Misyonè yo ansenye verite
Hey, everyone, I hope everything's been going good for y'all. Don't worry, the title is not in Spanish, but in Haitian Creole, the second most popular language here. That's the first phrase I learned. It means, "The missionaries teach truth," and that's true.
These past couple weeks were pretty interesting. We had an early exchange because my last comp, Elder Macdonald, was needed elsewhere, and I got a new comp, Elder Bringhurst from Nevada. This happened a week ago from last Friday, so I feel like I've had enough time with my new comp to say how I feel. He works super duper hard. I don't really say "super duper" much at all, so that's how you know this guy is different. Before here, he was working in the air conditioned mission office in the capital, making sure every one of us lowly missionaries get what we need in our house to live our sweaty lives. Now he's here, he had a couple days getting used to the South (the capital and here in the south are a tiny bit different culture wise), and he's been pushing me to my limit work wise, which is good. It's honestly been a roller coaster of a week, lots of ups and downs, and the work never stops. He's been teaching me the "Don't rest until you're dead" type attitude, and man it's been tough.
I can't say it's been without recompense, though. I've been seeing a lot of blessings and even experienced a bit of a miracle. Last Friday, I was not doing well mentally. I was following Bringhurst around, wondering the whole time if I could ever shape up to be the kind of hard worker he is, or if "my best" will ever be "good enough." My mind was filled from top to bottom with thoughts of incompetence, stress, exhaustion, and even a bit of wanting to go home. Later in the day we were having another lesson, and it was time to pray as we do after every lesson. The person we were teaching chose me to give the closing prayer. When I prayed, I basically said the same things I usually ask for in lesson prayers. "Please give us thy Spirit and help us to be happy and to find joy," stuff like that. Prayer ends, amen, and I open my eyes not to see the world around me filled with stress and loneliness, but I saw love and light. My mind completely and very noticeably shifted, I saw my comp not only as a hard worker, but as someone who loves the Lord and this work, and takes it seriously. I saw the person we were teaching as a human being with cares and desires, and when I tried to return to being sad about whatever it was that was haunting me, I couldn't remember what was dragging me down. I went the rest of the day in peace, knowing although my efforts today might be miniscule, they're my efforts. It's all I have to give, and someday, I'll be able to give more.
I'm so grateful I was able to feel of God's love so strongly, and I can testify of its reality and truthfulness. They say, "God's light is tangible, you can feel it in your hands," and this week I was able to feel that light. I'm so grateful that in my hardest moments, I can 100 percent say I wasn't alone. I know too that God loves us all equally, so if this happens to me, why not you too?
I'm going to continue learning and growing, and I know I'll learn a lot from my new comp. I'm excited to see what else is in store for us here, and I'll let you know all about all the good stuff that happens. Thanks guys for your support, talk to you soon!
I must go -Elder Barlow
Photos:
This week we had a service project in our backyard helping Haitians fill a huge hole with rocks! It was pretty fun actually. The hole was like 2-3 of me deep (super deep), so it took us about 3 hours to do. Elder Bringhurst knows Creole pretty dang well, so he was talking to them a bunch, which was fun.
We also had a big lesson and invited a bunch of the members to come over, and we had cake that Bringhurst made too!
Today we went hiking in the mountains, and saw some pretty crazy views. The only bad thing about great views is how hard it is to really capture its greatness on camera...
