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!

Letter 40: Independence week BBQ!

Dear mother of mine,

Hey! Seriously it does feel like forever since we have heard much from each other. The pictures from your vacation look amazing though, sounds like you had a great time. We will have to do something when I get home ;) hahah. I think one of my favorite vacation spots is our traditional San Diego, a lot of good memories there. It`s true though, there is just something about home that you can`t replace. Hahaha that`s funny that you mention the drivers and the craziness of the roads..I thought that is how Chile was going to be but it`s crazy because they are wayyy overly safe. Like as a pedestrian it drives me crazy how cautious they are haha. But hey I guess it`s a lot better than almost having to be really careful in the streets! 

This week we have had zero new investigators. Actually this week was the their independence week or in other words the week where everyone drinks and eats barbecue and just wants to party haha. So I can`t say it was a very successful week. However we still were able to teach some people and have a good time. Actually our ward had an activity for the 18th and it was awesome! I`ll send some pictures but it was great. I learned how to make empanadas (which included chopping a ton of onion and crying), and then we played a bunch of typical games of Chile. But they were just normal games...like what we did in elementary school for field day such as tug of war, sack races, etc. but it was still fun. They did some traditional dances of their country and that was pretty fun to watch, my companion took video of a lot of things so we`ll have to watch them when I get home.  For the first time in forever I ate barbecue! So as far as food goes it was a good week.

So as to your list of questions I`m just going to answer them one by one right now so I don`t forget..

-My favorite thing to eat here is probably a good empanada.

-Yes I have thought about school and I think it would be a good idea to start it in August. I have to talk with President but from what I have heard from other missionaries is that for educational reasons you can go one month before the ¨release date¨. I think it would be better to get home and just start instead of having a few months of waiting. But I don`t know, what do you think?

 -I think I`ll stay for another transfer but I have no idea if Elder Huertas will stay or not. 

-Things are fine with my companion, we get along pretty well so there aren`t really any problems there we just want more success!

_-There are no signs of going to the temple sadly, man do I miss it!

-Some of my pants are kind of dying..but nothing to bad. I`m a 30-32

I hope I didn`t miss anything! Oh and it`s been a while since we have had interviews with President so we should have some soon. The transfers come the 8th of October right after General Conference. Speaking of which I am excited to hear the General Conference! It`s going to be a good one (like all of them haha). I`m trying to think of some questions or things I want direction with in my life to be able to have in mind as i`m listening. What about you?

I have seen a lot of blessings in my own life and in the life you you guys too. It`s good to know that the Lord really does take care of us when we do what is right. I have to say I have learned a lot through this past year in the mission and I wanted to share with you a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 135:5.After Joseph Smith had died and they were recounting the experience how Hyrum had put corner of a page turned on Ether 12. It really struck me as I read it this morning. It basically says don`t worry that the gentiles (all of those not of the church), don`t have charity, that has nothing to do with you, you have been faithful and you will inherit the kingdom of God. It says something like that..I read it in Spanish. But I have found that at times I get discouraged in the mission for lack of success or for when people don`t want to hear our message and I have come to realize that it doesn`t matter because i`ve been faithful. I want to continue to be faithful and I know that your support as my family has been essential in helping me do this. I know God put me with you all for a reason and I thank him everyday for it. I love you so much!

I truly do miss you as well but it no time we`ll be together again. In the meantime I will keep working hard and striving to do whats right so all can be blessed. Thanks for all you do and know that it doesn`t go unnoticed. Have a wonderful week! And save some pumpkin roll for me ;)

Letter 39: Darko's Baptism!

My dear wonderful, beautiful, and youthful motherrrrrrr!

Well a lot has happened this week! But first of all it was amazing to hear about your trip to Trevor`s graduation. Missionaries coming and going eh? Sounds pretty exciting haha, Will is back, I heard Dallin is back too. And to Argentina? Supposedly they eat pretty well there so he might end up gaining a bit of weight haha, a lot of barbeques and pasta! I miss your Sunday dinners thats for sure, yesterday I ate some noodles with red sauce, it was pretty...good. Hahah oh man, the mission, too good. Don`t worry, soon you will have GRANDKIDS to fill the house as well haha. Also that`s super exciting about your trip to the domincan republic, i`m excited to see the pictures when you go. I heard that they speak really fast..but then again you will be at a resort so youll be speaking English. Or you could learn spanish and we can talk when I get home. 

Okay well this week was full of adventures! First and foremost we had a baptism! Darko got baptized on Saturday at 4:00. It was great to see how many people came out to support him despite the rain (when it rains hardly anyone leaves the house). Here is a little shortened version of his story. Okay, his friend at school invited him to go to church one Sunday and he went. He told us how that day changed everything. He had been into alcohol and stuff not so great and he told us how after he went to church he changed, he stopped doing those things. Well he attended church there for about a month and a half and his friend (lela) sent us his address and everything though the other missionaries there. After 2 weeks we finally found him and started to teach him and MAN he had so many questions! Over the course of about 3 or 4 weeks we taught him everything, answered all his questions and helped him feel more sure about baptism. I remember the lesson where he decided to be baptized, we red Ether 12:6 and he sat there thinking for a good 15 seconds then told us he wanted to be baptized. The young men and young women of the ward accepted him completely and befriended him right from the start. Actually the young mens pres. baptized him and two of the young men were the witnesses. It was a really special day. Darko`s friend that invited him ended up coming with her family and got pretty emotional during the service and started to cry. All I could think is how her one small action to invite him to church completely changed the course of his life. How amazing it is to me that she decided to act and have the courage to open her mouth. Darko`s mom, aunt, and uncle came to the baptismal service as well and were moved. Overall it was a great day and i`m thankful for the opportunity I had and have to teach him and get to know him. Anyway, we left the chapel and were walking with our umbrellas (it had been raining off and on all day). We contacted a few houses and were walking down one of the main roads (which means lots of powerlines),  and all of a sudden the buildings next to me begin to shake and I hear a lot of trembling. Finally it dawned on me, earthquake! At first I ran for the wall of a building to get cover or something, i`m not sure what I was thinking but then I realized hey...buildings can fall. So I ran with my companion to the edge of the street and as my mind is racing I remember hearing something about get away from powerlines. As I thought that I looked up and was right under some powerlines that just happened to start sparking and all the lights went out. Then it stopped and all you could hear were car alarms and people yelling or crying. If I remember right it was like a 6.4, relatively small for Chile but for me it was huge haha. We went to our pension to see that everything was alright and there wasn`t any light, the electricity had been cut for our house and several blocks. Well to make things short we went to a members house and stayed there for a while. There were a few aftershocks during the night that woke me up and the light didn`t come back until Sunday night. So that was a pretty crazy experience. No worries though, i`m alive :)

We have Transfers this Wednesday and i`m pretty sure i`ll be staying here but I have no idea if my comp is going to go or going to stay. I`ll let you know what happens. The weather here is getting hotter and hotter already! Well minues the days that it rains. It`s kind of like Utah weather here, one day is super nice and the other really blah. But we are going to be warming up here pretty soon. I`m still very happy with my area and with my companion, obviously there are trials with every comp. and every area but there are also a lot of blessings. I can`t believe that in about 2 months you guys are going to have snow! I feel like you just barely came out of winter. Time is passing pretty quickly, I hope you have a great week and enjoy your last little while of warmth! Haha Trevor is the best! He wrote me and i`m going to forward this email and right him something right now. I love you mom! Thanks for all your love and support!

Love your favorite child, Elder Barton!

Letter 38: Sushi Snatcher

Hey mom!

Ah thank goodness that the letter got there in time! I was also worried because my receipt said that is was going to go to Germany!  Trevor`s squad is the top squad? No surprise there haha, I feel like he just excels at stuff. You`ll definitely have to fill me in on everything and how his experience was, well i`m sure he will be emailing me too!  He baptized 2 people?? This whole experience has been such a blessing hasn`t it? I feel like things are just looking up and that`s always a good feeling!

I`m hoping that everyone will be there when I call for Christmas but we`ll see what happens. Grandma and Grandpa, I have written him a few times and he seems to be doing well. I bet he loves the visits too! I have so many good memories with them, I remember that is was Grandma that really taught me how to read a lot better and would always take us out to get breakfast on Saturdays. Hey I actually had a question about your dad, he was a convert right? And if so, do you know the story??

Things are going pretty well here! I like my area and my companion and I get along really well! Hahah man, I haven`t laughed so hard in all of my mission. It`s great because we both are learning more and getting better but we can still have fun. Darko is coming right along with the baptism. He is so smart! It was funny because almost every lesson we have taught him he knows so much already! The other day we taught him about tithing and I asked him what he knew about it, he basically explained everything that we were going to teach him. He is one that has been prepared! It`s all thanks to his friend too, she invited him to church about 2 months ago and now he has progressed so much. Small acts really do make the difference! We have zone conference coming up this Wednesday. This one the president won`t be there but our zone leaders will be directing it. Here`s to hoping the package arrived by some miracle! Well other than that we haven`t really found any new investigators, that`s our challenge here! Blah, but it`s all good, we`ll keep working.  This past week we did a kiosk thing. It`s a stand with a question like ¨will I be with my family after this life?¨, stuff like that, and we stand by it for 4 hours everyday and basically wait for people to ¨look interested¨ and then we contact them. It`s probably been one of the most interesting experiences on my mission hahah, or in other words, funniest experiences. People say the weirdest things mom, seriously. Some guy came up and tried to force me to buy a necklace, then some guy came up and started to recite poems that he wrote about the fall of the united states. Hmmm, a lot of other things, but you get the idea! We have had a bit of success though. I think what the stand lacks is stuff to give out, to interest the people.

Sounds like things are moving right along at home! That picture of Bridger is awesome haha. Seriously I`m going to arrive home to a completely new home!   OH hey! I remembered a funny story, so last Monday we went to get sushi and we sat outside to eat it right? Well this lady comes along and asks for money, my companion gives her some and then she looks at my sushi and snatches one right off my plate and then just walks away! Hahah oh my gosh, I couldn`t believe it. Anyway, the sushi was great, thank you!  Love you so much mom! Have a great week okay?

Love your favorite child!

Letter 37: UFO's

Hey Mom!

Well my new companion and I are getting all ¨used to each other¨ Haha. He is an awesome guy and we actually get along really well! We found 3 new people to teach this past week which is great! One of them is named Darko and he is so interested in the gospel! He told us that he already knows baptism is something essential and that he really just wants that conviction that this church is true, so in other words, he will most likely be baptized soon. The good thing too is that we have young men in this ward who help and are active in inviting him to come.

Kevin is gone! Man I bet he is going to enjoy it. The begining is always the most interesting. I was telling my companion the other day that now its a little more boring because I know the language haha, like this thing I was struggling with for MONTHS now isn`t an issue. Then again, it`s a relief as well.

I feel like that whole thing with fireworks in the mountains happens all to often. You would think that people would learn by now. Sounds scary! I remember that fire in our old house that was on the mountain and watching it during the night. Crazy stuff! Hopefully they are able to put everything out. It`s weird to think that it is summer there!

Hey I sent a letter to Trevor today and I paid more so that it will get there faster! I was thinking that if it gets there in time you can take it with you to Trevor`s graduation and give it to him there. I will also write you a response to his scanned letter so you can send it as well! Man he is doing so well in his training. I seriously am so proud of him.

You`re so lucky! I bet it`s going to be beautiful there! And obviously you will have to take some pictures and send them along. We really have been blessed with a beautiful and loving family haven`t we? I truly am grateful for that. You already know, but being out here has helped me to appreciate that even more in my life. I miss you guys a ton!

We are working hard mom, no worries haha. Actually I feel like I've arrived in crazy land. Why you may ask? Because I have heard like 4 different people tell stories of the UFO`s here! Haha some guy told us how a red light came down and scanned him. What`s worse is that there is a member family who talks about it too! Oh my gosh...I`m just hoping that no one else talks about it. Other than that though, I love the ward. There is a canadian family who lives here who talks to me in English which is pretty awesome. The daughter is putting in her papers to go on the mission! It`s true that it was hard to leave Los Vilos and all but I haven`t felt as sad as I thought I would. I`m pretty sure it`s because of the work, we just keep at it and it`s also the fact that God calls me where he needs me so this is where I need to be. My companion and I were talking this morning about how we have felt about all of the rejections we have gotten in the mission in comparison with those who have accepted. In the end we came to the conclusion that it doesn`t matter how many reject our message, our purpose as missionaries it to give people the chance and to deliver the message, we are doing what we have been called to do.

Well other than that there isn`t a whole lot to report! I love you and I hope you all have a great week!" I`m sure the boys  are just all to excited for school to start soon haha. Be safe with those fires!

Elder Barton

Letter 36: Transfer to Limache, Sanfransico

Mom,

Well looks like I'm in a new area! Man it really was hard to leave my last area but I was able to say my goodbyes and everything. I will continue to write letters to the people there as well. Alright on Wednesday I went to Viña (i was the ONLY missionary in my zone to go south haha it was super lame). I am now in Limache, San Francisco! After 10 months in the mission I am now in the south. It is pretty different here, especially because everything is pretty green and there are a lot more people than in Los Vilos! My new companion is Elder Isabel and he is from Mexico and a convert of 2 years. We get along pretty well, he and his other companion just baptized a mother and her daughter here (looks like they spent all of their time doing that because we have zero investigators now...haha), which is awesome! This area is pretty nice and the view reminds me totally of Utah! It`s a valley with mountains surrounding and some parts just totally remind me of home.

So far I'm loving where I`m at. We have a few challenges in this area which are no investigators, the area folder where we keep all of our records of the people we teach hasn`t been updated in 3 months, and the ward needs a bit of a jumpstart to get things going again. Despite these things I'm hopeful for progress and from the things I learned in my last transfer I know that we can improve things here a bunch! During our change meeting in Viña the president`s wife spoke about how when the people reject us it`s okay, we didn`t come for them, we came to look for those who are ready to accept our message. This is pretty true, so instead of getting discouraged after a day of rejection I`m going to try harder to keep motivated.

Yesterday I met a lot of ward members, there are about 60 that attend. The chapel is beautiful! (Palmira Romanos is the street if dad wants to know haha). I like my ward mission leader, he is 24 and return missionary. We have young men here which is great! Overall I'm happy to be here and excited to get to know the members more.

Hmmm what else..oh yeah so we are in winter here right? The other day is was sooooo hot! It was the weirdest thing is was just one random day with a bunch of heat and now it`s cold again. We have several hills in our area that just kill me when we have to go up them haha. Our area is HUGE by the way, I really want to have bikes here, it`s be way more efficient, but we can`t have them so...looks like I'll be walking!

Wow! Our house already looks pretty different but nice! Good taste! Oh hey, you better not have gotten rid of the lazy boy! Everything looks really nice and it sounds like you guys are staying busy and having a good time. I love to hear from you and the family every week whether it`s been a great week and I can tell you about success or whether it`s been a bad week with zero success, I'm grateful that you all write, support, and love me. I sure do miss talking with you! Mom remember how I would always give you good night hugs? I think that is one of the things I miss most. I miss my mama haha, but I'm happy you`re good and everything. I`ll be sure to send some pictures of the new companion! I love you so much! Thank you for all you do for me, i hope you have a great week!