Week 27 and 28 - July 24, 2023

I feel like it's been a while since I've sent an email.  Sorry about that, but it's OK because I'm back now. 

These past couple weeks have been pretty normal, nothing insanely crazy happened.  We're still searching for people that will follow what we teach and invite them to do.  Kinda a weird feeling, but after 5 and a half months of being in this small little area, I feel like I've spoken to just about everyone.  

We do have some people that are cool and that have a lot of potential to progress and make it far.  There was this one lady we started talking to recently, and when we visited her the second time, we asked if she was reading the book of Mormon we gave her, and she said, "Yes, you don't have to keep asking me, I love reading."  So that was fun.  We just hope her Evangelical mom doesn't tell her she's not allowed to talk to us (it's happened before with other people). 

Our main man Manuel is still going strong, he said he's still figuring out something (he won't tell us what) and then he's ready for baptism!  Hopefully he gets it figured out soon, I only got a couple weeks left here. 

I've recently been figuring out what does and does not bring me joy here.  For example, prayerfully working and serving and talking to people, I've found, has made me happy here. Whenever I want to rest or do nothing like Bruno Mars, I don't find myself as happy.  Every day, finding the motivation to work has been really hard, but I also ended every day with a positive attitude.

  

I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have not only to serve, but to see exactly how the gospel brings happiness and true joy into people's lives, including my own. I'm not seeing as much progress in people as I would like (the past couple months we've only had a maximum of three people at church), but I know according to the scriptures that if we "bear with patience [our] afflictions, [God] will give unto [us] success" (Alma 26:27), not only in missionary work, but in whatever we strive for.  It's not always easy, of course, to keep this patience, but it's what's expected of me as a missionary, and I know by the end I will be blessed as I continue. 

Thank you, everyone, for your support.  Send me an email letting me know how everything's going, I would love to hear from you!  Talk to you (hopefully) next week!

I must go -Elder Barlow

Week 25 and 26 - July 10, 2023

Hey, guys, this week was a quick one but also interesting. Let's get into it.

 

Most of this week was in the capital because my comp had to get his residency card, so that was fun.  Before we left on Tuesday, I taught my first district council about gaining Christ-like attributes, which was alright, I think.  I will say, teaching people about the gospel and teaching other missionaries are two completely different things.  

Right after district council, we found a big bus and embarked on the 4-hour drive to the capital, Santo Domingo.  When we got there, it was raining like crazy, which was nice.  We had Wendy's for dinner, which was also sick.  Every time you go to the capital you gotta take advantage of the American restaurants.  Hay que aprovechar! 

We slept in the hotel next to the temple, which was nice because we had AC and hot shower water.

 

The next day I got to spend time with the office missionaries which was cool.  I really want to work in the office now.  I also was able to finally get my box from home that my parents sent, so that was great timing, and well needed.

  "The Plaza of the Flags"

Me revisiting the first bench I taught at

We were supposed to go home Wednesday afternoon, but when we went to go find a bus home, it took us a while and the bus took forever to get here.  There was finally a bus at like 6:40, which we didn't take because it was full, and I wasn't about to stand on a packed bus with this big box I just got for 4 hours.  Plus, even if I did want to do all that, we would have gotten to Barahona at 10:40, and home at like 11.  Eso no sirve.  So, we called the APs and they took us back to the temple hotel to stay another night. 

While we were waiting 40 minutes for this bus, by the way, a crazy lady came up to us and tried to convert us from our faith. She said, "I used to be Mormon, but then I learned the truth, and your prophet is of the devil and you gotta leave," and all this garbage.  I was truthfully too tired for that, so I just kept smiling and saying, "OK, cool thanks."  She could read my disinterest, so she went over to my comp, who was sitting a little further away talking to someone else and tried the same on him.  She went a little harder on him, and eventually I had to go over there and cast her out, saying, "OK, we're done here, thanks bye."  She didn't say a word after that and left and everything was good.  Sorry guys, my testimony and knowledge of the church and of Christ is a little too strong for your nice little "Joseph Smith = Satan" stuff, but you're welcome to try again if you're looking to waste your time. 

The crazy lady talking to Elder Miza

Speaking of that, my testimony has been on an upwards slope recently.  I've learned to focus my faith on nothing else but Christ, the fountain of peace, and the source of happiness and all that is good.  I know for myself that as I have done that, I have seen it be good for me, and I have seen it build me into a better person.  I don't call that coincidence.  I love Jesus and understand what he has done so that I can be happy and so that I can become much better than I was. 

I also got to meet our new mission president and his wife, Presidente and Hermana Hernandez, who for mission presidents are super young, only like 40.  Very energetic and excited.  I'm excited to see what he brings to our big table. 

Things are going super well here.  Thanks, everyone, for your support and prayers, love y'all and talk to you next week!

I must go -Elder Barlow

Week 24 - June 26, 2023

 I've said it before, but I'll say it again, this has been the longest week of my mission.  Let's dive right in.

This week included transfers on Friday, and there was a lot of changes.  Me and my comp, and one other companionship, were the only two companionships in the entire Zone (out of eight companionships) that DIDN'T have a change.  A bunch of new people, which is pretty sick.  I had to say goodbye to Elder Terry, who was the Zone Leader and kinda like my second dad here on the mission (the first being Elder Ross of course, big shout out to the beast), he taught me so much.  We got a new zone leader, Elder Allen, who wears a cowboy hat all the time, which is interesting.  I'm excited to get to know him, as well as the rest of the new people in the Zone.  You already know, I'm running it up one more transfer here in Barahona, which is super exciting!  This transfer for some reason I don't know, will be seven weeks instead of the usual six, so I'll be here until August 11, and then I'll get a new area and comp.  Pretty cool stuff. 

We, also, did a little service project for one of the members here, Verónica.  It was kinda fun, we built this little shack-canopy thing outside of her house so she can sell ice cream. Not anything crazy, just a roof and two poles to hold it up, and the roof wasn't even fully done because they didn't buy enough roofing.  The builder guy who was there was supposed to show us how to do it, and then let us do the rest, but then after he got done and we tried for like 30 seconds, he went "Pinewood Derby Dad" mode and just did the rest himself, and we watched.  Fun fun.

It is literally getting so unbelievably, unfathomingably, unrealistically, unwelcomingably hot here.  I didn't know the earth ever got this hot.  I thought this was reserved for Mercury or something.  It's crazy.  I'm trying to drink lots of water, but ever cup I drink gets immediately sweat out of every pore of my body.  Drenched from head to toe every day.  They said it would rain like crazy because of a "hurricane that's coming, oh no, get inside no se muda!"  But no, ni una raindrop fell from the sky, ni una cloud in sight.  This is insane.  Every day I ponder longingly on how it's possible that people live, grow up, and raise families in this weather.  Honestly props to them for that. 

With all the complaints I can muster about the weather or anything else, comes a reminder of why I'm here.  Every time I feel like I'm about to faint or just die from heat exhaustion, I remember that I have been called to SERVE, and I know that that's what I'm doing.  Knowing that God has me and is the reason I'm able to even stand up every time, keeps me going. I'm so glad I have a god to trust in, and a savior to look up to. These past couple weeks I've been super super tired and worn out, but I've also been strengthening my testimony in Jesus Christ, who through him and his great mercy, ALL will eventually work out.  I learned that through FAITH in Christ, we can have HOPE for the future, and that good things will happen to us and our friends and family and those we pray for. It's so awesome to know that.  I invite all of you to find ways to hear him, and to strengthen your testimony in Christ the Redeemer. 

That's about it for this week.  Thanks for reading and taking an interest, if you read until here, blessings!  Thanks for all the support and prayers, I'm seeing good stuff happening here.  I'll keep praying for all you guys, too.  Don't you worry.  "The size of your faith or degree of your knowledge is not the issue.  It's the integrity you demonstrate towards the faith you do have and the truth you already know"- Jeffery R. Holland

I must go -Elder Barlow

(Not a lot of pictures here, but there were cool videos taken that are in the Google Photos!)

Week 23 - June 19, 2023

This one was a good one!  There's a chance this was my last full week in Barahona, transfers are this Friday and I get news on where I'm going (or if I'm staying) tomorrow night or Wednesday night, so I'm excited for that.  A lot of cool stuff happened, so let me tell you!

The Squad

Cool action shot of us talking.  

Barahona

Last Monday, we had a luau (I think that's how you spell it) for Zone P-day, where we buried a bunch of food for like three hours and then ate it, it was super good.  Then for the rest of the week we had good lessons with a lot of people. 

On Thursday, we went to the temple, which was great.  Always a good time to visit the House of the Lord, and to feel his Spirit.  I sure did learn a lot of really cool things as well.

 

There was one lesson we were teaching where I was attacked by a demon!  Not actually, but almost.  I was talking about faith when suddenly I look to my left and see this huge wasp-dragonfly-thing looking creature flying towards my face.  I show my confidence by letting out some war-cries (not screams of fear, trust me), and it flew away.  They called it a "caballito," which scared me even more because that means "little horse."  Bruh.  If you call a bug a horse, that's not ok. Crazy stuff. 

Today, we went up to "the shack," which is this tiny little house that's at the top of the mountain.  You can see it from all over the area.  Of course, when we got there the view was amazing.  We could see all of Barahona! Super cool, I always enjoy a good hike. 

That's about it for this week. I'm still finding a lot of joy from this work, which is good.  Thank you all for your support, love you, and talk to you later!

I must go -Elder Barlow

Week 22 - June 12, 2023

Wow, this week has flown, but also been kinda slow.  I don't know, it's a weird feeling.  A couple things I want to talk about this week.

OK, so not a ton really happened that's worth mentioning, but there was Zone Conference, which was great.  Right before that, we went to a member's house and made pizza, which was gas (super good).  Then when we went up to Azua (the "capital" of the south) for the Zone Conference, we had pizza again from Little Caesars, which was gas (amazing). 

 Zone Conference was great, this transfer is our mission president's last transfer, so after three years of service, he's going home next week.  Pretty crazy.  I got to get to know him pretty well, not nearly as well as all the other missionaries who know him way better, but well enough, so that's good.  Our new mission president is from Guatemala, he seems chill.

 

Yeah, learned a bunch from all the trainings at Zone Conference, then after we squeezed our entire district into this tiny little Guagua, which was sick.  You can see my reaction to the whole thing in the picture below, having a great time (that drive is an hour and a half para que sepas). 

I love this work.  I'm feeling the Spirit with me as I work, which is great.  One thing I always have in the back of my mind is the fact that doing this work without the Spirit or the guidance of God, is a waste of time, which is definitely true, so I've been doing all I can to make dang sure I keep the Spirit with me, and I've been seeing results for it.  I was able to give a blessing for the sick to someone yesterday, and it was great. He said he felt better right after the blessing, which was cool, I hope that's true. 

Yeah, that's about it for this week.  It's been mad hot during June so far.  I'm hoping for more rain honestly to cool us off a bit.   Also, there's been literally hordes of mosquitos attacking us like crazy, so that's interesting.  They say it's because of the rain, but I'm like where's the rain at?  Anyway, that's about it, thanks everyone for the support, please join the Google photos, you won't regret it. 

I must go -Elder Barlow

Week 21 - June 6, 2023

Hey, guys, probably shouldn't send this today since it's not p-day, but there's some things I really wanted to write about. 

Firstly, our "Wilford Woodruff day", or our day where we worked from 9am to 9pm, without returning home once.  We left super early and got a lot done.  Throughout the day, I noticed small things that helped me strengthen my testimony a lot.  It turns out, when you sacrifice more, you start to receive more.  "He that loseth his life for my sake, shall save it," said the Master.  During some lessons, I really felt the Spirit testify of what we were teaching.  It's the greatest feeling ever.  Also, at the very end of the day, I wasn't sure if we should go straight to our last lesson, or on the way there, pass by someone else we were teaching's house just to say hi and remind about church and stuff, which is something we usually do.  I felt super prompted to just go straight to the next house, which was unusual, but I followed.  I'm glad I did, because we got there, and I'm not kidding nor exaggerating, the literal moment we got into the house, rain just started POURING like you've never seen before.  It's like God was holding on to all that rain so we wouldn't get wet, and the second we were safe he let it go.  I know God's looking out for us. 

Speaking of rain, yeah this has been a super rainy week.  Like all week there's been a huge blanket of gray clouds across the whole sky, which is super nice, because of course that means there's no sun, and it's not hot.  I love the rain here!  But, the time came when it's Saturday night, and we've invited all of our friends to come to church.  We need Sunday morning to be clear so that can happen.  Dominicans absolutely abhor the rain, so obviously if it was drizzling at all, they wouldn't come. We knew this, so all day Saturday, we just prayed so hard, Hey, God, thanks for the rain we love it, but just for tomorrow morning, can you please let it not rain so our friends can come to church?  Then it can go right back to raining, that's fine.  We woke up Sunday morning and ran outside, and dudes it was the clearest day I've seen in the past like couple weeks.  Crazy stuff.  Even after that literal miracle, most of our people didn't show up which is sad.  But hey, whatever--that was a miracle. 

We also met Lil Uzi Vert, a famous rapper, check the pics below for that (not actually him lol but imagine.)

Anyway, I think that's all, thanks everyone for the cool emails and stuff, and the support.  Hope everything is going well with y'all, talk to you next week!

I must go -Elder Barlow

Join the Google photos for all the action!:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tihiSziTbydZFL4M6