Letter 43: Staying in San Fransico de Limanache

Dear mother of mine,

Well it`s great to hear from you! I seriously love Mondays because I can always count on hearing from you and the family. I did get Trevor`s email and man did he get me laughing with the qoutes he gave me (my companion probably thinks i`m weird hahah...nah impossible). But more than that he is still killing it out there. Everyone now saluting him as ¨Sir¨, haha dang. It`s good to know how he is doing AND that he will be home for Christmas, the best part!

So transfers happened and my companion and I are both staying here in San Francisco de Limache! I get along really well with Elder Huertas. Honestly this past transfer has been a bit harder in terms of ¨success¨ and sometimes it`s makes me ask why? But as Trevor was telling me we just have to keep working and making ourselves better during these times and I feel that that`s true. I`m excited for this transfer and hope that it`ll go well! We actually didn`t have interviews with President just yet, we will have them on Thursday and i`ll be able to talk with him then.

So this past week has been pretty good. We were able to teach a lot of less active members and find a few new people to teach. It`s crazy because some days we have like 5 appointments set and one by one they don`t work out. Hahah but that`s just part of the mission. This past Sunday we had Stake conference and our stake President was changed. Elder Zeballos of the seventy and Pres. Kahnlein attended and both spoke. It was a really good conference and something that they said really stuck with me. They said that our job and priviledge as members of the church is to invite...that`s it. It`s so easy. We aren`t exactly responsible for if they accept or not but we have to at least invite others to come unto Christ. Other than that i`ve been thinking about conference still, I think i`m going to start listening to talks every Monday as I write so I can keep them fresh in my mind. An elder with about 4 months in the mission arrived in our district and Elder Silva (the brazilian), left. I was able to do an interchange with the new elder (Elder Henderson), and guess what?? He`s from Mapleton! Hahah it was pretty great. He is seriously one of the nicest people I`ve ever met. I sat there thinking wow...this kid is too nice and says thanks for EVERYTHING. I don`t know him super well but I do know that he has a love for others and it`s a great example for me. It will be good to get to know him and have a great transfer. But that`s about it for this week, my companion and I have been talking a lot about what we can do better and about the things that we can improve and how we can better follow the spirit. I think that really striving more to hear the spirit we will be able to be guided more in this work and be led to the chosen of the Lord.

I was thinking the same thing mom, time really is going by fast. In a several weeks i`ll be able to count the months on my fingers...wow! Not to mention i`m really excited to talk with you all on Skype for Christmas. It will be a great time. What do I want for Christmas? Hmm. That`s kind of hard, I have been thinking about a new camara because mine is kind of...lame haha. Some new ties?..umm socks. What else could a missionary in chile need? Maybe if you find something awesome to repel fleas (seeing as how summer is arriving here we are going to have a lot more of those). Obviously delicious treats :) annnd I will keep thinking. Do you have any ideas? Either way, the best part will be talking to you all!

I still have never had to speak in sacrament meeting at church while i`ve been here (so no, i`m not going to return an awesome sacrament speaker haha), but yes I do teach a lot. The second hour we have a class called Prinicples of the Gospel and for some reason, it doesn`t matter what ward i`m in, the person who has the calling to teach it doesn´t show up often, so we end up teaching it. :) But I like to teach. 

I`m going to go look around today for some new shoes and all. Thank you! But anyway time is running low so I just want you to know that I love you so much! I`m so grateful for you and the family. the support that you have given me has helped me so much. I miss you all! I hope you have a great week and I can´t wait to hear from you again!

Love Elder Barton
P.S. Tell Bridger GOOD LUCK with his superbowl! ;) haha

 

 

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Letter 41: Rubi Staying Strong

Whuttup momm, Jk, Dearest mother,

Hahah hey! I have to agree General Conference was amazing. More than anything it recharges the the batteries and gives me a ton of motivation and inspiration, it definitely is a blessing to have a living prophet, apostles, an inspired men and women. I think one of my favorite talks was Elder Bednar at the end. Talk about how it applies to me now, sometimes as missionaries I think that we have a lot of pressures and things that they require of us and it can be overwhelming but in reality I just have to remember why I`m here...I want to give to those what has saved and healed me. There were a lot of good talks and it seems like this conference they were all pretty clear and direct.

Jazmin went over? That`s awesome! Yeah she has been writing me too and it seems like she is doing really well, she is happy and I know that she is being blessed.

Well the situation here in San Francisco de Limache is a little hard at the moment for a few reasons. My companion is pretty discouraged because he has had much success in about 5 months. He feels pretty discouraged too that he will be 24 this month and he thought that by now he would be a super good missionary that good basically do everything. In other words I think it has to do with what we talked about a little while ago, the things we focus on will be bigger. I told him that this morning that we need to look at all the good that is happening, especially after this general conference. He feels a little blah also because we have interviews next week I think and President isn`t usually very ¨soft¨ on those who haven`t baptized. I explained that hey, that`s his job, is to make sure that the work of salvation continues. Maybe he doesn`t do it the way that we like but he shouldn`t worry. Success will come as we are faithful. Yesterday my companion and I received a call from a lady named Rubi who got baptized in July. I answered her call and she was in tears. She had arrived at the chapel and no one was there, no one had explained that the conference would take the place of regular church. She began to say how alone she felt and how her financial situation was so tight that she just couldn`t continue on. She then said that it would be better if she just went home and didn`t go to church anymore. As you can imagine at that moment I was praying that I would say the right thing and I told her to stay there and that we would go and meet with her right now. So we left and went to a little park by the church and began to talk to her. I prayed along the way that we would be able to say the right things to her. When we arrived we talked for a few minutes casually and I was able to share an experience with her that made us both cry a bit ( i honestly don`t normally cry when I`m teaching, but this time was different), I was able to understand how she felt and I don`t know, I just felt compassion. My companion shared Joseph Smith`s experience in jail where he spent the winter and endured a lot of affliction and how the Lord says that our afflictions will be but a small moment, and if we endure them well, God shall exalt thee on high. Long story short she was able to trust in the Lord and go to the conference and continue on. I made the point to my companion that what he shared with Rubi is exactly what he needs in this moment. I know that it`s hard when things don`t work out the way you want (trust me! I know!), but in the end we just have to keep being faithful and strive to be happy.

Speaking of which we have transfers this Wednesday! I`ll be sure to let you know what happens of course. I have no idea what will happen so it should be interesting. 3 short months and we will talking on SKYPE, don`t worry i`ll practice my English this time so that I can speak more fluidly haha. I will look around her for some shoe shops, I have found a few but i`ll look more into it and if I find a good pair ill get it. I think it will be better too rather than risk them getting stolen. As for starting school in August I really do think it would be a good idea as well and I`ll talk with President about it and tell him all the information. Obviously it`s not something of having everyone just wanting me home but several months of idle time isn`t a great idea, i`m pretty sure he`ll be supportive about it. 

Trevor emailed me but it was short. His training looks so awesome though! I`m happy he could watch the Conference too. Speaking of which MAN I miss the crepes! Hahah i`m going to eat so many when I get home, seriously. Well mom, I sure do miss you and the family. I love you guys so much and have really thought and acknowledged how much of a blessing it is to have such a loving and supportive family.
You are the best! Love you!