Letter #68 Ho Ho Ho & A Merry Christmas

ho ho ho and a Merry Christmas ladies and gentleman!

 

This is Elder Barton signing in from New York City! we have some beautiful weather today. Despite a light mist, and cloudy sky it is a beautiful day! We are going to go play foot ball with the rest of the zone, and finish up our Christmas shopping! I cant believe that Christmas is already this weekend! Time has gone by so fast! I feel like Christmas just happened! But i am in no way complaining! I am so excited! Christmas is really a different on a mission, and I love it! In my opinion it is better then the normal Christmas. And it does not just start on December 25th, we are constantly introducing the great news of Jesus Christ and his life to our investigators. When Christmas comes it really has a whole new meaning.

We were very fortunate to have another great week. I have never had such a solid batch of investigators my whole entire mission. usually there are a few that are a little unsure, but right now I feel so good about all of the people that we are teaching! They are doing the things that we ask them to do, and they are seeing results! It has really strengthened my own testimony allot. Heavenly Father is always listening, and planning ways to answer our prayers.Sometimes it takes alittle bit longer, and sometimes we are lucky enough to have our answer come right away. But, if we are patient things will happen.

We recently taught 2 of our investigators the Word of Wisdom. The Word of Wisdom is always kinda a make or break I guess you could say. Either the investigator trys it out and sees the blessings that come with it, or they do not want to continue meeting with us. To be honest, it is usually the second one. But both of our investigators were willing to take the challenge. One of them shared a really cool experience with us. He said that his friends took him to a bar to celebrate for his birthday. He went, and did not have a single drink. The bar did not even have soda so he was not able to drink anything. He came home that night thinking about what he had just done. If it was really worth the sacrifice. He said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father that very question. He said that as he began to pray his tension was released. His mind felt at ease, and he was comforted that it was the right choice. This investigator has been praying a long time, but up until that moment he had not been able to feel the spirit that clearly. He is still not 100% sure, but he is getting there.

My companion got his first phone number street contacting this week, and he was so excited! He insisted that we went to the nearest market so that he could reward himself! In my mind I was thinking maybe like a candy bar, or some other small snack. This elder purchased a case of Coke, a case of Cream Soda, and enough Chocolate to feed a small colony! He was very excited! I had no idea that he was so fond of pop. You have to love that greeny fire!

One of the investigators we have right now does not live in China Town! This is another first timer for my mission! Last Saturday we were walking down the lonely and dark sixth ave to to visit this investigator. My feet were tired, and my mouth was try from they intensity of this walk. My legs shook trying to support my body weight. As I looked up to see how much road I still had ahead of me I noticed a light peering out the fog. I rubbed my eyes, and allowed my vision to refocus. Could this really be what I thought it was? As I got closer, the familiar sound of a Mariachi band entered into my ear drums, the sweet smell of Carne Asada entered my nostrils, and the letter became clearer. The words MEXICAN FOOD blazed brighter then the candles on a birthday cake. my light walk turned into a pounding sprint! I threw open the doors of the restaurant, and gave a huge hug to man wearing a sombrero. Tears filled my eyes as I walked to the front desk and ordered the first taco that I have had in over a year. This was truly a tender mercy.

After that experience with the Mexican food, we had a great lesson with our investigator. The missionaries were led to him at a time were he really needs it. He is so stressed out trying to balance his family life with is work life. A common struggle that middle age men will go through. But he is a little worse then most that I have seen. You can see they effects that stress has had on his body. When we teach him the spirit is so strong. He is so committed and prepared. Me and Elder Mok are so excited for our lesson with him this weekend, it should be great!

Well I love you all! hope you have a great Christmas! Thank you so much for all of the cards! It is so cool seeing some of the families that I knew before I left! It is crazy how some of the young ones have really grown up! I am scared! I hope yo get back to you all soon!

Elder Barton