The Elder Barr Blog

Thanks for the great email. I really appreciate it. Well, first off I should tell you I have 2 great pieces of news. Well, 1, but it is two-fold. I got transferred to Middletown, and I have a new companion Elder Peterson. He was companions with Elder Georgeson last cycle, who I was companions with in the Bronx a while ago.

Leaving Scarsdale was bittersweet, as is every area. I love it, but you know it is time to go when it is your time. Elder Kunz and I had 2 really good days monday and tuesday, and we taught 11 discussions in those two days. That didn’t make up for a rough cycle, but it was nice to finish strong.

It is great to hear that you found Maggie, safe and sound. That is really good news. I was a little worried about her. Oh, about that package, I should get it soon. Hopefully in the next week or so. I’m not close to the mission office anymore, so I will give you the apartment address. 16 Liberty St., 2nd floor, Middletown NY 10940.

Oh, I got the letter on the UW stuff. Here is what I think I would like to do. I really wouldn’t like to do applied math, but if I need to pick a major and can’t get in to cs or bio-eng, I think I would do some other kind of engineering. What I would rather do is take a year to do the chem pre-requisites, and maybe retake some of the math I did, and re-apply to bio-eng in a year to two. I have done math 308 (diff-eq). I don’t remember my UW student ID, but I know that I entered UW the fall after I left BCC, so that must have been the fall of 03? Wow, that was a long time ago. Anyway, that is where I am at.

So, the Middletown area seems great. We live with the Spanish Elders, including Elder Cornelio, my former companion. It will be great. It is nice to have a change, and to start fresh, especially with a new missionary. He has been out only 6 weeks. I remember how my 2nd companion influenced me, and i am glad to have the chance to be in that position with him. We are going to do great. The most important thing is to get the 20 contacts that Elder Ballard challenged us to get. When we started doing that in White Plains, it made a huge difference in the work. It really shows the importance to obedience to Apostolic council.

So, my birthday will be great. I don’t know anyone here, but Grandma Debbie and Grandma Gloria sent me some money, and I got one last Italian sandwich with my roommates before I left Westchester. It was a great celebration. I took a picture that I will have to send you.

Well, I don’t know what else to tell you. This area is great. I haven’t seen too much of it yet, but from the description, it sounds really nice.

Dad, I hope you have fun at Mashup camp, and that you also had a good Birthday. Mom, that sounds great that you will be doing some house selling. I am sure that you will do great if you dedicate the proper time and energy to it. Andy, I’m not sure what you should do about the sleeping. I remember that it was hard for me to fall asleep if I was trying to fall asleep. So, read something, either a novel or your scriptures, and let sleep come naturally. Also if you are really tired, just pray for a good nights rest. I do that every night, and it has worked. You can always put on a movie if you have to. Also, send me some mail if you can. Tina, I am so glad that summer vacation is going well. I hope you find some good stuff at Nordstroms. Bianca, I am glad that the summer is going well. Enjoy those fresh berries. And say hi to the Rands for me. Did you meet the Boren’s too? Be careful in everything you do, especially on the lake. Always swim with someone nearby. Don’t get hurt, please. Grace, thanks for the email. It was funny hearing about Chase. And yes, I am so OLD. The hair that I have left is gray. Just kidding. I’m not bald yet. I’ll be home soon. Don’t worry. Things will go quick and then we will be having fun together again.

Alright, i should get going. We need to get some groceries. I love you so much and thank you for all that you do for me.

Love,

Elder Stehen J. Barr

P.S. - please forward me some of the Washington Mutual mail. THey are sending me a new pin.

Alright, I again, I love you all sooooooo much

Thanks for the email. I am hoping and will pray that you will find Maggie, or that she will find her qay back home. Hopefully someone will spot her. If not, she’ll have to come back for food eventually. Anyway, it is sad to hear that got out.

This has been an interesting week. President Boren left, and President Searle is our new mission president. He flew in on Friday night, and had immediate stewardship of the mission. His arrival here was Presidnet Boren’s release. They visited with the Boren’s for an hour or two, and the Boren’s left. They are back in Sand Point, Idaho.

The Searle’s are great. We had a mission conference on Monday and he gave a good lesson on how the Lord is always willing to bless us, but that we need to take the initiative and not just wait for things to come. So, it was really good. President Searle is a technology guy as well, so I think we will have a lot in common.

The work is going well. We have been doing a lot of finding. The entire zone came and helped our area on Saturday, and that was good. It is a very different area. It is very wealthy and the majority is Jewish. They are nice people, but very involved in their own world. I asked President Searle for some advice, and he said to concentrate on our teachings about the family, since that is the common bond that we share with them. So, I’ll give that a try.

[Personal Stuff Deleted]

Sorry about spending so much money. It was just for little expenses, but I will try to not do that as much. Things are just so expensive. I shouldn’t have to be doing anymore dry cleaning. My blue suit’s pant’s are trashed, so I got rid of them. That leaves me with one suit, the black one. Should I just try to get by with that? I may go to Marshall’s today to get a shirt and a tie, but I definately need a few more shirts (oxford, long sleeve, wrinkle free). Thank you so much for the shoes by the way. I really appreciate them. They are great.

Dad, I wanted to wish you a happy upcoming birthday! I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I will try to send some mail today.

For the 4th, I saw a few fireworks outside the window, but honestly getting an extra hour of sleep was nicer than trying to see any fireworks. We had to be in by 6pm on the 4th of July, since people tend to drink a lot. Anyway, I cleaned my area, and then took the rest of the time to relax.

Andy, I will look over the schedule today. It looks good though. Dad, the UW stuff sounds great. I would like to start whenever is the next quarter after Feb. Mom, I will try to add your name to the account, and do that notarization stuff. Tina, I’m glad you had a great time at EFY. I have a friend who has been an EFY counselor. It would be fun. Glad you had a chance to learn some stuff, meet people, learn about the Gospel and feel the Spirit, and have a good time. Bianca, thanks for the email. Keep me posted on the good stuff you are cooking. Grace, I wuv you! Take care and stay safe.

I hope everything goes well. I love you all so much. Thank you for everything.

Love,
Elder Barr

Thanks for the great email. It is interesting to hear the Seattle is so hot, meaning 80 degrees. I guess you just get used to the heat, since 80 degrees is hot but not unbearable, compared to the days where it hits the 90s. But, like Grandma has been saying, the rain is definately here. It has rained so much. The other day we got absolutely soaked while tracting. It didn’t buy us much sympathy.

So, this week has been really good. Elder K___ and I are trying to find new ways to work the area. New places to contact people. We met with these great members on Sunday, and they told us to try some parks where families are, and also a neighborhood where it is very friendly and there are a lot of kids there. It has made me think that when I move into a neighborhood, I really want to study it out and make sure that there are kids out playing, toys on front yards, etc. It would be cool to have a huge house. For example, there is this great house in Scarsdale, an 8,000 sq.ft. Mediterranean, for 5.9 million. It would be comfortable, but who would you play with. The members we met with expressed the same concern. They said that in those neighborhoods, where each house has a stone wall and a gate with a buzzer, they have to set “playdates", several days in advance. Weird….

We had the chance to meet with another member family, the B___ family (change their name on the website). They are great, but Brother B___ works a lot and isn’t home all that much. But, he was there and we got to come in and share a little message with the family about the importance of scripture reading. Brother B___ added his testimony saying that if people took all the time of carving a message into brass and carrying those plates for miles, it is something worth reading. It was good.

…

Oh, about the bank fine. I couldn’t get it reversed. It wasn’t their fault. I just miscalculated. But about those finances, I really need some money ASAP. Even today would be good. My shoes are worn through, including my insoles. The rubber is so thin on the ball of my foot that there are holes starting to develop. Also, my blue suit is now garbage. The pants are completely worn through. There are a few holes, but they aren’t tares. The fabric is just so thin that you can see right through it. My only other suit is black, and I need to have the coat cleaned, and I don’t have the funds for that. Anyway, I could really use some money. I found a place that will re-sole the shoes for $40, plus I should spend another 10 on insoles. If money comes today I can do it today, but otherwise I will have to wait till next week. And maybe I should get a cheap suit for the summer? Or just use my black one? I have another blue suit that a member gave me a while ago so I could use that. I might need to let the pants out a little bit. They are 34’s, which would fit but might be snug at times.

Anyway, that is my situation. Things are mostly good, but I am completely out of money and could really use some. Today we are using the mission home’s laundry machines because we can’t afford laundry tokens for our apartment. It was a long month.

Well, I should probably get going. Things are going great. We are going to the Boren’s for a little BBQ before they leave on Friday. I haven’t done much in the office lately, but maybe they will call me in if they need me.

Mom, I hope you did well on your test. I’m sure you did. We’ll have to see what is going to happen from there, in terms of what you will do with this real estate stuff.

Oh, for my birthday, I could use some food, or money for food. And some long sleeve oxford fabric white shirts, wrinkle free, button collar or not - doesn’t matter, and maybe some ties. Socks would be great too. But most important is the shirts.

Alright, I gotta run. I love you all so much.

Love,
Elder Stephen J. Barr

Thanks for the email. A little short, but it was still good to hear from all of you. Things have been going pretty well here. Still in Scarsdale. Still working hard.

The biggest news I have to tell you about was the Gladys Knight concert. She was in town Saturday and Sunday and she put on a concert that was designed as a very missionary oriented event. Essentially, she taught the message of the restoration of the Gospel, and how it has affected her life. Her husband also told his conversion story. They both have really strong testimonies. It was good.

Anyway, as I said it was on Saturday and Sunday, 2 performances. We went to the Sunday, 8:00 pm concert, with a member and her non-member friend. The concert was held at the 65th st. building (the Temple building), which was cool. I had never seen the Stake Center parts of the building. It is a great building. The temple parts are very separate from the stake center parts. So, on Sunday night we took the Metro North down to Grand Central station. That station is huge. It was interesting looking out the window as we pulled in. There are literally hundreds of train tracks under Manhattan. The Metro North trains are very nice. From there you cross grand central and descend a few levels (that is the weirdest part, having 4 or 5 levels of subways. You can be quite far under ground and times.) We took a train to Times Square, and then another to 66th. It was pretty fast, taking only 1 hour from the house to the church. There were a lot of people there, and it was a good concert. It was weird being in grand central station at 11pm on the way back, but it was still a good concert.

The work here is going well. We are still working really hard to find people to teach. We have 2 investigators right now. Our best one is A____, and he is progressing very well.

So, I’m glad to hear that things are going well at home. The summer in Seattle sure is nice.

Andy, about your classes. First of all, 3 to 4 classes is a good load for BCC. Don’t ever take more than 4 academic classes. Also, I truly believe that BCC looks better that AP. Because, AP is still at high school pace, whereas BCC is an actual college, and is at college pace. You graduate with an associates degree and a high school degree. Associates degrees are universally accepted. You will find that if you take AP English as high school, it is worth the same as English 101, except that AP English takes 9 months and English 101 takes 3. So, it isn’t a hard choice.

Now, what you NEED, absolutely NEED to do, is pick the degree you want (there are a couple of associates degrees…the AAS degree - associate of science, is good.) Anyway, pick the degree, and then map out all of your classes like this. On the degree, there is a sheet that is very specific to the classes you can take, and there isn’t much room for extra classes. So, Italian might be a waste of your time. You might be better off taking a literature class, since Eastlake requires you to take a literature class to get English credit.

Oh, and don’t listen to high school advisors about BCC. They have no idea what they are talking about, and their motive is to make you stay at the high school. I have had them say some rude things to me. Honestly, avoid dealing with the high school as much as possible. The BCC people know that you need to do. So, PLEASE, get that sheet for your associates degree and do that class sheet. Some classes have pre-requisite classes, meaning that you can’t take physics until you take calculus, and you may need to take 3 quarters of physics. And, you need to take physics in order (121, 122, 123), and, they only have physics 121 during the fall and winter quarters. So, if you take calculus in the winter, you won’t be able to start physics until next fall. It is the same with chemisty. So, plan out ALL your courses, and make sure that you will be able to do all the courses you need to get an AA degree within 6 or 7 quarters.

Speaking of school. How is UW going? Please do that ASAP. It is really important. Remember, CS or bioengineering. I’ll need to re-apply to the school.

Aright, I need to run. I love you all so much. Thank you for everything.
I love you all so much.

Love,
Elder Stephen J. Barr

P.S. - thanks for the $$. I’ll check to bank today. Also, it is time for new shoes. The soles of my rockports are worn through. There are holes in the bottom. Please let me know what to do. Thanks again for the $$. I’ll try to spend less, but it is always needed and appreciated

Thanks for the great email. This has been a good week. I think I am pretty much over my sickness. I am finishing up the Mucinex and Amoxicillin. I don’t have the symptoms anymore, but Sister Boren told me to finish the package.

So, I’m glad you got the package. Yeah, I’m at 194 lbs, which is the lightest that I have been in a long time. I don’t think I’m “malnourished", but it would be nice to have more time to eat. That is usually the biggest issue. Time. We are always so busy.

I’m really glad to hear that things are going well at home. The autism walk sounded nice. I remember doing one in Marymor a few years ago. That was fun.

Alright, lets review the last few days. Things have been good. Getting to know Elder Kunz some more, and we have been working hard together. We have been tracting a lot, trying to find some people to teach. We have found a lot of nice people, but nobody that is too interested in the church. Our best investigator right now is A____, our Brazilian investigator. More on that later.

On Saturday, we had to go up to Valhalla to give a blessing to a man in the hospital. It was a good experience. Since we were there, we visited some people in the area. One family was a medical student family who actually lived on the hospital compound. It was nice to visit with them. They are both very nice, but I think that med-school keeps them so busy that they don’t have too much time for other things. I guess that is a good things. At least it leads to qualified doctors. Also on Saturday, we had a good lunch with Sister L____, a lady in the ward. She cooked us a good spaghetti lunch, in exchange for us moving her harp for her. It was good, but I think she thinks I’m not too smart, since I did a not-so-smart thing during lunch. She had a little bowl on the table, and I thought it was salt, like the little bowl we have. Anyway, I decided to salt the spaghetti, and it turns out that it was sugar. She didn’t say anything, but I’m sure it looked weird. So, I had to put on extra salt to compensate.

Sunday was really good. We helped R__ T., our handicapped member. That was fun. Then we went to a less-active’s house, to make sure they were going to church. This was at 9:15. She said, “alright, I’ll be there". She didn’t show up. That is pretty weak. She is one of those people who is too afraid to change, so she’ll hold on to whatever she’s got, even if it isn’t much of anything. Anyway, church was great. President and Sister Boren spoke, as a fairwell talk. They are gone in 2 weeks. That will be an interesting time. I’ll keep you updates. From what I hear about President Searle (I have met some ward members who know him), he is completely different from President Boren. I love the Boren’s, but at the same time it will be nice to experience something different. The Boren’s spoke on not letting go of the gospel, even if there are parts that you don’t understand. Our other investigator, Robert, loved the talk. It was somewhat ironic, that the intermediate hymn was “If you could hie to Kolob". Talk about things to not understand.

Also on Sunday, we went to A____’s house after Church. He is doing well. We cooked lunch togeter, and then had a good discussion about the plan of salvation. A____ is a great guy, with a lot on his plate right now. He came from Brazil about 3 years ago, and now has his own construction company. He is very successful, and he will definately be the kind of person to embrace the Gospel with his whole heart once he begins to understand.

Monday was good. I went on a split with Elder H____, who is Elder Ferreira’s companion( Elder Ferreira is my old companion from Brazil, who is now my district leader.) He is working in Mount Vernon. Elder H____ has only been out about 2 months, and he is a very “special” young man. There is something different about him. Not autism, but just different. Anyway, we had a good day. Mount Vernon is a pretty dirty town, a lot like the Bronx but mostly Jamaican. I wouldn’t ever live there. The work is good though, since there are a lot of people to talk to.

Yesterday evening, we were doing some street contacting, and we saw some members at a store and they waved for us to come inside. They are really cool people. They are both international investment bankers, and they have some cool stories to tell. It was good to see them with their family out in the evening. They treated us to McDonald’s. Since I’m trying to eat healthy, I had a grilled chicken sandwich, and I didn’t eat all of it.

Alright, I better get going. I love you all so much. Thank you so much for everything. I love you all.

Love, your son or brother,
Elder Stephen J. Barr

PS - Mom, thanks for the $$. It was so badly needed. I’m trying to save as much as possible, but there are so many things that come up. So, thank you so much.

Thanks for the great email. It was great to hear from 5/6ths of you. I guess Bianca didn’t make the cut this week.

So, this week has been an interesting week. I have been with Elder K___ for a week now. He’s a good missionary, but he has some maturing to do. He’ll get there though. He’s from a tiny town in Idaho, and we have had a lot of good conversation so far as we have worked white plains.

So, I’ll start with Thursday. We had a pretty good day, in that we had an appointment with A____, our Brazilian investigator. He was pretty good during that appointment, and said that he was excited about church. But, he has been giving us the run-around. We had an appointment with him for yesterday, and he didn’t show up. This is the 4th time he has done this to us, so I left him a message asking him to call instead of just not be there. So, hopefully he will progress.

Anyway, on Friday we tried to do some work in Tuckahoe, which was going alright until it started to pour. We grabbed our sandwiches and took a lunch in the mission office, since there was nowhere in Tuckahoe for us to eat that was dry. Anyway, I don’t think we are going to do too much more work in Tuckahoe, since it is pretty small and dead during most of the day. And, the people that are around the day are older Italian people, who are great but aren’t exactly our target. They tend to be very nice and very Catholic.

Saturday was good. Also very rainy. We did a zone blitz over in Yonkers, which is a so-so place. I went with Elder Summers and we found a pretty good neighborhood to tract. It was funny. Usually the stereotype is that apartment buildings are better than houses, since people would be more “humble” there, but the exact opposite was the case. We had many more doors open in the neighborhood than in the apartment building. We taught a pretty cool young guy there. Hopefully the Yonkers Elders can continue to teach him.

Sunday was good except for that I came down with a headache. A really bad sinus headache. We had to do some service before church, so we did our study after church, and part-way through the study I couldn’t take it, so I just slouched in the chair and closed my eyes. That helped, but it was still pretty bad. I went over to a members house, and all they had was Aleve. That wasn’t the right stuff. I finally found a member with some Ibuprofen, which was the Dargers. They are a great family, and they gave us a good snack too. Some leftover chicken. It was pretty good. That made me feel better.

By Monday, my headache was mostly gone, but I had a terrible mucusy cough, itchy throat, etc. I went through Monday and Tuesday like that. I bought some DayQuil and that was alright except for the heart beat thing came back a little bit. I called Sister Boren today, and she told me to call Dr. Gray. I did, and perscribed me Mucinex and an anti-biotic, and told me to stop taking the DayQuil. So, that is where I am health wise.

Yesterday, we did mostly contacting. It was pretty good. We talked to a lot of people, and got a few good contacts. One Hatian lady with a family, a Hispanic lady, and a few other people. The important part now is to call them and set some appointments, which I will do today.

So, except for my stuffy nose and my mucus filled throat and lungs and the heart beat thing (it isn’t intense as last time, but still noticeable), things are going pretty well. The area is going well, although we are still trying our best to find good quality investigators. We’ll just contact them all and see who responds.

I have been trying to eat more healthily, and it is going pretty good. I am going to try to cut down on sugar - things like juices and pop-tarts. I have been having pretty good breakfasts - usually a bowl of rasin bran. During the day I’ll have a sandwich, and them some snacks at home. But, I’m going to try to find some more healthy snacks.

Hopefully today I’ll have time to cook myself a decent meal. I’ll try to make some chicken, brown rice, and some veggies.

Alright, I better get going. I love you all so much. Dad, have a good time in Manhattan. I agree with your assesment. I really couldn’t ever convince myself to live there. There is just too much stuff all on one tiny island.

Thank you so much for everything. I will try to send some letters today, when I get home. I am going to try to relax for a while, and let this cold pass. I love you all so much.

Love,
Elder Stephen J. Barr