Aloha!

Whew! This week flew!! It has been quite the week!! I think that my system of explaining things last week worked pretty well, so I think I'm going to try to do that again this week. Hopefully I can organize my thoughts enough for it to make sense.. Here we go:

1. Transfers: So, Wednesday we had transfers! It was very bitter-sweet. 

• Bitter: A lot of my good friends were transferred... yeah.
• Sweet: They all went to really awesome places, we have some really great new missionaries in the zone, I'm still here!!

     2. New People: So, we were able to meet a few new people this week! We went on exchanges with the Sisters from the Samoan ward this week, and we were able to meet some new friends!

•  I was able to meet a lady named Storm. She has had a crazy hectic life, and she has many Word of Wisdom problems, but she has a heart of gold. She wants to be baptized, but she has a lot she needs to do before she can. 
• Sister Blackner went with Sister Carlson in our area. They were able to meet a kid named Martin! Martin is 15. He told them that he knew a boy from our ward and that he would probably see them on Sunday! He also told them that he was reading the Book of Mormon every night! What??? 
• We were also able to go to meet with a part member family! The mom and oldest daughter are members, and then the dad and younger children are not. We met with the dad today with Brother Iosefa. The dad is Samoan. His name is Tau. He is super super nice, and he had lots of questions about Joseph Smith and the church. Sincere questions. :) I am so excited to get to know them better.

         3. The General Women's Broadcast: Mann.. it was so amazing! I cried, Sister Blackner cried, everyone cried! It was beautiful! Seriously though, the spirit was so strong in the room. I learned so much from the talks and from the spirit that was present. I am so excited for General Conference next week! 

  Something I have been really focusing on this week is the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is so essential for us to gain a testimony of, because it is the "keystone" of our religion. I have studied it under a completely different light, as a missionary, and I am so so grateful for that. This week we met with a less-active member who struggles with reading the Book of Mormon. He told us that it is so hard for him to read, because he doesn't understand the language or context of anything. So, I tried to break it down for him as much as I could. As I explained it and bore my testimony of it, I realized how much I truly do love it. The Book of Mormon is such an amazing tool for us to use! It is part of my testimony of Heavenly Father's love for all of His children. I love this quote by Jeffrey R. Holland about the Book of Mormon: he said, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." That is so true. I love the Book of Mormon.

   I am so grateful for Joseph Smith, the good man who knew it was true, and translated it because he was commanded by God to do so. I am grateful for this gospel. It has blessed me so much throughout my life, and I have seen it bless the lives of so many, as they apply the principles that it teaches to their lives. 

  I love all of you. I hope that you are all well, and that you are doing your best to be who Heavenly Father wants you to be. I will talk to you next week!

Love, Sister Sydney Barber

Hello!

Hello my dear family and friends! This week was super insane, but in the best way possible. Here is why:

1. Temple: We went to the temple on Tuesday, which was awesome! The thing is that we lost our gas card, so we went with the Samoan sisters. It was fun, but Sister Blackner and I were soo tired. It was a really beautiful session though. The spirit was definitely there.
2. Tsunami: We had a tsunami warning. Sister Blackner and I got out of an appointment and we had 5 voicemails from different missionaries saying that there is a tsunami coming and that we are to meet at the Newtown chapel. Well, here is the crazy part: the phone calls were from 2 hours earlier, we were on less a half a tank of gas and our phone died. So.. yeah.. at least we know how to be better prepared now. It was hilarious though. I came into our bedroom and Sister Blackner is on the ground packing a bunch of skirts. I was like, "Umm.. Sister... I think that you had better just grab some pants and go. I don't know that skirts will be the best choice if a tsunami does hit. We laughed and then drove to Newtown. Well, the tsunami never hit us, so we were able to go back to our areas and all was well. It was quite the experience though. 
3. Kim: On Friday morning we had an appointment with Kim. We have officially set for her to be baptized on the 17th of October. We are so happy for her! She is such a wonderful lady! 
4. Transfers: I am staying! Thank goodness! I love Sister Blackner, and we still have so much work to do here. I really wanted to continue to be a part of it. I love my area. :) A lot of my good missionary pals are leaving now though. Oh well.. until we meet again. 
5. Sacrament Meeting: Sister Blackner and I almost cried our eyes out in sacrament meeting on Sunday. Almost every less-active member that we have been trying to get to come to church every week came! It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It really filled my heart with love for our Father in Heaven as well as a deeper appreciation for this gospel. 

Well, I wish I had time to write more, but I have to get going. We have a lot to do today. I love you all. I am growing so much and I am starting to see glimpses of the person that I am supposed to become. I still have a long ways to go, but I am determined to put my whole heart into this mission and serve honorably to the end. I hope all of you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Sydney Barber

Tender Mercies of the Lord

Last week was crazy!! We had so much to do! There is so much to write, but I am going to have to just select a few things, because of the lack of time.

1. Kim Aken. Kim is a GOLDEN investigator. She was a referral from her cousin, who is in the Ewa 2nd ward. We have taught her about the restoration and then she came to church on Sunday. Before church, she texted us and asked how she could pay tithing. She was like, "So.. do I just bring a check with me, or.." We kind of freaked out, but then realized that we were at church and around people, so we tried to compose ourselves again and not look like little kids who just found their mom's secret stash of candy. ;) We were so excited though. We told her not to worry about it this week, and that we would explain it later. Then, she came and the lesson in Gospel Principles was about tithing and fast offerings. :) TeNdEr MeRcIeS! I love Heavenly Father! So then, yesterday, Sister Blackner and I went to her house to talk to her about church and she started talking about how when she is a member, she wants to get a calling where she can scrapbook all day. She is so cute. I love her so much! She is so amazing! 

2. We were having lunch and this guy comes up and asks what we do and why we had name tags. So, we started sharing with him about the church and about the Book of Mormon. Well, he is a military man who used to be Christian, but because of his experiences in Afghanistan, is questioning the existence of God. Well, we discussed religion with him for a long time and then he had to go back to work, but we got his number and gave him a Book of Mormon. Then on Sunday, he called us and asked if the Book of Mormon was his, because he wants to read it and mark it. The only down side is that he works a lot, so we haven't been able to set an appointment with him. Soon though. :)

3. We got to go to the temple today! It was so wonderful! The session was great and I feel like my spiritual fuel has been refilled. :) It was a great start to the day and week. 

4. This is kind of sad, but our Chinese investigator/best friend in the whole world moved back to China on Saturday. It was really sad, but she said she is going to keep reading the BOM and she is going to share it with her friends.

Anyways, that is all I have time for this week, but I hope that you are all well and that you are all staying busy! 

I love you all! Aloha, Sister Sydney Barber

Ewe Beach Fam

Hi, this is Sister Amanda Thomsen. We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight and took a few pics. We think they are great and Sis. Barber even played her uke and sang a hymn for us.

Sept 1

Hello! This week was absolutely insane (in the best way possible)! We are in the finding stages still, so we have been tracting and trying to get referrals like crazy. 

We received a referral on Tuesday. His name is George. He is a Chinese man who lives with his 8 year old son. We met with him with Sister Lloyd. It was a very different kind of lesson.. George's English is a good, but he had a stroke, so it is difficult for him to say things without saying, "umm" every other word. He is a very nice man though. Hopefully we will be able to understand him more easily as we get used to the way he speaks.

 We have one family that is struggling a lot right now. The wife is so sweet and she is trying so hard to help her children be brought up in the gospel. Her husband has recently become confused with a lot of the doctrine, so he has decided to attend another church. Well, we went to visit them and when we asked if we could share a spiritual thought with them, he refused to allow us to read from the Book of Mormon. So, we shared something from the bible and then bore our testimonies of this gospel and how it blesses our families. Then we left. I felt like my heart had been broken into a million little pieces. I felt so sad when I saw the pain in the wife's eyes. We prayed for the family right after we left and then we went on with our day. Well, last night after one of our appointments, Sister Blackner and I received a text from the husband. He said that he was overwhelmed by the spirit as we shared our testimonies and asked if we would meet with the family again and if we would help him out. I hope that his desire to meet with us is sincere and that he will be willing to do what is necessary to understand what this gospel is really about and what Heavenly Father's plan is for him and his family.

Many families are struggling because of various things all over the world. Satan is doing all that he can to attack families, because he knows how important they are to Heavenly Father's plan and to our happiness. 

 God is so good. He listens to us and loves all of us. I know that as we turn to him humbly in prayer, with the intent to follow the guidance that he gives us, he will answer us. He will give us direction in our lives, and he will most definitely do all that he can to rescue those who have strayed from the path. 

I love you all so much! Keep praying to God, keep reading His scriptures, and keep living his gospel. 

Aloha, Sister Sydney Barber

Sister Blackner and "Uncle" Manny

Sister Blackner & Erin

"God is for everyone but this pic is only for you two"