Letter #80 Another Fantastic Week

Hello Hello my dear friends!

This was another fantastic week! I really don't think that I will have another reason to complain for the rest of my life with all of the great blessings that I have been receiving recently. It is such a blessing just to be the Lord’s instrument. It does not matter what the purpose of the instrument is, just the fact that you are in the Lord’s hands is so amazing. A “saw” and a “screw driver” have two very different jobs. I am sure that the job of the screwdriver seems a lot more fun at times. But, there is no way that the screw driver would ever be able to do the job of the saw, and there is no way that the saw could ever do the job of the screw driver. Both tools have been prepared and made to accomplish their own individual purposes. Both purposes are special! Depending on the situation that we are in, we will use different tools. Some tools are used more then others but that does not make them any more important. Regardless of the job that our heavenly father has prepared us to do, or is preparing us to do, we should always just be grateful for the opportunity to be in his hands. We should also keep ourselves sharp and ready so that when he does call on us, we will be ready to go!

We had some great things happen this week. Brother Lin (our blind investigator) came to church! We picked him up from his house and dropped him off after church. He had such a great time at church. It is amazing how much he remembers. On Monday, we picked him up again to take him to an eye appointment. The whole time that we were in the car, he asked us question after question about the doctrines that were touched on in our church meeting. I was very impressed. We could tell that he had really been thinking about the things that he had learned at church and had his questions ready for us. The doctor appointment was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to sit through in my whole entire life. Brother Lin has very high hopes that he will be able to find a cure for his eyes. And his reasoning for going to this doctor was just that! The doctor was a very mean and impatient person. She treated him like he was seeing, giving him no guidance, and even caused him to smack his chin really hard on one of the machines. Then showed no sense of care or concern when she delivered the bad news that he would most likely never be able to see again. We were translating all of this, so we tried to make it sound a little better and put more feeling into it than how she told him the news. The news shattered Brother Lin and as soon as the sentence entered into his ears, his body literally looked like a puppet that had all of the strings clipped from the top. When the doctor saw his body fall in this way, she began almost yell, "He looks confused! Why is he so confused? Are you translating everything right?" She was making me so mad! I have never been so tempted to yell at someone throughout the whole course of my mission. He was sad for a while but then as we dropped him off at his house, he said, "It’s ok, I will go to China and see if there is a cure!" His countenance changed back to the same happy Brother Lin and he walked into his house. That poor guy! Working with him has been so humbling. Despite his hard circumstances, he has such a great attitude! It makes me feel like such a loser for all of the small things that I have complained about.

Sister Lin and her son Henry are still doing great! It is so cool to think that the Canal Street Branch might actually have a deacon! A 13-year-old Deacon! They have come to church many weeks in a row and continue to get closer and closer to baptism. It has been so great to see their progression in the gospel. Our other investigators made some great progression this week as well. Sister Chen went with us to go see the temple! Because of her 1 and a half-year-old daughter she had never used the subway before! We helped carry the stroller on and off of the subway, so that she was able to come. On the church side of the Manhattan Temple we were able to share with her the plan of salvation! Can you think of a better place to share with some one the plan of salvation? The spirit was so strong! She is getting ready to back to China as well, but I am not too worried. I know that she will remember the things that we have shared with her. When people feel the spirit that strong, it is very hard to forget. Brother Zhang (our baptism two weeks ago) received the Aaronic Priesthood last Sunday! It was a very special feeling to stand in the circle and hear his name ordained into the office of a priest! We are hoping that he can baptize a few of our upcoming baptisms. Brother Zhen (the guy with the bad back) gave us his medical records, and we were able to give them to one of the most well known spinal surgeons in the whole world, who just so happens to be member of our stake. He reviewed the records and requested to meet with Brother Zhen immediately free of charge. He also offered to perform a surgery for free! I thought it was amazing how generous this doctor was. But, I was not amazed with our investigator! He is contemplating whether or not he should go through with the surgery! He feels like it is not a good choice! I would have taken that in a heartbeat! But I guess it is his personal decision, it is not my back! It was so great though to see how heavenly father really did answer the prayers!

Well I love you guys! Thanks for all of the great support!

Elder Barton