各位弟兄姐妹早上好！
So I just figured out how to use the Chinese setting on this email and I am not going to lie, I am feeling pretty cool right now! This was a fantastic week! I dont know that I have had very many weeks like this on my mission. I feel like the longer that I am on my mission, the weeks just keep getting better and better.
To start things off! 单姐妹 was baptized! That was awesome! There was a lot of work that went into her baptism and a lot of things that tried to get in the way, but obviously nothing can possibly get in the way of someone with that strong of a desire to be baptized. She is such an amazing women. Her baptism was such an emotional experience for me. She has been through and overcome so much. Watching her come out of the water after being baptized, then seeing a look of relief on her face brought tears to my eyes. It brings them to me right now as I am typing this. Baptism is such a huge blessing. Gods mercy is really something quite incredible. He requires a firms desire and in return he is willing to give us a fresh start.
Before this key board is ruined from water damage, I will move on to the next subject. Our other baptismal dates are still doing fantastic. We have been so blessed to meet them. 郭弟兄 opened up to us a little bit more this last week. We found out that he comes from a very rough background. His mother passed away when he was very young due to in his opinion, poor judgement of the doctor. They used shocking therapy to try to cure a problem that she had with her brain. One day they used to much electricity and his mother could not take it. His sister was so sad that she killed herself. 郭弟兄 became very depressed and came to America to escape the memories that he had with his family in china. He worked 12 hour days everyday for 12 years straight. Just recently his life has been settling down.
I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to share the gospel with him, and have it change his life.
Jeremy is such a stud! He is progressing so fast! He is scheduled to be baptized on the 12th of august... we might pass him off to the flushing missionaries because the flushing chapel is a lot closer to his home. For the New York area it is really strange as far as boundaries go. Even though there are different Chinese branches, the members choose where they want to go. I have no idea why it is like that. We will see what happens, we are going to investigate the youth program situation over there and then give him the choice. We will see what happens.
A few days ago, Elder Foley and I ran into a man on the street that I met a little over a year ago. I even wrote about him in my email I am pretty sure. He is from Guatemala and met with the missionaries there. I got his number and gave it to the Connecticut missionaries because that was where he was living at the time. When I ran into him a few days ago, I could tell right away that his life had changed and not it a good way. He was covered in dirt from head to toe, his hair gave me the impression that he had not showered in quite some time, and he was shaking. He told me that he lost his job, his father just died, and he was robbed the night before. He would not allow us to give him money but he asked his just us to help him find a place to stay. He even had money to pay, he just did not know where to go. We went with him to many different places and called the Spanish missionaries, but could not find anywhere with an empty room, or within his budget.
We called the other Chinese companionship and told them to bring us some food and old clothes from the apartment that we could give him. After he had food in his stomach, he seemed to calm down a little bit. Finally we found an old Spanish church that was in china town. We walked in to see if they had any places for this man to stay. A group of over 10 people kneeled down with us to pray for this man. The prayer was in Spanish, so we could not understand. But, we could definitely feel the faith of this congregation. After the prayer, they made a few calls, then were able to find him a place to live. I felt that they were great people and they were all very impressed by me and Elder Foley's willingness to help this man. I think it left a good impression. We also gave his phone number to some Spanish missionaries close and last we heard they are going to try to meet up with him. I love service. That was such a miracle that we were able to help him.
Thank you every one for all that you do! I hope all is well! Talk to you next week!
包长老(Elder Barton)
Elder Barton will return home on August 16th and speak in our Encinitas Ward (Cardiff Building) at 9am on August 19th.
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