Olá Família!
I hope all is well at home and on the colorado trip! I cannot believe how much things seem to be changing at home! Dad, it sounds like you have a lot coming your way! Crazy! Everyone must thing you can take care of the whole world or something! And, ya , the language is pretty interesting. I´ve been able to contribute here and there and talk to some people on the street, but it is all very basic. I feel like I am being pushed to learn and grow every day. My companion speaks very fast too! I feal like I am learning more spanish than Portuguese! I have to adjust to hearing actual people from portugal after hearing my companion talk in his spanish accent. I actually love it! I notice my attitude has everything to do with the language too! If I am upbeat and excited about learning, it is much easier. I have also been reading the Book of Mormon out loud in Portuguese out loud like you told me to. Carter sounds like a beast tearing it up on the court! Chloe, thanks for sticking up for me!!! haha!! That would have been a funny story to see! Ellie, hang in there! Junior year is a growing experience! stay strong! One thing that helped me during football was just keeping an eternal perspective and knowing that the more you constantly press forward, the more others notice and it turns to your good in the future. trust me! Mom, I will let you know about the packages as soon as possible! I am so excited!!!!!! You sound super happy! I love reading your letters, I feel like I can hear you talking to me!
I have been doing just great here! The food is fantastic! Surprisingly, the members have been feeding us a lot lately! We have actually had a few dinners, and they have been super nice, big dinners too! It has been a little tricky finding things in the store to buy for food. There are not a lot of the same things here as there are in the US.
This past week was fantastic! I had an awesome experience with the members recently. We went over to a member´s home to eat dinner. My companion and I sat down and waited in the living room while the members got some of the food ready. My companion looked at me and told me I had to drink something or the members would get very mad. He was saying everything super fast in his portuguese spanish too so I couldnt understand everything like I would hope too. He looked to serious adn then said something that I recognized, alcohol. What!?!?! I kept telling him, no I will not drink it, word of wisdom! Word of Wisdom! He kept telling me I had to, and then the mambers came into the room. I sort of kept thinking he was messing with me. Then, the brother, who was the past bishop of our ward, put down a big bottle with a cork in it. Gulp. My heart was pounding! It said vinho branco on it. I knew what that was, but I was in so much shock, I kept thinking I was misinterpreting it! The brother said to drink. Elder Barrios, in a matter of seconds, poped the cork, poured it in his glass, chugged the whole thing, and turned straight to me. My heart was pounding so hard! I was thinking, what happened to the church! I kept saying I didnt know what the drink was and that I didnt understand! I kept thinking, there is no way! I am hearing this wrong! I went over to my dictionary and looked up the word vinho glancing back and forth between the book and the members. Then, out of no where, my companion started bursting out laughing! Then they all started laughing! He then pulled out a big bottle of soda the same color as the drink and kept saying it was a joke! I could not believe it! I was so relieved, but sort of mad at Elder Barrios! They pulled it off so well! I fell for it so bad! They said they do that to as many people as they can, and as many elders as they can. I hope that never happens to any other elder! hahaha! It was a good test though! Hey, at least people know I am a good missionary now!
I dont have much more time to write, but this week was seriously so good! I might be able to baptise someone this coming couple weeks which will be super neat! I have also, like I have already said, been able to see the blessings of attitude. Attitude is a huge chunk of missionary work and, I think, life. I´m trying to be able to always chose to have a good attitude, not let other things get in the way of that. Love you all! You all are number one in my heart!!!!!
Love always,
Elder Barton
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| My companion and I |
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| My companion made some curry for us! So good! I felt right at home! |
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| Us and Ulycese at the church. He is a recent convert and super fun! We have been able to teach some other people with him which is super neat! |
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| the member that gave me the vinho test! Love him, he is really super funny! He was also talking during the photo, haha! |
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| awesome picture of Portugal! |
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| Us with a member family, and the man to the right next to my companion is the boyfriend to the mom of this family. His name is albino and he is the person I might get to baptize! |
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| the statue of christ |
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