Week 16: December 4, 2017

Hey there happy family! hope you all are doing super well! sounds like the Christmas spirit is rampid in the barton home! it sounds like you all are doing well. im so happy you could get the Christmas decorations up too! dad, i really hope you dont get too crazed with all the work and responsibility you have! mom, sounds like you are doing great in teaching your class! i wouldnt want any other teacher! ellie, keeping pushing forward in soccer. i know you have so much to look forward too! and nice job on the english test! so proud! your so smart! chloe, it sounds like you have been the big helper around the house! keep it up! i hope school has been a little bit better for you the past while with your teacher and all. carter, im so proud of you for keeping the tradition going and keeping the christmas light thing going on in our room! i totally remember that night too with Jacob and Jesse! that was so fun! i remember we got home super late too and had a summer christmas with the girls! that was so much fun! honestly you and i have so many fun memories together! cant wait to make more with ya in the college years! seriously though, whenever i think of you guys, i have these vivid memories come to mind of all the fun things we did together! i love and miss you all so much! i hope you all are having a wonderful december!

this week, we had some pretty awesome stuff happen. we had our first baptism on friday! i got to baptize a man named Albino. it was amazing! i remember elder barrios and i spent pretty much the whole day preparing for the baptism. there was a bunch of stuff we had to do. we got a ton of food set up for it too! Albino even got me some gluten free crascaunts! i remember when Albino and I were getting ready at one point for the baptism, we were just silent but happy. we couldnt talk to each other because im still learning the language, but we were both smiling super big and i just asked him if he was excited and he said ya. oh, and the heater was not working so we did the baptism in freezing water. i mostly felt bad for albino. when we got into the font together, the water actually didnt feel as cold as i thought it would. i stood by him and had to have him repeat his name a few times so i could say it right, portuguese names are a little difficult for me to pronounce correctly. haha! after i baptised him, i had an overwhelming sense of joy! seriously, i cant even explain! i just looked at him and he was smiling ear to ear. i smiled real big right back and said parabéns! and then gave him a big hug! i remember we were in the mens room taking turns changing in the tiny stall they had and still not being able to say much to each other, but being super happy. then, he said, "frio!" and we both laughed pretty hard! we got to eat a ton afterward and talk to all the people there. one of our investigators was there with her boyfriend and their baby. we all got to talk to them and they were all super happy! we will visit them all again pretty soon! they want to get married and it looks like we might be baptising a family! im seriously so excited! i honestly know none of this is me though. i just feel like an instrument in God's hands. its an amazing work! that night we went to irma deise's house and she had made me another gluten free cake! we got to talk to some of the members and the family that we might baptise which was super cool. as we left, i noticed irma deise was super sad, practically in tears. i asked her what was wrong and she said it was nothing. i asked her if i had done something wrong. she said no. my companion said he would tell me later. as we left, i told her amo voce, and she said amo voces tambem. as we weee walking back, elder barrios told me she was sad because he had to tell her that we had already made plans to spend christmas with another family. that tore my heart apart! we will find a way to visit with her still! we are actually at her house right now emailing. we spent today with her and her husband exploring portugal. it was super neat!

im pretty much out of time, but i love you all so much! thanks so mich for your love and support!

love,

Elder Barton