Letter # 79 We had a Baptism!!

Hello Hello!

Well the weeks just continue to get better and better. Despite a few minor set backs, the major operation still continues to roll foreword. Elder Huang and Elder Mok are so funny! It has been so good to work with them! They are also great missionaries, so organized and on top of things! I have learned so much from them!

We had a baptism this last weekend! I have to say it was awesome! It has been a while for me! His name was Zhang. He just randomly walked into the chapel one day and asked us how he could join the church. It was such a miracle and I am very grateful for it. It is such an amazing feeling when you realize the change that a person has had because of the gospel. I especially noticed this feeling when I looked at Zhang this last Sunday. I had a flash back of the first day that he came into meet with us. He seemed to not have a lot of energy or enthusiasm. As time went on, he fell in love with the scriptures! He loved all of the principles that the book of Mormon lays out so clearly. I think his real turning point was when he learned the plan of salvation. When he was a child his father passed away and he had always wondered where his father was. He was also very concerned because his father was a butcher, and he had heard that if we kill animals we can't go to heaven. We were able to clear up both of these questions for him. These are the reasons I am so happy that I came on a mission. It does not matter how many lives we change, the feeling of simply changing one person’s life is incredible.

Yesterday we had three investigators stand us up. One of them will not be able to meet with us for three months because she is going back to china for a while. So we were pretty disappointed. As we were getting ready to leave the chapel, the elevator doors opened and brother weng came walking out. He was my very first baptism! So it was so great to see him! His wife has been pregnant, so he has been very busy and not been able to come to church for the last few months. He looked very tired. He works every day of the week and whenever he does have a little time he goes to the hospital to see his wife. Let me just tell you his schedule! He wakes up at 5 30 every morning and makes fish and other healthy food so that he can get on a subway for about an hour to go to the NY down town hospital and give it to his wife. He says that the food at the hospital does not have enough nutrition. Then he gets back on the train for about an hour so he can go back home and get ready for work. What a great dad! When we saw him he only had a little bit of time, but he came to pay his tithing. After he paid his tithing he was off to start his hard work in the restaurant again. He has such a good attitude! Every time I see him he is always smiling. It is people like that, that make me feel like I never any reason to complain! 

I think I told you guys last week about our blind investigator. If not now you know! We had an opportunity to take him to a doctor’s appointment this week! It was so cool! We took a Chinese taxi! It is not as special as it sounds, just a mini van with a lot of various mystical creatures posted all around the interior. They also had these really comfortable backrests. It was cool though; I have never done that before! We spend all of our time underground in the subway. Brother Lin, (our Chinese investigator) is such an amazing guy! It is so humbling to be around him! He is a lot like Brother Weng in the since that he has a fantastic attitude. I have been so blessed to meet some great people recently.

Well I am grateful for this opportunity to chat! I hope that you all have a great day! 

Elder Barton