Author: Hermana O'Barr

I literally cannot express how much I love being a missionary! Every day I witness miracles, share my favorite thing with dozens of people, and learn tons of new things. I don’t doubt that coming on my mission was the right decision, and I don’t doubt that Heavenly Father sent me to Portland for a reason. I’m so grateful to be here, and I’m grateful that I will (hopefully) have the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico as well.

No one wants me to leave though haha. We had interviews with our mission president this week, and he was like, “You know, if you want, I could pull some strings and we could keep you here forever.” It’s great knowing that people don’t want me to go haha. My president even admitted that he thought our area here in Portland was DEAD and so he asked me what we did to turn it around. I just told him that even if it was hard to find people at first, I knew that every mission has people who are prepared to hear the gospel so we just made new goals and plans to find them. And now look at where we are! This week we found 2 new investigators, and a bunch of our others became progressing investigators because they kept all their commitments. And then yesterday, we got 4 investigators and 3 less-active members to come to church! It was way more people than the missionaries here have seen at church in a long time and I think it’s going to get even better. It’s so cute, at the end of every prayer in the group on Sundays, they ask for the faith and the help to make their group become an actual ward. These members are so awesome and so strong, and really hope that one day their dream of becoming a ward will be fulfilled. We’re certainly going to help as much as possible!

Anyway, as you can tell, it’s been another great week. Having Hermana Vazquez with us is such a huge blessing! She is AWESOME and it’s so nice to be able to visit any of our investigators at any time now. It’s also great that she’s a native Spanish speaker because she is helping me with Spanish so much, just by being here. Being in a trio has been super fun so far, and it was truly an answer to our prayers.

A quick update on some our investigators–
Luz, the one who came to church last week, met with us this week and wants us to teach her 10-year-old as well. Her and Anthony came to church and both had a great experience. We hope to put one or both of them on date for baptism REALLY soon! We have also been having a great time with Ali, another one that came to church and we want to put on date. He even offered a fantastic prayer at the end of Sunday school! Another investigator that’s doing great is Maricela. She asked us to help her read so that she could study the word of God and share it with others. How awesome is that?!

And your fun, wacky Portland story for the week–
We were out trying to contact some people in a really sketchy apartment complex on Saturday night, when this guy and his brother started walking straight towards us. They offered us a beer, and then asked what we were preaching haha. We gave them a pamphlet and explained that we teach people about Jesus Christ. The first guy, who was either drunk or high, or maybe both, got really excited about this. He promised us that he would come to church, and then he proceeded to tell Hermana Cornwall that she was really cute and that he was going to marry her hahaha. It was slightly scary but mostly just really hilarious. We booked it out of there after that happened though, in case any more sketchy guys wanted to ask for more than just an engagement.

Anyway, I’m having a great time here, helping others come closer to Christ and doing the same thing for myself in the process. There are certainly difficulties of doing missionary work, but I don’t focus on them because the rest of the work just brings so much joy and light to my life. I miss all of you, and I’m grateful to those of you still supporting me and reading my long emails. Have a fantastic week!!!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr

P.S. I’m sorry mom, I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures. All I have is this selfie of me and my companions. I will try to take some more today!

What a week! I probably say that every week, but every week is just crazy, fantastic, and awesome.Highlights of the week:

We made SIX new investigators and one of them came to church! This is the second week that we have reached the goal for our district just by ourselves.

We taught Walter a full sit-down lesson with one of the awesome youth in our ward who wants to serve a mission. We found out that her mom and Walter are from the same tiny part of Mexico, so they were able to make that connection which was super great. Walter is SO receptive of everything we’re teaching him. He asked us how to pray so Hermana Cornwall was like, “well sometimes we start by kneeling…” she wasn’t even finished with her sentence before he was on the floor haha. I love teaching him so much and I’m so excited to see where things go with him.

This week one of our members just gave us money to go out to dinner so I convinced Hermana Cornwall to go get Indian food and it was soooo good and made me miss going to get Indian food with my fam. We went out to eat like three more times this week because our members or our district took us out, and then we had tons of food at members’ homes as well. I laugh every time my mom asks if they feed us well because they feed us TOO well here haha. They are so generous and kind though, and I really do appreciate how well they take care of us.

We have been SO blessed here. I seriously can’t believe it. This week has made me think of the story where Jesus comes upon some of the disciples who couldn’t catch any fish, and he tells them to cast the net on the other side of the boat. And then, they catch so many fish that the net breaks. That’s how it feels right now haha. We have been blessed with so many investigators over this past transfer that we don’t even know what to do haha. We are super happy, but, things have been crazy.

We decided to ask a departing missionary to slip the idea to president to make us a trio, and then prayed for it to happen to haha. And when we got transfer news this week, we found out that we are getting another hermana! She was over in a neighboring zone training the other sister that is supposed to go to PR, but president decided to give her to us! I don’t know where we’re going to put another bed in our apartment, or what kinds of changes will come with being a trio–but we are so grateful that we are getting Hermana Vazquez! Now we will be able to teach all of our single male investigators without having to worry about coordinating with members so much, and we will have one extra person to help us take care of everything.

I just wanted to share a quick thought I had while studying near the end of Alma in the Book of Mormon this week. I was reading the part where Moroni is strengthening and protecting all of the cities from the Lamanites, and I likened it to protecting ourselves from the attack of the adversary. We must find all our weaknesses and ask God to help us become stronger in those areas so that when temptation comes knocking, when challenges try to keep you down, and when the enemy is at your front gates, you can withstand it all. Keep pressing forward and trusting in God!

On Tuesday, ALL of our lessons canceled on us and no one that we tried to contact was home. But, at the end of the day (this seems to happen often haha) we knocked on one more door and made a new investigator out of Walter! He was super excited to learn from us because one of his friends had already given him a Book of Mormon a few months ago, and he knows one of our investigators. We taught him how to pray in a phone lesson later in the week, and he told us he really wants to come to church next week!

On Thursday, I got to give a training in our district meeting. Yep, they asked the newest person to teach everyone else haha. It actually went really well. After that, our district leader chose two random people to do a presentation of the Restoration in 9 minutes. There’s a bunch of things you’re supposed to do for it to be considered a good presentation and I barely knew anything, but I got called up to go give the presentation with one of my zone leaders! I was pretty nervous but I just followed the Spirit, and afterwards everyone told me it was the best Restoration presentation they had ever seen! Don’t worry, I won’t let my head get too big haha. But it’s been awesome hearing from a lot of people that they think I’m really well-prepared for a mission. I know I still have SO much to learn, and I can’t wait to keep improving and getting better.

On Saturday morning, we had the best adventure yet! We got up early to go with the elders and some other members to help a less-active member (who is a hoarder btw) move out of his house. That alone would have made for an interesting experience, but it got even crazier. This man had a drunk, violent roommate who was NOT HAPPY that we were in his house at 8 am. We just kept packing while he swore at us and waved around a metal pole, as if our lives weren’t in danger. By the time we were done, Hermana Cornwall was thoroughly terrified. I was able to laugh it off as a fun adventure, but being from the bubble of Orem, Utah, she has never heard anyone speak like that, and has never been around drunk people. I think it’s safe to say, neither of us will forget this experience anytime soon.

As soon as we left that craziness, we immediately saw one of the neighbors in need of help. Her name is Chequeatta (good luck pronouncing that one) and she is quite the character. We helped her push a dead, rusty car up into her driveway, which she was very grateful for. We also met the homeless Mexican guy that she took into her home. His name is Romeo, he’s very interested in learning more about the church, and we gave him a Book of Mormon! After all of that, Chequeatta gave us slice of her heavenly homemade pound cake, which gave us the energy we needed to go help ANOTHER hoarder clean up their yard. It was definitely an awesome day full of service and I can’t wait to do more!

Last night we got to have a sleepover with all of the sisters in the zone and it was so much fun! We decided to be more obedient than the elders and went to bed at 10:30 still haha.

The last interesting thing about my week is what Hermana Cornwall and I have termed the kalespiracy. We have been served the same kale and cranberry salad by like 6 or 7 families and I finally mentioned it a few days ago. Hermana Cornwall was like “You noticed it too!!” So don’t worry mom, I’m getting plenty of greens in my diet in the form of a salad that keeps haunting us.

On a more spiritual note, I wanted to share Mosiah 4:9 with all of you.

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that no man doth comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.”

I love this scripture so much because it’s so straightforward and simple! All we have to do is believe and try our best without worrying about how things will work out, because God knows everything and His hand is constantly guiding our lives.

I hope all of you had a fun time celebrating last night! Good luck with all of your goals and hopes and dreams that you have for 2018, I know it’s going to be a fantastic year!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr

¡Feliz Navidad! I love and miss everyone, and hope that you are having a fantastic Christmas!I’ll try to keep my email brief today, but I just wanted to share a few great experiences from my week.

On Friday, we went caroling as a zone. We went to Peacock Street, which is nicknamed Christmas Street because of how beautifully decorated it is every year. It was super fun, but it was pouring freezing rain on us. A lot of people were much more prepared for the weather than I was, because as you know, I was supposed to go to Puerto Rico! But it’s all good. As Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught, “Come what may, and love it.”

On Saturday, we got to play Santa! A water pipe burst in a new investigator’s apartment this week, and she has two daughters and two little granddaughters living with her. She told us that they wouldn’t have any money for Christmas after fixing their ceiling, and so we got right to work! We picked up a few little toys and some candy for the girls and wrapped them all nice and cute to give to the family. We probably only spent about $10-15 total, but we could tell that it made such a difference to them. The grandma, Lupita, also told us about a ton of other tragic things that have happened in her life, so we plan to teach her about the Plan of Salvation as soon as we can. Hopefully we will be able to bring some more peace and comfort to her life by teaching her about God’s plan for each of us.

Also on Saturday, we had dinner with one of our favorite old couples in the ward. They gave us an amazing Christmas present, but I’ll have to explain some of the backstory. A long, long time ago, their daughter and our ward mission leader’s son got married. The daughter tried to order 5 of these beautiful ties for the people involved in the wedding, but they somehow ended up with 50! Ever since then, they’ve been giving them to the elders who serve in the ward, and calling them the Alameda ties, because we’re in the Alameda ward. Apparently every elder in the mission hopes to serve here so they can get one haha. Well anyway, this couple ordered bracelets that match the ties for us hermanas, so that we could have the official Alameda uniform! It was such a simple but thoughtful gift, and it’s one that I will always treasure.

As you can tell, it’s been a fantastic week. Hermana Cornwall and I have also been working REALLY hard on our goals this week, and one of them was to remember to ask everyone for referrals. We created more opportunities to do that by bringing cookies to a ton of our members and investigators, and then asking them who else we could share the “sweet” message of the gospel with haha. That got us a bunch of referrals and by the end of the week, through our own finding and through these referrals, we got 5 new investigators! That’s a lot for this area, so we are psyched that all of our plans and prayers worked so well. I am especially excited that we were able to find this one family that had apparently been super close to baptism in the past. The mom, Morgan, was really excited and said that she had been wanting to come back to church! They are gone on vacation now, but I can’t wait to see how things go when they get back because they are an awesome family.

I think the biggest blessing I have experienced on my mission so far is the ability to see people a little bit more like Christ sees them. I have been blessed with the ability to love each person I come in contact with on the mission, and view them as they truly are–a son or daughter of God with divine potential. These people are my brothers and sisters and to fully realize that I have such a magnificent extended family is just an incredible thing.

I am still so happy to be on a mission. I get to focus on what I love, every single day. I get to tell people where they’re from, what their purpose is here on earth, and where they will go after this life. I get to tell them that we are allowed to have second chances and be forgiven for our mistakes, that there is a specific plan for our lives, and that it is possible to live with our families forever. What could be better?!

I feel so very blessed. All of the families in the ward/group here have been SO kind to us! There’s a ton of older couples in the ward, so it’s kind of like having 4 or 5 extra sets of grandparents looking out for you. The members have made us cookies, given us Christmas pajamas and fuzzy socks, brought us stockings full of goodies, and given us several other special and significant gifts. But most importantly, they have opened their homes and their hearts to us. I miss my family, but I’ve still been able to have such a fantastic time this Christmas because of these charitable people, and because I am out sharing the light of the gospel.

One last thing–we are currently grounded in our apartment because of all the ice, so please pray that we can actually get out and enjoy our Christmas today! I love all of you and wish you a merry Christmas! Remember the reason for the season, and give each other lots of hugs for me! I’ll talk to you all next year!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr

It’s been another great week in the mission field! A new game that I’ve been introduced to is called scatterball. It’s terrifyingly competitive, but everyone in the zone loves playing it. You haven’t really played a game of scatterball until you’ve been pegged with a dodgeball hard enough to see stars haha.

On Wednesday, we taught a REALLY great lesson to Daniel, one of our new investigators. A really awesome, 10/10 recent convert came with us and he was so helpful! I can’t wait to continue teaching Daniel and see him continuing to come closer to Christ.

On Thursday we got to Christmas carol for 2 hours at an old folks home, and it was so sweet! The people were so appreciative, and we even found a few LDS members that we didn’t know were there.

Yesterday, our AMAZING ward mission leader called and told us to stop by his house. He knew we wanted nativities, so he ordered us both one! Him and his wife are so sweet and thoughtful and I love them so much.

I don’t have a whole lot to say this week, just that I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father. I’m grateful to be here, I’m grateful that PR is starting to reopen, I’m grateful for the ways I’ve already changed and grown on my mission, and I’m grateful for the support of my family and friends, both here and in many other places all over the world. I would encourage you to read Alma 26:12 this week. It’s a great reminder that without God, we are nothing. But with God, we have everything and can be anything.

Have a great week, and a great Christmas!!!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr

This week has been so crazy! Today we had a 9-hour mission conference for Christmas which was super great, but now we have barely any time for emails, grocery shopping, and laundry. So, yep, I’m a little stressed. It’ll be okay though.On Wednesday we met with a super cute old man named Don who’s a recent convert. He really wanted to share a Book of Mormon with his new Cuban neighbor that he’s befriended, so that’s why we went over to help. They were both so sweet and it was so cool that we were able to help him share his testimony with someone who speaks a different language than him.

On Friday/Saturday I went on exchanges with one of the STLs, sister Davis, which was really great. I learned a lot from her, and we had a bunch of cool experiences together. I am so grateful to always be surrounded by amazing people that I can learn from.

I don’t have a lot of time to write, so the last thing I want to write about is a super awesome experience that we had last night. We were supposed to take a member with us to teach an investigator, since we can’t teach single males alone. Well, she had to cancel on us and we were kind of frustrated because we didn’t have any backup plans, and we still had about an hour before we needed to head back to the apartment. We were looking through our area book, and we found a house that just said next to it, “we think this house has some Hispanics.” Hermana Cornwall was kind of discouraged but I had a spiritual prompting to check out this lead, and I felt really good about it. So away we went to this random, unpromising referral. But, when we knocked on the door, we were blessed with a miracle! This woman and her boyfriend opened the door, they speak Spanish, they just moved here, and they’ve been searching for a way to improve their lives and come closer to God! It was SO PERFECT. We started teaching a few parts of the first two lessons and they were soaking it up! I felt the Spirit so strongly and I know for certain that we were led to these awesome people. They want us to come back this week and keep teaching, and I am SO excited! I know that this gospel can bless their lives and give them the peace they are searching for. I know that the gospel of Christ can do the same for each of you! If you have any unanswered questions in your life, take them to your Heavenly Father in prayer, and I promise He will answer.

Love,
Hermana O’Barr

This week has been incredible, and so much has happened!

I was pretty lonely and bored at the beginning of the week because my entire district left before me, but things definitely picked up once I got into the field! I met my mission president and his wife, and they’re super awesome. As soon as we got there, they stuck us outside with some other missionaries and gave us the challenge to pass out a Book of Mormon. Then that night, they played guitar and gave an amazing steak dinner and we had a lot of fun with them.

The next morning I met my amazing trainer, Hermana Cornwall. She is from Orem and she just finished up her own training so she’s been here for 12 weeks. I’m technically in the Washington Vancouver mission, but we are actually covering an area near Portland, so that’s really cool. It’s really beautiful and exciting and I feel blessed to have been reassigned here. This mission actually gets lots of visits from general authorities because they’ve been impressed by the culture of obedience this mission has, and they have authorized us to try a lot of new things, like having smart phones and a new chapter of PMG.

I am so excited to be here until they reopen PR, and I know there’s a reason God has sent me here. I’ve seen so many little miracles this week, and being a missionary feels even better than I thought it would! When I taught my first lesson to a super sweet progressing investigator, it was the best feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life!

We’ve also had two different returned missionaries from the area pull over to give us 20 bucks and lots of encouragement, which was super cool. The second time happened last night, after we had been trying to contact several people in an apartment complex with no luck. As we were walking down the street, wondering why we had felt prompted to go there, this lady pulled over and started screaming in excitement. She said she had been listening to a song that made her miss her mission and was praying for some comfort, and then she immediately saw us! I know we were an answer to her prayer, and I hope we can be the answer to many more as we find people who are prepared to hear the gospel, like the two new investigators we made this week!!

Being a missionary is incredible and has already helped me come so much closer to my Savior. If you are a member who is reading my email, continue sharing the gospel with as many people as you know, because it WILL bless their lives if they accept it. If you’re not a member, I would encourage you to go check out the church’s videos that they have for Christmas! There is a different video for each day of December, and each one includes a way to become a little more like Christ. I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys getting ready for Christmas!

P.S. Here’s your weekly dose of weird–We had a zone potluck lunch today and I took a dare to chug some Mexican hot sauce, which rapidly made me very popular among my zone 😂 If I can get someone to send me the video, I’ll forward it later. Anyway, sorry for the long email!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr