Letter #60

Hello Hello boys and girls!

 

Well, there has been some surprising news that I am very excited to share with you! This cycle came to an end today and I am not with elder fan any more. I am sad about that! Elder fan was a great comp! We really had some good times together. He taught me so much. He is now with elder near and I am with elder Faulkner. We just switched for some reason, very strange. I am excited to see what comes out of it. I was really sad at first because elder fan has been helping me so much with my Chinese and we get along really well! But elder Faulkner is really good at Chinese too. In fact, natives will even come up to him sometimes and ask him what the best way is to say things. They will even ask him what certain characters are sometimes. I think that he could really help me a lot.  (just FYI... Elder Faulkner is related to the Dustin Family ;) -darci

 

Elder fan and I had a great last week together. In a way I guess you could say we really “burned the midnight oil”. We were able to meet with Eric again and it very well. I was so surprised that he came back. The way he left it with us last week is that he would see how he felt after he read, then give us a call. A lot of times people will say that but not read and not come back. But he did! He said that he read the chapter that we assigned him to read but it was hard for him to understand because he did not fully understand when the book of Mormon was taking place. So, when we met with him this last time, we drew two time lines on a chalkboard. One of them was representing the book of Mormon and the other representing the bible. We started from the begging around the time frame of the prophet Jeremiah and Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem and went all the way down to the life of Jesus Christ. I have to say I really liked teaching it that way. I have never done it like that on my whole mission but it went really well. The spirit was so strong and I felt that it was described very clear.

After we shared our lesson with him, he said I have to be honest with you… this whole faith thing is a little hard for me sometimes. We asked him what he meant by that and he began to explain. He said that for Americans it is easy to believe in ideas like this. We grow up in a culture that promotes imagination and hope. In china it is not like this. In china they are raised with logic. Eric is a science major! He also attended law school! He is very educated. We then asked him if he thinks that faith is a good thing. You could see him go into deep thought about this question. He then replied that it is. In his opinion, faith gives us hope and helps us through a society of changing values. He said that we need things like scriptures to keep us on track. At this point, I was so amazed how the spirit had completely led him to figure out the answers to his own questions. He then looked up and said, how can we test our faith and know if things are real or not? Before I could even speak, I looked down and my hands had turned to Alma chapter 32! It was crazy! If I had done it my way it probably would have been some boring speech based off my experience as a twenty-year-old kid. I think I like the way it worked out better! The scripture answered his question perfectly and made him understand the power of the book. He ended up coming to church the following Sunday! I was so amazed… I can’t believe how good things are going with him.

 

Well I spent a lot more time talking about Eric then I had planned! But things are going so good! I really love my mission… it is amazing all of the things that you learn out here! I hope you all have a good week!

 

Until next time, this is elder Barton signing off.

Letter #59

Hello Hello!

 

I am reporting live from china town chapel today! I just found out that we are allowed to use this computer today! This environment really beats the underground Internet cafe! That place is so crazy! I come out of there with a headache every time! You can only handle so much screaming in Chinese about world of war craft! I love our church it is the best. It is also raining today which I am really excited about! The streets of china town really needed a cleaning! Layers of dried fish guts cover the streets of china town, so I think this will be great!

Elder fan and I had another great week in china town. We have been working so hard! It is so cool being with elder fan because both of us are the exact same age in the mission, so we are ready to get out there and work! This week, Eric came and met with us! Eric is the guy that we street contacted over by the top of the rock! I was so surprised! For some reason, I really did not think that it was going to happen. I called him on Friday and he did not answer. I left a message for him saying that we would love to meet with him the following day and he called back the next day saying that he would love to come down and meet with us. He is a very educated guy. Educated in the sense of the world, but when it came to church, god, Jesus Christ; he knew nothing. He had heard a lot of small facts but I don't think that he was ever able to put them all together. As we went thought the lesson with him, you could see his curiosity continue to grow. My favorite part of the lesson was when we talked about the book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong! We could feel it and we could tell that he was feeling it! It was great, one of the top lessons on my mission for sure. When he left, he said that he needs some time to think about all of the things that he had just learned. We are going to give him a call this weekend and see how he is doing.

This week all of the missionaries in my zone sang for a group of young men and young women. They were at an activity called the mini mtc. The idea was so that they could see what a mission would be like. They had some opportunities to teach and I think that they even went out street contacting! I thought that was intense! You never know what is going to happen street contacting in the city! I really enjoyed this activity. It made me think of when I was getting ready to go on my mission. The doubts, fears, and excitement all mixed together into a casserole of mixed emotions. My favorite part of the activity was one of the speakers. He was a recent convert to the church, who went out and served a mission. You could really see how the Gospel had changed his life and the life of his family. And not only that, but all of the people that he shared the Gospel with on his mission. This really made me feel good. It doesn't matter how many people that we convert but what they do with the message after they receive it. It has to be the best feeling in the world when a recent convert brings a friend to church! Those are the people that are truly converted! The people that want to share the Gospel with others!

This week we had one of our investigators bring a friend to learn about the church! Right when we saw him, he said that he wanted to be baptized. As cool as this sounds, it usually means that they want to get baptized to help them get a green card. And in this case, it was! He started to ask us if after he is baptized he would have proof that he was baptized. These situations are always so hard. We can never deny any one the right of being baptized, we can just hope that the Gospel will do what it does best and convert them. Change them into saints! I really hope that it will. Elder Fan and I both noticed he had a dark countenance about him. Part of the reason may have been his purple hair and black fingernails! We hope that the Gospel will help him! It will be interesting to see what happens!

Well I am sorry this week was kinda short! But we are going to see the crime museum this week and I am really excited! Thank you so much for all of the love and support! I sure do love you guys! Have a great week! Until next time!

Elder Barton

Letter #58

Hello hello everyone!

 

Well this week was just fantastic! Elder fan and I worked really hard and it really paid off for us! The best part of the week was that we had a baptism! Those are always the best! It was the husband of hou jie mei, lin di xiong! He is a really cool guy! He met with us every day this last week and was able to be baptized on that Sunday! We were so happy for him! He was able to quit smoking in that short amount of time! I really believe it was because of his faith! It was amazing how even in that short week; you could just see a new light in his eyes. We have not been able to see him again this week but we gave him a call and everything is still going great. Before he was baptized, I looked over at him dressed in all white sitting next to his wife. His wife was baptized two weeks ago. The spirit came over me so strong as I tried to picture these two preparing to go into the temple and how much that this one small choice would really change their life. I am so happy I was able to meet those two.

We had a really cool lesson with one of our recent converts this week. Her name is Ellen. She is 17 years old and is the only member in her family. She joined the church about six months ago. A little bit after I left to go up to Connecticut. She is truly incredible! She does not have any support from her family but she continues to try her best! She even goes to seminary despite the fact that it is a long slow subway ride to get there and she has to wake up really early. She met with us and told us that she does not feel like she is ready to go into the temple because she said that she does not feel worthy. She said there are some weeks that she is not able to come to church and she is too tired to go to seminary sometimes. She then continues to explain that the temple is a serious place and it should not be taken likely. Elder Fan and I went speechless. I never have seen someone take the temple so seriously. I think often times we will take that place for granted and really forget how special it is. But we also explained to her that she is doing great. She is trying her best to do all of the many things that are placed on her plate. I think the reason that we are given so many things to do is so that we will not be able to do all of them! If it were easy, there would be no need for the atonement of Jesus Christ. But, as we began to rely on him, to help us with our burdens, life becomes a whole lot easier. We learn that these things are real! Not just something we talk about for fun!

Street contacting this week was very fun! We met some great people! There was one day that elder fan and I decided we wanted to go to top of the rock area, over on 47th street. The Chinese missionaries cover the whole island but it is very rare that we leave because it is harder to find Chinese people. But this day we were feeling kinda crazy. When we first got up there it really was not going that well. We ran into a few Chinese people but none that were willing to listen to us. We ran into some really nice members that were here for a younger adults conference but other than that nothing. But then finally I saw a Chinese man walking slowly looking down at the ground. I walked up to him and started talking to him in English (just in case he was not Chinese.) He responded back in perfect English. He was really not interested at all in what I had to say. Even though in my mind there was no way this guy was Chinese, I gave it a shot and asked. He said that he was! And we started to talk in Chinese! His eyes lit up and he became so excited! He really opened up! He is a lawyer from Bei Jing and has a couple friends that are Mormon. He said that he would love to meet with us and talk about our church! I was so excited! After we talked with him, we did not talk with one more Chinese person! It was like we just needed to go there that one time to find that one guy!

A plane flew over the top of china town this week and wrote "last chance" in the sky. Elder fan and I went inside to take cover, thinking that a bomb was about to hit china town. Then we realized it was talking about a sale at a local store! That was a relief! There was also a fire in china town this week! That was pretty cool to see! There was no need to fear dragons were here! The fire department in china town calls themselves “the dragons”! I have no idea why! Dragons make fire; they do not put it out! I also met a man this week that had a pigeon on his shoulder! I walked up to him and began to talk with him. He said that pigeons are smarter than dogs and he has two that will fly away and come back to him! As he talked to me, the bird flew onto my shoulder! He got so excited and said that means he can trust me because the bird has never done that to any one else! I have to say I felt very loved! We had a great conversation about the church! I was also on a Japanese TV show this week! It was some cooking channel thing! They would give me random Japanese cooking utensils then have me guess how one would use it! They were laughing at me so hard and I have no idea why! So I am probably famous in Japan now!

Those are just some of the weird things that happened this week! Well, I sure do love you guys! Thanks for all of the love and support! I hope that you guys are all having a great week! Talk to you next week!

Elder Barton

Letter #57

Hello everyone!

Well this week was what we like to call a little bit of a tougher week. We spent a lot of time rolling up the sleeves and getting to work, but did not see much success. We had one guy that was willing to come up to the church though and listen to a lesson, which really in a sense makes the whole entire week worth it. Regardless of the challenge I still love street contacting. It is the best. I think the reason that it is so awesome is just indescribable. You see all of these people walking around holding in so much pain and sorrow, and it is so nice to walk up and tell them how they can lift those pains and sorrows. If only more people would listen to us when we talk.
This week a few of the people that I contacted a long time ago in Chinatown showed up and are going to be taught again, this really made me so happy! Elder Near and Elder Faulkner are going to teach them, because they are the ones that took over my old companionship, but I am still excited for them. I would tell you which ones they were, but I doubt you would be able to remember because it was such a long time ago. It is crazy how timing sometimes is everything in peoples journey through the gospel. Then at the right time people will decide that the gospel is right for them. I was thinking about the analogy that is often made between missionaries and fisherman this week, and realized that it is not always correct. Fisherman will often hall in many fish at the same time, using huge nets, and large machines. On my mission so far this has not been the case. We are also known as harvesters. Well during the time of a harvest, many rewards are reaped, and all at the same time. I feel that in some missions this is accurate. I know that many who serve in South America or other Spanish-speaking missions will see much success, kind of like the fisherman or the harvester. I feel like I am a hunter. Now I am not saying this to sound gnarly, or because it sounds cool, but this is really just how I feel. A hunter will work long hours stealth and swiftly searching for his prey. Some days he might not have any success but, when he finally does make his attack he feels a true feeling of success that cannot be described. I hope that everyone reading this understands that it is an analogy, I am not running around Chinatown with face paint on and a machete.
I loved conference this week! I got so much out of it. It is amazing how if we prepare ourselves to hear the word of the Lord, we really can receive revelation. There were so many talks that I felt like I was having a one on one conversation with the speaker, like it was directed right towards me. One talk that particularly stood out to me was by Dieter Uchtdorf. He talked about the people through out history who have not been written about. The people that just do what is right and willingly follow the word of the Lord. I thought about some of the people that are very briefly mentioned in the Book of Mormon. For example, the small group that follows Alma into the wilderness after Abinadi was executed, or the one person that was converted when Alma and Amulek preached to the Lamanites. What faith it took on these people's behalf. They were really true Christians. Elder Uchtdorf encouraged us to not worry about our reputation with man, but worry about our standing with God. He said that God does not care if we work in marble halls or stable halls, He loves all of His children the same. Compared to God we are nothing, but to God we are everything. Pretty incredible! What an amazing Heavenly Father we have.
I also wanted to say thank you so much for all the love I received for my birthday! That was so nice of you guys. I have to be honest; it felt so good to know how many people support me out here. I got amazing letters and pictures from the primary, I loved them all so much! I received some very nice letters from the Relief Society as well. It was so great to hear from all of you. I keep you in my prayers constantly. I really hope that all is still going well. I sure do love you all.
Well, it is time for me to go and spread the word! Have a great week, and I look forward to talking to you next week!
Elder Barton

Letter #56

Hello hello everyone!

 

Well this was another great week in china town! I love this place. Our baptisms last Sunday went so well! Hou jie Mei is what we like to call a feisty one. She came in and wanted to be baptized in a week but at first I really don’t think that she understood why. She had a friend getting baptized and she just knew that Christianity was a good thing.  In our lessons we would try hard to get her to feel the spirit, but it was hard for us to really get her attention. It was not until se received the gift of the Holy Ghost that you could just see it hit her. We had to confirm right after the baptism because we are having general conference this weekend so we did not want to wait two weeks. Our ward mission leader put his hands on her head and confirmed her. He was completely overcome by the spirit. He did not know anything about her background. As he started to confirm her, he talked about her like they were best friends. The spirit was so strong. When she looked up from being confirmed, there were tears in her eyes. She held her heart and said my heart is beating so fast.. It was perfect! It was just what she needed to be completely converted to the gospel. Her husband wants to be baptized next week, so we are excited for that as well.

This week, we also decided we needed to find some more investigators, so we spent a lot more time contacting. We did not find a ton of people but I am very excited about the ones that we did find. They were all very nice. One of my favorite finds was named Yin…she was from Beijing. It is very rare that we meet people from Beijing… people around here are usually from southeast china, but people from there are always funny. They love it when you tell them that they have very educated Chinese. It makes them all happy. So when I first walked up to this lady, she was not really very interested. She said that she had a church and she did not need to find another one. I had a feeling just to try to get to know her. The more questions I asked about her, the slower and slower she walked, until finally she came to a complete stop. We talked on the side of the busy street for about 30 minutes. She really started to open up and tell me different things about her life. And in the end of it all, SHE started talking to me about church… I did not even have to say anything. She told me that in China, she saw a card in Chinese that was about our church and has always wanted to learn about it. I am not sure what will happen with this but I had a very good feeling about it.

We also had a really cool lesson experience. An English class student asked us to give her some personal English lessons. We agreed that we would and we were planning on sharing a lesson with her after we helped her. We had found out that her brother had just died, so we figured the plan of salvation would be a great way to start off teaching her. On the day of our lesson with her, another English class student saw us helping her and wanted to join in on the party. We taught them a lot of English and then started into the plan of salvation. As soon as we started the lesson, the lady that we were planning on teaching completely checked out of the lesson. She started looking down, studying English as we spoke to her, the whole ten yards. But, the other English class student… leaned foreword in her seat and her eyes widened with interest. When we got to the part about families living together forever in the celestial kingdom, she said really? In a very excited tone. It is incredible what heavenly father will do to get one of his children to hear the gospel. Another great example of his love for us.

Yesterday our mission had a great mission conference. I really took so much out of it. He share a story that Elder Boyd k Packard shared long ago. It was about a man going up into his attic and finding a really old picture of his grandfather that had just passed away. It was a beautiful picture, but the frame that it was in was old, and thrashed. He got a screwdriver and began to dismantle this frame so that he could get out the picture. But as he did, he noticed that under much dust and debris laid a beautiful golden frame. He cleaned off the frame and was so excited to see how beautiful it was. He used this analogy for the missionaries in our mission. He told us that we were all of great worth and sometimes because of investigators not progressing, and not many baptisms we will feel useless. But we are still beautiful golden frames! This made me feel very good.

Well guys thanks for all of the love and support! It really does make me feel so good. I love you guys! Have a great week.

Elder Barton

Letter #55

Hello my dear friends!

I am back in Chinatown and loving it! I have decided that I am much more of a city person then an up state person. Don’t get me wrong, I loved up state! But, it was just so slow.. I would street contact for three or four hours and maybe talk to 20 people on a good day. Here I talk to over a hundred people every day, and it is just marvelous! I really did not realize before how much joy I get out of talking with people. It is the best thing ever!

Chinatown has changed a lot! We have three new sisters that were not here before! Two of them are from Taiwan and one is from main land china! They are all so cool! It has been hilarious teaching them some English. Sister Gao (the one from mainland china) can now say, "what’s up homie g?" if you say that in a Chinese accent I promise you that you will laugh. It sounds so funny! They have been helping my Chinese a ton as well! My companion and I do not speak any English all day long! And we do not read English all day long! He makes me struggle through the characters until I finally understand what it means. He has been really good for me! In Connecticut my tones got really bad! I still remember how to say everything, but my tones are just off a lot of the time. So that is not very fun. But Elder Fan has been helping me so much!! I love this guy! He makes me laugh so hard.

One of the things that I really liked about coming back to Chinatown was teaching English class again. It is still the exact same group of people and you get to have a pretty close relationship with them from teaching English. It is kinda funny how it works. But anyways, I walked into the room to teach, and Elder Near got on the piano and started to play a song on the piano that kinda sounded like the beginning of “eye of the tiger”. Then he started to tell English class to but their hands together for the “return of Elder Barton”! I am not going to lie to you I felt like I was a movie star. It was almost like being Ammon in the road show again. Ok maybe not quite that cool. That was a pretty intense experience. But it was cool. I really like teaching English class.

Elder Fan and I have also had an amazing week. We got a few referrals from members and investigators. It is always a good feeling when you get them from an investigator. Two of them want to be baptized this week! Pretty crazy considering that we met them on Sunday! They have been meeting with us every day in order to prepare for their baptism. It is a husband and a wife, which is also really cool. We are so excited for them! This is a miracle! Such a miracle that it feels like I am dreaming. I have noticed that the biggest miracles always happen when someone new comes into an area. Or if you are on companion exchanges.

Chinatown has had so many baptisms since I left! I barely recognized anyone on Sunday! It was like going into a new church. Luckily we were able to see some of the converts that Elder Near and I had while we were together. It was so good to see all of them again! Chen Dixiong is starting a restaurant! Fan Jie Mei moved to Queens now, but she came up to see us, and she has been doing really well. She had this huge backpack full of English learning books! Wang di xiong had a baby! All kinds of new things happened! But it is so good to be back! It almost feels like coming home after a long trip.

My mission president gave me permission to call Jing, and see how she was doing up in Connecticut. I was worried that she did not have any one to translate for her on Sunday. It turns out that her daughter did for her, and it went really well. I was glad to talk with her, and see that everything is still going well.

Well I hope that all of you have a great week! The church is true! Thanks for all of the love and support!

Elder Barton