay for the flowers and card and used the Book of Mormon barcode to get the Kroger discount (don’t believe me, go and try it!). The baffled cashier and customer behind us asked about the Book. We explained a little and as we were trying to split the bill for the flowers, the wonderful lady behind us offered to buy the items. She was an angel! We explained what it was all for and she herself got a little teary. It is the little things that matter. She now has had one more experience with the church, where down the road, missionaries will meet her and she will be ready! There is hope for humanity! The light of Christ is shed abroad here in Georgia! She made it to Stake Conference and got the chance to speak with Elder Kopischke of the Seventy! President Harding called and invited her to come to stake conference. We followed up daily. The Spirit softened her heart! She almost backed out Sunday morning, saying she wasn’t feeling good. We prayed, asked for a miracle, then Elder Terhufen texted her to take some medicine because this meeting will change her life! God gave the increase & she made it!! Mission impossible turned possible with the Lord’s help! 

I want to take the time and point out the reason why we should change the name for Day light savings to the aforementioned names at the beginning of the letter. The Sutton’s slept in because of it; they were set for Stake Conference. It was all about the Restoration! The Lord was very merciful because we were able to have them in a member’s home for dinner! The Spirit in Member’s homes is powerful! They are so going to be baptized! It is just a matter of time! Labraun will be in town for the next two weeks! They want to feed us on Wednesday too! I know this is a family that I was sent here to find, they will be in the temple in a years’ time.

We got the chance to teach Todd as well, with a member, in the Member’s Car! It was a first for me personally, but it worked out really well. We spoke of facing adversity and building a foundation of faith that will enable him to endure. We pointed out the Book of Mormon and its role in our foundation, it being the keystone, and Jesus Christ being the very chief corner of it. He promised to read and pray about it. Then if the Lord revealed its truth, he would be baptized. It was an amazing lesson and the member we had, Bro. Rodke has a testimony of the Book of Mormon I rarely see, more often one that converts have. It was divinely appointed to say the least. He didn’t make it to Stake Conference, but I know that the light of the Gospel will transcend any form or mist of darkness! 

At the conclusion of our week, all I can say is how I feel like Ammon, relishing in the blessings of the Lord. He asks his brethren, “What great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?” I don’t know if any one of us can truly tell all of the blessings we receive. I am ever so grateful for all the blessings the Lord sees fit to bless me with! The ones I see and the ones I am not aware of. Truly, he is in the details, of all of our lives. If he has the love and patience to listen to us, how much greater need have we to be patient and loving to those around us. I hope y’all know how incredibly blessed I am to have y’all in my life! It has made all of the difference, whether it has been apparent or not as apparent! Thank you so much again! I love you all so very much! 

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes

 This is no fairytale, The Restoration is Reality.

Georgia Snow!!!! Snowball fight, snow angels, and donuts in the parking lot...lov'n it!!!

March 2nd

The snow strikes again!

My family! My people! It is Monday again! It is so crazy how much time is flying by! It sounds like out there in Utah got less snow than out here! Families still need the gospel! It was a week for the books! A good entry or two in the journal, and many good memories of being snowed on out here in Georgia!  The Gospel is so true, in case you were wondering! 

Most certainly the snow was a high point of the week! We did all of the essentials, namely a snow angel, a snow ball fight, and it wouldn’t be complete without doing donuts in the parking lot. Let’s just say that our bikes were no exception! We kept warm, found and taught many wonderful families, then made our cold and lonesome voyage home, to celebrate in our labors with the quintessential cup of hot chocolate! How great is this calling!

The one miracle to tie everything up would be our investigator Todd Harrison! He has come to church three times now! We had the chance to do some service with a member of the ward, to help him straighten up his living situation! He explained to us that, “I know there is something different about your church. I can feel it! And I like it!” He has suffered so much, it being heartbreaking to hear his story about his wife leaving after twenty nine years, then his house burning down. We are teaching him tonight in the same member’s home, the Anglins! It was amazing to see everything pan out the way it has, and the ward is wrapping their arms around him! 

Our investigator Rosie finally got feeling well enough to see us! She had many questions as her curiosity and her misinformed friends filled her with false information. She told us that she wasn’t going to let us back in. As she prayed about it, God told her that, “You need to listen to them, what they have will change your life.” The Lord answers prayers! She even bought shoes to come to church in! Something came up with her family, so she didn’t make it, but it was a tender mercy to us, and a testimony builder that the Lord does still inspire men and women in these days, and that the Holy Ghost will lead the honest seeker of truth down the paths of righteousness! 

The adversary totally found his way into our plans for the Sutton’s this week! We had a member coming out with us on Tuesday invite them over to dinner. On Saturday we had his son in law coming with us to teach them and confirm plans. This is an amazing family and we were so thrilled! Labraun actually had things come up with work and has to stay in Tennessee this past weekend and this whole week. He lost his phone too. They didn’t make it to church, but they are recognizing that they are on the right path, because Satan has totally thwarted four weeks of effort to come to church! It is a miracle in disguise, because Elder Kopishcke is coming to Stake Conference! We can put our money on the Lord’s anointed!

We got hit with a lot of opposition this week, many people not being interested, and not having kinds words attached with it. The Lord is leading us, we are not discouraged, but more eager to find those that are out there! The only reason we are here on the earth, all of us, right now, is because we need to gather Israel! It’s an amazing thought! Hymn #60, says, “Let us live to make men free.” That is something that we are taking to heart out here! 

That is a wrap right there! Thanks for all that you do for me! Please be safe in the snow! Know that y’all are my greatest joy and glory! I love you all so much! Keep fighting the good fight of faith, finish the course! Have a blessed up week!

Love,

Elder Dallan Barnes 

The Heart Heals from inside out.