WELL, I'M GOING TO HAVE A SON...

Well im going to have a son...This isn't inappropriate i'm going to train here. Yeah like kirby heyborne in the rm i have boils on my face from the stress haha just kiddin. But really i will get a greenie this friday. I have a 75 percent chance of getting an american which means we're going to have lots of fun trying to struggle in tagalog together and no one to answer our questions haha. Well i already have the joseph nashville tribute, but the fires of faith movie would be great to get. Hey dad whats uncle aarons address and can you send me a short synopsis of the casual vacancy by j.k. rowling. Dad honestly our daily work is 90 percent less active lessons here in agoo, 10 percent investigator focus my personal favorite is to cut the referral process and go straight to these part member families. If i baptize one person in their family they usually become active enough to get a calling and get a good kick start. "Preach by the ways" i heard back then maybe a 100 preach by the ways will yield one baptism baptism haha. Halloween here haha well its interesting some kids tried to scare us the other day with cardboard masks i laughed. Well  i feel like i have the trust of the members now so it will be sad that elder rabaca is leaving but im excited to apply my ideas for the area. My focus will be first contacting, then cleaning and teaching. I saw elder tan at the "train the trainers mtg" he was shocked he was all you got skinny but you can speak tagalog now. I laughed id rather be skinny and able to speak then big and dumb. Yeah whats the deal with the missionary picture with the girls just because missionaries are awkward doesnt mean you have to be haha. But I suppose its good that we are awkward. When i try to write a friend about normal stuff i have a hard time. When we went to baguio we went to Mines View Burnham park and sm baguio. We ate at a 50's diner and i had real american food in a diner! Mom id love to go to san diego there are lots of filipinos there and mexicans. I'd love to learn spanish. Dad, i wish i could help you landscape. You know how i used to need a lot of sleep well i run perfect on 8 hours or less. I can get up earlier as well if we have conferences. Elder David Bednar went to connors mission haha he's lucky. haha Dad put the romney sign inside the window at work then they wont steal it. Mom when i get home ill help you with the dishes im really fast at washing dishes hand wash haha. I hope the package gets here soon i could use the slacks i love you here comes the pictures adios!

~Elder Barney

Typical filipino rice patatas

Had a good old American hamburger (awesome!)

FROG WALLETS!  Yes they're real preserved frogs.  The eyes are plastic, of course. 

FINALLY GET TO SEE BAGUIO!

Guess where im at!
Baguio finally im here. But the pday is short, and i hope i can get as
much in as possible. The drive made me sick in a bus. We got
started off late because the bus drivers would refuse to pick us up. I
thought to myself are they a bunch of mormon haters then we found out
that were dumb and it wasnt an unloading and loading area haha. But
yeah dad i saw the game i was stacking chairs and i saw bronco then them
lining up and then the score. I didnt focus on the jerseys. So yeah
fires of faith is okay. In the future if you could send me that and
the joseph nashville cd thatd be great to listen to during lunch. I
dont know what i will do after elder rabaca is transferred for lunches.
I'm in trouble im not good at cooking filipino and the stuff i do know
how to cook is expensive like a pbj sandwhich haha. Yeah dad i thought
we got short changed no you dont need to send an ensign they're free for
us even in tagalog. But yeah if things in america dont shape up im
gonna live in baguio ahha. joke. I feel like either a celebrity or a
circus freak when i walk the streets. They whisper amerikano amerikano.
Its kind of a detractor from them feeling the spirit and not focusing
on my nationality. Here in baguio theyre more educated and it has been a
relief to be another face in the crowd haha. Yeah dad i found the song
hark! listen to the trumpeteers in a church history manual but thank
you for the lyrics. The "in crowd"... dad come on...we
know we dont belong in the social elite of mesa.  So family...i know
lexis favorite scripture in the book of mormon but ky, mom, and dad what
is your favorite only one. Its okay if its more then one verse in the
same chapter. Im working on moms birthday gift right now. I read an
article about the second coming. The thing a lot of things still
happened a lot but we dont know how fast god can and wants them to
happen in a matter of one year the church could explode to the amount
described in the scriptures big enough that we are a serious threat to
the church of the devil. I'm getting closer and closer to 20 yrs. Well
dad right now were in the process of figuring out how to clean the
records here. So im kind of learning about the administrative side of
the church and how important it is. People dont really transfer their
records here so they create a gigantic headache for the missionaries
and branches haha, but im excited to start. Hey dad, you and grandpa
barney are you going to clean up that mistake in the barney line on
family history? I believe there was one. Lexi, duba how are you doing in
school. Lexi do you ever see coach alexander and kylie do you see
coach shindledecker ever or is coach shindi gone no? There is a
indian man in our area who wants to feed us hes nice he wants to learn
more about the bible he doesnt have a turban and dot so its all good.
Thanks for voting for me, i dont think president monahan cares to much to
help us out to vote thats the last thing on his mind haha. I'll send
some pictures of baguio in my next letter. I helped the youth here
find a theme for their halloween party they really dont know how to do
halloween here. 1 peter 2:9 is the scripture about youth and their
theme is prince and princesses, so it kind of fits they were excited but
when i tried to explain what a haunted house was and bobbing for
apples i got some blank stares. I said there are some
great halloween songs to dance to like thriller. They heard the name
michael jackson and thought it would be bad to dance to. I dont know
cause we danced to it with DJ ron haha at the stake dances no problem.
Love you all and thanks for sending the slacks. Adios! ~Elder Barney

Hey mom dad and everyone! doob and lou

I found out about the temples and new age yesterday a kid in our ward heard the news so i told him to go onto to lds.org on his iphone we will watch it all next sat and sunday for us at the stake center. i just had another zone interview with president monahan and it was one of the greatest spiritual experiences of my mission. I'm glad you liked the joseph nashville song the rising is good the one about porter rockwell is good and the one about emma  smith is awesome. We just got back from the beach doing our district activity. the beach wasnt too ugly i built a sand castle and ate rice and chicken and our district leader elder purcell is way awesome he is a samoan american somaon island and he is military. we played football on the beach. him and i with all the philipinos if he wrapped me up i was in trouble but im still skinny and quick haha the rice will do that. a temple in arizona i leave and temples pop all over az. I'm glad utah is awesome. if you do need ideas for what to send i hope you recieved those three things i need back then. but shaving cream was be great as well its hard to find here because well they arent a hairy people haha manny pacquio has a bigote but not to many have facial hair. Well im almost 20 i want to still be a teenager. well let see i'll share my interview with president to you if you feel that its to special to send abroad dad then i second that motion. So i sat down and he asked me if i had any questions or concerns i said i had none he then asked if i could help him with a missionary thats hates being here an american i gave him some ideas to fix the problem i dont know if they well help then he asked me what i wanted to learn about i said what do you want to teach me about he smiled and said do you consider yourself a leader. and i said well in what sense i dont my best to follow all the rules and be nice to the other missionaries but i am a junior companion and still young and not great in the language. he then asked me what a leader is i said its defiantly not what most people here in the baguio mission think it is. Talking a lot and doing things to be seen. I said my dad is a leader. He said how so. i said there is a major problem in the church when people get released from positions they think its a demotion a sign of disrespect they dont understand the doctrine therefore they slack and eventually become inactive or trunky. i saw my dad hold callings that many try to aspire to high council bishop and now he is a home teacher and works in the sunday school (this might have changed) I said but he is still stronger than ever. He then said when he sees me it reminded him of a man in Ajo arizona back a long time ago im still thinking how the story connects to me. In ajo arizona there was a man i will find out the name of the man he was a mormon and owned a dairy farm. the church in there area back then because of the kindness of president kimball back then to the mineworkers back then the church obtained land from a company to build a church house in ajo. The local baptist preacher was infuriated. he railed on the mormons from his pulpit and one day went to the mormons dairy farm to buy his dairy. he didnt say a word just pointed to the things he desired to buy. to show his disapproval to the people of the mormons he peeled out of thier country dirt driveway and headed to his house. Later that day the local sheriff showed up with others at the baptists preacher's front door. they told the baptist preacher that in his rush to leave they ran over the mormon couples one and half year old baby daughter in the driveway. the baptist preach said that he didnt the sheriff took him out and showed him the pieces of hair on the bumper of the car of the tiny baby girl. the preacher sat in agony and wept. later that the night the parents of the baby girl showed up at the preachers door and wanted to talk to him they told him that they forgave him. they left. the baptist preacher was so heartbroken. he paid for the funeral of the baby. it was a beautiful funeral the flowers all paid by the preacher. he didnt know how to repay the life of the baby girl. there really was no restitution for lost life and years. the only thing that would bring peace to his soul is he felt he needed to build the mormon church there on the bought land. every brick in the ajo chapel is paid for by the baptist preacher. there never was an angry  sermon again given from his pulpit against the mormons. President monahan then said when i think of that man. i think of you. you will be a leader here in the mission. and when you train soon. i expect you to be a leader..... . i felt many morals and promptings from his story. one is i can do hard things if im like that man. he said he was a leader by not we said but how he lived. and he told me that i need to speak out sometimes when i know something is wrong not all people will change because of our examples he said. i cant stay silent. I love you all. im happy. i dont know what this mission will do to me but im slowly learning that god knows taylor barney and he is giving me challenges to help me be like my dad and mom. The priesthood is real! the times to use it are never ideal but they are that way so we are always striving to be worthy every second of our life. iniiwan ko ang mga bagay na ito sa pangalan ni jesu cristo amen~Elder Barney

I'M NO LONGER MR.BEAN...I'M TOM CRUISE...I'M BIG TIME NOW!

Hello!
Your last comment reminded me of the testament, "is such pride in my son a sin" said helam to ammoron and he said no haha. Im doing great getting adjusted still. We pdayd with the zone leaders and other elders it was fun we ate spaghetti chicken and kanin. Well in december they will do the three words about christ or the gospel thing again. It's one tradition they will keep. I have some ideas if you have anything else you'd like me to write for the three words that is astig its appreciated. Right now its Man of Christ....never look back...never turned back....i need more ideas your thoughts haha. For the house i'd like you to find the joseph nashville music. Especially listen to the song the rising. It's on my companions ipod their about joseph smith and church history. I hope you find it okay. The rising is awesome. Lexi..for some babylonian music on the other hand haha. Elder Cabauatan taught me "Your call" by secondhand serenade on the guitar. I havent listened to the real one, but i will in 16 months. Well the branch is strong as far as leadership a lot more less actives a lot more but most of the less active are married which is a lot better. We have a real goal for them. Go to the temple and things like that. One cool experience was yesterday brother tagalan and his girlfriend that have two sons. She has been holding out on marriage or civil marriage he opened up in the lesson that he wants to change. He bore testimony and cried and her heart softened she agreed to meet with the branch president. Our branch president is a great negotiator. They plan to be married on december 5, so maybe that's her baptismal date as well. That's filipino law. I dont understand why yet. I'm the junior companion this is his area he has been here a lot longer he will probably leave after one transfer and hand off the baton to me here i just need to learn the area. I might be junior again which is fine with me. I really want to co-senior with someone though. More sharing of ideas and agreeing. No i dont lose things the curse in the book of mormon of things becoming slippery has finally left. My new curse is leaving the "plantsa" on or the iron on after i iron my shirt, so my companion and i will put a sign there to remind me haha. Well here in the branch I'm no longer Mr. Bean to them I'm now...Tom Cruise...I'm big time now. I always laugh because they can't really tell. Uhm right now dad im becoming better with answering questions in a relaxed way to investigators. Example: sometimes when people try to give us a question to test our knowledge I like to give a funny answer to lighten the mood. Last night one less active in a huge group of three or four families asked me what the difference was between espiritu and kaluluwa or what's the difference between spirit and the word soul. The answer is often that a soul has a vessel in the scriptures with exception to a few scriptures in the pearl of great price. I said one is a tagalog word the other is a spanish word haha. It lightened the mood and he accepted our next real answer. I'm sorry i dont have more spiritual experiences to share they are there along with the failures haha. Mom I'm never mad at you you can ask me any question. I am now  6' 2'' my growing is over! I still dont know what i will be for sure for a job or stuff like that. I kind of have an idea of how i want to be in this church. I want to be the best home teacher ever. I want to be the best dad. I want to be the best scout leader. Those are my aspirations in the church. This church has too many leaders it needs followers. If we only have leaders that are active in the church the church will digress. We need people to lift in their callings. I love the news please keep it coming. More pictures of you please. I dont really have any haha. Love you all ~Elder Barney

**Leaving a companion: Hm this last one wasnt so sad. I like him a lot, but i needed to be transferred to grow so i was excited. Elder Rabaca has been here a long time he is the only one in my group that hasnt yet been transferred and he counting the days its really hard on him. Thanks for the money if you want to send it in there that is fine, but i want to live the law of consecration. I wont use my card haha. Well i dont really need anything more for christmas. Save the money for when i come home haha. ~Elder Barney

TRANSFERRED! I'M A REAL BAGUIO MISSIONARY!

I've been transferred out of pangasinan! I am now a real baguio missionary! Not a pangasinan missionary. The joke here, because most of the mission is in the state of pangasinan, is i served in the pangasinan mission. Anyways im in AGOO, third branch, the place is amazing here im close to the ocean which i want to see. I smelled it in damortis on the way here. The spanish influence is way strong here the catholic church is really enticing. I just want to look inside haha but we have to wear missionary attire on pday, so that would be weird watching the mormon missionaries walking into the cathedral during confession time. Well im glad lexi and kylie are doing great in their areas. The language is fine. I think i will grow a lot this transfer. My new companion is actually from my batch Elder Rabaca from cebu city. Batch means the group you entered with into the mission. The branch has a lot of less actives but the leadership is very strong and the biggest problem here is not getting the people married but keeping them married. The language is good. I'll be here for about six months. I would have to say but here in La Union im fine with that. Its green and awesome. Up north more there is a place called vegan which is a pure spanish style town but its in the laoag mission. I'll probably spend christmas here so im happy.  I like my district leader he served in iraq. Elder Purcell from america samoa before he came on a mission i have a lot of friends in this area. The members are nice they try to grab my nose because its sobrang matangos "very pointy". I'm glad the rabbit is alive haha. Dallin emailed me i laughed so hard he will have fun in his mission. Kylie i dont have a picture yet but i love the yarn squares you sent me. They are on my study desk. I'll bring them back you can have one ill have the other ayos ba? oh yeah if people from san quintin try to add me on facebook thats okay! If they start writing on my wall thats weird but yeah. I was surprised when i left at some of the reactions because of the position of me leaving i got a lot of unprogressing investigators to open up for more lessons and i got alot of presents. I had to leave a lot behind there. I thanked everyone for the food. Here in my new area the apartment is very small, but very clean and very nice. No cobwebs this time and my companion is an amazing cook just like home. He cooks and i clean and we half the budget on lunch. I love all the news any kind so please keep it coming. I love the pictures duba looks old. Lexi you can date but tell the guys to keep their hands off!!  Elder Barney

NEVER DENY AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK OR SHARE TESTIMONY OR A CALLING

Hey,
No i havent been transferred yet i'll find out on wednesday so we will see. I'm doing good the work is slowing down but were fighting back. I liked the pictures and thanks lexi for emailing me i want to punch petersen he's lucky the church was nice enough to give him a job because no one else would hire him. Man byu lost? Well they will be good when i get back. Elder Ardern from the first quorum of the 70 visited and it was amazing the best zone conference i have ever been to. He talked about our role here in the philippines. They are phasing out white missionaries out of philippines. I'm a dying breed in the church because of the filipinos are having a hard time supplying an adequate amount of missionaries 70 percent to be precise. And then the philippines will be 100 percent pilipino. China will be ready to receive the gospel. That is the sign that china is ready and the filipinos will take the gospel to china. Amazing really. He is from new zealand he grabbed me after the meeting and we talked. One of the most christ like people i have met in a long time. He gave us good advice and reassured me of some things that i have been thinking about. No mom...my mission is not like what i expected. I think I expected sipping pina coladas on some beach somewhere in the Philippines haha but seriously different I still love it here. I'm glad your having fun. Never deny an opportunity to speak or share testimony or a calling. It is frustrating here to have people go inactive and hide in their homes on sunday when its their turn to teach elders quorum or whatever. It comes down to no or weak faith and we are fighting back. One member has a brother who is a recent convert to islam he was fun to talk with him haha. He has lots of scriptures to show us in the bible while we were waiting for his brothers to finish eating. We directed him to some other scriptures that gave him a clear message that we take our religion seriously, and the spirit remained haha. I always laugh when I pass the j dubs and i think of all of dad's mission stories. They dont mess with us. Well im excited for conference!

I laughed good at kylies pictures as napolean. If he ever had a girlfriend she looked the part. Well right now one big struggle is bad dad's here. Pilipinos are notorious for leaving the country to work abroad its a recipe for disaster. Dad goes abroad finds another girl converts to muslim or whatever leaves his family starving here in the philippines its happened so many times their ripening for gods anger. I have learned good lessons from their bad examples, but i cant do anything really to help these people financially. It's hard to teach people about paying tithing and faith when they dont have money for food. Mom you wanted to know what life's like here...sad...I'm not discouraged. It's the reality of things here. Sorry i dont get enough time to email here haha so im rushing. 

The time is flying here for me. I can barely touch the days sometimes. I did exchanges with the zone leaders this last week and their apartment was like a california apartment, so nice brand spanking new. There is a huge batch coming in one of the biggest ever 18 elders and sisters we need it bad were stretched thin. Where are all the missionaries going? utah?! Send them here we need them more here haha.
Elder Barney

HOW AM I FEELING? I FEEL GREAT!

I'm doing great my email got erased? shoot well ill resend them. I'm

doing good i got to go with elder cabauatan to train the trainers so

either im getting transferred or he is to open an area on sept 21 so

we will see. President surprised us and showed up at our apartment

with the AP's, but they cant fool us. They called to ask what barangay

we lived in and the address so we were ready for them haha. I saw

another snake this week but it was dead i want to see a live one. Well

president is focusing hard on doctrine and getting ready for the day

of defence haha. Well were just trying to push our progressing investigators into IBD's. If elder cabauatan will train here i dont want his trainee to show up like me. No ibd's no success. So i'll prep it up and i have noticed the branch is booming we actually fell short of chairs and reverence in sacrament was a problem

because of how many people were working in tandem with the auxiliaries

and we're going hard at these part member families that are saying they

are waiting. Procrastination is something we have to fight them

with but it's fun. The language is still coming I'm running out of

language study materials which stinks. Well how's doobs and lou? Kylie

and lexi you better not be saying to the boys...this is crazy but

heres my number or call me baby or maybe-carlie jepson somet thing like

that?? Thats always played here on the radio i dont think the boys

here know the meaning of it because they are always yelling it at

me.(?) Dad i read an article in the sept ensign or liahona about the dos

hermanas stake in sevilla spain. The featured author was sister maria

perez sanchez. Do you still have contact with the people there or no? I

never asked. I'm glad dallin is going there. I did tell him he was going to africa. I'm glad utah state won haha. Me homesick? No mom haha. I was after a week in the philippines. There were times when i have been upheld by the spirit, sometimes so many from being too bold before i was withheld because of the language but sometimes matigas and ulo ng less actives they are so hard headed but its all good. I dont want to be 20 yo haha. What am i feeling each night?  Usually great by the end of the night. I need to rest to forget about some

of the parts of the day. My mission is not even close to what i

expected even when i was in the mtc. This isn’t like a cruise

destination spot. This is like the nebraska of the Philippines lots of

fields but i like it. I will miss the members when i am transferred. I

worry sometimes that im not changing as much as I should be or if when

i return home that I’ll be able to do school again. I dont like having

so much future ahead of me..haha. Sharing the gospel is so much easier

when they ask you about it first. There are obvious ways to display our

faith without wearing a "i love mormons shirt", ctr rings, or reading

the book of mormon in public etc. Well i love you all You look at the

calendar and it still reads 2012 but look at it now. I'm 7 months into

my mission and its crazy the first transfer was tough but you just become attached to the growth of the ward, personal, and companionship study.  Well thats all for now folks~

Elder Barney