April 10, 2017 - Third Time's the Charm

Lion King anyone?

Hey everyone!! Time is flying like crazy and I can't believe we are at the beginning of another transfer!! And the big news is: Elder Ray and I will be staying for a third transfer in Seke! Crazy, right? 3 transfers with one companion doesn't happen often, but I'm excited for what lies ahead!

Elder Baldwin and I

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Baldwin, one of our Zone leaders. I went with him to his area in Eastview. It is so big!! We went around a big part of their area teaching lessons and it was pretty great. We get along pretty well. He's from Wyoming and is twice as old on mission as I am. He said I was doing well and he commented that my Shona was pretty good. It was a fun day overall and I learned a lot from him. We did run into this crazy pastor guy who was friends with some other missionaries. Haha he was walking and praying for us and what what. It was pretty crazy haha.

On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Barnett and he came to my area. It's always fun being on exchanges with someone in your group and one of your friends. We taught a few powerful lessons, the highlight being with Clive. We read 2 Nephi 2 with him about agency and the plan of salvation. He was really blown away by the explanations we gave him and you could tell the Spirit was opening his heart to the Book of Mormon. He told us that he was coming to conference because he wanted to have the light and knowledge that we had. And sure enough, he came!! It was pretty awesome. Clive is a great guy. He's almost 20 and he loves dancing (like the animation/robot) dancing. Overall it was a fun day. We studied about knowledge and about 2 Nephi 9 together and it was so awesome. Knowledge is an attribute of God, but if we begin to think we're wise and forgot God's counsel, we become foolish. I love the Book of Mormon!!

On Friday we had zone meeting and it was sweet. We had some great presentations on planning and so on, but my favorite was Elder Bamutesiza's on diligence. He's been such a diligent missionary throughout his mission and it was so cool to hear his testimony in his last zone meeting. We did interviews for the sister missionaries after that and I met a surprise friend! Melusi Moyo, who served under Mimi and Papa and knew my buddy Elder Boyce, is good friends with the guy we interviewed!! He told me how Papa sends every missionary from Zimbabwe home with a charge to find me and take a picture and he's the first one! It was so fun to hear stories about Papa making jokes and so on. It was awesome!!

Solomon's baptism

Saturday was so awesome!! We watched conference and had a couple investigators there! Solomon was also baptized in between the sessions, which was really cool too. Saturday night we made burgers and fries to celebrate our house staying together for another transfer and we enjoyed. Early Sunday morning we drove to Unit O (the far end of our area) and took combies to church with a bunch of our investigators. We were able to come with a bunch of them and we really enjoyed conference. We were unable to watch the Sunday Afternoon session because of some stake business, but we'll be viewing it this week. Last night we went to Brother Bomba's house and watched the priesthood session, which was unbelievable powerful. It was a sweet weekend.

And to conclude, I LOVED CONFERENCE!! There were so many amazing talks. Some of the highlights for me included talks by Elder Clayton, Elder Sabin, Elder Oaks, Elder Ballard, Elder Bednar, Elder Holland, President Eyring, and President Monson!! My absolute favorite was President Uchtdorf's talk on love casting out fear. I felt like he was speaking directly to me and the Spirit was so strong. We don't need to fear. God is not a God of fear but a God of love!! Fear doesn't change our hearts and show us the good the way that love does. So let us turn fear into faith and perfect love!! I absolutely loved that so much. Conference has become a spiritual gold mine for me in the last year or so and I can never seem to get enough. I hope each of you enjoyed it and were edified as much as I was.

Ladies and gentlemen, the exit of the Spartan of Uganda,

the one and only Elder Bamutesiza

Today, I said farewell to Elder Tsongora, Elder Mkhaliphi, and of course, my beloved trainer Elder Bamutesiza. All of those guys and the rest of their group have completed their 2 years of dedicated service to the Lord and are returning home. I couldn't be happier for them and I hope to meet them again someday!!

I love you all and wish you the best week ever!!

Elder Barlow

Me and a few of my departing brethren (Elder Bamutesiza, Elder Tsongora, and Elder Mkhaliphi)