Week 35: April 16, 2018 - 15 min miracles are worth the 15 hour 45 min trials

15 min miracles are worth the 15 hour 45 min trials...

Well, this was the last week of the transfer. They are going to cut this transfer short and extend the next one. I´ll tell you all what the plan is at the end of the letter. 

This week was a bit of a trail week for me, yet a super successful week at the same time. We actually had an awesome week! We taught a bunch of people and worked super hard to teach in every moment possible. One thing I learned in our district meeting as I was talking to one of our zone leaders is that we should always be looking to teach as soon as possible when we are doing contacts. I think I had heard that before but never really registered it. I tried really hard to change my attitude about talking to people every where we go. I had always thought that when we do contacts, our goal is to mark an appointment with them and teach the next day or something like that, but I was completely wrong. Our goal should be to teach them right there in the moment as soon as possible, and if we can't, then we mark an appointment with them. 

We implemented that and had a lot more success from it! We got to teach way more people on the street rather than just mark an appointment later with them. It felt more like missionary work to me. Because of that, I got to get more feedback on things that I need to do better. I don't know if its just this transfer or if it is because I am asking more questions now, but it seems that people are not understanding me. I'll go off explaining something for a little bit and they'll be nodding their head as if they are understanding, and then I'll ask a question and they'll act clueless like they hadn't even heard what I had just said. We were teaching this one lady and I was explaining one thing and then I asked if she understood and she basically said (this is my english translation), "I cant really understand you because of your accent, but I can understand your companion better." 

That pierced me to the core! Because, it wasn't like I could change the way I was explaining it or the words I was using, it was literally just the way I talked, so there wasn't much I could do in that moment. My companion basically explained that whole time. I had always told my companions before that they didn't have to feel bad if I wasn't talking that much or if the people couldn't understand me because to me it is always more important that we are helping the people we teach and that they understand our purpose and what we are teaching. But, I think God was really putting me to the test this week to see if I meant that. 

We had a few other people tell us that this week that I wasn't speaking as good as my companion. Its funny too because people had never really said that as much until this week! Elder Davis was awesome about it because he would always brush off their comment and then try to help me out. He was a true friend in those moments when I needed him. Honestly though, it was totally preparation and a total answer to my prayers. I had actually been praying that I would have a stronger desire to learn the language. This definitely gave me a stronger desire to learn! hahaha! I've literally been walking on the streets by my companion acting like a crazy person mouthing and sounding out some tricky words I'm not very good at pronouncing. It's awesome. It's also been good because I'm really gonna need to know the language for this next transfer.

We had a super neat miracle this week too. Our shower broke this week, so we've had to use other people's showers for the past week or just wash our faces and hair in the sink in the morning. We walked the streets with the stench of discovery on our side! hahaha! Well, anyways, we got up on morning to go to the couple missionaries´ home and take a shower. Because of that, our schedule was thrown off so we had no time to plan for the day and had to go visit our appointments. All of our appointments were in the African neighborhood and none of them had phones so we couldn't call before to confirm. 

We got there, and its like 30 min from our house, and literally no one was there or they said they had to reschedule with us. It was terrible. We got back home and I made some of my special curry that I learned how to make from Elder Barrios. One of the elders was eating and took a few bites and said how it was soooo good, and then after a few more said that he was full. I guess I had lost my tastebuds or something, but I still thought it was amazing! hahaha! 

We went out to teach and literally no one was there, it was terrible!! The day sort of felt like it was just dragging on. Then, at the end of the day, we had the inspiration for our bishop and the feeling that we should go to work in a different area. Because of our lack of planning and the way the day went, we decided on the spot to go visit some less actives in that area. We did. After walking a while late at night knocking on a few doors, we entered into this sketchy ally and found this one house where a less active member named David lived. 

We got there and knocked on a few doors. The houses were some small abandoned houses that these people had inhabited. This one lady showed us where David lived. Right when we got to their house, a boy came walking from right behind us. Right when I looked at him, the spirit literally told me that it was David. I asked what his name was, and sure enough, it was David. We talked to him and he said that he had actually been thinking about going to church recently. It was a miracle that we found him the time we did. In our conversation, his birthday came up. Turns out Elder Davis and David have the same birthday!!! What a miracle!!!! We combined for another day as he didn't have much time in the moment. We left that day feeling so happy!!! Its times like that where you think that that 15 minutes was worth the whole other 15 hours 45 minutes of the day. Anyways, super cool week!

And finally, for transfers this week, Elder Davis will be going to another area that is still in our district, so we are not too sad, we will still be seeing each other every week. And yes, I will stay in Almada and I will be training!!!!! Elder Van Wagenen and I will both be training at the same time!!!! I'm super excited and super nervous at the same time!!! Should be an adventure!!!

Love yall tons!!!! Thanks to much for all the letters and support!!!!! Best family ever!!!!!!

Elder Barton