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

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