Tuesday, July 25, 2017

I ate a cat

Hi family!

Sorry I forgot to send a big group email last week, I didn't even think about it until I had already logged off the computer.

This week went well. We had a lot of lessons and things to do, so time passed quickly. Tuesday we had lessons, the norm.

Wednesday was awesome! The branch from Tahaa was here at Tahiti for the temple all last week. We got to go and do baptisms for the dead with our new converts! S and H came with the branch. It was so fun to see all the members. We went early in the morning. S wasn't originally planning to come to the temple this year, so I was really excited when I found out she was coming. I pushed pretty hard for her and H to come when I was still in Tahaa. Anyways, Wednesday morning Elder J and I got to watch S be baptized in the temple for her mother. Then we had the privilege to lay our hands on S's head and give the gift of the Holy Ghost to her mom. Super cool experience! The veil is really thin. It's so neat to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. I'm grateful that I was able to go to Tahaa and find S. Thanks for making me take piano lessons, Mom! :)

Thursday and Friday we had some more lessons, normal stuff.

Other notable events: a dog peed on my foot without me noticing it... I don't remember if I already told you that last week?

Thursday night we taught two new investigators, H and H. They're a younger couple with a few young kids. They were a member referral. They're super potential! We taught them the first lesson yesterday (Sunday) and they are open to the idea of baptism if they get a response that the book of Mormon is true. Teaching members' referrals is the best!

I forgot to update you all last week, but we also fixed the baptism of M, the wife of a new convert. She's been ready to get baptized for a while, but kept waiting. She's getting baptized on August 19th with her 8 year old daughter! Yay! We also started teaching M's sister, T, and her daughter K. They want to get baptized the same day as M. Also, T's husband accepted to start taking lessons too! Glory to God.

This morning Elder F, an Elder from Vanuatu who lives with us, killed, skinned, and cooked a cat for us! The zone leaders caught it on Saturday and it's been tied up outside our house all weekend. It tastes like chicken! Yes, of course I ate it. Really, it's not bad. Now I just have to taste dog before I go home! Haha.

Tonight we have the baptism of R! She's been taking lessons for 3 years or so. So things are good! This might be my last baptism on my mission.. weird.

This week should be good. This Friday we have my last-ever zone conference. Then Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday night we have HEIVA! It's the huge Tahitian cultural celebration with lots of dancing, music, and good food! I'll keep you updated on it all next week. I'm playing the piano for our ward's Heiva choir next Sunday night. We had "choir practice" yesterday. Fun stuff!

See you all soon!!!

Love,

Elder Barlow

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

july

Hi family!

This week went by pretty quickly. Tuesday morning we went into Papeete and met President and Sister Fox. Sister Fox is from CA, and I think President Fox is from WA? I'm not sure. They met at BYU and got married 8 months after President Fox's mission to France. They have 5 kids, all grown and married or moved out. They lived in WA for about 20 years. They were in the MTC for about 5 days in which they saw 13 of the 15 apostles. Up on the stand in front of everyone, right before President Fox got up to talk to us, they kissed and everyone went awwww. Then President Fox said "ne faites pas cela!" Don't do that! Hahahaha. He seems really cool.
Tuesday night we had a reference from some members and taught the Restoration. We then blessed the lady we were teaching and she was crying afterwards. It was a cool spiritual experience.
From the rest of the week, I don't have a whole lot to report. We taught lessons, etc. Time is flying by fast.
Yesterday at church we gave talks as part of a missionary program. I taught about the importance of members, using the example of Alma and Amulek in the city of Ammonihah. Alma was rejected the first time around, but with the help of Amulek they had some success, notably Zeezrom.
Last night we had our second to last missionary concert in the Papeari stake, about 30 minutes away from here. To get there, we had to drive through my old zone of Paea. So fun!
This morning we played basketball again. President Fox texted us yesterday and told us he would be coming, but then we got a text from him this morning at 4am ish saying he wouldn't make it today. Maybe next week. Basketball was fun, as always.
Thanks for all the news and pictures. Happy holidays! Also, I bought a postcard to send but forgot to put it in the mail today. Sorry. Haha. Maybe if I send it next week, I'll get home before it gets there! Weird.
Have a great week, love you all!

Elder Barlow

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

JULY

Already July....? Wow.

This week went really fast! We were in Papeete a lot: Wednesday for a goodbye meeting with President Bize, then Thursday again to walk in a parade. It was a holiday here: "l'autonomie," or independence. With those activities, those two days seemed to fly by. Like always, it was fun to see all the missionaries and talk. I was talking with some sisters who went to BYU for a semester before their mission, and it made me really excited for college! (As if I wasn't already really excited!)
We had a really good day on Friday. We fixed a marriage and 2 baptisms of a younger couple for the 5th of August (birthday present for Andrea haha). We'll teach them the word of wisdom this coming week. They're names are N and H. That same day, we happened to find 3 new amis. The Lord put them in our path! We started teaching the boyfriend of an inactive girl, and also found the mom of a new convert who happened to be at her daughter's house when we stopped by. So that was a pretty good day.
Saturday.. all morning we were in the zone leaders' sector with the whole zone doing a "blitz." That's where we go to see members and ask for references. We got some names for them. In the afternoon we just planned for next week. Also, Elder J and I planned for the next 6 weeks. We get along really well.  Did I mention that he's half Tahitian? His Mom grew up in Takaroa, an atoll right next to Ahe. But Elder J grew up in Arizona. So he's straight up American with a level of islander cool. We have fun together and work hard.

This morning we played basketball, then went shopping. I found a really cool pancake mix from an American imports store that looks really delicious and I'm excited to try! It's packed with protein and whole grains and good stuff.

Tonight we have a family night with all the new converts, like normal. Tomorrow we go into Papeete again for a hello with President Fox and all the missionaries. We also have some new references to start teaching this week. Should be good!

Love,

Elder Barlow