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"

Aloha!

  This week was so good! We worked and worked and worked! Sister Blackner is an awesome missionary! She really has been such a great strength to me, and I know that she will continue to be a strength to me. She has many qualities that I have always wanted, so I am learning a lot from her, and I know that I will be a better person and a better missionary from serving with her. 

  So far, we have contacted just about everyone from the area book. So, this week we are going to be visiting members like crazy, trying to get referrals. We tracted a lot this week, but it isn't super effective. We have investigators, but none are progressing. It can get kind of overwhelming at times, but I know that as long as we continue to work hard, we will be able to at least plant some seeds. However, I also know that "the field is white already to harvest" (D&C 4). We just need to find those who are "ready to harvest," and that won't happen by giving up. So, we will work even harder this week. 

Some funny things that happened this week:

• While tracting, we ran into this old man. He was super skinny and he was all hunched over. He looked like if he sat down to take a rest, he would never get back up (if you know what I mean). So, we stopped to introduce ourselves and offer help. Well, he had this bike leaning against the fence and it was filled with fish. So, we offered to push it up to his door. He completely ignored us and said, "My name is....Alejandro." He said it in such a perfect way! It was one of those moments where you expect a Spanish guitar to be playing in between the pause between the word is and his name. Then, we were going to say adios, because he was being a little creepy and he grabbed my arm and was like, "but you can call me Jandro." Then we said have a good day and we walked very quickly away.. yeah.. that was interesting.
• Then, another time while tracting, we saw this guy outside watering his plants, so we went to talk to him. We started talking to him about the church, and he just kept watering his plants. His poor plants were soaked by the end of our discussion... 
• hahaha then! We were tracting again, and Sister Blackner was waving at every single car that passed us. It was so hot and we were starting to lose it a little bit. This one car full of military guys drove by and Sister Blackner starts waving her arm and yells, "HOT DAY!" It wasn't even in a way that would make sense. It was just those two words shouted loudly. Hahaha she's the best. 

Some Spiritual things that happened this week:

• Sister Blackner and I tried contacting a former investigator. She wasn't home, but her brother and her son were. Her son is 3 years old. He was so cute! On our way back to the car, Sister Blackner said that she felt something different while we were there. I thought about that for a minute and then I got in the car and started crying. I looked over at Sister Blackner and she was crying too. We both felt something different about the little boy. We are going to go back for sure. 
• Junior dumped us. He had us over on Thursday and he told us that he felt like he was wasting our time, because he is not going to be baptized. I told him that we appreciated his time, and that we will still continue to help his family in any way that we can, we testified of the Book of Mormon and encouraged him to continue to read it and to continue to attend church, and then we left. It was hard at first, because I really have come to love him and his family, but I know that they will come to know the truth some day. 

Those are just a few of the things that I thought would be good to share. I am loving the work. It is challenging, for sure, but it is so worth it. I know that I am being changed and that the Spirit is changing those that I meet every day as I testify of this gospel. I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love, Sister Sydney Barber

Freaky Turtle... It has crazy long nails. Don't mind the face..

Williams fam

Aloha Missionary Moms!

We had the pleasure of having your sweet daughters in our home for dinner last night.  They are amazing young women and we are grateful for the chance we had to feel of their spirit in our home.  We pray for them daily, as I am sure you do as well.  Thank you for raising such amazing young women to be an example to my children and to me.

Katie Williams

Val McTee

Dear Brother and Sister Barber,

    I am hoping that his email reaches you, I tried sending an email some time ago but I got it back saying this was the wrong address.  So I am attaching  three pictures, one from last night when the Sisters had dinner with us and then one from 6 or so week ago and one from our Relief Society activity last month.  I'm holding onto Sister Soriao's arm.  Sister Soriao is learning how to play the ukulele so they sang us a song before they left.  Both of them are so darling, we love having them in our home.  You can certainly be proud of Sister Barber, she is so sweet and so sincere.  I know the Sisters are working hard and doing a good job. 

Aloha, Sister Val McTee