Letter #34

HELLO!

Ok so this week was incredible! I am really sorry that I am running out of positive words to describe each week but they really keep getting better and better! Ok so to start out… I am in the under ground nerd center again... it is scary... I hear a ton of Chinese people screaming about world of war craft.. Very interesting! Ok so because I am running short on time I will just dive straight into things!

So to start off…. today! This was such a fun p day! Earlier this week I met a really cool new friend when I was on a split with elder Duran, the one from chili. He is one of the most well known calligraphists in china that is the really cool Chinese art stuff! They usually write a ton of characters then draw like a tree in the back round or something. Pretty dang cool! So yesterday he said that he wanted me and my comp to come in to hang out with him. I was expecting he would just try to sell us things, but he didn't! He let us each choose one cheng yu! I forget how you say that in English.. I think it is an idiom? They are really common in Chinese! Then he wrote them for us along with a special message! And he did it for free it was so cool! He was such a nice guy! He was from Mainland China! He wanted to take so many pictures with us! He loved the fact that we spoke Chinese! He said that when we get married he would send us all paintings!! He took down our addresses and he gave us his. He really wants us to visit him in china! He says that we would love it there! So then we went to go see a car show! Yes a car show! It was so coool! They had so many cool concept cars! I loved it! But the best part of the whole thing was that we met some one very interested in the church. And this was not just any one! He was a football player.. FROM THE NFL!! He was the coolest guy ever. When we walked in the door he said that he had a really strong feeling to come and talk to us, so he followed us around the whole convention waiting for a good time to talk with us. He left the station that he was working at to come and talk with us! He started to tell us that he believes in Christ but is not the biggest fan of religion.. He said that man has changed it too much since after Jesus died. We got so excited and started to teach him about the restoration!! He was so happy to learn about it! He had to go back to California the next day, but we left him with a Mormon.org card. It was such an amazing experience! The spirit was so strong as we talked to him!

As for our investigators this week, it was incredible!!! chen di xiong came to church even though his boss said that it was a bad idea. He did not care he came! AND after, he said that he understands why it is so important for him to come! WOW.. he is so amazing! He is changing his life so much and I am so proud of him! Fan jie mei also came! AND she brought all three of her boys! I didn’t even know that she had a third one! The third son that I had never met was really interested in our church! He started talking with elder Duran about the Book of Mormon and it went really well! He said that his family has been getting a ton of blessings ever since his mom started coming to our church!! They got this house that they have been wanting for a long time, she had enough money to go to an English class! (keep in mind that this is the one that was waiting for her answer!!) She got her answer!! I am so excited!! we have not met with her yet either because she has been so busy!! But I am really excited to talk with her about that! Both of them are still set for the 8th and as of right now, I think that they are very prepared! I am so blessed that I met them! they are both such good examples for me! I am so happy I have been so lucky to see the miracles taking place in there life!

Sunday was really a cool experience! Easter was so good! I love missions because you can really focus on what the holidays mean! On Sunday I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting! I was really feeling the pressure! Especially because I got the call at the last minute! But it did not go over to bad! I for sure had a lot of help up there though! The gift of tongues is so real! I have noticed that whenever the lord needs me to speak Chinese he grants me the gift and it works! I also had to give a girl the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that was a really cool experience! It was scary in Chinese but I was still awesome! The girl was so nice, I was so grateful to give her that blessing! We also dyed eggs as a branch! That was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! I walked in to find all of the adults standing around the table of dye staring at it with no idea what to do! Even the children had no idea! Finally when we explained how to do it they started to get in to it! They were all laughing because they thought it was the weirdest thing! It is really weird if you think about it. We are coloring eggs? haha! Our ward mission leader told me that the shell represents the tomb of Christ. So I guess it kind of has something to do with Easter right! hah!

I have been loving the mission! Contacting people has been especially fun! The weather is getting warmer so people will stop and talk with you sometimes! I like talking with people… it is the best! This week my favorite contact was a man named Pete. I saw him sitting on the ground next to an old rusty wheel chair. As I walked around him, I noticed that he had no legs.. You see things a lot like this in New York and they are mostly people just looking for money, but I felt that this guy was really different. He looked so sad and his eyes looked so full of regret. Elder Duran and I approached him and started to talk with him. He told us he was waiting for some homeless organization to come and give him a new sock thing for his leg bud. He said that it would make it possible for him to get prosthetic legs! We talked with him for a second then left just like that.. I don’t know why I had such a strong feeling to go talk to that man, but I am so glad that I did! Sometimes as missionaries we don’t know what heavenly fathers purpose for us in doing things but it always feels so good when we do!!!

Well I sure do love you all I hope you had a great week! I definitely did! I am so happy that I am a missionary; it is the best decision that I have ever made my whole life! I hope you all had a great Easter! Thank you all so much for all of the love and support that you show to me out here!

Elder Barton