Letter #82

Hello Hello my dear friends!

Conference was amazing! I feel so spiritually charged and ready to go for the next six months until we get the awesome opportunity to watch it again! For some reason conference has taken a whole new meaning on my mission. I think it all started with that awesome experience I had at the beginning on my mission to go and watch it in salt lake. Seeing the prophet and other church leaders first hand really sparked an interest. There were so many questions that I had that were answered! By the end of the first Saturday session, me and both of my companions had tear filled eyes. Such a great experience! There were also many talks that answered questions that our investigators had! Unfortunately none of them except one were able to come and watch conference. But we are looking foreword to sharing those talks with them the next time that we meet up. The one that came was Brother Ye! He is such a stud! He continues to amaze me every single week! This week he went from smoking a pack of cigarettes every day to only smoking 2 per day! It is his goal this week to completely quit smoking! What a great example of obedience. This week he also came in and said, "what’s up man!" In English! I laughed so hard! I just was not expecting that to come out of him I guess. It was also funny because he had his Ipod in, so he said it super loud! He told me that he over heard this phrase said while he was at work and remembered it so that he could say it to us! He is so funny!

This week we were able to help our blind investigator, brother Lin go run a few errands in china town. I had the privilege of holding on to his arm and guiding him through the busy china town streets. As I was doing this, I could not help but think about the relationship between members of the church and our friends. Without guidance from the Gospel and modern day prophets we are blind and alone on the streets of some where like china town. We will hear noises but be forced to use our own judgment to say what they are, how far way they are, and if they are on our right side or our left. It is our purpose as missionaries or as members, to find these people that are lost and confused and help them to where they need to go! I noticed as I led brother lin, he followed me very closely and listened intently to every word that I said to him. When we finished his errands and returned him home he gave me a big hug, and thanked me for my service. I know that those souls that we lead to the Gospel will have the exact same reaction.

The rest of our investigators are doing so good! I am so proud of them! It has been so amazing to see these people applying the things that we are teaching them! Even though a lot of them are leaving for china soon, I know that they will remember! It’s all about the baby steps!

Well I got to get going! We are going to the Bronx Zoo today and I am pretty stoked! It has been a while since I have been face to face with a polar bear so I am pretty excited! 

Elder Barton