February 5, 2018 - Shreddin the Dunes

Hey everybody!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic week. This week has been one of the best on my mission! I have loved every minute of it and I hope I can remember all of it. For those of you who are wondering (if any) my driving has improved a lot, so things are looking up!

Eastview is a sweet area. It's massive and pretty rural, but really beautiful. The roads here are ridiculous. Back home, we would call it off-roading haha. Elder Byrom was showing me some stuff about the truck, and I asked him if I ever need to shift the car into 4L. He responded, only if you're riding through some dunes. Pretty soon we came across an incredibly rocky and bumpy road. We just looked at each other and said: the DUNES! We floored it through them, laughing the whole way. So yeah, we basically shred rocky dunes every day.

On a side note, another exciting thing about this transfer is that we have a washing machine. That's right, a WASHING MACHINE. I haven't had one in almost 18 months and it saves so much time. I will never complain about doing laundry again. Life is bliss. 

It's Sir Elder to You

Elder Byrom is such a cool guy. We are from the same group in the mission and we've been getting along so well. Our companionship got off to a great start because he knighted me on our first day (see picture). He's taught me a lot about the area and about being a zone leader, and that has made my transition really smooth. We've had a ton of fun together and we just jokingly make fun of each other's countries all the time. He says my English accent is pretty accurate, so that's a win. It's awesome having a companion that's been out as long as I have because I feel like I can trust him in any part of missionary work. 

A highlight of our week was having Anastancia and Craig's baptism! I am getting to know each of them but it was so exciting to see them enter the water and make covenants with God. It is such a privilege to see our brothers and sisters choose to follow the Savior Jesus Christ and keep His commandments. We also were able to bring 14 investigators to church!!!!!!! That was a huge change from Mutare and it was so sweet. Among those 14 were 3 families!!! I love teaching families, it is the best part of missionary work. The Mucheke family will hopefully be getting baptized this week, and the Chongoziva family will begin the process of getting legally married!! We met the Mapuranga family during the week. Brother Misheck, the baba, was taught by missionaries in 2015 but moved away before his baptism. Now that he has been back for some time, he is anxious to continue on the path he started. He came with his family to church and he accepted a baptismal date, which will be in just a few weeks time!! The work is progressing so much here and I couldn't be more excited! 

Craig and Anastancia's Baptism

The other night we made tacos and played monopoly with Elder Larson (who I was with at BYU) and his companion. It has been fun to catch up with him and reminisce about our short summer at the Y. One of the greatest parts of the mission is making friends and serving the Lord together!

Just a quick spiritual thought before I close: God is Our Heavenly Father. Not just my Father or the father of a selective group. Each of us is a son or daughter of the Almighty Ruler of the universe, and He loves each and every one of us equally. There is also something that I learned from President Mkhabela, and it's that some of God's children are favored in His sight because of their obedience and faithfulness (Nephi, for example). We too can be highly favored of the Lord if we keep His commandments and serve others out of love for Him. I know that God is close when we face trials, and all that we need to do is go to our knees or open the pages of holy scripture to feel His presence and find answers. 

Elder Byrom and I with Alyss the truck

I love you all, have a great week!!

Love Elder Barlow