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On Tuesday, everything fell through because everyone is sick. We decided we were gonna make cookies to bring to people. So we did that, then went and dropped them off. Then we decided to knock on a few doors. It sucked. Everyone was rude and it kinda made both me and Sister Flake really discouraged. So we met up with the other sisters for dinner at Five Guys. They are always so fun! They had gone to Eugune for some leadership thing and stopped at Target on their way home and got us all matching Christmas socks! Definitely made our day better. 

We had a ton of fun on Wednesday. We went to the young mens and young womens activity. We had been looking forward to it all day! A member in our ward owns a tree farm and he does these cute reindeer to give out to people. The activity was putting the reindeer together! It was freezing cold out but they had a big bonfire going and it was just so fun. Sister Flake and I made one. Next week, the youth are going to go drop them off at different people's houses. 

Thursday wasn't the most exciting. We had a few lesson. We also made a ton of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for District counsel. 

On Friday, we had NMT and district counsel. Everyone loved the cookies. We ate lunch and played games at the Institute. We had a few lessons and a service.

Saturday was fun! In Corvallis, the church puts on a Christmas event called Light the World where they have a service activity and a bunch of choirs come and sing. We walked downtown to give out Light the World flyers. We went to the service portion of the Light the World event and a friend showed up. She is the nicest lady I've every met. We also went and knocked doors for an hour and a half. This is where I realized that the Lord was aware of our efforts. At the start of the week, we had a terrible tracting experience and were really discouraged. But we decided that we would try again because we are really trying to find people. So we said a prayer and forced ourselves out of the car. The whole tracting experience was so much better that time! No one was extremely rude and we just had much better responses. It helped me realize that we just have to keep trying. The Lord knows we are trying and it was a tender mercy that we had a much better experience. After that, we went back to the church for the choir portion of Light the World. We got to listen to a few choirs from the community. Almost our whole zone showed up.

On Sunday, we had church at a different building and it was only sacrament meeting. We then went to another portion of Light the World. It was more choirs from the community. We helped clean up chairs, then did weekly planning. We asked a member if we could come over and watch the Christmas devotional with them. They said of course and fed us dinner as well, which was nice.

I hope everyones week goes well and remember to be nice to people! Think about how you can share the light of Christ with everyone around you!

Love,

Sister O'Barr 

On Tuesday, we had to call our apartment manager because our heater was broken. They came and fixed it that day, which was nice. We walked around downtown and asked people what they were grateful for. Didn't find any new people but we tried. Then we had a new missionary meeting, ate lunch and then had another missionary meeting. Then we had a lesson with a less active and she said she would come to church! 

On Wednesday, we went and ripped out blackberry bushes. Apparently they grow everywhere here and are considered a weed. We went to the church so Sister Flake could write her talk. We had dinner at a members house and it was fun. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We went and played football with a bunch of missionaries in the zone and some YSA. It was a ton of fun! Then we went to our bishops house for our Thanksgiving meal. They had a ton of missionaries over and made some good food. We sat and talked for a bit. They had a coconut cream pie so that made my day. They sent us with a ton of leftovers, so thats what we've been eating all week. We then went to another members house. She had invited a friend who interesting in learning more about the gospel! So we came over, were fed more pie and shared a message. Then we had an awesome conversation with the people who were interested! Its cool to see how a members can be missionaries in their everyday life! The member sent us home with more leftovers and half a costco pumpkin pie. We've had so much pumpkin pie.

On Friday, we had new missionary training and district counsel. Then we taught a really good lesson on the law of tithing with our friend who's on date to be baptized.

Saturday was fun and a little odd. We went and played soccer with some people from a ton of wards. It was early and cold. We then has a lesson with a guy that has met with missionaries before but this was the first time we've met with him. We also had a lesson with another friend and she just kept repeating about how much she was at peace when meeting with us!

It was super foggy on Sunday morning. Plus, everything was covered in frost. It was a cool morning. We went to church. Sister Flake gave an amazing talk! Church was good, as always. We came home and did some weekly planning.

We decorated for Christmas with stuff we found in the apartment! Its not the best but at least its something!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! I challenge all of you to be a member missionary! Hope you have all a great week!

Love,

Sister O'Barr 

This week was not normal at all. We woke up Tuesday morning with a text asking if we could both get on a call with President. My comp, Sister Richins was leaving to Springfield. Then I had a call with President and he told me the Lord has called me to train! I was a little shocked because I've only been out for 6 weeks! 

Wednesday was also super odd. We had a lesson with the lady who's on date for baptism. We came home and did more packing and cleaning. Our apartment looks a lot better than what it did when I first arrived so hopefully my trainee appreciates all the effort we have put into it.

On Thursday, we had to be in Eugune by 7:30, which means we had to leave by 6:30, so we had to be up by 5:30. It was rough. We got all of Sister Richins stuff packed in the car. I was staying the night in Eugene with another sister because we were both picking up our trainees the next day. We picked up another sister who is also training. We all had dinner at a members house in the area. We all came back to one apartment called the Shack. We pulled all the mattresses into the living room and made a mega bed. So there were 5 sisters sleeping in this tiny apartment. It was a ton of fun though!

Friday was a little nerve-wracking. We got up and went to the church for a training meeting. Then we waited at the church till they arrived! My tainees name is Sister Flake. She is super nice! We were at the church all day for new missionary stuff. Then we were finally able to drive back to Corvallis. We made it back to Corvallis safely and Sister Flake unpacked. Its really weird training but obviously President thought I was ready. 

On Saturday, we had new missionary training, which was odd because technically I'm still in training. Then we had District Counsel. There is one other elder training in the zone and a few other missionaries that were transferred in, but for the most part, its the same missionaries. We ate lunch at the Institute and played ping pong. We then had a service so we went and cleaned a lady's house. We went grocery shopping and went to a member dinner.

On Sunday, we went to church. It was good. There was a really pretty rainbow when we were headed to the church. We came home, did some weekly planning, then dinner at a members. It was a chill day.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Remember to thank God for everything!

Love,

Sister O'Barr 

On Tuesday, we had a lesson cancel so we decided to go to Bi-mart and get work gloves because we are cutting blackberry bushes next week. We had lunch with a member. We got to share a cool message about Thanksgiving! 

Wednesday was interesting. We had to drop our car off at the dealership because its been having problems. The vehicle coordinator who scheduled it told us they would give us a ride to anywhere within the city limits. But when we dropped our car off, they said, hope you have a ride because we'll have the car all day. So we had to figure out the bus system. It was actually kinda fun! We made it back to our apartment, ate lunch, then walked to our lesson. The weather was perfect. We actually found someone who is interested in learning more! We had our lesson, which went super well! We took another bus to the church and contacted people. We were gonna take a bus to the dealership but the first bus was late so we missed the next bus. So we called the other sisters and they were able to come pick us up and we made it back to the dealership 15 minutes before they closed! We quickly got in the car and headed to our dinner. It was at a member. She is an amazing person and so willing to give. We had a super cool lesson with her and it made my whole day! It is cool to see how the Lord is in every aspect of our lives! We would have not met a new person today if our car was working! 

On Thursday, we had a Book of Mormon insitute class that a friend was supposed to come to. We had a lesson with a media referral and then with a less active. We went to dinner at a members and had a really fun lesson with the people she had invited! 

On Friday, we had new missionary training and district counsel. Then we went to the Institute and ate lunch. We contacted a bunch of people, then had 2 lessons with less actives. We broke into the sisters apartment while they were out and decorated for Sister Huffakers birthday. We set out the cake and put candles in it. It was fun!

Saturday was so busy! We had a lesson with a convert who's blind and just moved from another ward. He is super nice! Then we had a lesson with a referral and it was super good! He seems really interested! We had a lesson cancel so we went to the church, ate lunch and called people. We then went and helped someone move some dressers. We walked around downtown, then had dinner at members.

On Sunday, I played my musical number in church. It went well! The bishop's family invited us to Thanksgiving, so that'll be fun if we are here! We did some weekly planning but its hard because we don't get transfer news till Tuesday so we can't really plan Thursday or Friday because we don't know where we'll be. We also had dinner with a member family. They are awesome! They actually lived in Columbus for a bit so it was a ton of fun to talk with them!

It has been cool to see the Lord directing my life and leading us to people who are ready to hear the gospel! I hope you guys have a great week! 

Love

Sister O'Barr 

   On Tuesday, we did exchanges. I stayed in my area. We went and did service for this old lady. We mowed her lawn. She was super nice but not interested. We also had a lesson with the lady who's on date for baptism. Definitely didn’t feel like Halloween!

    On Wednesday, we had a sisters conference in Eugene. We drove down with the other sisters in my zone. They had brunch for us, then we listen to a few speakers, then they gave us lunch. It was fun to get to know some of the other sisters. We came back to Corvallis and had a member dinner.

    On Thursday, we went to the BOM class. Then we messaged a bunch of people. We knocked on a few doors before dinner and this lady let us in. She seemed nice but ended up bashing us.We got out of there fast. We had dinner at a members. We also went to the Chosen night that the other ward puts on. 

     On Friday, we had new missionary training and district counsel. For NMT, the sisters had planned this whole quest and it was funny. We all went to the Institute afterwards, ate lunch and played pool and ping pong. We then had an amazing lesson with a new person! She is so sweet and it was a miracle to find her! She just feels like something is missing and we were able to share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. When we asked if she wanted one, she cried! She was so excited and I think she is really open to learning more! 

     On Saturday, it was pouring rain all day. We went to the farmers market but had no success. The day was long. We had this massive spider in our kitchen and we didn’t want to kill it. We complained to some elders and they told us to shoot it with a nerf gun. We actually have 3 in our apartment so we did. 

    Its been so cool to see the Lord's hand in every aspect of my life! We see so many miracles every day! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister O'Barr 

      Hey guys! This week was so busy and went by so fast! I have lost all track of time. On monday, we played volleyball with the other missionaries. We had dinner at a members house who owns a timber farm and the husband does chainsaw carvings. They gave us this super cool log that he carved!

     Wednesday was chill. We've been having some car trouble so we called the vehicle coordinator and he had us unplug the monitoring device. It fixed everything. It rained also rained all day.

     We had a really cool lesson with the lady we put on date for baptism on Thursday. We had a member come and it was super spiritual! She is coming to see a baptism from another ward tonight.

     On Friday, we had District Counsel. We went to the Institute afterwards and we played ping pong. It was a ton of fun! We had to go get an oil change so we sat around the car dealership for a bit. Our lesson cancelled so we decided to go walk around Bi-mart and Walmart to do some public finding and to pick up some stuff. When in Bi-mart, we talked with this lady who was super nice and we gave her a Book of Mormon! Then we went to Walmart and we ran right into a friend! If we were just a few minutes later, we would've missed her! We were able to invite her to the ward trunk or treat!

     On Saturday, our service fell through so we went to a farmers market in downtown Corvallis! It was freezing cold but so much fun! We bought pumpkins and talked to a ton of people. We had a lesson, then went to the church and made rice crispy treats. We went and gave treats to a bunch of people in the ward. Then we decorated our trunk for the wars Trunk or treat! 

     On Sunday, we went to church. We had a special 5th sunday lesson on the Addiction Recovery program that the church has. We also had a really good member dinner!

     We went fishing this morning! It was super cold and we didn't catch anything! But the sunrise was super pretty!

     I hope you all have a great week and can look for God's hand in your life! 

Love,

Sister O'Barr 

    This week was crazy! On Monday, we played volleyball at the church with the other missionaries in the zone. Then the elders wanted haircuts. When one sister went to do it, the guard fell off and accidentally shaved a spot on the back of his head! It was super funny! I'll attach a photo of the damage

    We had a really cool miracle on Tuesday! We were supposed to help someone move in but when we got there, we had a voicemail from her saying everything fell through and it wouldn't happen. So we changed in our car, then went knocking. We saw this one family cleaning their guinea pig cage so we went over and talked with them. Turns out it was someone who had texted the elders saying she wasn't interested anymore. But when we started talking with her, she was very willing to have us come back over to talk with her more! Super cool miracle!

    On Wednesday, we put a friend on date for baptism! It is so exciting that she has chosen this! We also went to dinner with a member family.

    On Friday, we had District Counsel and interviews with President. I really like everyone in our zone. We went to lunch with the other sisters in our district. We also worked on our talks for Sunday. We got asked to speak. Our lesson fell through so we went to downtown Corvallis to talk with people.

    On Saturday, we had a mission wide zoom meeting with President, mainly to talk about planning and finding. We had lunch with a member. She is super sweet! We did a lot of walking and knocking. We met up with the sisters to do splits in downtown Corvallis. We walked the streets to public find again, but we went kinda late and most places were closed and there weren't a lot of people there. 

    On Sunday, we spoke. It went really well. We also met our bishops son who got home from his mission in Africa. We also had dinner with a member family and their kids are crazy! Super fun time!

    So cool to see all the miracles this week! I can't wait to see more!

    

Love,

Sister O'Barr    

    

    This week has been super busy but so good!

    On Monday, we played volleyball with the other missionaries nearby. We had dinner at a members house and they served this really good tomato tortellini soup.

    Tuesday, we had 3 lessons. We had a lesson with a lady named Dorinda. She is super nice and asks a lot of questions. The lesson went well and she came to church too! We knocked on doors for a bit after. One guy was an inactive guy who still loves God and appreciates what we do. He gave us a bag full of homemade jams. We had dinner with a member family and their kids were so cute. They also feed us soup. Must be soup season now.

    On Wednesday, we had zone conference so we drove down to Eugene. It was 3 hours long but the fed us after.

    We had an investigator ask for a blessing so we met with the elders near us and they gave her a blessing. It was super cool!

    Thursday we did a ton of knocking and contacting. Then we had a member dinner and they made amazing pizza!

   On Friday, everything kinda fell through. We blame it on being Friday the 13th, in October. Both of our lessons flaked on us. And it rained all day. So we went to the church building to call a ton of people. Not my favorite thing. Then we helped clean the church.

    Saturday was awesome! We had a really cool service opportunity and 2 amazing lessons. We were sitting at a park and Sister Richins felt impressed to call this lady. When she answered, we asked if we could help with anything and they said they really needed some help cleaning their house. So we quickly changed and headed over. They were both so sweet and grateful. We are going back this week for a lesson.

    We taught really cool lesson about the plan of salvation. We are going back this week. We also had another lesson with the lady the elders gave a blessing to. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and she seemed pretty committed, which is cool!

    Sunday was fun! It was the primary program and it was so cute. We also had an awesome member dinner! The family was so much fun!

    We have so much planned for this week! I'm excited to continue teaching these people!

Love,

Sister O'Barr

    Hey everyone! I'm in Oregon! I'm in Corvallis for my first transfer. My trainer, Sister Richins, is super nice! She's from Arizona and is the oldest of 7. She has been out for a year. 

    On my first day, we first went to the stake center in Eugene, where I met my trainer, ate lunch, interviewed with the mission president and picked up bedding. We were there for so long. We rushed to our apartment, which is about 50 min from Eugene, unloaded our suitcases, then ran to a member dinner. The family was so nice and they made so much food. 

    We are pink washing the area which means that elders were here before us. The apartment was a hot mess so when we got back, we had to move the beds from the living room to the bedroom. We have done a lot of cleaning.

    On Saturday, we had new missionary training and district counsel. It was fun to get to meet all the missionaries in the area.  Sister Richins and I had a teaching appointment in the afternoon. We went grocery shopping, then came back to clean. The other sisters in the area came over to help us clean. We had dinner at the bishops house. They have an adorable farmhouse. Their family was so cute. It was a really good time. 

    On Sunday, we went to church. Everyone in the ward seems so excited to have sisters. We came back to our apartment, which has no AC. We came back to do some personal study, weekly planning and such. We contacted a ton of people. We had dinner at another members apartment. Sister Richins made me lead the message but I thought it went decently. We decided to knock on some doors of people we have in our area book. The first guy said the guy no longer lives there and laughed in our faces. We knocked on a few more people's doors and got similar responses. The last door we knocked on was a guy who used to be a member.  We talked about his mission and his girlfriend seemed pretty interested. Guess we'll see if anything comes from it.

    I'm excited to see what else is in store for me this transfer!

    

Love,

Sister O'Barr 

    

    This week was full of the Spirit and growth!

    On Thursday, we did laundry first thing in the morning. Then we were able to do an endowment session in the temple. I felt a lot of peace about leaving next week and that the Lord will support me in my struggles. 

    On Friday, we had to get up super early to get to a sealing session at the temple at 7am. At dinner, an elder in our district heard a worker say it was messier than usual so our district quickly decided to clean up. At first, I was a little angry that we were cleaning up others messes, but we ended up joking and having a good time. I left feeling happy that we were able to help. All the workers were super grateful. We ended up going to the field after that and I finally won a game of spike ball, with only a little bit of help from Elder Jensen.

     We watched General Conference all of Saturday and Sunday. Conference was so good! I'll definitely be taking the prophets invite to think celestial. I know it'll help me on my mission!

     On Monday, we had class and one of the elders in my district called my shirt the color of fry sauce. I wasn't very impressed with that comparison. We played a lot of volleyball this week. When we played on Tuesday, an elder in my district hit the ball right into my face. He seemed so appalled but I was laughing so hard as no damage was done. We've also been playing hacky sack and I'm getting semi decent at it!

     I leave for the field tomorrow! A few missions, including mine, are implementing a new mentor program for new missionaries. I'll be doing it for the first 12 weeks in the field.

     Nothing too exciting today, just laundry and packing. I can't wait to finally be in the field and start fulfulling my missionary purpose!

Love,

Sister O'Barr