Hello Everyone!!
SO i am in a completley different mission now! it is so crazy! i am still suffering from culture shock! everything is so different!!! The members feed us, and are very involved! we have a ward mission leader! I am driving! the nighttimes are not filled with sirens and drunk people yelling! it is quiet! everthing is way spread out! our pad is huge! all of these things are so different compared to what i had in china town!
This week was great! me and elder boekweg worked hard. i really like elder boekweg, he is so fun, and knows how to work hard. we laugh our heads off all day long. we are getting really good at singing the efy songs together. the way that you work up here is so different! we tract! no street contacting.. it is illegal to street contact in the small town of danbury unless you have permission! tracting is so different! i did it from time to time in china town, but it was always hard to get into buildings. here that is all we do to find people! that and look ups...less actives or referrals from the Portuguese missionaries and spanish missionaries! i know this is going to sound so weird but this area is like a little brazil! there are three portuguese missionaries here! this was also the area that elliott dennis served which is so cool! i went over to the Portuguese elders pad today and saw a deer that elder dennis skinned while he was on his mission! haha! i thought that was so cool! the portagese elders are obsessed with elliott! they talk to me about him non stop! one of the elders that he trained, and two others that have never even met him, just heard of him! he is a legend! they all talk about how hard he worked and never stopped. i am not surprised at all!
This area is so beautiful! i feel like i am in the middle of the sacred grove all of the time! i have never been there but from pictures i have seen it gives me the same feeling! i love the people that we are teaching and the members they are so cool! we have a dinner appointment almost every night! there has been one night so far that we didn't go to a members home for dinner. AND on that night we went to dennys. "FROOOOOM DENNYS!" it brought back that memory for sure! i know what you are all thinking! i am going to be a mammoth when i get out of here... yes i think i will and i have to say i am excited! everynight me and the other missionaries i live with have a "weighing" and take a look at our progress! they have been here longer than i have so, they are making better progress but i am coming up strong and quick! anyways, back to the people! my first day here elder boekweg and I found an awesome investigator that is progressing so fast! And on the plus side his girl friend is a brazillian lady that is a less active! she has really been wanting to get back into the church, so it was so cool that we found them! They are named Tom and Mariza. Tom is probally in his late fiffties but he is still rocking a grey mullet! (buisness in the front and party in the back!) he has such a big interest in the book of mormon! he requested us to bring him one of those huge book of mormons so that he could read it easier! as we explained to him what it was with his girl friends help, he became so excited! he said that makes so much sense! we meet with him twice a week and each time he has read at least five chapters more so far! He is a great guy! and his wife always cooks us awesome brazillian food every time we go over so it is so awesome!
We were so blessed to find him because i guess this area is one of they slowest areas in our mission! we also work a lot with recent converts! our recent converts are so awesome! one of them is named June Fry. she is so interesting! she is always watching the gospel channel and really believes that these priests are healing people, despite the fact she was already baptized! She is way cool though she went through a lot to be baptized!!! i respect that a lot! our other new convert is named brigget! she has an awesome family that were also all baptized! her husband just got out of prison so we are really excited to start teaching him! they are a great family!
Eventhough it is so different up here, the work is still the same! if you work really hard and try your best, heavenly father will provide people to teach! I love being a missionary! you really can understand how the gospel will bless peoples lives! because you see it everyday! i am sorry that i did not get to cover everything but we have to go. i love you all so much, and i hope you have a great week!
Love Elder Barton
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