Mail Call!

Here's the latest from Michelle. Short but sweet. Just a reminder... Transfers are Monday, Feb 19th. Plan your mail and packages accordingly. She has a hunch she'll be moving.

Daddy,

I love Sundays too! :D It's amazing to get people there and see them soak everything in. We had 4 people at church yesterday, but only 3 of them are baptismal age...but still - YAY! :

I'll send my camera card soon, I promise...along with the audio tape...I completely forgot to include that in the package I sent you...Yep, Saturday is Transfer Calls. We're going to have a Zone activity. We'll play Volleyball from 7 - 11:30 and the APs and President Lewis will call us on the ZLs cell phone and then we'll all go to lunch and then go do a zone tract! Yay fun!

I love you too!

Love,'chelle

Why we do what we do

"Some Christians carry their religion on their backs. It is a packet of beliefs and practices which they must bear. At times it grows heavy and they would willingly lay it down, but that would mean a break with old traditions, so they shoulder it again. But real Christians do not carry their religion, their religion carries them. It is not weight; it is wings. It lifts them up, it sees them over hard places, it makes the universe seem friendly, life purposeful, hope real, sacrifice worth while. It sets them free from fear, futility, discouragement, and sin--the great enslavers of men's souls. You can know a real Christian, when you see him, by his buoyancy"

-Harry Emerson Fosdick

Mail Call?

Things must be busy up there. Here's the whole of her letter this week.

So, I got [your] email, but I don't have time to reply to it so I'm
just going to print it out and write you a real letter...CRAZY! love you!

Love,'chelle

So, more later...

Mail Call!

Sorry for the delay. I received an email from Michelle last Monday, but have been so busy at work, I haven't had a chance to update this.

Actually, her email was short and sweet. She's doing great! They are going through a bit of a warm spell up there. It's been above freezing a couple of times!

Just a heads up... Transfers are February 19th. Michelle will find out on the 17th if she'll be moving.

Here's a great quote that I hope you all enjoy, and in fact, is one of the reasons Michelle is serving a mission:

The Great Plan of Happiness
"To be without God in the world--in other words, to refuse to live His gospel and therefore lack the companionship of the Spirit--is to be in a state contrary to the nature of happiness. The gospel of Jesus Christ is, in fact, the--note that this is singular, meaning it is the only--'great plan of happiness' (Alma 42:8). If you opt for any other way of life or try to live only the parts of the gospel that seem convenient, such a choice will cheat you of the full, resplendent joy and happiness for which you were designed by our loving Father in Heaven and His Son."
(Marcus B. Nash, "The Great Plan of Happiness," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 49)

Mail Call!

More news from the cold front :) Here's the latest with Michelle.

This sound like fun... Not!
Last Wednesday was a wonderful day! :D Zone Activities are great! After emailing we're going to one, we're going to play Blood Sport. Blood Sport is EXTREME dodgeball, every man (or woman) for himself. It's scary and I rarely play...I usually watch because that's entertaining as well. I might be able to convince Elder Cope (ZL) to do Volleyball though, so we'll see.

This is regarding the Baptism of one of their investigators:
The baptism was AWESOME!!! President and Sister Lewis were there along with the APs,(Assistants to the Mission President) the ZLs, (Zone Leaders) the 3 sets of Elders in our district and the Eagle River sisters! There were so many people there from the ward too, it was great!!! :D And we had the closing prayer said in Tagalog by a brother in our ward who served his mission in the Philippines! Yesterday, Dolly was confirmed a member, it was amazing!! I have pictures from her baptism on my memory card that I'll send home soon!

Remember last week when her trainer, Sister Hubbard, told Michelle that she was a greenie because she still ironed her clothes. Well, now who’s calling the kettle black?
lol, it was so funny today! Sister Hubbard ironed her pants and I told her she was still a greenie..lol

The snow… Last week I told her that our snow was finally gone… except for a few mounds here and there which were remnants of snowpeople who gave a valiant fight, but nonetheless came to a slushy death.
Your snow melted and we got at least 6 inches of fresh snow last night. Crazy! No slushy deaths of snowmen here...not many snowmen to begin with really...sad news.

So, back to the “I eat everything I’m served” statement. Apparently there is at least one thing she still avoids…
Yep...I eat everything...although I managed not to get any shrimp in my noodles last week...that was some good maneuvering on my part. :D It's crazy how everyone in Alaska seems to put mushrooms in EVERYTHING! WHY must they torture me so...WHY?!?

Love,'chelleSister BarrettAlaska Anchorage MissionIt's the finest, greatest mission, it's the best!

So, that’s it till next time! Now go write your favorite missionary a letter!

Mail Call!

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

This one is why her P-day was on Wednesday this week:

Hello! :D This week, because of the holiday and our temple trip today, Pday is on Wednesday! :D Yay for starting the day off with a Zone Breakfast at Denny's and then a session at the temple. :D

This is regarding her first Baptism!

I am so excited for this baptism! It got postponed to this weekend because she was scheduled to work on Sunday at 5:30am, but they gave her this Saturday off and then she doesn't work until 3:30pm on Sunday so she'll be able to make it to church to be confirmed. I'm so excited!!!! :D

This is about the Hmong People that they work with up there.

The Hmong work is closely tied in with my ward here. The Hmong people are a nomadic people from southeast Asia, like Laos and those countries. They don't really have a country to claim as their own, but they have a language and a culture all their own. Because they are nomadic they've been pushed from place to place and re-located to many places, one of which is up here in Alaska. I'm sure you could "google" and find out more information. Anyways, I'm sending you my camera card soon and there will be pictures of the Hmong Elders in their traditional Hmong outfits at the Hmong New Year's Celebration last month.

And this is about her not being a "greenie" (new) anymore.

Yay for not being a greenie anymore...although I've heard that I'm a greenie until I stop acting like one...and my trainer said that as long as I still iron things I'll be a greenie, lol. I guess I'll be a greenie forever then...though I only iron the parts of my shirts that will show...

This will make her Grandparents (and parents) proud...

Oh man, did I tell you that I had Moose a while ago for dinner? It was pretty good, we had it as a pot roast. It pretty much tastes like beef. Earlier this week we had King Crab legs at the Terry's house. The Terry's are a Samoan family and there is always SO MUCH food at their house...oh my goodness... I didn't eat a whole lot that night though since I don't really care for crab. I always eat everything though...even the greenbeans....and the mushrooms that EVERYONE seems to put in their spaghetti...what is up with that?!

That's all for now. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them!

New Pictures...

Sort of... I've created a new album under "Mission Photos". When you click on "Mission Photos", it will take you to a listing of the photo albums. The new album I created is called "Mission Letters". It will have some letters that I've received from Michelle that I have scanned into the album. When you're looking at each letter, there is a little magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner. Click on that and it will magnify the picture so it will be easier to read. It's not the best setup for reading letters, but it will have to do for now. Let me know if you like the feature.

No Change

Just a quick note to tell you that Michelle is staying in Anchorage at least until the next transfer, which is in another six weeks. She is also staying with her trainer, sister Hubbard. They are both very excited!

I received some email from her today, and I'll post the details in the next day or two.

Tranfers...

I got a short email today from Michelle! It was a really nice surprise. They let them check their email today since they haven't been able to for the last two Mondays. Michelle says things are going great up there. She is really enjoying the work.

The big news is that Monday the 8th is transfer day. She'll find out this Saturday if she's going to be transferred on Monday. She really likes Sister Hubbard and they get along really well. She would like to stay with her for at least another transfer, but is prepared to move on if that's what the Lord wants her to do.

So... if anyone is planning to send packages or letters you might want to wait and see if she gets a new address. I'll let you know as soon as I know.

The Wait...

FYI. Michelle has not been able to check or send email for two weeks. As you know, she can only do that on Mondays and the last two Mondays the libraries, where she checks email, have been closed for the Holidays.

So we're just waiting impatiently...