February 6, 2017 - And I Would Walk 500 km.....

Some sweet flowers in the area

Hey everyone!!

I hope everyone is doing spectacular and had a great week! It hasn't been the most exciting week ever but it's been good overall!!

I can now speak surface Shona!! Basically what that means is that starting conversations and greetings and such and such I can do pretty fluently! It's pretty awesome. My companion is even better than I am so we figure things out pretty well. I can understand about 30-40% of what people say now so it's pretty great. It's so funny to speak Shona to people and see the surprise on their faces. It really makes a lot of people happy so that's really fun to see.

On Tuesday I taught our doctrinal study in district meeting on conversion. It turned out super well. I love how conversion is a lifelong process. It all starts with desire. I love how in Alma 32 it describes the growth from a desire to a tree bearing the sweetest fruit. I also love the quote from Elder Boyd K. Packer which says "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior." So it is with us as we become converted!! How awesome is that?! Understanding is the key.

One reason why this branch is so awesome is that we have young men that are always willing to work with us and help us. It's the best! I think it means a lot to some people to have another person who isn't a missionary bear testimony to them. We placed a lot of copies of the Book of Mormon and we were able to teach a lot about it, which was so awesome!! We taught a mama about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon in about 40% Shona which was hard but super awesome!

My German pancakes

Aside from that, the highlights of the week included finding 9 new investigators, meeting lots of little kids, and making german pancakes! They didn't rise like they should've but they still tasted really nice. We definitely eat well in our house. Oh, and we walked a TON this week. If I forgot to mention it last week, our car was taken from us and condemned last Monday because of all the problems it had. So we're back to walking!! It certainly puts a damper on our efficiency but we are doing our best! It was amazing when we taught Mai Mondwa the Word of Wisdom. She said when she was reading the pamphlet, she saw that tea wasn't allowed. She then confessed to loving tea but that she stopped immediately after reading that. Ahh she's so powerful! I'm praying that her marriage can go through soon!!

Yesterday we didn't have very many investigators at church but we still had a good time. We were able to break our fasts with homemade burgers and fries, which was amazing. The best part of all, however, came when we went to Mai Kupa's (RC of the other elders) and watched the Restoration movie. It was so powerful and the Spirit was unbelievably strong. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God to restore the priesthood and the fulness of the gospel. We got to talk about it afterwards and it was so amazing. It meant so much to have that comfort from the Holy Ghost. We spent the evening talking about scriptures and doctrine with the other missionaries and it was awesome.

Anyways, that's basically my week! I apologize if I've left something out! I love you all so much!

Elder Barlow

Haha sorry I'll send better pictures next week!