Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas Floor Hockey



Dear Family!
this week as you know i was playing floor hockey at church and my companion did a slap shot and on his follow through his stick met my face it knocked my front right tooth clean out root and everything, and chip up the front left one really bad. i think one of my canines went clean through my lip and i had to get 2 stiches. the first picture is right after i got hit the second picture is right now. which is just temporary i cant use my front teeth to eat anything for a couple of weeks. and there is a bunch more stuff that has to get dont to my teeth. but looking on the bright side i have lost a buch of weight already because it hurts so much to eat that i havent been stuffing myself as much as usual. This week has been going great we have been working very hard i am in a Three some Elder Wells, Elder Ford and I, we are tearing it up. getting hit in the teeth has not slowed me down at all in fact i have been working harder then ever. merry christmas and happy new year i love you all so much and will see you in a couple of weeks

love elder barrand

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Thanksgiving chickens



Here is a quick report on the work:
This week went pretty well we started teaching this guy name Todd Roux he seemed very receptive and understood everything we taught. He agreed on reading the Book of Mormon but i think he thinks there is a hidden scheme we are trying to pull over his eyes its pretty funny. I
pray that he works out well. Other than that we are finding a lot of college students to teach and hand over to the sisters they are pretty busy too with exams this week.

Dear Family
Things are going so well i hope you enjoyed your thanks giving as much as i did. A family named the Crawfords one of my favourite families here, invited us over to help them do some service. It was the funniest service I have done yet we got to kill their chickens . I finally got to see what happens when you chop of a chickens head and they flop around on the ground for a long time it was awesome! Now i know how to kill and skin a chicken isn't that great!
Anyways, the work is going very well I am so excited you guys decided to house missionaries, that is so awesome. I was thinking about telling you guys to do that. I love you guys very much
Love Elder Barrand

November 26th



11/19 Here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going very well we have been able to find many new YSA students for the sisters to teach, like this young man named John we taught him and he understood everything so well even his mom came in at the end and posed as some opposition and John told his mom off and
said that he loves learning it was great.
Family!!!
Tiana and Don Congratulations on the engagements thanks so much for scheduling them so I could be there. Families are the best things in the world! I love you guys so much. Bryce I hope you feet can be healed, maybe you could get back on the boards a couple of times and test out the waters again that would be awesome! Celeste and Brad thanks so much for the birthday letter, I can't wait to meet Brooklyn for the first time haha. It's crazy to think that. Good luck with your decision making I know with the Lords help you will make the right choices. Danica and Dave have fun doing whatever you guys are doing working and rising kids. I hope you enjoy these pictures we took them at my birth day.

Love Elder Barrand11/26 Hey Family things are going great! this last week has been good to me
and elder ford we have been working hard and enjoying serving the Lord i love you all and have a happy thanksgiving

i am thankful for God and his son Jesus Christ, My family, my companion, being able to devote all my time to serving the Lord.
love elder barrand

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Email to Evan

Evan,
I am so grateful for your well thought out testimony of your beliefs.

I will try and answer your questions, I think they boil down to First, why would we need a prophet today and Second, why would we need more scripture ex. the Book of Mormon.

None of this will matter or make sense comparing your theology to our theology, because if I am not mistaken you are a born again Christian and all you need to do is believe and confess on the Lord Jesus Christ and you are saved. Please correct me if I am wrong. What the Prophets have taught and preached since the beginning of the world is that you need to have Faith, Repent, Be Baptized, Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End. This is the Doctrine that was lost, changed, and twisted. This is the Pure Doctrine of Jesus Christ. The bible makes references to this but does not state it clearly enough. That is why with the Book of Mormon, with Living Prophets, and the Bible, we can know the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ and participate in those saving ordinances. By stating this I invite you to keep in mind that salvation is more than just a belief or a onetime confession I will explain in greater detail as to why. But just remember that your theology and ours is different.

To understand why we need a prophet today let's look at what a prophet does. They are first given the Priesthood which is the power and authority to act in the name of God for the salvation of his children, examples being Jeremiah 1:5 and Hebrews 5:4 and; with this priesthood the Prophet in entitled to receive revelation for the children of men. Through visions, dreams, and the spirit the prophets are taught the Plan of Salvation (Numbers 12:6, 1 Nephi 22:2, Amos 3:7), which is in essence the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the holy ghost, and endure to the end, then in turn they teach it to everyone else. The scriptures record the pattern wherein God repeatedly reaches out to His children by revealing His gospel through a prophet, who in turn teaches the people. All people have the gift of agency which includes the freedom to accept or reject the gospel as taught by the prophets. Some people
follow, some don't then become disobedient; others reject it outright. The Lord then takes away His priesthood and the gospel is lost. When there are those prepared to follow Him again, the Lord reveals anew His gospel and restores His priesthood. Such periods when prophets are
commanded to teach the gospel, often involving a restoration, are called dispensations. The periods of time headed by a prophetic leader, such as Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and so forth, are called dispensations. Evan the Book of Mormon also testifies of this principle here are some references: 2 Nephi 9:2, 2 Nephi 25:26, Jacob 4:4-6, Jacob 7:11, Mosiah 3:13, Mosiah 8:13-18. And some other Bible references: Acts 10:34-43, Luke 16:19-25

Evan, through much study of my own and praying the best way to describe what I now have, has already been done on our church's website here: http://mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/the-restoration-of-truth/jesus-christ-established-his-church
A few things I want to point out. First I know that Jesus is The Christ I know that it is only through Him and His Atonement that we can be clean and make it back to the Father. I know He walked this Earth, I know that he did in reality suffer for our sins, was crucified and died for us. He was resurrected, and broke the bands of death for us to live in His presence after this mortal life. Second he organized a Church, one church, that church having the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). Those twelve men were giving the priesthood just like the prophets of old, by the Master himself by the laying on of
the hands. (Matthew 10:1; John 15:16; Matthew 28:19-20;) Now to explain Matthew 16:16-19, first off the Rock is revelation not Peter, Revelation is how Peter came to know that Jesus was the Christ, that is the context to which he was referring "the Rock" to. Christ fulfilled and completed the Atonement He accomplished all that his Father sent him to do. The "Gates of Hell" would not prevail over Revelation, it is impossible for that to happen, but just like in times past people used their agency to persecute the church and Jesus Christ. I'll explain.

Jesus Christ ascended into heaven leaving the eleven apostles a commission to go out and preach the Gospel to the world, and baptizing them. One of the first things they did was call a new apostle Matthias so there were twelve again (Acts chapter 1). Now this is very important to understand, that because of so much persecution from outside the church and apostasy from within the church made it very hard for the apostles to keep everyone in the unity of faith
(Ephesians 4:11-13) consider that almost every epistle written was to try and keep the early saints from going off in the wrong direction. Here are some scriptures that show evidence that this apostasy was happening and predicted and prophesied about: Matthew 24:9-11, Acts 3:19-21, Acts 20:28-30, Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, 2 Peter 2:1-2

These are ample enough scriptures foretelling of this apostasy, The twelve apostles were killed off too quickly to keep calling more, the organization to run Christ's church had crumbled, that foundation spoken of in Ephesians was no longer there. The Great Comforter the Lord Promised was still there but no one was there to administer the ordinances or keep the doctrine pure, the organization of Jesus Christ's Church was lost. The last of the Twelve apostles were killed off before the turn of the first century. No doubt that their words which they wrote were kept and inspired. Now go forward in time to 325 A.D. what happened here is what is called the Council of Nicaea, Emperor Constantine gathered all the bishops to establish the doctrine of the church. Let me point out a few things, Emperor Constantine was not even a Christian at this point and was doing this to gain political power in uniting his people under one religion. Now the bishops he gathered were not acting under the direction of the twelve apostles because there were none. They formulated the doctrine of the Trinity aka the Nicene Creed by a vote not by Revelation. This is not how God works. I will not go into the doctrine of the Trinity at this point in time.

At these Councils in later years under the dictation of the Emperor they decided on which books would be canonized and what books wouldn't be. Again this act was not under divine revelation. Please don't misinterpret what I am saying here. I know the Bible is the Word of God. Books were chosen to be put in to the Bible to best fit their views or doctrine. Take into consideration the so-called lost books of the Bible are those documents that are mentioned in the Bible in such
a way that it is evident they are considered authentic and valuable, but that are not found in the Bible today. Sometimes called missing scripture, they consist of at least the following: book of the Wars of the Lord (Num. 21: 14); book of Jasher (Josh. 10: 13; 2 Sam. 1: 18); book of the acts of Solomon (1 Kgs. 11: 41); book of Samuel the seer (1 Chr. 29: 29); book of Gad the seer (1 Chr. 29: 29); book of Nathan the prophet (1 Chr. 29: 29; 2 Chr. 9: 29); prophecy of Ahijah (2 Chr. 9: 29); visions of Iddo the seer (2 Chr. 9: 29; 2 Chr. 12: 15; 2 Chr. 13: 22); book of Jemeaiah (2 Chr. 12: 15); book of Jehu (2 Chr. 20: 34); sayings of the seers (2 Chr. 33: 19); an epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, earlier than our present 1 Corinthians (1 Cor. 5: 9); possibly an earlier epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 3: 3); an epistle to the Church at Laodicea (Col. 4: 16); and some prophecies of Enoch, known to Jude (Jude 1: 14). To these rather clear references to inspired writings other than our current Bible may be added another list that has allusions to writings that may or may not be contained within our present text, but may perhaps be known by a different
title; for example, the book of the covenant (Ex. 24: 7), which may or may not be included in the current book of Exodus; the manner of the kingdom, written by Samuel (1 Sam. 10: 25); the rest of the acts of Uzziah written by Isaiah (2 Chr. 26: 22). Now many centuries past, each generation passing on this apostasy from what the previous generation had inherited, changing and orrupting doctrine, such as indulgencies, baptism being change to sprinkling and at birth not like Jesus Christ was baptized, the crusades, the pope exalting himself saying he acts as God on earth, the mass, and the list goes on and on. This is a direct fulfillment of prophecy by Paul:

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

Paul makes it perfectly clear that there is going to be a falling away from the truth. The evidence is the changes that were made in the doctrine, ordinances, organization, and everything that I have stated earlier. A restoration was needed, but people tried to reform the doctrine and practices, men like Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, and John Calvin, were all inspired by the Holy Spirit of God to Protest and try to reform but none of them claimed priesthood authority from God. With these protestant movements that gave way for a final restitution of all things. Acts 3: 21 "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began"

This Restoration or Restitution began in 1820 when God the Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour appeared to Joseph Smith when he was only 14 years old. This is so important because men need to know the true character of God and His Son. You can read of Joseph Smith experience in his own words here: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1 I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, now to say that I can also say, I know Moses is a prophet of God, and I know that Paul is an Apostle of God, this only means that "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) He calls men to teach His Gospel and doctrine, to perform ordnances in his name, and to keep people unified, to show us the way to Christ.

The Book of Mormon is indeed what it claims to be Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It stands as a second witness that Jesus is the Christ. It was written and inspired by Holy Prophets of God just as the Bibles was. The Book of Mormon covers a 1000 year time period between 600AD and 400BC on the American Continent. There is so much to explain about the Book of Mormon and why it is important but I will not do it at this time, only will I say that it was translated by Joseph Smith into English through divine revelation. Jesus Christ stated his pure doctrine again when he manifested himself to these people shortly after his resurrection. The pure doctrine is to have Faith, Repent, Be Baptized, Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End.

So the Book of Mormon fulfills many purposes the two main ones being First for the none believer in Jesus Christ the He is the Saviour and Redeemer of the world and only through him can we be saved. Second that Joseph Smith is a Prophet, because he translated it. Jesus Christ
Warned us of false Prophets in Matthew 7: 15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

Evan the Fruit of the Prophet Joseph Smith is the Book of Mormon.

The only way to know of the Book of Mormon being true is by reading it and asking in pray if it is true. There is a promise in the end of the Book a Mormon I would like to quote for you. Moroni Chapter 10:

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these
things, and ponder it in your hearts. 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. 6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is. 7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever. This is a promise giving to all who read the Book of Mormon that they
can know for themselves that the Book of Mormon is true, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

I'll close with my testimony I know that Jesus is the Christ, he is the way the truth and the light. Wrought by his infinite Atonement, only can men be saved if they have Faith, Repent, are Baptized, Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End. I know the Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God call to restore us to the truth that was lost over centuries of time. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is indeed scripture and it is "16 All
scripture is givenrighteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works."

My invitation is for you to learn more about this restoration that has taken place. It has taken me a long time to write this email, I will not be able to answer any more of your questions over email but will be more then willing to answer them in person, please read the references that I have given to the Book of Mormon and other internet sites. You can reach me at me cell phone: 519-831-0651

Elder Barrand

P.S. I apologize for it being so long.

Monday, November 3, 2008

The Undercover Cop and the Bible Scholar

Here is a quick report on the work:
We started teaching this man named Jeff he is a cop and lives with his girl friend and she is pregnant, he remembers attending the Brampton Temple open house which was like 15 years ago and he is only 30. He is Anglican and very nice and receptive he says he wants to start coming to church but is very busy with work, he is an undercover cop and goes to high school parties and tries to buy guns and drugs which is pretty cool. He looks like we he will progress very well. The next two people we are working with are both YSA, they are James and Andrew, Andrew is born again christen and is basically a bible scholar he knows it pretty well, but he has been reading the Book of Mormon. James is a more of a party boy who is looking for direction in his life and invited us to teach a bunch of his friends. Which went over very well.
Family
Things are going great we are working hard having fun and loving the cold weather. Nothing new to report. I hope you all enjoy Halloween. Mom and Dad you guys are awesome keep up the reat member missionary work, more important then the missionaries is the love they receive
from the members and your own testimony of the Book of Mormon and Restored Gospel.
Love Elder Barrand
ps thanks for your emails i love them

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Joan, Glen and Mona in our teaching pool


Hey family here is a quick report in the work:
Things are Progressing we finally have some good people in our teaching pool First is Mona she is doing very well she has been sick the past couple of weeks but is now feeling good enough for us to teach her. When we taught her we read Alma 40 about the spirit world and the resurrection, to tell her after death you can be resurrected and you ever be sick again it was a very good lesson. Another person we are teaching is named Glen he is a very humble man from the Philippines his wife just had a baby, he is pretty hard core catholic but we have a really good member that was catholic was even going to become a nun in the Philippines but a month before she became one meet the missionaries and converted. It's a pretty cool conversion so she
will be able to relate to them well. Elder Ford and I are getting along great we are working very hard and having lots of fun doing it.

Family
Another Great week has gone by the temperatures have reached 0 degrees winter came really fast this year. Hurray for my third winter in Canada! I hope you enjoy our jumping pictures we took them at district meeting. It's crazy I signed up our district to do a musical presentation at Zone Conference, but we couldn't come up with a hymn that we all sound good singing together so I am singing a solo of "come thou fount" it's going to be great pray that the spirit helps me
out. A Lady that I contacted on the street a couple of weeks ago got baptized last Sunday she is so funny her name is Joan Gratoo she is about 70. When I was talking to her the first time I inquired about where was going and she answered "I am going to get my birth control pills" it was so funny she is a great lady and has a good sense of humour.
I love you family!

Love elder Barrand

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Turkey Bowl

Here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going very well, we started teaching this women name Monique with her boy friend Audin she is a less active member and he is now an investigator, Audin is super humble and very nice Monique has been offended because of some of the members at church, Monique has not been to church in a long time so we committed them to start reading the scriptures together and praying on a regular basis then hopefully they will come to church she said it herself. As for anyone else in our teaching pool we have handed them over to the YSA sisters.

Dear Family Thanksgiving in Canada was a blast and it took place on Monday this week we got feed by this awesome family named the Crawfords I felt at home it was great I upheld the Barrand family tradition and went around and asked them all what they were thankful for it was really fun, we also had a turkey bowl we played one hand touch football, ultimate Frisbee and soccer for 2 hours. That was on Monday, Yesterday and today I am not able to walk straight because I am so sore, same with my companion it's really funny to see us walking down the street. When it was my turn to say what I was thankful for I said my family you guys are the best I love you so much
Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, October 12, 2008

My daily schedule




Here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going amazing we have been working so hard only taking 30 min. for break each lunch and dinner, we have contacted tons and tons of people all of them being YSA because we live right next to the college tracting seems like the only way we have been able to find families so we still don't have any investigators we can call ours to report on and progress but I know the lord will help us find some. Elder Ford is amazing he is so humble and has not complained once
about how much walking and working we have been doing it's great I love him.

Family
I have asked some of the parents that have missionaries out in the field in our ward what makes good letters home and one said testimony and another said what you do day to day, So every day we wake up at 6:25 no matter what or how tired I am. Never will I allow myself to sleep in. Every morning we exercise for 20 mins of cardio we have a cool row machine and jump rope. Then for ten mins I stretch I don't see much improvement but I do it every day. Every morning for breakfast I have oats with peanut butter and honey in it and a fruit smoothie made from frozen berries and orange juice. Then get dress and shower and start studying right at 8, that is
personal study where I read the Book of Mormon for 30 mins then study Preach My Gospel and Jesus the Christ and New Testament on a specific topic for an investigator or a lesson. Then at 9 we have companion study we sing a hymn and pray. Then read 5 pages in the white hand
book, review a lesson covering the principles and a scripture reference with each principle. Then recite My Missionary Commission by Bruce r Mconkie, then recite Remember This from the back page of Preach my Gospel. Then teach each other want we learn in personal study and or review and prepare a lesson for whom ever we are teaching that day I have doing tons of role plays lately with my companions because they are new and need alot of help becoming better teachers. Then we briefly go over our plans and goals we have made from the
night before. Then right at 10 we are out the door. Missionary work is simplified down into 3 activities to find. First is tracting, second is walking down busy streets and contacting people, third is doing drop bys of contacts that you already have of people who said they are interested. We have our day planned out of who we will drop by that day what area we will be in and what streets we will contact people on and tracting. This transfer Elder Ford and have set a goal that we are not allowed back to our apartment when we leave in the morning so we pack sandwiches. That means no naps and no wasting time traveling back and forth to the apartment. Also we only eat for about 30 mins and then call contacts and try to set up apponiments and plan a little
more about what we are doing. Guelph is a College town so we meet tons of students who are really busy with school, but alot of them are willing to listen. In the morning we resort to most of our tracting and in the evening we try to visit members home and do this missionary
presentation that I invented and it is power house, using quotes from Preach My Gospel and a video clip from Special Witnesses of Christ by the end the members really want to invite people and do more things to help the work progress. Then we try and be in by nine 9:30 at the
latest. And plan for the next day and set goals. One thing that has taking me the longest to gain a testimony of is nightly planning after working really hard all day you just want to come in and rest but planning is the most important thing, it takes tons of will power to focus 30mins of you energy and time to focus and map out where you are going who will you visiting and what you will be doing. But without it you are directionless and nothing effective happens. Plus the day goes but way faster when you have thing to do because you have planed it out also you want to achieve more because you have set goals that you want to hit. Then once we are done planning we make our sandwiches for the next day, write in our journals and prepare and go to bed. Then do the same thing the next day I love it!!!
My testimony, I know I am on the Lord's errand, I know I am given strength to make it and last through the day, I know that the Saviour's Atonement is really. There is a young man named aron who we found that was really big into smoking and drinking and his life was going nowhere. The amazing thing about Aarons is he was a sober mind which is interesting to say that after he smokes and drinks but he is sharp we tell him something and he understands and it burns in his
heart. Two days ago Aaron decided to change to repent and to have a better life when we meet with him again yesterday he was glowing and so unbelievably happy he prayed for the lord to help him change, then a job offer fell into his lap and other great things happened for him
and he couldn't be better. I know that The Father and the son appeared to Joseph Smith to restore truth, and the Church of Jesus Christ again upon the earth of which we are apart and the Lord himself declared it to be the "only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth" what greater blessing can you ask for then that of the way to salvation!
Love Elder Barrand
ps i talked to Rob Stoddart and we had a good conversation he made it
very clear that we would not join our church but he loves alot of Mormons and was excited to talk to me and catch up on things it was
way cool

the pictures are Caleb's Baptism
Elder Ford and I and also a picture of elder Rollins the other elder i
have trained and elder for too

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Transfers!!!



Dear family
I have the wonderful chance of traning agagin!! i am so excited to do this, Guelph is getting split in two. Elder Ford and i will be covering the outskirts of the city with the car and my last compaion elder Storer and other missionary will be in the more downtown area. With the area change we have no progressing investigators, but thats why i am here to find them and the best members are in my area. family tranning again brings me back to when i first came out and the faith and hope of new missionaries its a very humbling experience. i am so excited to train, a goal i have set for myself is to not return to the appartments for breaks. and i have some other great goals like tracting out most of my area or as much as i can. i want to leave the best impression on elder Ford of one who never gives up never stops working and is the most obedent and loves the work so much, along with teaching by the spirit and loving people with all
your heart. i ask for your prayers with this sacred trust the lord has given me to train again. Mom and dad keep up the amazing member missionary work i hope you are enjoying the fruits of the spirit as you help others find christ and his atonement. bryce and tiana i hope
your health problems will get better.

here are some pictures hurray!

i love you guys so much it hurts!

love elder barrand

ps i am not able to check your blogs anymore because i am trying to be
as obedient as i can

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

A morning on Instant message

This morning I was able to instant message with Mom and Dad for 20 minutes.
Here's some things I said to them that I didn't write in my letter.
I have been eating more healthy. I bought a steamer and have been steaming vegetables. I like broccoli and other veggies. My companion inspired me to keep the morning rules which include exercise. So, I need to have my suit taken in. If I don't have a tread mill I've been jumping rope. I'm going to keep my weight a secret until I get home....but I was up to 215, now I'm down to ?????
We had about 12 investigators and that's dropped back to 6. I love my companion, the scriptures and the atonement. I took the color personality test and guess what colors I am? 60% yellow and 40% red.
The town we are working in is a commuter town for Toronto. There are about 180K people and about 180 people in the ward. The immigrants are nicer to us than the white people, one strong member in the ward is a RC (recent convert) and he's from India.

Here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going very well, our most progressing investigator is this young girl named Sara she is 15 but her parents are ok with us talking to her we gave her the Book of Mormon two of three weeks ago and she has read all the way to 2 Nephi 26, so she just got past Isaiah which
is pretty exciting. Her big stumbling block is she works at Tim Horton's on Sundays we told her church is more important and she agreed and said she would try and get her schedule changed.
Also we are still working with Caleb he is doing good we taught him the word of wisdom and he has been very consistent with church we are still panning on him getting baptized on the 28th of September. His parents are progressing well they need some work though. pease if you can keep them in your prayers

Famly things are going so well, i wish i had some fun and crazy stories to tell you, i will make an extra effort next week to have a good story. You guys are the best i love you so much
Love elder Barrand

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Gelph is just exploding!



Hey Family,
So i fractured my pinkie knuckle bone. there is a picture of me and the president and i have the splint on for it.
The other pictures and at zone conference where i didn't know i had fractured my hand yet but it was really swollen. Elder Storer is the tall one with blond hair. the other pictures is with elder wells and elder summers they are my two favorite elders. they came out with me and i lived with elder wells for 7 1/2 months and elder summers is the assistant, and a really good friend.

Life is doing amazing Guelph is just exploding with people to teach and find and love i am having a blast. Doug came out to church and the ward did such an amazing job fellow shipping him i didn't even have to do anything. they even invited him to lunch this week i am so thankful
for good wards who like missionary work. this week we had three district meetings together and they asked my to talk and give instruction on getting people to church and i got alot of compliments from other elders it made me feel really good. thanks for your emails and prayers!!!
love elder barrand

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

setting Guelph on "fire"





Family!!
i got transferred my new area is Guelph. i am so excited i am not a zone leader anymore and i can focus more of my efforts on my area. i even couldn't sleep last night because i was coming up with great ideas on what i can do in my area to make it catch on fire. nothing
else exciting has happened
love elder barrand

here are some pictures the first 2 are of elder ruckman and i, the second was a hike we went on to a cool water fall i slipped in and got a bunch of small leeches on me it was a blast!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Searching for the true church

Dear Family
Things are going amazing! we finally have a few good people in our teaching pool and i am so excited, the top three are a man named Cory he and his wife have a 6 year old son who has been asking them questions like who is God and they didn't want to answer him wrong so they have been looking for a church to help them understand. while teaching him the spirit is so strong, comparatively to some one who is just being polite and listening to us, to some one who is seeking and looking. i love it! It is the same story for this other lady named Jodi the she is searching too but because of her husband there is lots of opposition. Another guy we just started teaching his name is George. he is a convert to the catholic church and has done tons and ton of study into the catholic faith. he was the first Christian i have meet in the year and half i have been out that actually knew the word "atonement" and what it was referenced to. we haven't had too
much teaching opportunities with him so far but we gave him some chapters to read in the book of Mormon and he said he would do it, when i gave him some chapters it was 2 Nephi 26-33. haha i don't know if i was prompted to give him that or i just wanted him to know that his church was apostate. Anyways i am loving life and the work thanks for your emails and letters and prayers they help so much.

love elder barrand

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

9 hours of tracting

Hello family!!!

Here is a cool story from this week. We were traveling some elders in a very small town the name is Elliot lake it is a retirement community and lots of old people and there is a church on every street corner and there is and out 13000 people in the town and each church is well attended. most missionaries view going to this area as punishment luckily there are some good missionaries in there now but their faith has been lacking a little because of little or no success,
but i was so excited to server there just for one day so when we got there we planned for the days activities and they had no appointments or anything scheduled, i was so excited to help them find people. we set a goal to tract for 9 hours, that meant ever hour we have to work
would be spent tracking they seemed half enthused to do it but elder Williams the elder i was supposed to travel is going home at the end of this transfer and is counting the days till when he will be home, and i was going to do this with him, he kinda wanted to do it just to be able to say he tracked all day once. So we started and worked our butts off running after people down the street and talking to tons of people, there was alot of persecution and alot of bible bashing because most people know about the Mormons in that town. I loved it! we got 17 great contacts for them and caught their area on fire they got 6 new investigators this week and are happy and excited about the work again. it was for sure a very fun travel.

Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, August 3, 2008

zone conference like stake conference

i apologize ahead of time for having a short email if i had more time i would write more but i am traveling too much to do so. things are going amazing elder ruckman and i conducted a zone conference and president middleton complimented that it was just as good or better then any stake conference which is way cool. i am right now in my old area the soo, again i love it here it was such a blast serving here there have been a couple people in each area where i just love so much and they make the whole experience worth it. the people that will be life long friends and you will keep in contact with them. i am so thankful for it. anyways good luck in you missionary work even if they are unwilling to learn or don't like or reject the message you did your put and can stand blameless before God. i hope more opportunities arise for you guys. i love you so much and may the lord bless you.

love elder barrand

ps tomorrow marks 18 months
i was walking past a movie theater and i thought about being home for
a few moments and felt sick to my stomach

Sunday, July 27, 2008

What I'm Thankful for:

Hello Family!!!
Happy birthday Celeste!

here is a quick report on the work:

This week went really well we had a couple of really jam packed days while we were in our area and were able to get 3 new investigators, definitely a blessing from the Lord Also a past investigator we had dropped 2 weeks ago finally came to church with her excommunicated boy friend her name is Jacqui and she has some great potential to progress I am very excited. Also we started teaching a young couple name Adrian and Lexy. Adrian believes the Book of Mormon to be true because a preacher from another faith told him to read it and he did and loved it, which is very interesting. Then Lexy is still having a hard time believe that God exists so its fun trying to teach them at two different levels.

Things are going so great!
mom and dad, danica and dave you guys are the best thanks so much for being great member missionaries i wish and pray more members would have the courage like you to invite others to hear the good news! i bet the missionaries there just love you. one cool thing that has happened i finished reading Jesus the Christ for the first time, and i loved it. i set a goal for myself to make
that book along with preach my gospel a life long study. i got your letter mom about things i am thankful for so here are a few on my list:
God being our loving father in heaven hearing and answering our
prayers giving his peace to our hearts when we need it.
Jesus Christ preforming and completing the atonement, through which we
can receive a remission of our sins.
Joseph Smith his humble prayer that opened the windows of heaven once again.
My family i love you all so much! who can ask for a better more
amazing group of people.
The scriptures to teach us how we can come unto Christ.
The companionship of the Holy Ghost, what peace is brought into my
heart when living worthy of that great gift.
there are many more but i am our of time

love elder barrand

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Authority, Shannon, never been more obedient, enthused and urgent






Dad and mom, Oh how i love your letters i just got your 4th of july letter yesterday thank you so much for the $40 that means alot but i dont know what i will spend it on. and it sounds like you are doing some amazing work helping people over come their addictions, i love it!
mom and dad if i had enough time to tell you everything that is going on that would be amazing. but i want you to know mom and dad that i have never being more obedient, more enthused, more urgent about the work, and i can only feel myself going onward and upward, i love the
lord and his work, i love the atonement and the power of recieving a remission of our sins, i love the principle of repentance and always being able to improve our lives, i love my companion and the missionaries i serve. i love the story about coaching the swim team dad it brought tears to my eyes. thank you so much mom and dad for supporting me while i share the gospel i love it. these last 6 months will be the best i know for sure



here is a quick report on the work Things are going very well we are getting the area jump started again last transfer we dropped most of our investigators. So some people we are teaching is Shannon she is a 23 year old lady that studied world religions as her major is college, so she knows a lot about each religion but doesn't really believe them. when we were teaching her she
had so many questions but we said we would answer them in the next lesson so she is very excited to meet with us again. We are also teaching the guy named Pat he is about 20 and has a brain tumor and will die in about 5-10 years he is a tattoo artist and has alot of word of wisdom problems but he wants to change his life and understood authority when we taught him and asked so the preacher that baptized me didn't have the authority? and we were so happy he
understood. Other then that the Zone is doing very well. elder Ruckman and i get along very well and we are learning a lot from each other in our long driving trips.

Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Transfers

were this week things are a little crazy i am leaving elder tagg and my new companion is elder ruckman he is a stud. other then that things are great i love you guys and hope everything is going well

love elder barrand
Dad and Mom,
First off happy birth day Dad!!!
i hope you guys do some thing fun for 4th of july, we saw some cool fireworks last night for canada day but it didnt even compare to anything in the states. i remeber Ken alot he actually made a huge impression on me when i served with him in teachers quorm. he was just then a recent convert and was magnifying his calling very well, then later when i was in elders quorum he was always the first one to sign up for any service opportunities, he is an amazing man. Thanks for the reminder, that everyone has the potential to become amazing, for we
are all Gods children. This week went by really fast. the longest day was we drove 4 hours to
go do a baptismal interview in the Soo for Bob davidson's son its was amazing, then drove 4 hours back to sudbury and contacted a few people and that was our day. the feeling i felt while bob was telling me how thankful he is for his son, Rob being baptized, fill my heart with the
unexplainable joy i loved it.

Love elder barrand

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

helping and serving

hello family

thanks for your emails and letters they are awesome!
nothing really exciting this week, i had a chance to travel my old
companion elder Rollins the one i trained. it was a really cool
experience he has grown alot, and i have grown a ton, it is crazy to
think that just in the short space of 6 months a person can change
alot because of different companions, studying the scriptures, people
you are teaching, etc. i think for me i have been very lucky to be a
zone leader i think your progression speeds up a little bit when you
have to help and serve and teach others i love it.
Things are going great i love you all

love elder barrand

dissapointing and rewarding

Yeah that presithood lesson was fun to sit in from a missinoaries
point of view. so some thing very interesting happened we went back to
timmins to travel the elders there. the ferrigans have fallen less
active which was very saddening. but we were able to reteach them and
have them feel the same spirit they felt at the time of their
conversion they are going try their best to get back to church.
it is so weird seeing the people that we were teaching 1 year ago. i
feel kinda like time has stood still for me i have progressed so much
at the same time the world around has barley moved at all. but at the
same time it has changed as well. it is a very interesting feeling.
reading over what i just wrote i makes no sense but oh well. i love
being a missionary there is no better no more rewarding, no more
disappointingand heart aching thing. i love it!

love elder barrand

Sunday, June 8, 2008

thats sounds like a blast, dad! thanks for the scriptures and the
support. things are going so amazing i love my new compaion so much is
the best, we are so much alike we actually both went to byu and fail
all our classes because of wow thats pretty funny, and we kinda look
alike because we are both atractive. its going to be a blast plus he
is an amazing teacher and so charitable and very hard worker i love
it.

We are working with this young family trying to get them married we
fasted for them that they would have the drive to do that. Their names
are Bill and Crystal they have 3 aborable kids, its the perfect little
family. other then that being up north is the best we have dont a ton
of driving around because thats just how our area is and also we had
to drive 4 hours for Zone Leader Conuncil where all the Zone Leaders
get together to help make the mission better there are some amazing
things that are really going to help out. anyways i am so excited for
this transfer its going to be the best.

Love Elder Barrand
ps my new address is:
1601 Paris St. #612
Sudbury ONT P3E 5W3
CANADA
thats sounds like a blast, dad! thanks for the scriptures and the
support. things are going so amazing i love my new compaion so much is
the best, we are so much alike we actually both went to byu and fail
all our classes because of wow thats pretty funny, and we kinda look
alike because we are both atractive. its going to be a blast plus he
is an amazing teacher and so charitable and very hard worker i love
it.

We are working with this young family trying to get them married we
fasted for them that they would have the drive to do that. Their names
are Bill and Crystal they have 3 aborable kids, its the perfect little
family. other then that being up north is the best we have dont a ton
of driving around because thats just how our area is and also we had
to drive 4 hours for Zone Leader Conuncil where all the Zone Leaders
get together to help make the mission better there are some amazing
things that are really going to help out. anyways i am so excited for
this transfer its going to be the best.

Love Elder Barrand
ps my new address is:
1601 Paris St. #612
Sudbury ONT P3E 5W3
CANADA

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Let's party in the Lord

so the investigator we are working with right his name is Tim, he is
very interesting/eccentric its fun teaching him he always says "lets
party in the lord" and these other crazy phrases like "are you
serious?" its hilarious we crack up every time. and he is pretty much
the only person in our teaching pool that we teach on a consistent
basis. which i am ok with because as zone leader i dont get to spend a
whole lot of time in my own area i am mostly help our elders areas and
teaching and training them i love it.

love elder barrandDad i love you! this has been the best email yet! thank you so much
for your love and concern. you have seal my intents with your
testimony. this past week was amazing!!! on wednesday its was the best
p-day yet when we taught 100 cathlic students about our church then i
didnt think about playing video games all week. it was the last week
of the transfer as well on sunday the prophet and elder ballard for
stake conference came and spoke to canada and it was amazing. then we
were finishing off the transfer with blitz day and i worked my tail
off harder then any other day, out on the hottest day of the year so
far, and riding bikes it was a blast! we talk to so many people. the
last day of the transfer at night elder madsen and i were praying
closeing off the transfer and we gave an accounting to the lord if had
accepted our work this transfer and the feeling i got was amazing the
burning in my heart as i went to sleep knowing that the lord was well
pleased with my work.
Dad thank you so much for this email and the scriptures they have made
it final for me. i will make sure and keep praying for help from the
lord to over come. but just so you know i have not been struggiling
after last p-day. so please kkep me in you prayers and dont worry i am
working hard and having fun.

Great News i am getting transfered!!!! to the Great North Zone Leader.
with my favorite elder, elder Tagg, and i will be able to visit my old
stomping grounds in Timmins and Sault Saint Marie. I couldn't be more
happy.

i dont know my address yet though

I love you mom and dad you are the best!!!

love Elder Barrand

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Dad, and mom
you are the best i love you! thats exactly what i needed to hear bury
their temptation or their sin in the ground, thats what i need to do
in my life. on a very personal note i have been struggling alot
thinking about playing video games when i get home, remember i said
that i would never play WoW again. i read a New Era article "Stephen
F. Powell, "Game Over," New Era, Aug 2005, 27" where is says you can
play games but in moderation so it got my mind thinking that i could
play WoW when i get home. but my mind has been consumed by it. i fear
what would happen if i came home and played. i don't know if i would
have the control. luckily these past week i have not talked about it
but i have been thinking about it alot. it hasn't slowed me down work
wise but. it does consume my attention. so like the anti-nephi-lehi's
i need to completely bury my past transgressions.

Anyways on a happier note! Today we are taking 100 catholic students
on a tour of our church and teaching them the basic principles and
doctrines and a Q and A session. i am so excited plus i organized most
of it together which is really fun.
Its so interesting being a Zone Leader because you have so much stuff
to get done, so not a whole lot of time is spent finding. you travel
alot so you are not in your own area alot. but i love working with
other elders helping them in their area and training them on what
they can improve on, and learning from them. i love it!

love Elder Barrand

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Weak vs Strong Wards

I love you guys i hope that writing you two is as personal and i cant
get without using too much time. i love being able to talk to you i am
sorry that i was complaining about some things and not really talking to
you two more to tiana and joe. anyways i love being out hear our
investigator that came to church Tim he was very intrigued at if the
church is the true and one perfect one on the earth then why were the
members joking and teasing each other. btw the bishop here is one of
the funnest people i have ever meet. so i got a interesting perspective
when testifying to time that the church is run by none perfect people
trying to do their best. anyways after i got off the phone with you
guys we went to a dinner appointment where the very strong members were
telling us about how nice it would be to live in Utah or in another
ward where they had a simple calling like door greeter or something
like that. and i told them that hey should be thankful for being in a
weak ward because how much more do they need you to help the ward and
server them and use your talents. interestingly this statement
contradicted what i had told you guys on the phone not one hour before
hand. so i came to the realization or how blessed am i to be need by a
ward or area that is struggling that needs my help. i love you so
much and wanted to say again happy mothers day

love elder Barrand

ps i guess you didn't write because of mothers day

Sunday, May 11, 2008

I am a red

ohh dad i love getting your emails the family looks so happy all together there is only one person missing, well not really missing in spirit :) i love you guys. things are going tough we have no one we are teaching. everyone we find are YSA because london is a big college town. but i love my compaion like alma and amulek did, we help each other so much and lift and inspire and correct and teach each other elder madsen is amazing. when i read the story of alma and amulek i see it different in some perspective because i am a missionary. alma goes to the city and is rejected then trys again this time with the help of a member, so one who lives there and knows the people not just moved in from colorado for a few months then with the testimony of both a servant and a member thousands were converted. telling me how important member missionary work it.
anyways i am so thankful for all your support and your prayers i was wondering how joe was doing he has not written me back in a long time if you could get on his case that would be great. i see so much potential in him. how is don doing in progressing in the gospel. is he living up to his covants? ask mom about the "colour" personality test i took and how i have turned into a red on the mission compared to a white in highschool and a yellow in college. its weird what responsibilty, the gospel, and leadership and does to a person.

love elder barrand

Sunday, May 4, 2008

I'm a red

i am sorry that i didnt write you mom i love getting your letters they are a highlight of my day i love when you personalize them to me. the family looks so happy all together. you are an amazing ward missionary i wish all members could be good fellow shippers and finders as yourself. some things this week that have happened is we have been teaching alot of people but they are all YSA and we have to hand them off we only have one person in our teaching pool. so allot of our focus is on the members most important the bishop. oh mom i love this new weahter the winter is finally over and i am so thankful :) a couple weeks ago you said that you were prayer for me to have more energy. a couple days before i received your email about you guys praying about that i remember telling my companion that i have never had this much energy on the mission before. so i am so thankful for your prayers i know they work. i am trying so hard to develop more love and charity. its really funny if you remember when i was in high school i was a White on the color personality test. then in college i switched to a yellow. you would never believe what "color" i am now. i am a Red with a little bit of yellow. isnt that crazy what responsibility and leadership with do to a person. anyways i love you mom and i hope you can receive some good revelation on how you can help the people you are working with in your job

love elder barrand

ps new address is
340 Colborne St. #404
London, ONT N6B 3N1

Sunday, April 27, 2008

More disaplined focused and mature

i feel so important! thanks so much for your letters and updates on the family. thats amazing about sean i wish i could have seen him dive. dive i cant wait to try diving again being so much more disciplined and focused and mature i have gained a lot of upper body strengthened and i would say i am more conditioned i just need to get more flexibility oh well i really don't worry about that stuff. there was a really cool scripture that president middleton read to the zone leaders yesterday.

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends Sidney and Joseph, your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.
2 Therefore, follow me, and listen to the counsel which I shall give unto you.
3 Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions round about in this eastern land.
4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.
5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;
6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.
7 But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.
8 And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.

what is so amazing about this section is that the area that is mentioned is the area i am in right now. the coolest part when he read this to us is i received a very strong conformation from the holy ghost. that don and the rest of the family was and is kept safe. it was so powerful. i am so thankful for the gospel. i love it. it is so weird in this new area being white washed in starting over God has blessed us with some amazing investigators. the thing i like most about this area is the members are so strong and stalwart it reminds me a lot of home. dad i love you and thank you for the amazing example you have always been in magnifying you priesthood and fulfilling your callings.

love elder barrand

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Don and my talk

hey mom and dad things are going so amazing i love it!

thanks so much for all that you do! please tell don that i love him.
the highlight of this week is i spoke in sacrament meeting on easter and i told the story about Don and his adoption and sealing into our family then bore testimony that if he died when he was in Iraq that i would know we could be together as a family forever because of the Atonement. i loved it! a family came up to me afterwards and told me my talk was an answer to their prayers if they should foster children, i told them that the spirit whispered to me that i should talk about it this morning while lying in dead.

Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Rita came to church!


Family!! This Transfer is so much fun here are some crazy pictures of
our awesome district. The city is down town Hamilton, Elder Romine and
I with our brand new 2008 Malibu it's sooo nice, and I am wearing my
new suit.




Dear Family here is a report one the work:
This week went by really well, Rita finally came to church it was
awesome, I hope and pray her mom lets her get baptized. Jethro is
progressing slowly but surly we have to invent something fun and new
each time we go over to teach him, last time we brought a bunch of
pictures and played a fun guessing game.
This week we traveled Elder Orr and Elder Penner, I loved traveling
elder Penner he is so smart and loves the studying and learning the
gospel he had this great excitement to talk to people and contact
them. And he was an amazing teaching bearing strong testimony of the
savior and expounding scriptures in the most amazing way.



Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Twenty year olds......

Here is a quick report on the Work:
Things are going amazing Elder Romine and I are having so much fun working so hard. Zone Leader council was amazing spiritual experience with tons a great in sites to help become a better leader.
Rita is progressing very well we taught her all the commandments and gave her a strength of youth pamphlet. The only thing that is holding her back is her mom thinks our church is a cult and doesn’t want her to come to church. So we told her to bare her testimony of the Book of Mormon to her mom and also read some of the strength of youth pamphlet with her. I pray that her heart is will softened

Family!!
Things are doing so great I cant express in words the spirit I have felt in the passed few days as I have received instruction from President Middleton and from other Zone Leaders. To explain what happens and how the mission is run, all the Zone leaders gather together with the President and his assistants and we talk and give instruction to each other in the spirit, discussing the needs of the missionaries and what goals we have set to improve each of our individual Zones. To open the meeting we sang hymn #27 “Praise to the Man” while singing the spirit of the Lord touched my heart I realized who I was and who I was with. I am just a kid the only things I would care about in this world would be girls and video games and maybe school if I wasn’t LDS. How does missionary work progress when 20 years olds are running it??? It is the work of the Lord and I know it! If it was not the work of the Lord missionaries would have screwed it up a long time ago. I am so thankful for the chance and opportunity to be a part of the great work of the Lord. I know it.

Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Rita, My district


Here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going very well. We taught Rita our investigator a plan of salvation it was amazing she loved every second of it then we taught her how to recognize and listen to the spirit and she is doing amazing she is reading the Book of Mormon and understanding it. She is placing the puzzle pieces together of if the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith was a prophet and there is Jesus Christ’s Church again on the earth. I am so very excited for her. That is so far our only progressing investigator.


Hello Family!!
Things are going to great I love the work and I love bearing testimony of the Atonement and of Joseph Smith being a prophet. Dad are so lucky to talk to Don I miss him alot
Happy birth day this Sunday mom
Love Elder Barrand

Sunday, February 24, 2008

I eat sleep and drink the gospel.....

Here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going great we have taught a ton of first lessons to a lot of different people looking for the elect. Most the people we talk to are just polite, or just friendly there is one that really is asking and wondering what the purpose of life is and her name is Rita. She is 17 and her family is from the Congo. I pray that she wants to find the answers.
The Zone is doing very well. Missionaries are working hard. And I am thankful


Family!!
I love you all so much. I wish I could write you all individually but time does not allow me. Mom you are an amazing member missionary I wish every ward had people like you in it. Dad thank you for being such a great example in turning to the Lord when you need help. It is hard to explain some thing new and exciting every week because I eat sleep and drink the gospel of Jesus Christ. Spiritual experiences become the norm. I recognize them and love so much, and wouldn’t trade them for anything, but there are too many to tell you every one. And I have been recording mostly all of them in my journal every night.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

-25C Working Hard!

Family!!
I love being a missionary! I have never worked so hard in my life. I am also very excited because i have lost weight because i have been working so hard i am at the lowest i have been all my mission 193. we are teaching this Ti family of 6 only one of them can speak English it is so much fun teaching principles as simple as you can so that it can be translated easily. It has snowed so much here it is crazy and it was so cold with the wind chill the temperature reached -25C thankful we have a car and have not gotten into any accidents. I love you all very much and am so thankful for all your support. The family picture was crazy and interesting. But it is family so i love it! It is so good to hear from Don i know the Lord is watching over him.

Love Elder Barrand

Saturday, February 9, 2008

2 baptisms this Sunday

Dear Family here is a quick report on the work:
Ryan King is very excited for his baptism this Sunday. Also Patrick is going to be baptized this Sunday as well. We finally got an answer to our prayers for him to be baptized; he is very excited about it and is going to bring some of his family. We are teaching a lady named Kim she is progressing very well and loves to read the Book of Mormon but is not very consistent on coming out to church. The loss of her cat, and death of a child at birth has softened her heart. Our last progressing investigator is Lucas and he speaks Mandarin so we try teaching him with a member who speaks Mandarin. He is very smart and when we gave him the Book of Mormon he said he could read it in one day we were very excited.


Family!!! Congrats on the new edition to the family Bryce, Marcinia and Sam. That is so wonderful. That makes three nieces and nephews I have yet to meet, hopefully there will be a few more by the time I get home. The new family picture is crazy but it is well done. I am having so much fun we are teaching so many great people and working so hard. We have 5 district leaders we help out and we have been traveling the last couple of days helping them in their areas and showing them love and lifting them up and it has been so much fun. I love helping them and seeing them succeed. I gave a zone conference talk on reaching your full potential through setting good goals I am sure you would have loved it mom and dad. Thanks for all your support


Love Elder Barrand

Saturday, February 2, 2008

New Companion




Here is a quick report on the work:
Ryan King is going to be baptized the 10th of February as he reads the Book of Mormon like 3 hours every day, also Preach My Gospel, and Joseph Smith manual. He is amazing and progressing great!
Elder Lee and I received revelation about the our area and that the Lord is not going to bless us with more or his elect and prepared people, until we can show the Lord that we are handling the Recent Converts well enough. So our companionship goal is to baptize 3 people this transfer which will make us stretch, at the same time making sure the recent converts stay strong. Its going to be fun.


Family!!
I love serving a mission so much. I love getting new companions Elder Lee is amazing he truly understands what is takes to be a great leader and missionary I have never seen such urgency to save the Children of God. Every min we spend looking to find one more person who will hear the gospel. We made a goal this transfer to only take 15 min breaks to eat 2 time each day I am so excited. This transfer is going to be a miracle transfer.

Love Elder Barrand

My new address is
177 West Ave N
Hamilton, ON L8L 5C7
Canada

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Mary Wall, Zone Leader?????



Dear family here is a quick report on the work This week was amazing sister Mary Wall’s baptism was a spiritual experiences unlike any other. I am so thankful for great missionaries that I was able to work with in London the Sisters and Elder Hayashi are amazing! We had a great teaching and dinner appointment with Roberto the spirit was really strong he was crying when we bore testimony that he needs to get married in the temple. We left him with the commitment of praying and talking to his Fatima about the 14th of February valentines day! The best day to get married. I pray that it works out for him.Family this week was AWESOME!! First, on Sunday Mary Wall’s baptism was amazing I will send you pictures as soon as I can. Mary is a widower and she said that he husband was at the baptism was watching she even knew where he was standing isn’t that cool! This is transfer week and on Monday and Tuesday we Blitz our area and found tons of people and set up tons of appointments it was so much fun. Then last night I received a call from President Middleton he gave me a new assignment to be Zone Leader in the Hamilton Zone. Hamilton is a city in Ontario in case you didn’t know it’s pretty big too. Anyways I am so excited I cant wait to learn, grow and develop great love for the people I serve it is going to be great. I love you all so much and thanks for all your supportLove Elder Barrand

Thursday, January 17, 2008

January 9th

Dear family here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going very well. We started teaching a boy named Derek he is a friend of one of the young women in the ward Cloey they are both 15 years old and he is a volleyball player and pretty good at it from what I hear. We taught him after a dinner appointment with the family there and taught the first vision we related as much as we could to him because he is about the same age and Joseph Smith was when he had the first vision it was a very fun teaching appointment the spirit was very strong and Derek wants to come to church again this Sunday.
Charles, Luke, and Joe the three 17 year old boys we are teaching, are planning on going to a mutual activity this weekend it is going to be great!
Roberto came to church again and is still progressing slow towards marriage but loves learning the doctrine and more about the church we are teaching him and his common law wife tonight and she need a priesthood blessing hopefully the spirit can help her progress towards marriage.


Family you guys are the best!! I finally got my Christmas Presents hurray!!
My new shoes are the coolest things ever! I love them so much thanks! Bryce’s family got me “Praise to the Man” a DVD about Joseph Smith and W. W Phelps the author of the lyrics to the song and I absolutely love the movie the spirit is really strong and it deepens my testimony of him being a Prophet of God also the type of man that he was and his ability and capacity to love. It is cool. Dad I missed your letter this week are you out of town?
Anyways I love everyone and all your support you are the best

Love Elder Barrand

January 2nd

Dear Family here is a quick report on the work:
Things are going very well Roberto did make it out to church and had some amazing thoughts while in gospel doctrine class he is so ready to be baptized he just needs to be married we have been praying really hard to know what to teach him in order to want to get him married. The problem is we don’t see him often enough. But he does keep the commitment that we leave him with.
We taught Charles and Luke the two 17 year old boys a third, when we explained about baptism Charles said baptize me when I am in the spirit world, and Luke didn’t know what to think. So I think we need to explain to them a little better why it is so important I think it might have gone over their heads. But they are reading from the Book of Mormon and haven’t been able to make it to church yet. We are going to get them on a chapel tour so they will feel comfortable enough to come to church. Logan their less active friend is a really bad influence on them he thinks the church is good for nothing and causes more problems then helps. So I bore really strong testimony that Joseph was a Prophet and this was Jesus Christ Church and that we only get trails because God wants us to grow and learn. I think he is too comfortable being idol with his time it is very sad.

I am reading the Book of Mormon highlighting faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and endure to the end with separate colors and learning a lot more about each one. I love it



Family!!!
My newyears resolution is to eat more healthy and improve my physical condition I am a little out of shape . Also to in some small way improve my teaching a little bit each day its going to be fun. I love you all and hope you enjoyed the holidays as much as I did. Lots and lots of Disneys movies its was a blast I love hanging out with other missionaries and laughing at movies we loved when we were kids. I finally got to see Cars and I absolutely loved it!! it had one of the best lesson in it ever. And that was to love others and serve them and don’t think about yourself it was awesome! Meet the Robinsons was really funny because it was so random I laughed a lot.

Love Elder Barrand