December 19, 2017 - On the Road Again...to Mutare

Hey everyone!!

Happy Holidays!! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the Christmas spirit! I can't believe how quickly time is flying. 2017 is drawing to a close and my last Christmas in Zimbabwe is approaching faster than I could've imagined. Oh, and just a forewarning, this email will be shorter and less detailed because of a lack of time (have to love transfers).

My final week in Tshabalala was a great one. Elder Magoha and I worked hard to find new people and share the gospel with those we met. On Thursday we had our Christmas devotional in Gweru along with the Kwekwe and Gweru zones. We viewed the First Presidency Christmas devotional and it was so inspiring. The themes of giving rather than getting and making this season a season of love were touching and uplifting, and I'm so grateful for the lessons we learned. Afterwards, we had a brief talent show, where Elder Condie, Elder Baldwin, and I sang a song that we had arranged all in one day and practiced a few times. It went super well! (Hopefully the video will come through so you can judge for yourself) There was also a baking contest among all the companionships, and although my banana bread wasn't the victor, I still think it put up a good fight haha. A ping pong tournament was set up during the festivities, and I took 3rd place out of about half the mission. Plus I beat my good friend, Elder Whiting, who is probably the best ping pong player ever. Overall, it was a great time to come together and feel the Christmas spirit and have a little fun.

Defeating Elder Whiting at ping pong
at the Christmas Devotional

On Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Horlacher for the last time. I've always enjoyed working with him. He's been setting a great example for the other missionaries in our district and has become a great friend. On Saturday, Chantel got baptized!! It was so awesome, even though she was afraid of water. Her grandma and a few friends will be following her footsteps soon, and we are excited for that! That afternoon, the call of destiny came: I have been transferred to be a district leader in Mutare. Mutare is on the other side of the country and is one of the most difficult places for missionary work in ZImbabwe, but it is also full of beautiful mountains (pictures will come soon!). My new companion is Elder Motsoiri from South Africa. He came to the mission just one transfer after me, so I'm glad to be getting a companion with some good experience in the field. I am a bit anxious about the move, but I have faith that the Lord will provide miracles just as He has in the past! 

Chantel's baptism!

On Sunday it was time to say goodbye to the beloved Tshabalala ward. It was difficult to say goodbye to the Nyoni family and other good friends that I've made, but I know Elder Magoha will take good care of them. We met Perseverance's dad in the evening, who has been pretty opposed to her joining the church. He has a degree in theology and knows much of the gospel, but we realized that he is just defensive about his family and wants them to be united and to be saved. I hope Percy's family will be able to receive the blessings of the gospel just as she has! I'm so thankful for the opportunity that I had to serve in Tshabalala and to train Elder Magoha. I learned so much and grew a lot as a person and a missionary. I truly feel that we worked hard and did our best, and it was such a privilege to meet so many incredible people along the way. Serving as a missionary truly is the greatest thing! 

Good-bye to the Nyoni's

Yesterday I said goodbye to Elder Magoha and boarded the bus for a 6 hour journey back to Harare. After that, we boarded a kombi for the 3 hour ride to Mutare. I can't wait for what the future holds!!

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy being with family and friends, and never forget about the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who is the reason for our celebration! I know that He was born in Bethlehem of Mary, that He set a perfect example, that He died and that He lives again. I love all of you so much!!

Elder Barlow

#LightTheWorld

December 11, 2017 - Ndbele Tongue Twister

September 25, 2017 - Time to Dust Off the Training Wheels

The jacaranda trees are back

Hey friends and family!! 

From what I've heard, it's cooling off back in the USA. If you're upset, I will totally trade you weather because I am roasting here in Zimbabwe!! It's still been a great week though, I hope you all are doing well!

The weather has been getting hotter by the day. My Ndebele is still pretty limited, but one of the things I do know how to say is that it's really hot (yachisa kakulu), so that works to break the ice or get some laughs when I don't know what else to say. Thanks to Shona, I can actually understand a little bit of Ndebele. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up more quickly as the next transfer goes by.

Elder Gordon and I after exchanges

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Gordon in Mzilikazi. He's about 3 months older than me on mission and is from Springville, Utah. I look up to him a lot and we had a good time as companions. As zone leaders they have a car, but of course we were the ones walking for the day. Luckily I've been walking for nearly my entire mission and so I didn't mind. I learned that I need to be more simple in my teaching. It really is the Holy Ghost that will bring the truth to peoples' hearts, so I don't need to put too much effort into over-explaining. It's always good to expound the scriptures, but it was a good reminder that the Spirit is the true teacher. We had a lot of fun talking about life and about the gospel and I'm glad to be serving around good missionaries.

An interesting thought about walking (since I mentioned it a second ago): Christ walked everywhere He went. As I've studied Jesus the Christ and the New Testament, I've read about how as He traveled, He taught the people and healed them, ministering to them as He went along. Acts 10:38 says that Jesus "went about doing good," wherever He went. Even though it is tough sometimes, I'm grateful that I get to walk as I do my missionary work because there are endless opportunities to meet and teach amazing people as we go along!

With Brother and Sister Nyoni

Elder Daka and I have been meeting with Brother and Sister Nyoni over the last two weeks. Bro. Nyoni is a returned missionary and a super awesome guy, and his wife isn't a member so we are teaching her. He is a great help to us and a great support to his wife. They have a little 3 month old baby name Londile that is about the chubbiest baby of all time. It's so cool to teach with them and it's yet another family that we can help come closer to Christ! 

Saturday was super busy! Elder Daka and I went and helped out with the ward Mormon Helping Hands project at the Tshabalala Library. We cleaned up the yard and parts of the inside, and it felt good to help out and do some community service. After that we rushed home to change and head off to Sister Lucy's baptism! If you don't remember her, her husband was baptized by Elder Daka before I came along with their kids and they are super awesome. We helped work out their legal marriage and she finally got baptized! It was an awesome experience to finally see the whole family in the Church. I am always grateful to be a part of bringing families together. After that came the long-awaited transfer news call. Elder Daka is going to Chitungwiza!! I'm really excited for him and Elder Taloa and I gave him tons of people to look up when he gets there. And.....I'M TRAINING!!! I'm finally getting to train a new missionary, something that I've wanted to do ever since I came on my mission. His name is Elder Magoha and I think he is from Tanzania. I'll be going to pick him up on Wednesday this week. I'm excited and a bit nervous, so I would love if you could remember me in your prayers throughout these next couple weeks! It's crazy how fast time is flying, I can't believe that it will be October in a few days.

At Mormon Helping Hands service project

On Sunday I taught the gospel principles class about prophets. Here in Zimbabwe, there are so many false prophets that take advantage of the people and many people are confused. Teaching them the true nature of a prophet of God and that there is a true prophet on the earth is so important for them to understand. We talked about how we must follow all of the prophet's counsel, and with general conference approaching, I think that it really applies. We can't pick and choose which of God's commandments that we are willing to keep, especially because the toughest things are usually what we need most. I hope you all have a wonderful experience listening to God's ordained servants this week, I think I'll be watching it the following week. After church, Elder Daka and I went around saying goodbye to everyone. I'm going to miss being his companion. He's a funny guy who loves these people, and I know he'll continue to be an awesome missionary in the future! 

Elder Daka's birthday at KFC

Alright, I think that's all for this week, enjoy the final days of September!! (sorry I don't have much time!!) I know that Christ lives and that He is our Savior, and that if we have faith in Him and seek to draw His power into our lives, we can get through any challenges that we may face!

Love Elder Barlow

May 8, 2017 - And That, Is a Crazy Lady

Chi-town District!

Mhoroi everybody!! I hope this first week of May brought flowers instead of showers. For us the rain stopped, but the heat returned. Haha be careful what you wish for!!

Interesting challenge about missionary work in Zimbabwe: marriage. Most couples that you find are not legally married. Rather they have been traditionally married. However, there's also the factor of lobola (marriage dowry), which makes it difficult to get a family's approval for marriage. The Church requires that every couple be legally married before baptism, and although the Church provides the service for free, it's still a major stumbling block in the way of many people progressing to baptism. Just a thought that I'd share with you all that kind of explains a major factor in the work here. 

Mai Mondwa, Maybe, and Us

Today I'll just focus on the main parts of my week. Sorry again for not including pictures last Monday!! They kicked us out of the internet cafe early because it was a holiday, but I promise there will be many pictures this week! On Tuesday we had a powerful lesson with Sis. Joyce about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. She said that she wanted to do what Joseph Smith did and ask of God because there are so many churches in these days. Elder Ray and I were grinning from ear to ear! It was one of the more powerful and effective lessons that we've had. On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Barnett to his area. We taught some good lessons and had fun together. He's a good elder and they are doing magic in their ward.

Sis Kwaramba, Tasha, and Us

Us with Saru

Thursday brought a few unexpected surprises. We had just taught a nice lesson to a struggling member and she was feeding us dinner, when the zone leaders called us and informed us that an insane lady had been bothering the sister missionaries at their house for several hours. We rushed with Simba and the other missionaries to Zengeza to check it out. We weren't sure what to do so we said a prayer and I remembered an initial prompting that I had to call their branch president. So we did, and after some circumstances which I won't mention, the problem was solved and nobody was hurt. It was a blessing from the Lord and we were all glad that the issue was resolved relatively quickly. On Friday the zone leaders came to interview Saru and Tasha (Tasha is Sis Kwaramba's 12 year old son. She is yet another powerful woman who can't be baptized yet because of legal marriage issues). Both passed and were powerful. It was also a good time to talk to Elder Baldwin and Elder Whiting, who are both good friends.

Saturday was powerful!! Saru and Tasha were baptized and we were so happy!! We were so excited because both came as a result of street contacting. It was amazing! That evening we had our YSA talent show activity and it was a huge hit. There was singing, rapping, dancing, eating contests, everything!! The missionaries contributed with some singing, dancing, and....the haka. Elder Taloa wanted us to learn it, so we did and it was a huge hit!!! Yes I am white, but it was still kinda cool. We had investigators there and it was so much fun. Zimbabweans go crazy when they are excited.

Us and Tanaka

Sunday was pretty good. Saru, Tasha, and Tanaka (from last week) were all confirmed. It was so awesome. Saru even brought her mom, her brother, and a friend! I taught investigators class on prayer and it was super powerful. We had a lot of members join us and it went really well. Very few investigators came to church again, but we aren't losing faith.

Today we took a tour of the National Heroes Acre just outside of Harare. It was so awesome and we got some unbelievable pictures. I love Zimbabwe!!!!

This week I'd like to encourage everyone to read through the first 4 chapters of Jacob in the Book of Mormon. Jacob was an incredible example of teaching repentance. The pleasing word of God is what we'd like to hear all the time, but it's not always what we need. Most churches here preach the gospel of prosperity and it's so appealing because many here are so poor. However, what we truly need is a call to repentance so that spiritual prosperity may be abundant in our lives.

I love you all, have a fantastic week!!!

Elder Barlow

Clouds!