January 9, 2018 - Climb Every Mountain...but be smart about it

Hey everyone!!

I hope you are all doing well! Unfortunately this will just be a brief email because the internet is moving at about the speed of a kombi in a traffic jam. I hope you've all had a great start to 2018! How blessed we are to have another year to live, learn, and have new experiences!

Before I talk briefly about the week, I want to share some really exciting news: the Zimbabwe Harare Mission will be splitting to form Zimbabwe Bulawayo Mission beginning in July 2018!! I'm so pumped!! It's so cool to see the work of the Lord progressing so quickly in this wonderful place. I'm going to remain in the Harare Mission as I will only have a short time left when the split takes place, but I couldn't be more excited!!

Elder Hamblin and I

The highlights of the week were going on exchanges. On Wednesday I went to Dangamvura with Elder Hamblin, who is from my MTC group but is now my zone leader. We had a great time working and teaching together and it was fun to catch up with him. We also barely avoided getting drenched in a downpour and getting swarmed by a flock of hungry birds. He gave me some great counsel on helping my district do what is right by setting a good example. Overall it was a great day. Elder Stone and I went on exchanges in Penhalonga on Friday. He's in his third transfer and he comes from Layton, UT. It was a fun day because he is super outgoing and jokes with everyone. It was great to talk to him and see his zeal for the work, and we also had some great conversations in the area. I'm always thankful to serve around and get to know other missionaries!

Elder Penhalonga

We had district conference this weekend, and it was so powerful! President and Sister Mkhabela came to preside over the conference and it was great to see them. Sister Mkhabela spoke on how we are all building our own house of salvation and conversion and how we have a personal responsibility to do the very best we can. President Mkhabela gave an incredible talk on how we need to teach our families in the home and how the Church, just like all organizations, will fail without strong families. It was so powerful and my heart was really touched by what was said, and I hope that the members will apply the things they learned! 

I wanted to add a note about the passing of President Thomas S. Monson. He was such a kind and joyful man who set an amazing example of being spiritually in tune He was the prophet through most of my growing up; he announced the age at which I could go on a mission, announced the temple here in Zimbabwe, and issued my mission call. I will be forever grateful for his counsel and his loving example!

That Mutare View

Today we went on a hike with some of the other elders in the zone up to Mount Gimboki. We initially planned on climbing up the spine of the mountain, but we took some bad directions from a farmer and ended up trying to bush-wack and climb up the face of the mountain. And it was boiling hot! As you might assume, our efforts proved fruitless about halfway up, so we climbed down and walked around to try our original idea. Not all of us made it to the summit because of some really tough conditions close to the top, but the view from the mountain was incredible (see picture below). The object lesson here? We all face problems that are difficult to tackle and our first attempts may seem futile, but if we take a step back and try again (perhaps in a different way), we will be able to push through! Either that, or be smart about mountain climbing.

Love you all, have a great week!!

January 2, 2018 - HAPPY HOLIDAYS + 2018

Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone!!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and that you're enjoying 2018! Time flies doesn't it? I can't believe I spent all of 2017 in Zimbabwe. I am so grateful for the last calendar year that I've had to spend as a missionary and for all the experiences that I've had! I'm so excited for what 2018 has in store! I'm sure you've all made around 5 new years resolutions and you may have already broken 3 of them haha. I think my biggest new years resolutions are to endure to the end of my mission and speak Shona fluently. I hope I can stick with them!

This has been my first email in a few weeks because last week I was skyping my family!! It was so awesome to talk to them and share a few moments with them on Christmas day. My brothers need to stop growing haha. Truly, the greatest Christmas gifts I could've asked for were talking to my family and spending time spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ! I am grateful that I've come to the understanding that Christmas is all about the Savior and the greatest way we can celebrate is by sharing His light with others! I hope you also had a wonderful Christmas and found ways to celebrate the birth of our Redeemer! 

Beautiful Mutare

Mutare is beautiful!! It's really green, basically the opposite of Bulawayo. Oh, and there are MOUNTAINS!! The view is so beautiful and I hope that the pictures that I will be sending will do it justice. The weather keeps switching between blazing hot and pouring rain, so it's hard to be prepared. We see monkeys almost every day in the area, which is also pretty cool. The Church in Mutare has been struggling in recent years, but I am excited to work with these people and see what miracles the Lord has in store for us! My companion is Elder Motsoiri from Free State, South Africa. He's almost 23 and speaks 9 languages fluently, plus he played volleyball. We've been enjoying working together and he is helping me get my Shona back to form. 

Elder Motsoiri

We've met so many awesome people as we've been working here. To quickly name a few:

Feryne: a 25 year old member who we are encouraging to be active in the Church. He's really cool and we cook dinner for him when we go to teach.

Lisa: One of the many Eat 'n' Lick restaurant employees that we've befriended. She's 17 and we found out she stays in our area, so we've been teaching her and will soon invite her to be baptized!

Razo Family: They were married and baptized the week before I came and they are so powerful! It's a husband, wife, and 3 little kids and they are awesome!

That's just to name a few of the friends that I've made in Mutare over the past few weeks. Town is pretty quiet and there are quite a few large houses, which is very similar to my area in Kadoma where I was serving one year ago. 

Tanaka's baptism

We baptized Tanaka this week!! She's 19 and the sister of a recent convert. Even though she's quiet, she's super powerful and we are happy for her! We were supposed to baptize two others this week, but Nelson wasn't home when we went to prepare him for his interview, and Shepherd never showed up for his interview. That was disappointing, but we have faith that both will be baptized soon! One reason that missionary work is difficult in Mutare is because of some rumors that have been going around about the Church. For instance, many people think we are Satanists, which is strange because the name of the Church is the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints. Fortunately, we haven't met too many people who believe that and we've been able to find many who seem willing to talk to us. 

On New Year's Eve, we cooked a big dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, and yes, crocodile. It was delicious! It was a great way to welcome the new year! It's crazy to think that I will be returning home this year, but I am doing my best to soak up every minute that I have as a missionary here in Zimbabwe!! I'm sorry this email has been a bit scattered and doesn't have too many spiritual thoughts, we have limited emailing time today because on New Years Day there were no internet cafes open. 

Have a wonderful week everybody!! Enjoy 2018!!

Love Elder Barlow