Kaden's Doing Great

Hey mom, well i cant believe its snowing again. the day i left the mtc it was snowing and it seems like it was just yesterday so its kindof crazy. maybe its because i have had the everlasting summer for the last year. haha. but i think id rather be roming the streets sweating than freezing. but anyways it was another really good week! selvums full family came to church!!! they all loved it too. there daughter sharine mary has been wanting to come for a long time and finally it happend. they made friends and are excited to come next week! there was a lesson in gospel principals and this week the topic was about families and the responsibility each member has. it was perfect because we have been focusing on how important the gospel is for there family. maybe it took so long to get them to church for a reason. but as i have seen there family change it has brought so much happieness to my service. they are having daily family prayer and scripture study and leaving all of there tea, coffee habits. im so greatful for the gospel and to have had it my whole life because it truly is the way to have a happy family. so im greatful to you and dad for always keeping a strong testimony and showing me how i need to be.
this week we found a lot and we were able to find 15 new people to teach. we tried to work through members more and we were able to be introduced to some of there family members. so im very thankful that they are willing to share the gospel with the people they love. if every member of the church would do that the church would easily double.
so thats cool rue met a kid from my mission. find out what his name was. im glad you got a scare in the conference that you were going to have to maybe go up and talk. now you know how i felt. except when i was siting there i had a 1 in 3 chance. haha sounds like dad had to speak too so you lucked out.
the service project went good to. we were able to get everything done. there was so much stuff rooms full of kits and tons of blankets and other things. i was tired by the end of it. haha.
and about clothes. ill probably just buy it here so you wont have to spend money to ship it. everything is just starting to hit the wall. haha. when e reeses parents came one of the kids i came with said that e reeses dad the first thing he said was "elder your shirt is yellow" haha mine arent that bad tho. i might have you send Gs in a while though because sometime the office takes forever to get them to us. anyways im still doing great and loving it! thanks for all you do. i love you and dont have to much fun for halloween.

love kaden

hey pops, sounds like you had a good week and a fun time talking in church or whatever. haha. but im sure that pres randall wants to see all the wards doing good with the young men like you are. i can tell that your helping prepare them to serve the Lord and become great people. i wish i coulda heard the talks from eyiring and ballard. this sunday is some asia area 70 brodcast so thats what ill be waching this sunday. so im excited to hear them speak.
but this week has been a good weak for me and i feel i have learned a lot. having a new elder makes all the presure on me. but i like it. at first planning and finding and everything was tough but its coming around and things are looking really good. we have found a couple great families, and a couple more potential families so thats good. i feel like i have had to rely on the spirit a lot more than any other time of my mission and i have felt the lords hand in everything we do. i love learning and studying about Christ and his atonement. somthing that touched me thismorning as a studied. i was reading in mark 14 and in one of the vrses it talks about how mcuh He suffered in gethsemane. it says he was "sore amazed". as i thought about that the thought came to me that christ knew he had to complete the atonement and had been preparing for it for his whole life but when the time came it even suprized him at how painful it was even to the point that he was "sore amazed". but it made me so thankful for Jesus Christ and that he was willing to suffer for all of the bad things i have done in my life so i can be forgiven. maybe you can read that chapter if you want. but i just felt like to share that. because i dont think people realize how important and powerful the atonement is and how me He really suffered. i know i never did.
everything is going good though and im enjoying the mission. i told to mom about selvums family and how happy they are now in the letter i wrote her. but during priesthood class the teacher asked someone to stand and share and experince of how the gospel changed there life and immediately selvum stood up and bore his testimony and how elder barr taught him about the truth and he has been able to quit smoking drinking and everything because of the gospel. it felt good to hear him say that and he was greatful for me but the thing that toughed me is because i have been able to see his life change tight before my eyes. when i decided to go on a mission while listening to the elders teach katie and i had the thought if i could make even one person feel like i feel now i would be happy. but so far it has been greater than i ever expected i have seen many people feel of the spirit and thats what im here for. but thanks for all your advice know that your the man. im doing good and i hope all is going well with work and everything else. love you.

kaden

p.s GO YANKS!!!!!!!!

Another Great Week In Hyderabad

hey madre, well i dont have a ton of time because we just got pack from a zone activity. we went to a place caled Ramoji film city. its where many indian films are shot. its the largest film city in the world. everything is made from plaster and cardboard but it looks real. so one second you could be standing infront of the taj and the next second in london. haha its kinda cool i guess. they also had some other rides and a lot of statues of naked people haha. the rides were pretty ghetto. about like the fair. haha. we loaded into this one ride that noone was in line for that rocked you back and fourth until it went all the way around and we just acted like it was the funnest thing ever yelling. and bye the time we were finished there were hundreds of people in line. haha. its pretty funny sometimes how people will just watch us. oh and they had a trampoline that they hook you in the harness and i just said no i dont want a harness and started toing backflips and stuff and everyone came and just looked shocked. pople dont ever get to see stuff like that. haha. oh and elder chigu jumped on a trampoline for the first time in his life 25yrs. his first jump he jumped kinda near the side and it threw him funny and he fell. me and elder riley were laughin like anything. it was like watching a baby jumping in a full grown mans body. haha. oh and all of us whities with missionariy tan lines got our necks fried. i remjember todd sending pics one time of that and remember thinking he was an idiot. but now im that same idiot. haha.
we had anoother good sunday and ajays fonfirmation. then later i had the privilage of giving him the aaronic priesthood. it was an unplanned deal. we were just standing in opening excercises and they were like now ajay will recieve the priesthood and elder barr will be doing it.... i have never done one. but it went well and im greatful for the priesthood and have seen how much it works and and greatful to have the privilage to pass it to others.
so we will get to watch conf this sat and sunday. because the time difference they just wait till the next sunday. but im way excited to hear the words of the leaders of the Church. i cant believe its already time for another one. i dont feel like im ready cuz im still working on all the council from the last one. haha.
we also had zone conf this week and it was awesome just like it always is. but we focused alot on the first chapter of preach my gospel wich is My Purpose as a missionary. and it really opened my eyes to why im hear and its "to invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the holy ghost, and enduring to the end." and im so greatfull and happy to be here serving the Lord. it truly is his work. anyways it was a great week and other than a sunburned neck im doing great! haha. i love you mom. your an awesome example to me.

love kaden

oh and im glad the package came and i hope everything was in it. we had it stiched up and sealed with wax cuz i guess they dont touch them if you do it like that. send some pics of nae.

Kaden's Doing Great In Hyderabad

Hi everyone, it has been another great week here in hyderabad. kindof wet. its been raining for the past few days. i was glad because it was another big hindu festival the last couple of days so it slowed a few of them down. haha. i guess its the time of year where its festival after festival. but the work is going great. we had a good sunday and had 7 investigators come. things are changing in the church here in india. they announced that there will be 3 more districts starting oct 11. now there is only the hyderabad and bangalore districts so it will be good for the church. there getting close to being able to have a stake here but there needs to be more strong priesthood holders.
we had ajays baptism this week too. it was very good and after he was baptized he had a smile from ear to ear. you could tell he recognized the spirit and knew what he did was right. it has been quite a while since working with him so it is great to see him progressing in the gospel. we visited him yesterday and he gave referals for 2 families and wants to come with us so that was kinda cool too.
the last couple of weeks we have been struggling to find new people to teach usually 5 or 6 but this week we already found a family of 8 and another really good couple. when we were teaching the couple the restoration they just looked shocked that there is a living prophet on the earth and they want to find out if its true. so im excited to see what will happen with them. but to see them and how happy they were to hear about a living prophet it made me think about how lucky we are to know this.
but everything is going great hear. oh and we had new neighbors move in a few weeks back and we started talking to them and were making good friends. last night we were planning and they knocked the door with a tray full of food. some coconut rice, chicken curry, mutton curry, curd, and ice cream!! it was dang good too. they invited us to come and share what we are doing with them sometime so maybe we will get to teach them:)
i hope your all doing good and havin fun. have a great week!
love elder barr
hey amma. whats up? sorry your not feeling good. you need to take better care of yourself. your always tellin me so now you get to hear it from me. haha. but really you gotta not work to hard. with all the weddings and stuff you just need to be there to help and tell others what to do. not you do everything. got it??!! haha jk. people want the best and you do the best. but anyways its been a great week. ajays baptism was great! he was probably the most happy i have ever seen him or any other person we have baptized. it makes me feel so good to see others happines. thats what makes me happy now. maybe just cuz i have forgot what the real world is, haha but having those moments makes every bit of the mission worth it. after the service i just was talking to him and told him how proud i was of him and i just looked up at me kinda choked up and said thanks for everything brother and shook my hand and walked away quickly. haha. but at that time it made me feel kinda the same way and i know that serving the Lord is the least i can be doing and the happienes and blessings i see is awesome. but i truly am greatful for the Gospel and know its true! i guess thats how simple my testimony is. haha.
anyways i love you mom. thanks for the support and all you do. but take care and get feeling better okay. oh and i got the treats you sent. the office just sent it. so i never saw the reeses but it got to me safe. thanks for all the letters and stuff. tell everyone else too. oh and its cool you talked to madhu. his bro is also a church member, but his parents arent. no english but hopefully some day. his mom makes some bomb food. Tomato egg curry.... mmmm. hahah. love you ma!

kaden

Another Great Week In Hyderabad

hey, well it was another really good week. and had a lot of good experiences. we had been finding pretty much all day. we walked and talked to people on the street but didnt really get anything. it ws getting kind of frustrating to just feel like your walking for no reason. but then a couple of people stopped us and said we always see you and just wonder what your doing. we were able to tell them and they want to meet later this week. and a few minutes later a lady stoped us, and the same thing. i know sometimes we have to be patient and then the Lord will bless us. Its great to be able to see His power every single day and to see his hand helping us with this great work.

We also had a pretty funny experience this week too. So this week has been another week full of festivals. Both hindu and Muslim. It’s the time of year when they fast all day and then eat at night, its called ramzaan or something like that. And here in Hyderabad is one of the only places in the world where you can eat “HALEEM” during ramzaan. So basically haleem is liquefied meat. Haha. They just put the meat either mutton or chicken and smash it and beat it in this big pot until it turns to meat paste. Haha. So me and my comp were thinking we need to try it but just haven’t got around to it. So it was the last day of ramzaan and were were teaching a family for the second time and they just force snacks and food on us, and they said have you had haleem? Then I was like uh oh. Cuz we heard there is only a couple of places where you get decent haleem and someones home is not one of those. So they brought out these bowls of mutton haleem for us and me and my comp just looked at eachother and he said “you first” haha. So I took a big bite and sure enough meat glue! Haha it was alright but it was one of those things were if you think about gagging you do. Then it was elder rileys turn. So he took a spoonful and he just stuck the spoon back in the glue and handed it back. Haha. I was laughin but I kept eating just so I can say I did it. So minus the weird texture and the small bone pieces you could say it was pretty good. Haha. Good times in india.

Anywas the work is going great Ajay is being baptized this Sunday and is very excited. We have been working with him for almost three months so its great to see him finally getting to be baptized and start his new life. I love this gospel and know that its true and feel so lucky to be able to share it. But everything is great. I hope your all doing good and have a good week.



Elder Barr

Another Great Week In Hyderabad

hey mom, whats up? well it sounds like things are good back home and busy as ever. thats good i guess right. but this week was a better week haha kinda. every companionship in lur district had one person sick. a native had dengay fever wich is pretty crappy and he was out for the full week. e riley and e jenks both the idahoans were sick too. so me and whoever else wasnt sick would go out and cover all of our areas and try and meet as many people as we could to try and keep the work going. but it was nice to be busy but we didnt have a whole lot of time to find but these last 2 days we have met some good potential families. so im excited for that. on sunday a guy named narindran came walking into the church after all the meeting were over just wanted to check things out and he stayed in our area so we set an apointment with him that night. we went and only had like 20 min so we shared the restoration very quickly and basic. but he pulled out this computer looking thing and set a statue of christ on top of it and he said he had been working on this product for the last 7 years of his life. but basically you can select diferent topics and they have put together a bunch of scriptures and it plays the sound and he wants everyone to be able to have it in there home. kinda crazy but he is a great guy and just has good intent to help others. he doesnt believe in any denomination because he said as he has studied and went to different churches they arent unified and he doesnt think any are completely true... hmmmm i know someone who had a situation similar to yours. and we shared about Joseph smith and the true gospel of Jesus Christ being restored. but he seemed so happy and said we answered questions he had been searching for. we had to go but set and apointment with him and his friend for tuesday. so yesterday we went and reviewed and had an amazing lesson. his friend is a hindu, his name is Rama Krishna. hahah about as hindu a name you can get. but i felt promted to ask if he had been baptized i fegured he probably had because he has dedicated much of his life to Christ but he said no. so we set him and his friend for baptism on oct 18. its crazy how you can teach a hindu who has little knowlege of the gospel and someone who has a lot of knowlege at the same time. it was a boost to my testimony and just shows how simple the gospel is and everyone needs to know about it.
im so thankful to know what i know. its not a lot but i know that what im doing is true and there is no other way to true happieness and to live with God again. and im thankful to have a parents and a family who have raised me up like i have been. i love what im doing and am happy as ever thanks to this gospel.
anyways.... haha thanks to you mom were going to eat a bomb lunch. after were done mailing were having the other elders bring some rosted chickens and you sent a 5 year supply of mashed potatoes and gravy. haha. so were going to have that and some corn. thats my kinda meal!! dont know how the natives will feel about it. haha so thanks for sending that. but i dont need anything really. i have more candy than i need so dont send anything for a while. i mostly just eat the jerky. haha. so no worries im probably good til x-mas. i got the stuff for nae. just need some bindi's or as you know "the dot" and some bangals but were gonna send it today. i hope it fits and works out if not you can fix it however you need. but your the best. love you Amma.

kaden

Another great week in India

hey everyone, well i hope everyone had a good week and had fun on labor day. i dont think they have labor day here?? instead they just have a gazillion hindu festivals that they get off work for. haha. oh and a lot of the christians had yesterday off cuz it was mother mary birthday.?? haha. but this week was a bit rough. well as far as missionary work i guess. because of the festival we werent able to find all week and spent a couple days inside and at the church.. its hard because there are so many things we need to be doing but we cant. but now were back out and no limitations so were working hard to make up for the lost time. we still are having success and have some good investigators. Ajay whos baptism was supposed to be this sunday will be postponed till the end of the month. but he is still very excited and progressing. but everything here in hyderabad is going great. i love it and love sharing the gospel. have a great week!

love elder barr

Another great week in India

here are some pictures of the ganesh we had in the bottom floor of our flat. you know we had to worship. haha jk. but they gave us an orange and a palmagranite and we bothe just kept them and ate them then that night we were like maybe we were supposed to give it to ganesh. haha oh well. but the other pic is our apt complex. were on the sixth floor its big. but there ya go hope it works.

kaden

whats up everyone, hows it going? everything is great here. it was a great week, very busy but thats how we like it. we had a great zone conference and i learned a lot. i feel so lucky to be here in india and have the leaders we have. pres and sister nichols are great and have so much knowledge i cant even take everything in. the conference was focused on missionaries working with the branch members and i realized how much the members can really do. so help out the missionaries in your area!! haha. it was also district conference sat and sunday. there are 2 districts in south india. one in Bangalore and one in hyderabad. so the conference was brodcasted to all diferent cities so the members could see. its great that they have the technology to do that. because a few years ago it wasnt like that. the asia area 70 elder stanyley wan presided. it was awesome to here him speak. he has a bit of a chinese accent and he would tell jokes and it was so funny. but at the same time his message was very spiritual and uplifting for the members. they talked a lot about temples and for everyone to start saving. its great to see the dedication of the people here to save and save for years so they can fly to hong kong and have there families sealed together forever. we are lucky to have temples so close to us and all we need to do is make a small sacrifece to go. we dont have to save for our lifetime and go. when people hear that i can see the temple from my home they cant even believe it and it is the coolest thing for them. so im going to do my best to take advantage when i get back and encourage all of you to do the same. alright enough advice from me.. haha.for the past week and a half it has been one of the bigger of the Gazillion hindu festivals each year. haha. its called Ganesh festival. Ganesh is a elephant dude with 4 arms. so sleeping with punding drums and whatever else noise they make is becoming the normal thing. haha. our A/C went out last week too so between the hindus drums and muslms mosques going off and the heat at night the first few days, not too much sleep was going on gor us. sometime me and e riley would just laugh cuz you cant even believe how much sound they make. today is the last day though :) we havent been able to find becasue of all the parties and the crazy dances. haha so it will be nice to get back to full proceliting. we had 8 at district conf on sunday so that was good. and we have some good people and even a family set for bapt. the fam is very roman catholic but they are doing very well and love learning about Heavenly Father.im so thankful for this gospel and how simple it is and that i know enough to be able to share it with others. i hope your all doin good back home. love yaelder barr