Hey everybody!
The title is real: this will be my last group email!! I can hardly believe it...time has gone by so fast. I'll address that later because there are many wonderful things to talk about from our week in Domboshava!
Elder Wheeler and I have been tearing it up in the area, and I mean that literally (my shoes are in a sorry state and there's hardly a road that we haven't walked several times). Our branch presidency had asked us to focus on reactivating less-active church members, and we had plenty of opportunities to do so. Many of our initial teaching appointments fell through, so we just visited as many members as we could! I love meeting new people and getting to know them; it has been one of the greatest blessings throughout my mission. I have also loved speaking Shona with the people in Domboshava. Many people are not confident or competent enough in Chirungu (English), and so it brings a smile to their faces when they see a murungu speaking their mother language. Our young friend Tinashe is still doing so well! He's going to be baptized this Sunday, which will incidentally be my last Sunday! I'm so excited for him. He is very quiet, but he has the sweetest smile that comes out whenever we go to visit him. The members have been so helpful in teaching and taking care of Tinashe, and I'm sure his baptism day will be a great one for all!
We found many new people to teach this week despite our focus on members, and many of them seem prepared for the restored gospel! Another highlight was walking out to Njedza with a few members. Njedza is a solid hour and a half walk from the edge of Domboshava, and it's definitely out there. It's a kumusha area (rural/village) and so awesome to walk around. (Not to mention the guy who had just killed a large cobra and was tugging it around on a string and showing it off.) It's basically what you might imagine when someone mentions Africa. We were able to visit a few members and see some amazing scenery. By the time we returned, we were exhausted and scorched by the sun, but we kept at it and were able to teach a few more people before the day's end. It was awesome!
On Sunday we viewed President Nelson's youth devotional again, and it was awesome. I definitely testify that the gathering of Israel is real, and that it is the most rewarding work on earth! I love and sustain the prophet of God and I'm grateful for his counsel.
So here we are at the end of the line (since I probably will not have sufficient time to email next Monday). I never thought this time would come, but it has arrived much faster than I could've imagined. I cannot fully express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for giving me this privilege of serving Him. I couldn't have known how much I would've learned and how much I would've grown during the last two years. I will always have a special place in my heart for the wonderful people of Zimbabwe and the time I spent with them. I love this beautiful land and it will be bittersweet to leave it.
In closing, I'd like to share some things that I took for granted before my mission, but that I have come to truly know deep in my heart over the past two years: I know that God is Our Father and that He loves us. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that He lives. I know that there is no stain that His Atonement cannot cleanse. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that we will draw nearer to Christ through reading and applying its precepts than by any other book. I know that this is Christ's Church and that He leads it today through a living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. And I know that when we willingly do as the Lord commands, there is no limit to what He can help us become and no limit to the blessings that we will receive. I leave this humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love Elder Barlow
PS My homecoming talk will be given on Sunday, August 12th at 9 am. The address for the chapel is 2895 E Creek Road, Cottonwood Heights, Utah. I'd love to see you there!
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