Weeks 66, 67, 68, and 69 - May 8, 2024

 "Not yet as Job...."

There's a song down here made by some missionary a while ago.  It goes along to the "Now you're in New Yoooork" song, but instead its "Los Alcarrizooooooos, no vaya pa ya porque roooban!"  (Don't go there, because they rob you).  Just a little foreshadowing. 

Wow, it's been a while since I've written, etc.  Lots has happened though, so let's wrap it all up- this time maybe I'll even include a spiritual thought at the end? 

Usually P-day is on Mondays, but this week it was changed because we had our temple trip today, which was really nice.  I love going to the temple, especially after a hard couple weeks. It's really nice to just feel peace, love, and mercy from my Heavenly Father.... as well as air conditioning. 

Like I said, these past 2 to 3 weeks haven't exactly been cake. I've been passing through a number of different difficulties- physical, mental, and spiritual.  It's all a long story and includes a lot of back and forth (having good days and thinking I got this, then having bad days and wanting to go home), but I basically got to the point where I felt completely worthless, in the mission and just in general.  I wasn't seeing the progress I wanted to see and the progress I knew other people were seeing.  It's been rough down here in Los Alcs, but I've been learning to 1: Put trust all in the Lord, and 2: To love the people I serve.  Working on those two things has been helping me tremendously. 

Otra cosa, we had transfers a couple weeks ago- Elder Burke se fue, and now I'm with Elder Funk.  We get along really well, I think.  He's a very confident dude and likes messing around and making the kids laugh in the streets.  He also has a lot of patience with all aspects of the work, which is great.  He's pretty new to the mission, I'm his 3rd comp, but I'm excited to get to know him more.  We've been making the most of Los Alcs, the good and the bad. 

The past couple days we've been going "Job mode."  Job is the prophet in the Bible that lost everything but still kept his faith.  Last Friday, we ran through all our running water, which happens sometimes, totally normal in Los Alcs to not have running water.  We were hoping to have water again Sunday, but, strangely enough there was still no water.  No showers, no washing dishes, which means no fancy meals, and the worst part--no flushing the toilet.  The bathroom has now turned into a porti-potty, and the smell is rancid.  Ya tu sabes. 

And to top it all off, just after hitting 16 months in the mission, ya boi Elder Barlow was robbed. That's right, I stared down the barrel of some dude's .45 as I fearlessly handed over my phone and the rest of my belongings.  Lol, mentira.  Not actually.  We were walking down this dark alley that I thought was short enough to not get robbed in, when this motorbike rolls up behind us and this one dude jumps off the back and says quietly, "lo' telefono' lo' do'!" (Gimme your phones both of you!" (Here they don't pronounce the s)).  I was so startled and baffooned that my brain jumped out of my head for like 10 seconds and I just handed the phone over and stood there.  He tries to take Funk's imaginary phone too, but he just says, "I don't got no telefono my boy!"  The guy, without demanding us or searching our pockets for more, got back on the bike and then rode off into the night.  My brain returned soon after, and I realized the dude was new to robbing and that he had no weapon on him at all.  His inventory was completely empty. This ticked me off a bit (an understatement) because we could've just turned around and ran and we would've been fine, but I was so dumb to give him the phone without thinking. Anyway, today in the temple I got a new phone and we're good now. 

We spent the rest of the day today after the temple at the Agora mall, which was fun.  We're currently on the bus going back to Los Alcs, hoping and praying that the water finally came back.  We'll see what happens. 

A scripture I really like, and one that my trainer always recited to me, was one in Doctrine and Covenants.  This scripture is God talking to Joseph Smith as he was in Liberty Jail.  He had been in this cold, wet prison for months, a prison underground that had a roof that wasn't even high enough to let Joseph stand up straight.  He prayed to ask God why he was having difficulties this hard for this long, and if God was even still with him, and this was God's answer:

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 

9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands. 

10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

Not yet as Job.  Meaning, he's passing through seriously hard stuff, but he still has things to be grateful for.  I related this to myself in these last couple days and have tried to focus my prayers more on gratitude and have been seeing the fruits of it very rapidly.  Being more grateful for what I have, as well as being more grateful for the good aspects and characteristics of Dominicans, instead of focusing on their faults or differences, has helped me be happier and more positive . I saw a quote on the bus today going to the temple as I was peeking over someone's shoulder that was scrolling Facebook.  It said, "El que pueda cambiar sus pensamientos puede cambiar su futuro."  He that can change his thoughts, can change his future.  Amen to that.  I testify that as we focus more on what God gives us- because he really does bless us every day- we'll start to see his hand more in our lives.  He lives and he loves all of us, truthfully, without a doubt.  "He that puts his life in God's hand will start to see God's hand in their life". 

Anyway, that's all, thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  Time to go see what another month in the mission brings me. 

I must go -Elder Barlow

Weeks 63, 64, and 65 -

Still super hot down here in the Dominican Republic, still working hard to spread the word, still learning and growing every day.  Now let's talk about what's new. 

This past week we'll have general conference, but we'll get to that later.  Spoiler alert, it was really good, I really enjoyed every talk. 

These past couple weeks really have been going by super super fast.  It's already April and I only have nine months left. I've gotten to the point now where every day kinda blends together.  These past couple weeks were kinda just that. We've been trying to find people to teach; I say trying because we haven't had a ton of success.  In my last area (La Esperanza ♥️) we found a ton, and it worked out well because people actually talked to us.  In this area the people mostly just don't like talking to us.  They all say they're "already Christian/Pentecostal/Catholic/Evangelical/Church of Christian-Evangelical-Catholic-Pentacostal of Juan the Pastor" and don't need more of God's word, which is bogus.  It's kinda frustrating, and sometimes super frustrating.  We've had days where we would put our heads down and just knock every door, but they just deny deny deny reject reject reject.  Slowly though, we're actually finding people that could progress. 

We did a fast during the conference in order to get a little more help progressing the area.  I actually didn't want to do the fast at first, it was President's idea, and we were planning to have a pizza during the night session.  We were actually looking forward to it all week.  In the end, I humbled myself, saying I would do the fast "hoping for some good blessings."  At the end of that day, a person we were teaching went to General Conference and I guess he really liked it because he told us, "I want to be with you guys.  I know that God sent you to teach me the truth."  So..... yeah fasts really do work. 

As for the conference itself, I really enjoyed it, as mentioned before.  If you happen to not be a member of the church reading this, or if you are a member that's living under like seven rocks, General Conference is a worldwide church meeting that happens two times every year, in April and October.  During the conference, members and everyone get to listen to talks given by leaders of the church, including the 12 apostles and the prophet himself.  We'll get to my thoughts on the prophet's talk in a bit.  This conference was my 3rd one in the mission (I only got one more left wow), and I feel like it's been the best one so far.  Every talk touched on a different topic, and I really enjoyed learning more about each.  Here's some cool quotes I liked:

- as the restoration started with a pillar of light, we receive our own revelation ray by ray

- Christian kindness is not a substitute for integrity

- as we make and keep covenants with God, we have access to special love and mercy

- there was never a better time to be a member of this church than today

- all things will work together for good for those who love God

- God seeks to reveal our foreordination to us, if we will but seek to learn and follow his will

- protect the private times of your life

- when we love the truth, we will seek it, and when we find it, we will defend it

- our spiritual momentum won't only transform us, but will motivate us to help others similarly

- the Savior's job is to heal, our job is to love

- we must learn to trust God in order to strengthen our relationship with him

As for the prophet's talk, he focused on temples, and the covenants we make inside them.  Really every speaker in the entire conference at least mentioned it, too.  I really found it interesting the heavy focus that the conference had on temples and reminded me to make sure to always keep my covenants.  Also, he spoke about the priesthood.  I've been wondering a lot about how we can teach people better about the importance of the Church of Jesus Christ, and the prophet's talk inspired me to talk more about the priesthood in our lessons.  So, I thought that was cool, too. 

"Rap it up, Barlow!"  Yeah yeah ok I'm sorry it was a little long this time.  But anyway, thanks everyone for the support and prayers, I'll be sure to keep praying for you all. 

I must go -Elder Barlow

Weeks 60, 61, and 62 - March 18, 2024

Very interesting update!  We have here, lots of NEW stuff to talk about, and I don't know about you, but I love NEW stuff.  Especially when the NEW is in all caps, it's very intriguing. 

So last Friday, on the 8th of March, I finished up my third and final transfer (four months) in La Esperanza, and I moved here to Los Alcarrizos, in the northern part of the capital.  I absolutely loved my time over in La Esperanza.  I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of my mission that area ends up being my favorite.  Lots of great stuff was learned and I grew a lot. The members were amazing, and it was just a beautiful area all around.  Now I'm here in Los Alcs, in an area called La Unión with a greenie who just got done with his training, Elder Burke.  I just got done training another guy, but it was fun to get put with another person with the same amount of time as him.  It helps me to know kinda where he's at knowledge-wise. Elder Burke is super cool.  I'm excited to get to know him and to work with him more. 

As for the area itself, it's very interesting.  It's ridiculously hot, which I know I've been saying my whole mission, but this time I mean it.  The house we live in doesn't help either because there's no air flow there.  So, we get hoke drenched--like almost being able to ring my clothes out with straight sweat drenched--and then entering the house where there's no escape from the heat.  I try to get in the shower quickly because it's a 4-man house with 1 bathroom, which is also an interesting predicament sometimes. 

Last Sunday I also got mad sick, like the most sick I've been in years.  The day before I tried eating rice mixed with a famous snack here called taqueritos, which are like spicy Doritos in the shape of Cheetos.  I knew going into this that it would kill me, but I did it anyway for some reason, and paid the price. Sunday I was in bed all day, and Monday I couldn't go out tampoco.  For me, this made me feel not too happy, but "my health matters first," so yeah. 

Another fun thing that happened was someone in our house decided to use all the water we had to wash their clothes, so we went a day without water.  We very quickly realized how necessary water is for human survival after that.  The dishes piled up, nobody could shower--which with the above-mentioned heat that was a big issue--and we couldn't flush either.  Glad I got to experience that because now I thank God every day for water. 

To end on a better note, although this area is a bit harder than the last, I'm of course super glad for the experience I'm gaining.  It's hard, but of course when it gets tough that's when you learn.  I'm excited to see the growth that happens in this area and to see what God has for me going forward.  That's all for now, thanks everyone once again for your prayers. 

I must go -Elder Barlow

Weeks 57, 58, and 59 - February 26, 2024

Buenos días, time for another update from the República Dominicana, the hottest place in the world. 

 

These past couple weeks have been really good, you could even say they've been great.  We dropped/stopped teaching a bunch of people in one week because they weren't progressing, which is unfortunate.  There were a couple people we dropped that were super cool, but the work has to always be moving forward, so that means we must keep moving forward as well.  A debido que we dropped a bunch of people, we also had to find a bunch of new people to teach. We've been really focusing on just one-half of the area and leaving the other half unvisited.  This is for many reasons, but mostly because "the other half" is far away from the house and is super popi/rich, and the rich people don't like talking to us (Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25).  The half that is closer to us/less rich is a lot smaller, so we've been really focusing on knocking ever door we see, and we've been finding a lot because of it, which is good. 

On February 10th, we had Benson's baptism.  An absolute miracle--the guy was able to return from getting abducted, and that he decided to be baptized, and that it all went well.  I actually got pretty sick the day of and could barely work properly, but of course it was a baptism, so it was too important to not work.  What else was I gonna do?  "Ah sorry Benson, I know you're ready to make a covenant with God, but my stomach is a little weird so... gonna have to push it to next Saturday."  Ain't no way I would do something like that.  I prayed a lot for God to give me a bit of strength to get through the baptism.  The baptism went well thankfully, then literally right after it ended, and I'm talking the moment after the closing prayer, my sickness got a lot worse, and I spent the rest of the day resting (sleeping in a bathtub) and relaxing (throwing up a bit). 

In other exciting news, we did really well this month goal wise. At the beginning of every month, we set goals to help us see our progress and to push us to work hard.  This week we achieved our goals, finding 45/40 new people and getting 25/24 lessons with a member.  We only got 1/2 of the baptisms, which is great, and did well on our other goals.  I really focused myself this month on the goals that we set, and I remembered just how fun the mission becomes when you make it goal based.  There's more motivation, the area progresses more, and it's all around more exciting. 

I'm starting to say goodbye to the people here, too, because I'll be leaving here next Friday.  I'm excited because I always love change and to see and experience new stuff, but I also know I'll miss this area.  It's been a great time, and I've enjoyed my stay quite a bit.  Ever since I got here, I knew this area was special.  The area is called La Esperanza (Hope) after all, and "There's always hope in La Esperanza," as I always say.  I'll definitely be paying a visit here after my mission.  It's been super fun, and I'm excited to see where God calls me next. 

That's all for now.  Thank you all again for the prayers and support, I can definitely say that everything you guys are praying for is being answered, so keep going!  And I'll be sure to keep praying for ya'll too, as always. 

I must go -Elder Barlow

Weeks 54, 55, and 56 - February 5, 2023

Hey, all, I'm back with another update.  Sorry it took me so long lol.  These past couple weeks honestly have been great.  Let's get right into it. 

First, Elder Zollinger, a missionary I that was living in the same house as me, left a couple weeks ago, and a "new" missionary replaced him.  He's "new" because he's new to the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West mission, while beforehand he had served in the Santiago mission for a year, but then had to go home for a couple months because he got sick.  His name is Elder Pierre-Toussaint from Haiti.  I've been trying to learn a bit of Creole from him, too, because there's a lot of Haitians on our area. 

Speaking of Haitians in our area, remember Benson, the Haitian that was abducted by immigration on the way to church?  Well, a week later we walk into church, and guess who was sitting right there waiting for us?  BENSON.  I was amazed to see him again.  He said, "Yeah, right after they dropped me off, I got right back on another bus and came back the same day.  Oh, yeah, and I want to be baptized now lol." Never mind he had a huge change of heart and out of nowhere wants to be baptized, I was still amazed he was able to just come back so easily.  So yeah, he'll be baptized this Saturday, the 10th of February. 

We also tried teaching this guy who's totally anti against our church. I felt that he was only like that because he didn't understand correctly what we believe, so I wanted to give him a chance to learn what we really believe and help him to not listen to outside resources.  As I expected, when I asked if missionaries had ever taught him before, he said no.  We talked about the Book of Mormon because or church is basically entirely based on if that book is really scripture or not. By the end of the lesson, he showed interest in reading it, so we promised that the next time we come by we'll give him a copy.  The problem is, we gave out all of our copies, and we haven't gotten new ones since like a month or two ago.  Also, at the end of the lesson, the daughter comes out and says that she had studied before at BYUI, and took seminary classes, read a bit of the book of Mormon and other stuff, which was insane.  Moral of the story, speak with everyone, even if they don't seem interested, because they could have a secret daughter that's totally elect, you never know.  We're waiting to go back until after we have a Book of Mormon for them, but I'll keep you posted once we do. 

Just as I had to do when I first got here, we had to go get Elder Oberg's residency.  We had to go to a hospital out in the East mission, and I got to see a lot of other missionaries, including a couple of Elders that worked in my area before me.  They were happy to hear Benson was getting baptized and that the area is doing good.  After Oberg and the other greenies got all of their tests done, we took a metro to AGORA, the biggest mall I've ever seen.  It was awesome!  They literally had everything. We ate McDonald's, which was fun. 

The work overall is going good.  We're going to really focus this week on having members with lessons and inviting every person we're teaching (all 27 people) to come to church.  The members in this area are amazing and so active in the missionary work, which is great.  If only I were a little better at planning lessons with them lol.  I'm getting better at it slowly. Please pray that we'll be able to get the people we're teaching to church this week. 

That's about it.  A long one this time, because it's been a while, but yeah, the works going well, and we're about to work even harder this week, which is exciting.  The church is true, the work is true, I love Jesus, and I'm so grateful for everything He has shown and taught me this past year.  Thank you for all your prayers and support as well.  They're definitely being answered over here, so keep praying.  Of course, I'll be praying over here for you guys as well. 

I must go -Elder Barlow