Season 2 Episode 9: Investigators

Malo Soifua!

This week on Tuesday, we were able to meet as a whole Island and have and Island Conference with Elder Nielsen of the Seventy. The Conference lasted for six hours and it was a really motivating Conference. He talked about a lot of things that were really helpful but, I think my favorite thing he talked about was how this mission is going to be a foundation for the rest of our lives and the more dedicated we are to this mission the stronger our foundation will be. Elder Nielsen and his wife are both incredible teachers and it was a really good meeting and it was nice to see all the missionaries on American Samoa!

I know I have been lacking on including info. about our investigators and I am sorry haha! As of right now we have 8 investigators, 3 of which are progressing. (We count them as progressing if we taught them during the week) The 3 Progressing investigators are Pete, Pei, and Lono(New)

Pete: I included him in the last email. We are still teaching him but, we are trying to decide what to do with him. He is really enjoying our lessons and he is reading the Book of Mormon but, he hasn't prayed about what we are teaching. We keep telling him the importance of prayer and what role it will play in his conversion and for some reason he keeps telling us that he just hasn't had the time. So, this week we are really going to focus on that and try and get him to pray about the Book of Mormon.

Lono: Lono is our new investigator and we were only able to teach her because Elder Tiatia lived with her son Nu'u back in St. George. Crazy right? After first she was rejecting us and the Elder Tiatia just said that he knew her son and the rest was history haha. At first she thought we worshiped Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon but, by the end of the lesson we had cleared that problem up and now we will be going back this week to teach the Plan of Salvation.

Pei: I am pretty sure I have talked about Pei before as well. We haven't been able to meet with her in awhile because she has been super busy but, we were finally able to meet with her this week. We just went over the first lesson and addressed some of her concerns. Her biggest problem with the Church is that our Bishops don't have to go to school to become a Bishop. It was a really weird concern but, we explained to her how Bishops are called and the role they play in the Church and she ended up understanding. We have a really good feeling about Pei and we are thinking about setting a baptismal date with her this week!

I was also able to do a baptism this week! It was a rebaptism though! Sister Ausage was baptized in Savai'i a long time ago and somehow her records got lost. So we had the chance to teach her all the lessons again! We were super grateful that she was so willing to be baptized again because apparently out here if you loose someones records there is a very high chance that they will be offended and won't want to be baptized again... super weird, I know. Anyway, I'm sorry Mom but, I didn't get a picture with her. I honestly don't know why but, we have Fafaga with her on Saturday so I will get a picture with her then! I was super grateful that I was able to do the baptism. It was a really cool experience.

That is about it for this week! I hope that was enough detail lol! I hope you guys are enjoying the Utah life! You all are so lucky to be enjoying cold weather! 

Things About Samoa:

IT WAS SO HOT THIS WEEK!

We just entered Cyclone season!

Elections are going on!

The rain here is insane!

It is super green!

That's about it this week haha!

Anyway, I hope you guys had a great week! Keep working hard at whatever you are doing! Love you and all and like usual I am always praying for you guys! Have a good Week!

Elder Barton!

Season 2 Episode 8: Lost Cause

Malo Soifua!

Well, to report on last week, we were never able to meet with Toa this week because the time we visited he was hungover and asleep. That was pretty disappointing but, we set up an appointment for this Thursday and we are still praying he will receive an answer to his pray! 

This week we experienced a lot of appointments falling through. It was pretty tough so a lot of this week was knocking doors trying to find people to teach. Although, we did have a pretty neat experience this week while teaching one of our investigators Rina. Rina is actually from Texas and she is just visiting her family here until this Friday. When we first contacted her I really didn't think our lessons were going to go anywhere and didn't have a real big desire to teach her. Well, we were teaching her Lesson 2: The Plan of Salvation on Friday and for some reason that was one of the most powerful lessons we have ever had. Everything she was talking about before we introduced the lesson related to the Plan of Salvation! At the end of the lesson we asked her if she would get baptized and she told us that she wasn't going to say yes and she wasn't going to say no. We told her to pray about it and see if this was the path God wants her to take. We go back this Wednesday to see if she got an answer and then we will contact the Texas missionaries to finish her lessons. 

I learned a pretty important lesson that day. I should never think someone is a lost cause. Everyone deserves a sincere chance to hear and live the gospel. It was selfish on my part to think that she wasn't "Ready". That was about it for this week. Not a lot happened but, I learned a lot.

This week we have an Island Conference and one of the Seventy is coming to talk to us so that is pretty exciting! I will be able to see a lot of missionaries from my intake so it should be pretty good!

I hope you guys had a little bit more exciting week than I did! I miss you guys and like I always say, I am always praying for you! Keep saying your prayers, reading the scriptures, and doing the small and simple things. In the end those small and simple things are going to strengthen our testimony the most! Alofa Aku Aiga!

Elder Barton

Season 2 Episode 7: October is Here

Malo Lava Aiga,

Can't believe another week is gone. I have a lot to put into this email, so forgive me Mom for not explaining everything!

Transfers:

We had transfers this week but, not much changed since our whole zone is training. The only thing that happened is one of the Elders from our district became our Zone Leader so his companion got a new trainer Elder Skipps. That is about it. Next Transfers should be exciting though.

Investigators:

Pete: Pete is about 26 years old and he lives on a really nice farm with his parents and his cousin Toa. He really likes reading the Book of Mormon but, the only problem is keeps telling us that he really likes what we are talking about, he just isn't ready to make changes. (Smoking, Alcohol) We are still working with him though.

Toa: Toa is also around 26 and lives with Pete. Toa has really been enjoying the lessons and has been keeping our commitments as well as asking some really sincere questions. We had a really cool experience with him this week that I will include later.

Seth: Seth is also around 26 and is always hanging out with Pete and Toa. He as well has been taking the lessons very seriously. The only problem is that he is always working, so it is hard to have him present at each lesson. We always tell him to take his Book of Mormon with him to work.

Pei: Pei is probably in her mid 50's and she is Catholic. She has two sons and an inactive husband. We have only been able to teach her lesson one because she has been really busy this past week with White Sunday. We have ran into her a few times this week and she has told us that she has been reading the Book of Mormon. 

Tao: Tao is in his late 50's but, he is super fit because his house is in the middle of no where. It takes us around 40 minutes just to walk to his house haha. He has a wife and two kids and we were really surprised when we taught the first lesson because he started taking notes and marking the scriptures we were sharing. For some reason we think that he is really prepared to hear our message.

*Story Time*

This week we went to go teach Pete, Toa and Seth and when we got to the house Pete and Seth were on there way out the door. They told us that they wouldn't be able to attend the lesson that day but, Toa was on his way out. We were a little bummed at first but, it turned out to be a really good thing. Toa really opened up with us during that lesson. He told us how ever since we came and started teaching the lessons he has felt like what we are teaching is right. He told us that it isn't a strong feeling but, he is feeling something. He also told us how he was really going to pray about our message to see if this is the path he should take. It was a really cool experience and made me gain more of a testimony about the literal power this gospel can have on peoples lives.

We are going back on Tuesday and we have been praying that he was able to receive an answer.

Sorry, the email is lacking detail but, like I've said before we literally have one hour to write. I hope things in Utah are going well! Hopefully, the colors are still changing! Anything new happening? I love you guys and I am always praying for each of you! I hope you guys have a great week!

Love Elder Barton

Scripture of the Week: Helaman 5:12

Season 2 Episode 6: Genereal Conference 1/4

Malo Soifua!

Well, as we all know it was General Conference this weekend! Even though I wasn't able to participate in the semi annual conference crepes, I was able to have Chicken Noodle Soup and Egg Sandwiches at 7 in the morning! It was actually pretty cool because we were able to watch General Conference Live here in Pavaiai! The first session was at 5 a.m. and the second session was at 9 a.m. so it still gave us a full day of preaching! 

This conference I feel like was very straight forward and to the point. I really enjoyed M. Russell Ballard's Talk as well as Le Brand Curtis jr. I loved when M. Russell Ballard said something to the affect of If you choose not to walk with God, where will you go? For some reason I just really connected with that. It is so true though. If we aren't following God where are we going to go? Think about it. Le Brand Curtis jr. gave the talk about the Book of Mormon. As I look back before I came on my mission I realize how much I took the Book of Mormon for Granite (I think that is how you spell it). He talked about how we need to be continually reading the Book of Mormon and as we do so, our relationship with Savior will grow. Although, something he really stressed was "As soon as we start a SERIOUS Study of the Book of Mormon we will develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ." Just opening the book and reading a few verses and then going to sleep is good. At least we are reading but, it is no where near the potential it could be if we actually seriously study the Book. I can personally testify to you all about the blessings the Book of Mormon brings. The mission has really opened my eyes to this. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I KNOW that The Book of Mormon can influence our lives to become more Christ like people. I challenge you all to start a serious study of the Book of Mormon. If you aren't reading it daily, I challenge you start reading it daily. I promise that as you do so, You will see your relationship with the Savior start to grow! It was a great General Conference and I can't wait to reread the talks! I hope you all had an enjoyable conference as well! I will admit I really missed you guys this weekend but, I felt a little bit of comfort knowing that we were all watching it at the same time! We have a very special family and I am beyond blessed to have Mom and Dad as parents and the rest you of you as my Brothers and Sister. You guys have influenced me to be the person I am today and I haven't gone one day without thanking my father in heaven for the blessing you guys have been.

*STORY TIME*

Okay so this week we had Fafaga with As-hiu family. We had been told to call ahead and let them know we were coming because they have a lot of dogs. Well, for some reason we forgot to call. (Very Bad Choice) So, Elder Tiatia and I were walking up to the house and we had both picked up two big rocks just in case. Well, we were walking up to there house and we were almost to the house and there were still no dogs and for whatever reason I thought that I didn't need my rock anymore. So, I dropped it. (VERRRYYY BADD CHOICE) Literally 4 steps later and we start to here the barking. Out of no where 5 dogs come running around the corner barking coming after us! I was about to go for my rock but, before I could even make it half way back to my rock the dogs were already on us. And for some reason out here the dogs ALWAYS come after me! Four of the dogs made a half circle around me and then only one went for Elder Tiatia. Usually, the dogs here just bark out you. These dogs were literally trying to eat me. I was kicking them and hitting them with my rag but, they kept getting closer and closer. Finally the owner came out and called the main dog and they all left. As I looked over at Elder Tiatia I asked him if he was okay and he told me was and then I noticed he still had his Rock!!! Oh my gosh I was so angry haha! I was saying "Elder why didn't you through your rock! I almost Died!" haha oh my. His response "I didn't know what dog to throw it at!" I was so mad but, also I couldn't help but, laugh. Just throw the Rock!!! At least we didn't get bit! Funny/Scary story haha dang crazy times! Those dogs were very scary!

I hope you all had a eventful week! I miss you guys but, I am glad you are all doing okay! I hope the colors are super pretty! (Send some pics) Keep working hard! Like usual I am always praying for you all! I love you guys!

Elder Barton

P.s.

Elder Ping says HERRROOOOO! I MISS U A VERY MUCHD!