Leap Day

Today Elder Barney leaves for Peru! (Brings a whole new meaning to "leap day," right?)

His flight left for Georgia at 7 this morning (he had to wake up at 4 to get everything ready and get there on time). His flight to Peru will leave later today and then it's about an 8 hour flight to Lima! He's doing well and is really excited to get to Peru.

More coming soon!

Moving up!

A lot has happened since last week. Everything is still going good. I was made the Zone Leader! Me and Elder Krout are over about 60 elders right now. It's been a good learning experience.

I leave Wednesday and I finish my Zone Leader training on Saturday so I'll only be a ZL by myself for 4 days. But it's cool. The experiences I've had so far are worth it. Plus, I'll already be trained for the field. My Spanish is coming along too. I'm pretty dang close to being fluent. I bet by the time I get out of the Peruvian MTC I will be. That's my goal anyway...

One Week Down...

Second week has finally started. I've tried to send pictures but these computers are on lock down. They literally let you do like 5 things and so I haven't figured out how to send pictures yet. I've taken a good amount though and it's only been one week so worry not. They say that if you can make it past your first Sunday in the MTC, you'll be fine. It's pretty true. After Sunday, time has gone so much faster. But the first 4 days are pretty tough cause you're still getting into routine. It's also better cause now I can play ball or lift every day so there is always that.

My district is doing really well. There are only 6 of us: me, Elder Krout, Elder Herndon, Elder Speer, Elder Draper, and Elder Madsen. So far everyone is really cool. I apologize also for not being able to write a lot back via letter...I am so swamped with time. The only time I have to write is a little 15-minute break at the end of the day.

As far as my classes go here at the MTC, they aren't too bad. I'm by far the most fluent in my class, which is good but also really frustrating. They should have put me in the advanced district (the advanced district only has to be in the MTC for 3 weeks). From hearing the advanced speakers talk, they are more my level. They put me in intermediate, though, because i called in too late and they couldn't change my MTC time. At least, I think that's what happened. They told me over the phone they would try to put me in advanced but when I got here, I was put in intermediate....no bueno.

But it's still good. My Spanish is coming along. I've been teaching a progressive investigator here. I've had 2 lessons with him so far. That's going pretty well but it's a hair frustrating because I have to teach the whole lesson (Elder Krout is still trying to learn Spanish a little better) so I end up talking the whole time. Which is good practice for me, but I feel bad for Elder Krout because I think he can understand well but he can't speak, and that is really frustrating when you can't say what you want.

Anyway, that's about all so far here at the MTC. I've seen a ton of people I know here. It's crazy...Even though I'm in the MTC, I feel I'm outside of Utah in my own world. It's weird...

First Letter & Email from the MTC

Letter:
Hi Fam,

We haven't been able to email yet so I figured I'd write. The MTC is good. It's a lot more busy than I thought. It's very different than I thought it was going to be. My companion is Elder Krout. He's serving in Monterrey, Mexico. He's pretty cool. He seems like a hard worker so that's good. He's from Alpine. He went to Lone Peak. So far I've seen Mike Dock & Tanner LeBaron. Both elders are loving int. My Spanish class is super easy. There is maybe one other kid that speaks well. Even my teacher is kinda noob. But it's all good. My room is on the fourth floor and I hate it. There are so many stairs. It's the worst. Anyway, that's about it so far. Keep the faith.

Love,
Jack

Jack and his companion, Elder Krout

Email:
So far all is going well. I'm not sure if you got my letter that I sent home but so far I'm liking it. The first few days were a little rough but it wasn't anything too bad. My first day in, I was a little overwhelmed, but by day two I got to see Mike Dockendorf, Tanner LeBaron and Parker Banks. Hearing their experience at the MTC helped.

Later that day I was called to be the District Leader over my district. My district is a lot of fun. I got lucky with my district cause all the elders are really cooperative and are hard workers, especially Elder Krout, my companion. He's pretty quiet and doesn't like to be social, but hes got a strong spirit so me and him go pretty well together even though in some ways we aren't very similar.

As for my Spanish, it's grown so fast. I'm only a few days in and I can understand fluent Spanish. There is one other elder that speaks really well in my district. His name is Elder Herndon. He's from northern California somewhere. Today is my first "p day." Normally they wont be on Saturdays, while I am here at the Provo MTC. They will be on Thursdays so look for my email then.

So far everything is going good. I taught my first lesson in Spanish yesterday. Elder Krout's Spanish is still coming along so I had to talk for the full 30 minutes but it was all good. Life in the MTC is good. I'm really busy though. Thanks for the package by the way. I appreciated all the sugar even if my body didn't.

Love and miss you all!
-Jack

Bittersweet

Well everyone, Elder Barney is officially at the MTC. For us, it's been extremely bittersweet but we're anxiously awaiting his first letter/email home! We'll let you know as soon as it arrives.

Off he goes...

Called to Serve

It's official! Elder Barney has been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been called to serve in the Peru Lima East Mission and reports to the Provo MTC tomorrow! 

Jack will be in the Provo MTC for 3 weeks and then the Lima MTC for 6 more. We're so excited and proud of him! 

Please feel free to join and follow this blog for updates from his mission, letters home, and how to contact him. He would love to hear from you! We'll post new updates on the blog to his Facebook through his account. Stay tuned!