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

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

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

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

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

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