Season 4 Episode 5: The Week No One Wrote

Hey, This is just going to be a short little email filled with some stuff that has happened over the past few weeks because I didn't get an email from any of you. Which is Ok. I know you are all very busy! 

STUUUUUFFFF:

Last week Sunday Elder David Crashed on his Bike and we went to the Hospital.

Last Week Monday Elder Davids Arm got a lot worse so we went to the Mission home and got to spend the night there with the ZL's, Hot water, and Air Con.

Last Week Tuesday We taught a lot of our investigators and sweated a ton! Here is a list of all of our investigators and some of there baptismal dates:

Sese 6th of May

Seu 6th of May

Peta 6th of May

Nora 6th of May

Soototo 29th of April

Val 29th of April.

Oh, you guys remember that awesome experience we had last week with Seupule and his family? Well, we figured out Seupule has 27 kids and not really sure how many wives. He told us he still has a unofficially divorced wife in NZ. Meaning they divorced but, never signed the papers. Meaning we can't Marry Seupule and Tine until they get those papers signed. It was super sad to find out because of how badly they both want to be baptized but, it looks like it is going to be awhile for Seupule and Tine.

Last Week Wednesday we went to Apia to shop and eat! We had Mcdonalds and Pizza! Great day

Last Week Thursday/Friday we spent our time focusing on Tavita, Faasili, Olive and Satui so we could get them ready for there baptisms!

Last Week Saturday We did the Baptisms for Tavita, Faasili and Olive in the Ocean! The water is very nice down here in Samoa. It was very hard not to "Trip" and fall in the water. I am so grateful that they could all get baptized and be confirmed the next day! 

Last Week Sunday We baptized Satui!! Afterwards we had a bomb fafaga which consisted of Pig, Chicken, Turkey, Fish, Eel, Taro, Luau, and ICE WATER! Shout out to Satui's family for providing a very nice dinner for us! Also we found out that Satui is Elder Davids first cousin!!! It was such a surprise and made the baptism so much more meaningful for Elder David and Satui! We also got a referral of this guy named Val. (Mentioned above with the baptismal date) Apparently he has been attending church for a very long time with his Member girlfriend. But, he is very humble and willing to put his life in accordance with our Father in Heaven and be baptized!

Monday Elder Davids arm got reinfected and got 10x worse. So we went back to the Mission home around 9 at night and ended up going to the hospital and staying there until about 11. Elder David and I got to spend another night in the Mission home and Shout out to President for buying us some Mcdonalds haha! 

Tuesday we figured out that Elder David was going to be staying in Lotopa (The village right next to the Mission home) So the Mission Nurse can change and clean his bandages twice a day and so that he can shower in the hot water! Luckily for me this in not a permanent switch! I will be back with Elder David this Friday! Right now I am comps with Elder Olamaleva from Missouri! He is a really cool Elder! He just talks a lot haha! Love him though!

I love you all so much! I now this email is really rushed and lacking detail. But, I hope you all know I am loving the work and I am trying my best to become like our Savior Jesus Christ and help others do the same! Yep, it is hard but, it is the best choice I have made in my life. I am so grateful for you, my family and all the support I have from you guys! Thanks for all the prayers as well! I hope you all have a great week and I can hear from some of you next week!

Love,

Elder Barton  

Season 4 Episode 4: Tender Mercies

Hello Family,

This week because we are short on time I decided to just write you all together. As you have already read the topic of this email is Tender Mercies. I don't know why, but, this week has been full of some very unique and what I would consider rare experiences. I have had my testimony strengthened so much through out this week and I have been so humbled and blessed to have witnessed the Power of God this week and his enduring love for his children.

To Start off, this week we have been working with Tavita, Faasili, Olive, and Satui getting them ready for there baptisms this Saturday and Sunday. It has been really fun teaching these four and seeing how prepared they have been by the Lord and how willing they are to follow our Savior Jesus Christ. Elder David and I are very excited for the baptisms this weekend and to see them start this new journey in the gospel.

One really experience I want to share this week is about a family of 8. 4 of which are of baptismal age. We had received a referral from a ward in the lady at the time of General Conference that there were 4 kids attending who have been coming to church for a very long time with there Aunty but, they aren't baptized. After General Conference was over I went and started to talking to the 12 year old Peter and his younger 8 year old sister Nora. I asked them about there parents and figured out that both of there parents are Loku Kahiki but, they allow there kids to attend our Church. I told them that we would come by during the week to ask permission from there Father if we could start lessons. However, later that night I had this thought in the back of my head telling me that I needed to change my mindset. I needed to teach the whole family. Not just Peter and Nora. This feeling lasted all week until the time came to contact Seupule. The father of the kids. One thing you guys should know is that Seupule is a Chief of the village. Which means he uses a lot of respectful language which is a lot different from just normal Samoan. Honestly the respectful language is completely different from just normal Samoan. I became very nervous when I found out Seupule was a Chief and started to doubt my abilities to lead the discussion. However, I kept telling my self to take the fear out of the work. That has been mine and Elder David's theme for this week. Just take the fear out of the work. As we were approaching the house I just kept on having that reoccurring thought that we needed to teach the entire family. I felt comforted that even though mine and Elder David's Samoan is no where near fluent, that, if I were to take the fear out of my mind and have complete faith in the Lord, things were going to go well. As we started talking I just felt this warm, very gentle, almost non-existent peace come over me. We began talking and I ended up first asking Seupule if we could teach and baptize his kids. He had no problem with that, which was a pretty big relief. Then I asked him if we could teach the whole family together because that is one of our most cherished beliefs, is that families can be together forever. So, with that calming peace in my mind I asked Seupule if we could teach the whole family. To make a longer story shorter, he ended up telling us of some recent events that had occurred involving the Mormon Church and how he just felt like it was right and then about two weeks later we came rolling up on our bikes and were now asking him to learn more about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. He accepted our invitation to take the lessons with Him, his Wife, and his Children. When we left his House I was almost blown away by how prepared by God this man was. It has made my testimony unshakable that I know God lives and we are his Children and He is BEGGING for ALL of his Children to come back to him in this life and after this life.

Another rare experience we had this week is when we took them to the visitors center in Pesega. Basically what this center is, is for all of the Missions investigators and we can bring them to Pesega and do this short little program that Focuses on what we teach and believe as Members of the Church of Jesus Christ. I can't really explain the feelings that were experienced in that short 30 minute program. Especially seeing how happy Peter and Nora were to see there parents accepting the gospel. I think the best moment is when we were able to talk about the Temple and how we can be sealed for all time and eternity to our families. Nora and Peter couldn't stop smiling and I could see that Seupule and Tine were close to tears because they were starting to feel and recognize that familiar tone of the Gospel. At the end of the program we extended the invitation for all of them to get baptized and probably with one of the most humble Yes's I have heard on my mission Seupule, Tine, Peter, and Nora all accepted to be baptized and work together to be sealed in the House of the Lord. This experience has also made my testimony about eternal families unshakable. And I am so grateful to have been raised in a family that treasures these beliefs so dearly. I am so grateful for you, My family. I am so lucky to be a representative of the Lord and share this Life changing message. I know experiences like this don't come by very often but, it makes all of the sweat, failures, disappointments, tears, and everything else so much more worth it. 

I have also been listening to the General Conference talks over this week. How lucky are we to have a Living Prophet and Apostles that receive revelation from our Father in Heaven for all of us. I have loved being able to listen to these talks and study them. I am so grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity to serve our Master and Savior Jesus Christ and bring this beautiful message to those who accept and those who don't. I am so grateful to have a family and a Loving Father in Heaven that have taught me to walk in the way of the Lord to where I can experience Tender Mercies like these. No, I am no where near perfect. But, I know that if we try our best, Missionary or not to take the fear out of this great and marvelous work of sharing the Gospel with our Brothers and Sisters we will all receive a joy that we never knew existed. I challenge you all to try your best to share this gospel and try your best to always invite people to meet with the missionaries. We are enlisted in this work whether we wear a name tag or not. I know You guys, My family are all very powerful missionaries with very special gifts from God. Let's work together to build the Kingdom of God and bring our Brothers and Sisters back to this Restored Truth. I know our Savior Lives, I know this is his work, and I testify with all of my heart that this is His church restored upon the Earth. I love you guys so much. Even though I miss you all like crazy, I hope you all know how much you all motivate me to bring this gospel to these people of Samoa. I really am always praying for you guys and thinking about you! Until Next week!

Love,

Elder Barton

P.s. I will send a lot of pictures next week. We went to Apia today for P-day and I left my SD reader at home. 

P.s.s Something I really I want to share. How incredibly awesome was D. Todd Christosffersons talk???? The Guilt Culture vs. The Shame Culture. What a powerful talk that so accurately represents the day we are living in today!!! So crazy how cool and true this church is!!!

Season 4 Episode 3: Baby Patoni

Can't believe another week as already passed! This week went by super fast and so much happened. But, before I start with this week I need to tell you guys something pretty unique and pretty flippin dope that happened in Lufilufi. Some family named there baby after me!!! How freaking cool is that!!! The girls name is Allitasi and they all told me that they named the baby after me. I really didn't believe it but, I got in contact with Elder Shum over the week and he confirmed it as well as his new companion. Honestly a dream come true. I dream I didn't even know I had. But, now there is a baby in Lufilufi, Upolu named Patoni (My Samoan name)! So cool! Hope you guys are proud of me lol!

Alright, So last week I had emailed President telling him that everything in our area was super awesome and we were loving the work. At the end I just added a small sentence letting him know people were trying to get into our "house" and someone had raided our fridge earlier that day and stole all of our food. Well, later that night we were biking to our fafaga and I got a call from President. And he was all like "Elders you both are getting transferred to Vaovai tonight." I was super surprised. Because even though I was only in Malaela for one week, I loved all the people there and Elder David and I were so excited to work there. But, now we are here in VaoVai loving it. The ward members are great and they are all so happy that we are here and wanting to work!

As for the week it was pretty much the same as last week lol. We spent a lot of time trying to get to know ward members. Here is a cool story: We went and met with Bishop from VaoVai and he told us that there was this family of two, Tavita and Faasili who have been coming to church for awhile but are not baptized. So, we went and contacted them and it was so crazy to see how prepared they were to receive the message! We set a baptismal date that day for next Saturday! Then to make things even more surprising Faasili told us about this girl named Olive who is 10 and not baptized and she wants to be baptized and take the lessons together with Faasili and Tavita. Honestly, I just lived one of those missionary stories I thought could never happen to me. It was so unreal. But, we are so blessed to work with these three.  

Also, the Zone leaders were covering this area along with 8 other wards before we got here but, luckily for Elder David and I our Zone Leaders are very faithful, obedient missionaries and they have two investigators Satui and Soototo who both have baptismal dates. Elder David and I just need to finish there Lessons. We will be baptizing Tavita, Faasili, Olive, and Satui next Saturday and we get to do the baptisms in the Ocean!!!! I kind of just feel like I am living a dream mission right now. 

As for Elder David. This guy is the man. I have seen such a big change in him from the first time we met each other. He was so discouraged and so negative the first night and after our first companionship inventory we decided to take this new area as a fresh start and stay as positive as we can. That is exactly what he did. I am so proud of him haha! It honestly makes the work so much easier. Elder David is very humble and really wants to become a great missionary. I am so blessed to be working with and Elder like this. 

I know this week kind just sounds like a breeze but trust me, it is a struggle everyday. The language is still very hard. However, I have such a strong testimony that the Lord will get his work done even if his servants have a hard time speaking his Language. It has allowed me to throw a lot of he negative thoughts out of my mind. Even though I can't speak fluently and I have a hard time understanding, I know that as long as Elder David and I have faith and we are obedient, The Lord will allow us to have miracles like this to happen. I am just super humbled to be apart of this incredible work and be able to see my brothers and sisters start there journey back to our Father in Heaven. I love this work so much! I love you, my family as well. I am praying for you all so much. I hope all is going well back home. One more Month and we get to skype or call! Have a great week.

Love, 

Elder Barton

Season 4 Episode 2: New Journey

Hello Family in Utah and Afghanistan!

This week was pretty crazy and full of a lot of great experiences. So starting Wednesday the Zone Leaders in my last area came and picked me up and dropped me off with Elder Fano and Elder Buchanan to wait for my New Zone Leaders to come and pick me up. So I spent all of Wednesday with those Elders, which was super dope. Around 8 p.m. my New Zone Leaders came and picked me up with my new companion Elder David from Australia. Yes he does have an Australian accent and it is true they call sodas, fizzy. Anyway, so we finally showed up to our new house but, I am not really sure we can call it a house because we are just staying in a little room in the Church because the missionary house is gross and being rebuilt. I have no idea why my housing situations always get worse and worse haha! Plus tons of little kids try and break in and steal our stuff when we are gone. Super annoying. Luckily they haven't had any success. Also we take our showers in the Janitors closet out of bucket and the door doesn't lock! Only in Samoa!

So the very first night we arrived here in Malaela Elder David pulled me aside and told me straight up that he has almost gone home twice because he has had some serious issues with homesickness and just not feeling like he came out at the right time. So basically it was just a really great welcome to the new area lol.

Tuesday morning we started out the day with a companionship inventory and I pretty much told Elder David that there is a work here that needs to be done and it can only be done by us and that he really needs to believe that. I was really just trying to boost his motivation and just reset his mindset because it was a very negative mindset when we first got here. I was really surprised as we started the day though. Because he just really sucked it up and gave it his best. I was super impressed. Over the week we have had to just take little breaks and refocus on what our purpose is and just try and get rid of all the negativity. I have been super impressed and humbled by Elder David to see his willingness to change and really just give it his all. (Huge Blessing) 

So for this past week have been trying to get to know all four of our wards. Yes, we cover four wards. Our area is pretty much the Southern Coast of Upolu. It is gigantic. I will be honest I was pretty unsure about my abilities to lead this companionship but, I just really took in to heart my missionary scripture D&C 6:36. This last week has been really awesome. Right now we have two investigators Michiel and Rosa and we have taught them the first part of lesson one and we are going back tomorrow to finish up. And we also got a Referral of this family of 4-6 who want to be baptized so we will be contacting them tomorrow. Just a lot of blessings in this past week. I have really strengthened my testimony that it isn't us that do the work. It is the Lord. We just need to have faith in him. Since our ward is so huge we will also spend a lot of time this week trying to meet the ward members and ask for referrals!

Cool Experiences:

Yesterday we went to contact this guy TimoTeu who we just met on the street and I just asked if we could teach him and he said sure. Well, we went to his house and he wasn't there but, His brother was. We sat down and came to figure out He has been married and sealed in the temple but he is now Aso Fiku (Seven Day) The Reason? He doesn't like the people of the Church. Something really nice about me not really understanding Samoan is I have no idea what people are saying so I just really focus on the spirit to tell me what to talk about. I got a prompting to talk about the Book of Mormon and we just told him that this book is different from any other book and if reads it he will gain back his testimony of the church. He told us that he can't read it. But, we gave to him anyway and then ended with a prayer. Super sad to see someone who has gone through the temple and sealed his family fall away from the Church. But, we did our job that is what is important.

We keep our fridge in another room in the Chapel with door locked and we woke up this morning to find the Fridge door open and all my food gone from the package you sent me. Luckily I didn't have the Chocolate Mangoes or the Jerky in there! Suckers! 

I have just really loved this week. It has been hard but, Elder David really stepping it up and just starting fresh has really helped the work. Plus, the help of the Lord has been the biggest blessing. I know this is going to be a hard area but, it is going to be so worth it. I know we can do the work here and I know there are people here that need to hear the gospel and I can't wait to share it with them. I am just trying my best to take the fear out of the work! I love you all so much and am so thankful for all of your prayers and examples. I know the have helped me out a lot in this area. Can't wait to see the growth in Elder David and I. And to see what this area has in store from us. Yes, it is hard. But, with God all things are possible. I have really come to know that, that is true this week. Praying for you all and hope you all had a great conference weekend. We watch it a week late haha so I get to watch it this week! Until next week Family! Love you all!

Elder Barton

OHHH Almost forgot. The reason for the emergency Transfer was because one of the Elders that were in this area before us was sleeping with a girl. They were both using Facebook. They would barely go out and work. They just were not very good. So yeah. Once again only here in Samoa right?