Season 7 Episode 2: AP

Well family this week has been one I will never forget. To start off lets talk about General Conference! What in the world?! How powerful was that? I have never witnessed or felt the rush of the restoration of the gospel so strongly and clearly in my life! Felt like I got zapped by 10000 volts of electricity was running through my body. The music, the talks, and the spirit were so incredible! This was the most powerful conference I have ever been apart of! It gets me so amped just writing about it! I had a few questions coming into General Conference but, one of them was a very simple "Is Russell M. Nelson a true prophet of God?" Simple right? Well, I came to realize that I have never really asked that about any other prophet (Besides Joseph Smith). I feel like this might have been one of the more powerful spiritual experiences in my mission. After Russell M. Nelson announced that we will be Ministering now as a Church rather than Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching and how it is more focused and genuinely caring and loving these people with Christ-Like love. I can only describe the feeling as my heart catching on fire and the words coming into my head "This is my Prophet." A very spiritual experience for me and I have never had a stronger more solid testimony in my life that Russell M. Nelson is a Prophet of God. Oh, and another thing the opening song in the priesthood session was incredible. General conference was so refreshing and I'm so grateful for it! 

Well, if you are wondering why I writing you all on Saturday, I received a call Sunday night from The Assistant to the President (AP) asking me if I could say a prayer. After the prayer he told us that he was calling about Transfers and that Elder Alofaae would have a new companion and I would be getting transferred. He paused for a minute then proceeded by telling us that after a lot of fasting and praying with President Hannemann, I would be the new AP along with my companion Elder Kaufusi. To say the least I was very shocked and felt very inadequate. Still do to be honest. And this past week has been filled with Tests and trials. Now, don't get me wrong I am very humbled and privileged to serve so closely with President Hannemann someone who I look up to so much and has influenced me and inspired me for these past 22 months. But, this has been quite the week! I know that if I stay humble and Faithful in Christ he will lead me and help me become a better more Christ-Like servant. Although it was sad and hard like usual walking away from ward members and investigators on baptismal date. The spirit and the counsel I have received in these past few days have been such a big help. We are actually preparing to Head out to Savaii tomorrow morning to go on splits with missionaries and then we will be going around the Island with President to do Zone Conferences. Very busy but, extremely powerful! I am so grateful for my President and his faithfulness to our Savior Jesus Christ and his commitment to Honor with all of his hear the Oath and the Covenant of the Priesthood! I am excited for the growth and the counsel I will be able to receive over these next few months and even more excited to serve and inspire the missionaries to move the Lords work forward like never before!

Moroni 10:23 "And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me." I love this Scripture and I think it is so relevant to all of us. Especially in these days. The devil is so strong and so intricate in his cunning ways to tear us down and make us feel like we are worthless and a waste. I can't tell you how many times I have felt like that on my mission as I am sure you have all felt. But, I know that if we are and have truly built ourselves on the Foundation of Jesus Christ and have faith in Him to do all things. We can and we will. It all starts with faith. I love Alma 32. It is a great chapter that talks about Faith. But, I know one of the best ways we can keep our Faith Healthy and Strong is through really studying the Book of Mormon. It has changed my life and has brought me so much happiness and comfort and I know it will to anyone who is humble enough to read and ponder and abide by its teachings! What an incredible day and age we live in! I will forever be grateful for you, my family. Who has so freely sacrificed so much for me while before my mission and especially on my mission. You all and my Savior Jesus Christ are on the forethought's of my mind as I wake up each morning until my head hits the pillow at night. I hope that through my service and your sacrifices God is blessing each and every one of you! I know he is! I have seen and am grateful for it! I love you all so very much! I pray for you all every day! I hope you all have a great week! I testify this is his work and this is his church and we all have a very important part in building his magnificent kingdom in these latter days. Let us be faithful enough to truly devote all of our time, talent, and strengths to supporting this beautiful work! Have a great week Family!

Elder Barton

Season 7 Episode 1: Time's Flying!

Oh my goodness! These weeks just keep flying by haha. I felt like I was just writing you guys a week ago! This week has been really fun and we had a few cool miracles this past week. 

So, we were supposed to have a baptism last Saturday but, it didn't happen because the entire family wanted to be in attendance, which wasn't really a bother to us. So, Soo will be getting baptized this Saturday! I will make sure to take pictures! We also are working with Alex. She is from Australia. She has been investigating and wanting to be baptized ever since 2016 but, her father has not allowed her to be baptized. Thankfully through prayer and fasting we got the permission from her Father to be baptized. She was supposed to get baptized this Saturday but, something very serious happened with her and her Father and she told us that she has not changed her decision to be baptized but, she wants to be in the right mind set and settle things with her Father first. So as of right now we are just trying to help through this tough time and prepare her for her baptism. We also had a great lesson with Nancy on Monday! Nancy is quite the story. To make it short and simple for now, she started off by telling us that she wants nothing to do with the church. After our first two visits she totally changed her mind but, was still unsure about  being baptized. Well, we had a lesson with her on Monday and after the lesson we stopped and asked her if she had any questions and she ended up explaining to us how over the past week she has been reading and praying about what she should do. She then asked us "O afea e mafai ona ou papatiso?" which means when can I be baptized! We were so thrilled and were so thankful that God answered her prayers and she was faithful and humble enough to hear his answer! She is going to baptized on the 14th of April!

We have so more people we are working with right now like this Indian man named Talo who is said he really wants to study the Book of Mormon! We are also teaching a lady named Ramona from Tuvalu and two Philippines Sandy and Raldo! I really feel like the work is starting to pick up in this area and hopefully in april our goal is to have 7 baptisms! The zone is on spiritual fire right now! These missionaries are killing it and they are so obedient in the work! I love these missionaries so much and I am so grateful for their examples and their diligence in the work! Truly is a blessing to be a leader and have so many great examples and servants of God in this Zone! I'm pretty sure they are leading they are leading me.

Quick thought Proverbs 8:35 "Whoever finds me, Finds Life." I have been reading this book lately called Stand a little taller. It has 365 days, 365 scriptures, and 365 quotes from Gordon B. Hinckley. Anyway, this was yesterdays focus. I just thought how true this was. Out of all the times in my life when I am feeling my happiest and feeling like I am actually living is when I realize that I am striving to become more like him. Everything just feels like it falls into place when we are trying to be one with him. I have a testimony that he truly does love us and care for us. He never wants us to feel like he doesn't care for us. The only person that wants that is the adversary. But, I know because I have truly seen the Love of Christ among these people in Samoa. I am so grateful to finally know with out a doubt that We all are truly Gods Children and we have the potential to become like him! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Barton

Season 6 Episode 13: Great Week!

This week was a really big week for us! This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been great! The wards for some reason have been helping us so much more and God has lead us to a few solid investigators. He is a short Update.

Maupopo: We were walking on the street to go to a visit when we saw and waved at Maupopo. As we kept on walking I had this feeling that we should turn around and go back. We ended up going back and taking him to the Visitors Center! Turns out his mom is a member but, he has been loku assembly his whole life but, he told us he wants to get baptized so we are looking at April 14th for Maupopo!

Soo: We got a referral from the members about Soo. They said she was over Nine and needed to be baptized. We went to visit the house but, the Mom told us she was turning 8 this year. Well, on Sunday we told our Ward Mission Leader what happened and he went and grabbed Soo and asked her how old she was and she told us she is turning 10 this year! I don't know why the Mom didn't know her actual age haha. But, Soo is super cute and has giant eyes. I will get a picture of her this week!

Sandy: Another Referral from Sister and Elder Kalama on Sunday. We met Sandy at church on Sunday and we are doing a FHE with him and the Kalama's this Saturday!

Folole's Family: This is an awesome family we are working with right now. Currently three out of 8 or more people at there house are on date for the 31st and they 7th. Talalelei, Nancy(How cool is that?), and Salote! These girls are really awesome and they came to church on Sunday. We are trying to soften the Dads heart so that we can get his permission to baptized and hopefully in the process him as well. Folole is the Mother of the family. We have only met her twice. The first time we introduced her to the Book of Mormon and the Second we came back and she told us the she had read up to 1 Nephi 6! The ward is so excited about this family as well! We just got done mowing there lawn this morning and they are coming to the wards faafu tonight!

I really feel like after last week 3 Nephi 22:7 really struck chord with me. I know this is God's work and I know that not everyday or week or even month can be all happy and smiles. I am sure we all know this. But, I know it is like this for a reason. We all know that without struggles we can't grow. We can't have more appreciation and Love for our Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Just like in 2 Nephi 9:18. We all have our own crosses to bear and if we endure and bear our crosses well. We will inherit the Kingdom of God. I just sit and think about how merciful God truly is and I often think "Man, I wish I didn't mess up so much." Or "Why, I am so quick to forget?" I feel like these blessings that he so regularly blesses me are so significant that I shouldn't be so quick to forget him. But, I know he is patient with me, with all of us. More importantly, He truly does love us. And all he wants from us is to endure these trials for a very, very short period of time and then one day we will Rest in the Lord. I find such peace in that phrase and it gives me such great hope that no matter what is thrown at me, or yous, or our family in this life. If we all rely on Him and truly trust in his literal power to save us from anything and everything we will enter into his rest for all of eternity. I testify that He lives. This is his Gospel and it has already saved us. All we have to do, is let it save us. I love you Family. Time is short but, I hope we can all enjoy these last few months and really see how much God truly blesses us. This is his work. I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Barton

Season 6 Episode 12: Humility Through Trials

Wow, what a week. I am very short on time so try and bear with me as I try and explain to you all this past week and what I have learned. So, as of last week Monday until this week Monday. My companion and I have had a total of 6-8 hours of Proselyting time. For an entire week. We were so busy with meetings from Monday-Thursday that we were able to scrap just a few hours of proselyting out those days. Friday my companion got a very unfortunate sickness in a very very unfortunate region of his body. Which ended up keeping us inside Friday and Saturday. Sunday we had Church and after we had to do a Transfer and take an Elder the other side of the Island and then come back. So, as you can probably imagine I was feeling very down on myself and my position as a Zone Leader. I was thinking to myself that it would be so much better if I could just be a normal missionary and have the whole day to Proselyte. I was also so worried for all of our investigators. I felt like this gap of 7 days was allowing so much time for them to lose interest in what we were teaching them. Anyway, I came to the realization that I was thinking to much of myself and putting myself first. On top of that our investigator Tiauli and his beautiful family who were progressing so well, called us and told us that the Chief of there entire family told them that we could never come back. To say the least, at the end of the week I was feeling torn apart. But, I am grateful for the Lord and his patience with me. Because I was able to learn a couple valuable lessons this week. And we were able to see a few miracles as well! I just keep on getting reminded of the importance of humility and how if we are always humble and faithful God will be able to teach the things he wants us to learn. But, as soon as we start to make it about ourselves...We can't learn, we can't progress! That's what this life is about though. Progress. We learn from our mistakes and just do better each day!

We had a baptism yesterday! His name is Foloi! He is 24 and he was so excited to be baptized. I will send some pictures. We also met two new investigators on the street Yesterday and invited them to the Visitors center! They are Loku Assembly but, after watching the Joseph Smith Restoration Video they really wanted to learn more and they told us how they now understand we don't worship him but, we worship Jesus Christ and they want to learn more! I know a lot of this email doesn't make sense and doesn't convey a lot of the feelings I want it to but, I just want to end with my Testimony and I want you all to know that Our Father in Heaven lives as well as his Son Jesus Christ. I know that this is the only true church i luga lenei fogaelele. I know that Jesus Christ knows each one of us individually. He knows us by name. He truly wants us to be happy in this life and to feel of his love for us through his Atonement. I promise that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that we will get closer to God by reading it and living its principles by any other book! I encourage you all to read it everyday! It will change your life if you do! It has for me! I love you all so much and I pray for you all so much! Time sure is going fast! But, gotta finish strong and thats what I am going to do! Have a great week Family! Alofa Atu!