Thursday, July 30, 2009

Baby Kambri Our New Grandaughter







Kaden in Hyderabad

Hey ma, what up? well i dont have so much time cuz we have appointments in a little bit so ill probably be a bit short. maybe you can get a hold of the prophet and ask him to get a better e mail service for us. haha. but it was another really good week. we had 8 investigators at church on time!!. i can feel that my prayers and your guys prayers are truly blessing us. we were supposed to be having a baptism for Ajay this week but he got an urgent call from a friend that turned out to not be so "urgent" and left in the middle of sacrament. and now he has to wait another 3 weeks.. so that was kinda a bummer. but its okay cuz i feel like he can still be more prepared and only be stronger as he finally gets to enter the waters of baptism. his friend ravi kirran made it back from delhi yesterday too and he seems super happy about the book of mormon. i cant wait to teach them again! mahipal and revinder are still doing great too. they even made it on time wich was a first. haha. i think the Lord is punishing me for all the times i walked in late. . . haha jk. but they are set for the 16th and looking really good. i cant ever remember what i tell you in past weeks but we were able to finally meet a brother named Achyut this last week. he and his dad came to church. and the first thing he wanted to talk about was plans for his baptism. he wasnt able to meet us for a couple weeks because he was back at his village place working out some kinks in his marrage. its a love/arranged marage but the problem is is that he and his futur wives families casts are different so her parents arent being so cooperative. probably think shes a 10 cow wife but achyuts fam thinks 8!! haha jk. but culture is sad here sometimes but i think everything will work out. so hes supposed to marry within the next couple weeks and if so he wants to be baptized on the 23. i truly feel so blessed to be working with those wich we have right now. sometimes i think, man how did we find these people but then i realize that the Lords hand did it all. im so thankful for this gospel and the change it has made in my life as i truly try to follow and apply it. its kinda like dad always taught me. dont just go through the motions as your playing ball. we can do the same in the gospel. by small things great things come to pass and i know thats true.our district here in hyderabad 1st is way fun too. its 2 utah and two idaho. but we have a lot of fun and are working hard as a district. oh and speaking of idaho if you want you can send some of those potato things and some gravy packs :) oh and i have been forgeting to ask.. did you ever get a package from me. i had some elders send it when i left KGF and i havent heard anything from you. i hope it got to ya. a bunch of pics and other crap that was probably pointless to send. but let me know cuz if it hasnt made it by now its probably not going to. anyways im doing great. thanks for all you do and for your love and support. your the best. love you kaden p.s sorry for the spelling and stuff. haha i cant remember anything. oh and yes i know sis kasper. i see them all the time there great!

whad up pops, well its another great week. im having so much fun out here. your words alays boost me and just make me wanna work hard but have fun. its crazy how your attitude and swagger can change everything. days you just know your going to have success and you work to achieve your goals it happens because you know befor that if your work hard it will. its not a big secret or anything i guess but you just gotta do it. the family and the buisness are always in my prayers so im glad to hear its still going really good. i know the Lord is blessing the family. so ill try to answer some of your questions. me and e riley are doing really well. and langueage isnt a problem at all. we can have communication with people who dont know any english. i wouldnt say we have the languages or could understand to people speaking telugu to eachother but can pick up small enough to know twhat there saying about. but really im working on getting my english back to normal. at first i thought it was good to speak with less english and to cut words out but pres is telling us to get out of that habbit. so after living with natives the last while i still find my self saying sentances and just laugh cuz it doesnt make sense. haha. on p day we just mail. shop we have been bowling as a district, sometimes just chill and rest. there is ping pong and basketball at the church too so sometimes we do that. i dunno nothing to special. haha there probably is somthing but its just normal to me now. oh we got a small toster oven!! so maybe i can cook the brownie mix and stuff mom sent for x mas. haha. we eat outside a lot. with e riley he always wants american. KFC and pizza subway, micky ds. im sick of it but he doesnt love the food so ill do whatever. oh man we ate at a members last week and by far the spicyest food i have ever had. same for e riley. i can handle hot food to but this chicken curry was un real. we were both bright red, nose running like anything, i had rice in my right hand and a hanky in the left to wipe after every bite. haha, my eyes were sweating. man it was so good but so hot. haha we couldnt quit laughing. it was funny how hot it was. that whole night it felt like i was cooking from the inside out. at the end i took rice and curd. its just like what it sounds. white chunky stuff that is sour but i put sugar on it. i love it now!! its kinda like yogurt i guess?? e riley doesnt like it but its good cuz it cools down the fire. and yes it burns on the way out too:) haha. we have a wash machine on the back deck. its a lot better than kgf's but it sucks cuz its outside so all the dust gets in it so if your not careful when you pull your stuff out you get dust all over. we only have water from 630 am to about 10 so we have to do everything in the morning. im just glad to have running watter at all and not carry it by bucket like a lot of people do. anyways thats some about hyderabad. i havent taken any pics for ever. so thats why you havent got any. oh and tell mom i didnt see an eclipse. you cant really see the stars and stuff to good in the city. just cuz of lights and smog. but i love it here in india. i hope you can feel how my happiness and love i have for the people here. but thanks for everything dad. i love you kaden

Saturday, June 27, 2009

hey everyone! whats up? i had another great week and i cant believe it has already been a week. haha. we were busy teaching and finding new investigators. its alot diferent finding here than in kgf. kgf was over 50% christian which mad it nice for finding because we only knock christian doors. but her in hyderabad there is a big muslim population and its almost imposible to teach and baptize them because if there family finds out they will kill them. literally. its sad to think that there are people like that in this world but thats how it is. thats what makes the plan of salvation so great! that everyone will get a fair opportunity to hear this great gospel and choose for themselves. anyways sometimes we will walk 15 to 20 km a day and only see a few christian doors. we set a few pople for baptism this week. revinder and mahepaul. they have a cousin who is a member and they came to church last week. they doesnt speak english really but we are helping them. so hopefully we can teach them and help them learn english so they can be baptized. the branch here really wanst to help misionaries and to help the work. its great to see that truely no matter where you live in the world the gospel is the same and is ran strait from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. yesterday i went on exchanges but my comp was sick and in bed all day. i didnt know what to do. i was like where is ESPN when i need it! haha. but it was good because i read the whole book "our search for happiness". wich is pretty crazy cuz ive never read a full book in my life let alone in one day. haha. but being locked inside all day made me realize that even a long day of knocking doors and getting shut down is better than being inside. haha. we may be having a baptism on sunday for a kid that we started teaching named mahesh. but he doesnt have a cell phone and its looking like we might need to wait one more week. but im excited to teach him and his little sister priyanka who is 17, they both love to read the book of mormon. and anyone who does that will know its true. but i hope everything is well back home. i love serving and teaching the people in india. love you.elder barr

hey amma, hows it going. sounds like you got some crazy wether going on. haha. we do too. i gotta get an umberella today thats for sure.haha. oh and you mighta saw 800rs at a store called spar. its a giant grocery store and i bought a bunch of stuff. "peanutbutter!!" haha but next month ill try to keep track of my money. i didnt have enough cash cuz i had to pay an overage charch cuz my luggage was 25 kg's over weight. haha. but i flirted my way down to make them only charge for 10 extra. haha. it woulda been like 3000 rs but nothing some white skin and a smile couldnt fix. haha. but everything is going great. food is awesome!! im definatly not missing suchi ruchi. haha we got a couple times at members already too and they cook really good here. so hopefully i dont get fat again. my flat and everything is good.so i cant believe rylee is saying the 2nd article of faith... i dont even know it. maybe i should work on that haha. and saidie is speaking the abc's.. crazy!! tell them all hi and that i love them.it sucked not getting to see rekahs baptism but im looking foreward to things to come here in hyderabad. i feel blessed to have served in the places i have and already am gaining so much more experience spiritually and just fun experiences here. so hows the summer going. nae driving ya crazy yet? haha. well mom i gotta go but know that i love you and am so thankful to have the family i have. i pray for you guys always and i hope that you will continue to see the blessings. im greatfull to have this gospel in my life and to know the truth. so many people just have no idea. but it makes me happy to teach people and theey say wow that makes sense. the gospel isnt hard and it just makes sense and if we follow the basic principals we will be happy. anyways i love you and thanks for your letters and support. kaden

hey dad. whats up. well sorry for the late happy fathers day but happy fathers day. . haha. you know how us guys dont remember stuff like that. haha. but your really are awesome and im so glad to be your son. as i have talked with my companion and he he asked me if i could change anything how my parents raised me what would it be. and i thought for a while and have thought about it since. and i honestly cant think of anything. i really feel like i have the greatest parents and im greatful to have had parents that i respect but at the same time feel just like my friends. but thanks for all yout hard work that you do and have done your whole life. it hasnt gone unnoticed even though sometimes i probably made it seem like that. but i really do love you and look up to you. and hope that someday i will be even a little bit like you.anyways sounds like the tecs are still going strong. have fun on the trip. and i told mom to eat a dog or two for me, so you too. haha. its crazy i wount be there with ya. its probably the first time in 10 years or somethin. but you thought you were finished laying out for BP balls but now your gonna have a granddaughter who is without a bp ball so....... haha jk. ill never forget you laying out at coors stadium and givin me the ball. you the man. well gotta go but thanks for your support. and dont worry if next week you gotta keep your letter short cuz i know there is no time when your with the tecs and vic. haha. have fun and know that i love you.thanks popskaden

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Transfered to Hyderabad

hey everyone! hows it goin. well im here in hyderabad and its great! its a lot different than the village life im used to. haha. i have ate dominoes, mcdonalds, subway,kfc. already so thats cool. its quite a bit hoter here than in my other area but rainy season is trying to start and of course e barr isnt prepared. haha. so my second day was completly wet and was walking down streets with water above my ankles. haha. it feels nice to be of my cycle too. haha. now im back to jumping on and off busses that dont stop. so its definatly different but i love it here already. everyone has asked questions about the new area and my living conitions so ill do my best. haha. we stay in a big complex that is pretty nice. our room has a/c so that is nice :) well a/c in india is more like a swamp cooler but still its nice. haha. me and my comp are doing great. we are having a lot of fun and teaching well together. we laugh a lot and ints nice to be with someone who we both understand eachother. haha. hyderabad is a nice place. its kinda different because there are a lot of muslems and seeks. seeks are the ones who have the turbans and all that cool stuff. haha. when we went to chuch on sunday i was in aww at how nice the building was. its huge! all of the members are great and they fellowship non members so well. and thats really how missionary works the best, when members are the ones supporting the work. our job as full time missionaries is just to bring them. it was different not to have to have responsibility during church to teach and all that. but im looking foreward to be able to work here in this branch. anyways the works is going great here and were working hard to find some new investigators to work with. we found a family from nepal that speak great english and are very good so ill try to keep you updated on that. but im doing great and am happy here in hyderabad. hope all is good back home. love you.elder barr

June 10
hey everyone, well i just wrote a big letter and lost it. the church e mail system is the worst ever. good thing the church is still true. haha. anyways ill try and sum up what i wrote... its been another great week in kgf. we are teaching many good people that have great potential. thats why im a bit sad to say ill be going to hyderabad 1st branch. im in bangalore now and fly out tomorrow morning. im excited for change but i have really came to love the people and branch members of kgf. i feel like i have family there. haha. and ill also be missing a baptism for rekah on sunday. so thats kinda a bummer but thats how it goes right. haha. like i have said befor it doesnt really matter, just that there entering into the waters of baptism and will have so much happieness in there lives. i learned so many things about myself and most importantly the gospel the leas 6 months is spent there. and im so greatful to have had so many good experiences that ill never forget.so my new comp will be e riley from ID. i think im actually related or somthing? haha but it will be fun. we came to india together and im excited to get to work with him and just tear up the hyderabad streets. haha. anyways sorry this letter is a bit small but i wanna throw this computer out the window after loosing that last one. but im doing great and i have a full stomach of KFC so thats even better. haha no more suchi ruchi!!! the church is true. have a great week.love elder barr

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Another Great Couple Weeks In India

June 4
hey mom, well i have no time this week. we went to mysore palace and we got stuck in traffic and didnt get back to bangalore til late last night. so we came to kgf this am and have no time to write. we have a busy rest of the week. we have had a awesome week so far. we set a sister named rekah for june 14 and a kid named pravin for july. me and pravin are very close he is a hindu background and we taught him to pary and there is nothing like hearing someones first prayer to heavenly father. but there two of the strongest potentials i feel i have had in kgf. transfers are next week and rumor chances are ill be going and not get to see them. i guess thats how it goes but its also not important. but we have been working hard and trying to get this branch back on its feet. i have felt the lord testifying to me a lot more in my teaching lately. and i hope and pray it will continue. i know it will cuz hevenly father always keeps his promise. we have had a lot of member present lessons this week and its so great. members are key! but it was a great week and im so happy right now in kgf. but next week well see where im at :) so in mysore its a cool palace and but the coolest thing is i rode an elephant! ohhh what! ya it was cool but man india is so funny. haha. the sign board says 50 rupees but then under 100 for foreigners. haha. oh well. but i had a great week. sorry i cant write more. but i m happy and love it here. i love you and hope your doing good. tell everyone hi. i love you Kaden

May 27
hey everyone, what up? sounds like everything is going good back home. we had another great week here in KGF. the Lord is truly blessing the work here. we have been focusing on finding good families with people that all speak english and that support eachother. we have struggled with teaching really good people but then the father or someone stops them from progressing. but these last 2 weeks we have found some great families that are already showing so much interest. yesterday after lunch we were going to see one of the new families and when we got there they insisted that we would eat chicken byriani. we told them no we just came from lunch and were full. but as usual in the indian culture they forced us to eat. i said to bring small only but when they brought out the huge plate i knew i was in trouble. haha. then the sister brought mutton gravy. me and my comp both said no but she just putt it on anyways. and we really dont like mutton. so i started eating and she left the room for a min and e satyadi starts throwing all the mutton pieces on my plate. haha. he doesnt like meat so much. anyways after two lunches yesterday we were both hurting and could barely ride our cycles. haha. these indians just dont take no for an answer when it comes to food.So this week i have really enjoyed my studies. i really like to read my scriptures now and thats somthing i could never say befor. i feel like the Lord has blessed me so much to understand what i read and it makes it so much better. and as i teach people about the Book of Mormon its not just a principal to teach them anymore. i can truly see that its what is going to save there eternal salvation. its not always easy getting people interested in the BOM here because they dont always read english well but the language there fluent speakers in they cant read that language. but i have learned that its not always about understanding, they just need to feel the spirit that its true. im so greatful that i have this great responsiblility and privilage to share this message with everyone.oh and the bike fund got drained again. haha. the gears and the back tire decided they wanted to fall off for some reason??? haha so i had to carry my bike like a half a mile to the shop. haha. when i got there the shop said nope just go to a different place. it must be bad when they dont even want my money anymore. haha. but im doing great and im back healthy and enjoying the work. hope your all doing good. love elder barr

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Another great week in KGF

Hey everyone,well it has been a pretty good week. we had a nice day at church and it was great to see robert get confirmed. he asked elder linton to do it and he gave him a great blessing and i felt the spirit very strong. i hope and pray that robert can be a great leader here in the branch. he has even talked about wanting to serve a mission!! but his age might not allow that. but it was pretty cool to hear those words come from his mouth. haha. after church on sunday i wasnt feeling that great just kinda tired and body aches. then on monday morning i woke up with a fever of 103.5. im no dr but im pretty sure thats high. haha. so they told me to stay inside becasue going out in the heat wouldnt be the best. so after a full days rest i felt a lot better. it has rained a lot this last week, pretty much every night. the indians tell you if you go out in the rain and get your head wet you will get a fever so maybe thats what happened. haha? its pretty funny cuz when it rains they all put plastic bags on there heads. so maybe i need to try that. haha. but yesterday we had a great day. we found 10 new investigators. 2 different families and there both really good. were really trying to find families right now because it seems if we dont have the whole family someone in the fam will stop them from progressing. so im looking foreward to see what will happen with them. i cant think of anything better then seeing a whole family together getting baptized. so hopefully this is the answer to the prayers we have been looking for. the branch here needs good strong families that can help it grow. cuz honestly now its really more like a home group than a branch. its really helping me to learn patience to be out here serving. i have always wanted things to be done fast and in my way but im seeing that thats not how it works always in the missionfield. we need to work as hard as possible and let the Lord do the rest.so not really any crazy stories or anything for you this week. but im doing great and love serving. i know that as we put our trust in the Lord he will help all of us in whatever we need. have a great week!love, elder barr