It's All Good

She's Home! :)

This is just a quick picture from my phone. I'll post more later.

Last Email...

I was wondering if I would get an email from Michelle today... and I did!

Daddy,

Oh man...I'll be home soon...it's really weird.

I'll look for you at the gate...and at baggage claim...I'll be the one with a dazed and confused look on my face...lol Well...still have to finish packing!

See you in the morning!

Love ya!

Love,
'chelle

Aaaahhhh!

No, I'm not excited. Why do you ask? :)

It's Getting Close!

Here's the latest from Michelle. Just 7 days and a few hours! But, who's counting... :)

Daddy,

Conference was amazing! We had a four people who came and watched it - one of them came to all 4 sessions! :D

Too bad Spring break isn't next week - that would work out way good. Hey, so you're letting her skip school next Tuesday, right? That would be really neat...I'd love to be able to spend the day with you and Boo. :D

Sorry I didn't email last week...the library was closed for some strange reason...

We had snow this weekend...It snowed all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday - we had about 6-9 inches. Now though, the skies are blue and the snow is melting! :D Yay! I really want my last week to be springy here! We'll see what the Lord wants.

Suzanne is doing great! She said she wants to come down for my homecoming so we have to let her know when that is. It was really good to see her though.

Well, that's all for this week. I don't know if I'll be able to email next Monday - we're going to try though. If not, I'll see you Tuesday morning! :D

I love you!

Love,
'chelle

No News...

I haven't heard from Michelle this week. Sad... :(

Mail Call!

I did hear from Michelle this week. She explains why we didn't hear from her last week.

Daddy,

Sorry you didn't hear from my last week. P-day was on Wednesday since we went to the temple and then the server wouldn't let us on myldsmail...grr. I would've written you a letter but, I figured that by the time it got to you I would be emailing you anyways. :) Okay, I only have a few minutes since they've cut our email time to half an hour so I'm combining two replies into one. :D Larry Stookey is teaching Mission Prep? Awesome! I'm sure he'll do a great job! :D Sister Avalos and I are doing well. We're finding new people to teach and we're pretty excited about this area! The ward is really good and there are some good people here that need the Gospel. :D

Pretty much the Gospel is amazing! Yesterday for my personal study I read the Resurrection chapters in The Gospels and then in our companionship study we've been reading the March Ensign so that's really good too.

Sister Avalos and I are boycotting winter by not wearing our down coats unless we absolutely have to. :D

I got to see Suzanne yesterday, which I'm sure you already know since you're the one who told her I was in Sand Lake ward. She came to our ward yesterday before they headed back to Bethel. It was really good to see her. She said that we'll have to let her know when my homecoming report is and she'll come down for it.

Well Daddy, I love you! I have to get going. Have a fabulous day and I'll talk to you later!

Love,
'chelle

He Is Risen!

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

He is not here, but is risen...

(Luke 24:1-6)

No News...

I haven't heard from Michelle this week. I hope no news is good news! I'll let you know if I hear anything.

Itinerary

She's coming home!! I got Michelle's flight info today. She arrives at SeaTac early, early, on April 15th! I'm pretty excited! Anyone who wants to come to the Airport is welcome. Let me know and I'll give you the details.

Mail Call!

Here's the latest. Sorry it took so long to post. It sounds like she's doing well.

I'm pretty excited to be with Sister Avalos - she's a neat sister. We're going to have lots of fun together here in Sand Lake. The ward seems really nice [we met them yesterday but, we hardly remember anyone's names] and they're excited to have sisters. We've already had several people come up and tell us they'd love to come out with us to teach lessons! :D Now we just need to find good people to teach. There are a whole slew of potential investigators that need to be recontacted and a lot of formers for us to check up on. All that, along with the hour of tracting they want us to do each day, should really help the area take off.

Our District is pretty cool. Our District Leader is from Canada and he just spent the last couple of months out on Kodiak Island. Two of the other Elders in our District are ones that I've served around before out in Wasilla, one of them is my former District Leader out there.

It brings me joy to teach the Gospel and watch others accept it because I know how much joy it's brought to my life and it's exciting to watch others get that joy in their lives. When we were working with Marci out in Wasilla she commented on how when we came over she felt peaceful and happy for awhile after we left - they could feel that spirit and that joy in their home - that's so exciting to see people recognize that! :D When people reject it I get sad for a minute but, they have their agency so I can't really fret too much about it. Someone out there, somewhere, does want what we have and we have to get to work and find that person.

Sometimes it's actually kind of comical when we get rejected; i.e. Yesterday we were doing some tracting and this lady answered the door and said it wasn't a good time. As she was closing the door and we were walking away we could here the man inside yelling at us to go away. Then, once we were down the stairs and headed to the next apartment he came outside and was yelling at us not to come back. I think he must have been medicated or something because he sounded a little slurred. It was comical though because here's this overweight man who is atleast half naked, potentially drunk or medicated and he's yelling/slurring at us not to come back to his house again [we didn't really look enough to see if he was completely naked or not... it's one of those things we figured we were better off not knowing]. It was pretty amusing though and gave us a good laugh later. :) I guess it is a little different now when they reject our message than it was at the beginning of my mission. I think at the beginning of my mission I took it more personally but, now I know they're not rejecting me, they're rejecting the Savior and that makes me sad. It's easier to get over now though - I just have to remember that we all have our agency and that I gave them the opportunity to accept the Gospel...now it's in their hands.

Love,
'chelle

New Address

Michelle's new address is listed in the post below and also under the "Current Address" link on the right. The "Were is Michelle Now?" link has also been updated.

She's Moving!

Today was transfer day and Michelle was transferred back to Anchorage. Her next transfer, in six weeks, will be home! Here's the latest.

I'm getting transferred today. It's really weird because I thought that I would stay here for the rest of my mission. Guess not. Anyways, I'm going to the Anchorage Zone and serving in the Sand Lake ward. My new address is 7101 Weimer Rd #40 Anchorage, AK 99502 My new companion is Sister Avalos. She got to Alaska in June and we met at a meeting in July - totally hit it off and planned that we would serve together and that she would [send me home]. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I get my transfer call on Friday morning. Sister Preusz is also getting transfered and they're putting Elders in our ward. She is going down to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula to be with Sister Campbell, the Temple Square Sister from Scotland. :D

yay for American Idol! I heard there are two LDS kids on Idol this season - so cool! Do you remember John Peter Lewis? He was my favourite. :D I'm excited to go be able to watch Idol again. :D Everybody talks about it all the time!...argh!

yay for baptisms! This last week we set a 9 year old boy on date for the 15th of March...and now we'll both be gone. It'll be nice though for the Elders who are coming in to have a baptism in 2 weeks. They better love us! :D

Well, I have to go. We have transfers in an hour and we have a few more things to do quickly. Love ya!

Love,
'chelle

P.S. I have not seen the Northern Lights..and now that I'm headed back into the city I probably won't see them ever...guess I'll just have to come back sometime. :D

Mail Call!

Hi everyone. I received an email from Michelle on Monday. It was mostly personal stuff, but she did say she's doing well and they're teaching some great people. Mission transfers are this Monday and she really has no idea if she'll be moving or not. That also means she'll be home in six weeks! I don't know about you, but I'm excited!

Mail Call!

Here's a few excerpts from the latest email from Michelle.

Daddy,

It really was a neat Sunday. We surpassed our goal as a ward and as a mission. We have 8 units in the Anchorage Alaska Chugach Stake (7 wards and 1 branch) and our average non member attendance for the Stake is about 10 - we had about 120 in the Stake last week! :D

Hey...I'll be staying with you for a month before I run away to AL for awhile. Don't worry - I'll return to WA...it's too hot in AL for me. :D Plus, I can't live to far away from you...then I'd have to pay cash for tech support. If I live at home/close to home I'll just be able to make you some apple crisp or banana bread or something in exchange for technical help. :P Speaking of baking things, I've really developed a talent?... knack?... love for? baking and I've decided I need to spend at least one day with Grandma Baker after my mission devoted to learning how to make yummy things. :D

I have a SD card that's ready to send home and a tape that I'm working on. I'm kind of waiting for my package from Mum (that I should "really" get this week) before I send it home because I want to put some of the pictures from it on my digital-picture-frame-that-I'm-not-supposed-to-know-that-I'm-getting.

I love you Daddy! Have a wonderful week!

A Poem

One of the women in Michelle's ward in Eagle River wrote the following poem after the passing of Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, "Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome My noble, most excellent son."

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness At the close of this sweet Sabbath day, Have faith and move forward there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008

Exciting News!

Here's the latest from Michelle. There's some exciting news she shares with us!

Daddy,

Yesterday was AMAZING! We had 22 people at our ward* and somewhere around 1050 throughout the whole mission -so cool! Our baptism happened on Saturday and then she was confirmed in our special sacrament meeting. The meeting was so spiritual...oh man...it was pretty much the best Sunday I've ever had...WOW!

I think it might be fun to nanny...but I don't know when I'd start...we'll see....maybe during the summer and fall and then start school in the winter...who knows...I've got time to figure things out.

Thanks so much for your prayers. I had pretty come to the conclusion that I was going home on April 14th and then we had our interviews and I talked to President about it. He said that it's a decision that he and I need to make together and that it depends on how many sisters we have coming out and when we have them coming so he said he'd go back to the office and let me know what he finds out. So, on Thursday I got a call from Sister Wright in the mission office saying that I was going home in May. I hesitated and said okay. About an hour and a half later I got a call from President saying that he realized it would make more sense for me to go home April 14th and would I be okay with that? I said yes, that actually sounded better. Well, just now I got a call from Sister Wright asking for info on where I'm flying home to (she's buying my ticket today). She commented on it being earlier than she had told me and said that she had talked to President after she told me I was going home in May and told him that I had hesitated for awhile before saying yes to her on the phone - like I wanted to cry or fall over or something. lol. So, anyways...I'm coming home the night of April 14th/morning of the 15th. You'll get more information from the mission office in a month or so.

Missions pretty much rock! I was talking to Sister Sloan last night about my decision to go home in April and it hit me how much I've grown up over the last year and a half - how I relied more on the Lord than myself for making that decision...it was pretty neat.

We were able to watch the World Wide Leadership Training Broadcast on Sunday - it was really good.

Daddy I love you! Have a wonderful week and I'll type at you later!

Love,
'chelle

* Non members. See last week's post.

Mail Call!

I finally got a good long email from Michelle. It sounds like she's doing really well. Here's an excerpt:

Hi Dad!

Sister Preusz is feeling a little better. She's had a blessing. :D

Ya'know...I've thought of doing nanny work after my mission too...or house sitting or something...I'd have to get a drivers license but, that's at the top of the list of things to do when I get home...especially now that there's a little boxy '80s car I can drive. :D

Indoor dance festival...faith precedes the miracle. Do you remember at my dance festival: It was pouring the night of dress rehearsal and then, the next morning, there was a circle of blue sky over French Field - it was so neat to see so many prayers answered in such a large way! :D

It was fun to see Sister Pedersen - she's doing good! She is ready to go home though.

Missionary wise:
We're having a baptism on Saturday!The Petersens in our ward have their two nieces living with them for a while. Brittany is 16 and Lily is 6. They've lived there since before Thanksgiving and have been coming to church with them too. About 2 or 3 weeks ago Sister Preusz and I went over and asked Brittany how she liked church. She said it was the "most logical" out of all the other churches she'd been to. We asked her if she'd like to take the missionary lessons and she said yes. Her dad said that if it's something she wants to do she should do it. So, we taught her all of the lessons and asked her if she wanted to be baptized on the 2nd. She prayed about it for a few days and told us not the 2nd but, the 9th. Yesterday she had her Baptismal Interview and she is ready to go for the 9th - we are so excited! :D

This Sunday (the 10th) is a BIG day in Alaska Anchorage Mission history. Mission-wide we have set a goal to have 1,000 members of another faith at our sacrament meetings (that averages out to about 20/ward, 10 or so/large branch and 5 or so/smaller branch). The meetings are to be specifically focused on the Saviour so that people will know who we worship. All of us missionaries are SUPER excited about it and the members are getting excited too - they're inviting all sorts of people! I'ts going to be such a neat day!

- anyways -
I really like Eagle River. I've really been blessed to have good companions and good areas. Even the ones that I didn't necessarily get along with still brought learning experiences and growth and taught me more about the type of person I want to be.

Rio Blanco! Yummo! That's way funny (and cool) that they ask about me. :D I feel special! Maybe we'll have to eat there my first night back..lol

That's so neat that Brother Miles is the Stake President now - it's been fun to watch him progress since he was our home teacher.

Did I tell you that there are some members in my ward here who know President and Sister Shoemaker? When Bruce and Susie Clarke joined the Church the Shoemakers were their main fellowshippers! Small world!

We were able to watch President Hinckley's funeral services on Saturday as well (I would have protested if we weren't allowed...I would have been one very unhappy camper..). It was a wonderful service - everyone's remarks were great...I cried alot. I thought it was really neat how many people thanked his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for sharing him with us. Also, all the comments about how he is with his beloved wife now. I also thought it was funny/cute/special that he had a box of dirt from England that was put in his grave. Shall we get you a box of dirt from the Isle of White? - it would give me a good excuse to go to England. :) Well, time is running out Daddy. I love you!

Love,
'chelle

New Mail!

Surprise! I got some email from Michelle on Thursday. I'm not sure what the delay was, but I'm just happy to hear from her. It was short and sweet... who knew that her email address would be so fitting...

My dearest Popcicle,:D

I missed being able to email last week. We could've on Tuesday during lunch but, Sister Preusz was WAY sick...so we didn't. Sister Goldberg printed our emails up for us though...so I got to read my emails.

That is so neat that Michelle Conlon is home. What are her plans now, do you know? She is such an awesome person - I really enjoyed the short time I was able to have her as on of my Visiting Teachers.

Dance Festival time again, huh? I guess it's been six years...time to do it again. That's so neat. When in May is it?

Guess what! Sister Pedersen, my MTC companion, is in my Zone! I got to see her today [we carpooled to IHOP and the temple]! It's so good to see her again [it's been a year] she's doing good! It was also way good to start off the day with a session at the temple - yay!

I love you Daddy! Have a fabulous week!


Love,
'chelle

Here's another one...

Daddy,

you should listen to the I want a Hippopatamus for Christmas song...it's funny...search for an mp3 of it online and listen...

Tours of the Stake Center? Are they by the missionaries? We're doing Chapel Tours up here...that way people know where the building is and what goes on inside. They're really helpful when you can get people to come out for one. Ours sound like they're pretty much the same type of set up as yours. Awesome!

Oh...you'll have to let me know if you get an Elder Pettijohn in your ward...or any of the surrounding wards. He's from Wasilla and I know him...he's in the MTC right now so he won't be up to WA for almost a month. He's an awesome kid though and I was way excited when he got his call to the Washington Seattle Mission!

Love you!
'chelle

President Gordon B. Hinckley

We mourn the passing of Gordon B. Hinckley. Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His was a life of service and love. Click here for more.

Still Waiting...

I didn't hear anything from Michelle on Monday. I did hear from one of her friends who got a letter from her that she didn't move last week. So, apparently she's still in Eagle River with her same companion. I'll let you know more when I know more...

No News...

I didn't hear from Michelle today. Probably because it's a holiday. It was a transfer day also, so I don't even know if she's moved. I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

Mail Call!

Just a short one this week. Just a few personal things and this...

So, it was -16 in part of our area yesterday...brr! Today though it's been between -6 and +2....and the clouds have moved back in. That's good news! :D Well, I've got a few more emails to send off - I love you!

Love,
'chelle

Oops...

I think I'm in trouble. Here's this weeks email from Michelle:

Subject: Yo parentals...wud up?

Umm...anyways...
I love you both and it makes me sad that my inbox is void of emails from you both...:( Have a great week (and send me a letter!)! I love you!

Love,
'chelle
~*~*~*~*~*~
Sister Michelle Dawn Barrett
Alaska Anchorage Mission
It's the finest, greatest mission, it's the best!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable."

(Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Live in Thanksgiving Daily," Ensign, Sept. 2001, 8)

In this new year, let us think less about what we think is owed us, and more about what we have already been given. Let us be grateful.