May 8, 2017 - Some pictures from our tour of the National Heroes Acre

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!

May 1, 2017 - Gift of Tongues, Fresh Milk, and 19 Years

Hey everybody!! I hope your week was good. The end of April absolutely flew by and now we are into May!! Thank you to everyone for wishing me a happy birthday, I finally feel old enough to be on a mission when people ask my age!

Haha so funny story: last week we went shopping after we finished emailing and we were on our way out of town when the car died. We pulled over and discovered that one of the cables was broken and we later learned that there was water and dirt in our gas tank. Yikes. We waited on the side of the road in the rain for an hour until the senior missionaries brought us another car to get home. If you asked me 2 years ago if I would've been pulled over outside of Harare, Zimbabwe in the pouring rain, I would've called you crazy. On the bright side, we had fresh milk this week for the first time in almost 9 months!!! I can't tell you how good it tasted or how excited we were. Missionary work helps you appreciate the little things.

 On Tuesday we had zone conference with the Marimba, Mutare, and Bindura zones. Over half of the mission was there; so many missionaries in one place. We were given great instruction from President and Sister Mkhabela on having the fire of faith burning within us and using that to find new investigators who will accept the gospel. We had a lot of great counsel, even though the meeting took absolutely forever. I found another new missionary who enjoys beatboxing, so we had a little fun with that after the conference. We didn't end up getting home until late, so we went and visited a member and taught a nonmember cousin that was there. Of course, we had to teach about the gift of tongues. You can't really go anywhere in Zim without teaching people that the gift of tongues isn't a made up gibberish language that you use to speak to God when you feel the Spirit. (It sounds silly when I put it like that, but it's a legit concern here) I think we must've taught about/clarified the gift of tongues at least 5 times this week, and we were a little tired of teaching it. Oh well, when you have the truth, you need to share it!

We spent most of the week preparing Maybe and Tanaka for baptism. Maybe is Mai Mondwa's daughter and she's been taught well by her mother. She's only 10 and super shy, but she reminds me lots of Brooke. She knew all the answers to our questions, which was so awesome. Tanaka has been taught by several sets of missionaries and was disallowed  to be baptized by his father. However he persisted and was granted his request! He's 16 and quiet, but powerful.


This week Elder Ray and I worked hard. There was never a time where I felt we had idle time. We were rushing all over the place, and the days seem to fly like crazy. We started creating more detailed and organized lesson plans, which was really interesting. I studied a lot in Jesus the Christ and in the scriptures and learned so much. The scriptures bring such solace and knowledge to me and I love having the opportunity to study them each week.

On Saturday, Elder Barlow the Baptist made a return. 10 people were baptized - 5 for the other elders, 2 for us, and 3 more children of record. I baptized 8 of them, and wow, the water was frigid! Haha I also got in the tub/font and found a little frog swimming around in there. Only in Zim... (fun fact, frog in Ndebele is ixoxo - seems easy until you know that the x's are clicks) One of the other elders' recent converts baptized his friend, which was really cool. Overall, it felt so good to have another baptism. Hopefully another one will be this weekend!! We taught one of our investigators about the importance of attending church and Elder Ray and Simba bore their testimonies on how church has blessed their lives and it was powerful. I was feeling Spirit!! That night we had dinner with Tanaka's family. When we walked in he was studying his scriptures: powerful. We were given sadza and fish (I think we ate sadza almost every night this week...yo) and of course, you are supposed to eat the head. So what did I do? I ate the fish head in one bite. It wasn't too bad either as long as you didn't think about it too much. Sunday was tough because only a few investigators came to church even after all that we did. However, I know that success is measured in different ways and that the Lord is the one who gives us success.

It was Elder Taloa's birthday yesterday and it was mine today, so we played some basketball and ultimate frisbee today. It was so much fun to enjoy a little bit of sports. Like I said, on mission, the little things make a huge difference.

Fun fact, in April:

Mission baptisms - 234

Zone baptisms - 70

District baptisms - 23

The work is rolling like crazy here and it's so fun to be a part of it!! Also, I'd like to invite you all to read Alma 29 about the joy that comes from sharing the gospel!! I love you all and hope you're doing well!!

Love Elder Barlow

will send pics next week!!

April 24, 2017 - The Song of Redeeming Love

Hey everybody!!

This has probably been the slowest week in recent memory, but it was a pretty good one! I'll do my best to describe it.

This week was full of a lot of singing. We actually planned to do a musical number for zone conference until they told us it wouldn't be included in the program, which was a bummer. We promised an investigator that Elder Ray would bring his guitar and we would sing for their family, so we did that on Wednesday. They were pretty pleased and kept filming us. American songs are pretty popular here, FYI. Haha I also just love singing around the house. Music is a great outlet for me and I really enjoy being able to express feelings that way. I also love how it relates to the gospel (see later in the email).

Farewell to Sister Dzapasi. She stays in the church
complex and is moving to Durban, South Africa.
She is a fantastic tailor and always called us
missionaries her sons. Sister Dzapasi took a long time
to join the church, and her family even kicked her
out after she joined, but she couldn't be more faithful.
Her daughters have served/are preparing to serve
missions and she will be missed!

On Wednesday we also taught Mike, a father in his 30's. He's struggled with drinking for years and it's really destroyed his work and affected his family. He's never gone to church and we are trying to help him understand that Christ is the only one who can help him change. It was my first time teaching the Word of Wisdom to an addict, and I couldn't help but feel this desire to help him change. However, I realized that isn't my role, it's the Savior's. That was a new experience for me. That evening we cooked American burgers and fries for Sister Dzapasi and her daughter Millicent. I'm not sure how much they liked them, but it was a great evening. Elder Taloa and I went on exchanges on Thursday. In our companionship study we studied about virtue and self-mastery and our desires to be pure in heart and mind. I opened 2 Nephi 4 and read about Nephi's struggle with his temptations and his enduring trust and love for the Lord. We made a pact that by the end of our missions, we would read that chapter as if it were our own words. That was really awesome. Elder Taloa is a good missionary and he learns more every day. He also loves to have fun, which is powerful. We taught some pretty good lessons, even though we seemed to have a ton of appointments fall through.

I'm learning more and more Shona and speaking it gets easier every day. However, understanding is a little bit more a of a challenge. Again, deep Shona is pretty tough and requires study, which we don't have time to do. There's no way I'd be able to learn this language without the Spirit.

Elder Ray was sick on Friday and Saturday, so there wasn't much going on. We did have another YSA activity on Saturday. We taught them to play telephone, mafia, and musical chairs and they absolutely loved it. It was fun to play games and tie it back to the gospel. The YSA's here are so powerful. Sunday wasn't too eventful either, but it was still nice. Mai Mondwa brought her daughter Maybe to church, and she's adorable! She's 10, and will be baptized this Saturday. We were able to visit with them in the evening and teach them about Christ's visit to the Nephites. I love the Book of Mormon so much and it's my favorite thing to be able to teach people about it. We experimented with cooking fried chicken last night, and it actually turned out pretty nice. One thing about Zimbabweans, they really know how to cook chicken.

Birthday presents are the best

I just wanted to add an extra thank you for the birthday packages that I received!! I know it's not my birthday until next week, but it was super awesome to be able to have a little taste of home and to feel the love and support of my family and friends.

Alright, back to music. Most of you know me pretty well, and know that I love to sing. It wasn't always like that though. Growing up, I was always afraid or embarrassed to sing in front of others. It wasn't until my best friends got me into choir that I realized how much I loved music and sharing it with others. Now I can't imagine getting through the day without singing a song here and there. It's the same with our testimonies. We have such incredible knowledge of our Heavenly Father and His plan for us, but sometimes we are too subtle or even secretive about it. Alma calls the joy of Christ's Atonement "the song of redeeming love" in Alma 5:26. We should be singing this song freely and joyfully, not bottling it inside. Elder Holland, in this past general conference, talked about the songs that we cannot sing and how the gospel relates to singing in a choir. Not all of our voices are the same, but there is room for everyone and each voice does make a difference. As much as I love to sing songs, the song of redeeming love brings far more joy than any other tune I or anyone else could conjure up. I'm learning each day as a missionary that we help others hum that same tune as we bring them to the Savior, who Elder Holland says has "absolutely perfect pitch." As we show others charity, our voices become more than just a "sounding brass" or a "tinkling cymbal." I love music, but more than that I love this gospel and the opportunity I have to share it with the people of Zimbabwe. These faithful people love the Savior and desire to know Him, and I feel privileged to assist in guiding them to the right notes.

Have an amazing week everyone!!

Love Elder Barlow

April 17, 2017 - Caterpillars, Rain, and a Joyous Easter

Hey everyone!!

I hope your Easter was as wonderful as mine. Being able to celebrate the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as one of His servants is an incredible blessing. This week was full of powerful experiences and a whole lot of happiness. Sometimes there's so much to tell and I can't remember all of it, but I will try my best to convey my feelings.

Yours truly, eating caterpillars

We'll start off with the adventure part!! This week, Elder Ray and I had probably the toughest and most traditional meal that I've had on my mission. An investigator fed us sadza, sour milk, and madora. Oh, what is madora, you ask? It just happens to be caterpillars. You heard me. Actually it wasn't that bad, as long as you didn't stare at your plate and think deeply about the food that you're consuming. The sour milk was the hardest part, but I finished it. I assumed I'd eat it at least once in Zimbabwe, so I can check that off the list! Haha so here in Zim, there are an innumerable amount of pentecostal and prophetic churches and they all have their crazy all-night prayers and giant celebrations/crusades this week. Everyone loves partying about Jesus, but sometimes I wonder if they are really excited for the right reasons.

Now I want to kind of transition to the more spiritual part of my week. I'd like to share a little about two people that I've met here in Seke and why I love them.

Brother Tino - Tino is a powerful young man. He also happens to be confined to be a wheelchair because of some serious physical disabilities. However, that doesn't mean his Spirit is confined to that chair. He is on time every Sunday and has a great desire to read and understand the Book of Mormon. He doesn't read English too well, but we've been helping him to read and understand it. Now he does it on his own, using both the English and Shona Book of Mormon and the Book of Mormon stories picture book. It makes me so happy to see him striving to increase his testimony and doing his best to prepare for a mission, even though we don't know if he'll be able to serve. It is a blessing to know him.

Us and the YSAs

Ms. Chiwairo - I've mentioned a little bit about Ms. Chiwairo before. She's a single woman in her late 40's-early 50's. When we first met her several weeks ago, she told us that she had just lost her 20+ year old daughter and seemed very sad. However, in the weeks since we have taught her, she has come to church a couple times and seems to be so happy. Especially since we taught her about the Plan of Salvation in our first lesson and how she can see her daughter again, she has changed. She commented at conference last week how she was so blessed to hear such wonderful gospel counsel. She is one of the best investigators that I've ever taught and I want her to be baptized so badly. She is so powerful and asks great questions, especially about baptism. As we left her house after giving her a baptismal date and teaching about Joseph Smith this Friday, such incredible joy filled my heart. I love this gospel, the light and truth and understanding that it brings, and the love that is felt as you share it with others. I'm truly beginning to understand more deeply what this work is all about.

Elder Ray and I with some of our investigators

This Saturday we finished the Sunday Afternoon session of General conference and it was so powerful. Elder Palmer (who happens to be in the Area Presidency here in Southeast Africa) gave an amazing talk on the love of the Savior and how we should see others with that love. It was really touching and something that I seek to improve. That afternoon, we held our Easter activity for the young single adults. We incorporated a few American traditions (spoon/egg race, etc.) which was super fun for them. We put together an Easter egg hunt race (yes, with dyed eggs) and the eggs had different scriptures on them about peace, love, Christ's Atonement, and the Resurrection. It was awesome to see everyone excited and to be able to tie that back to the Savior. Cool experience: of course, on the day of this outdoor activity, it decides to rain for the first time in weeks and weeks. We were worried that hunt would fall through. However, I walked to the corner of the chapel/tent and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to stay the rain just long enough so that we could have this activity to teach people about Christ. And sure enough, the rain stopped. However, as soon as the egg hunt was done, the heavens opened and the rain poured like crazy. The Lord truly does care about us and knows us, and if we ask Him in faith He will bless us!!! We concluded the activity by watching the Bible videos about Christ's final week in mortality and it was so amazing to see those events portrayed. The room was silent, but the Spirit was there and it had an amazing effect on everybody present.

On Easter Sunday we had a nice Sacrament meeting where favorite conference talks were discussed and Easter feelings were expressed. We didn't have many investigators at church at the beginning, almost none in fact. During the sacrament, I again prayed that those we had invited to church would be able to come. By the time we were going to classes, 11 investigators were present, some who we'd never met before. Wow. Yet another testimony to me that this is the Lord's work and not ours. I taught investigators class on repentance, and then to finish we had them listen to Elder Costa's talk from conference that was addressed to the investigators of the church. It was so powerful. Our branch also does a great job of providing fellowship for the new friends that we bring to church, and they seem to be excited about coming back. It's amazing to witness.

Of course the rain continued yesterday and today, and we've really appreciated the cool weather. Today we got to play basketball and ultimate frisbee with all the elders in our zone, and that was fantastic. Sports on P Day are probably the non-spiritual highlights of the transfer.

I want to share with you my testimony about Easter, including some of the thoughts that I had the opportunity to share with the YSA's on Saturday. The story of Easter is the reason that I am here as a missionary. But I'm not the only one that has a knowledge of this amazing truth. So let's not keep it to ourselves. Let it change us. The fact that the Son of God suffered and died for you and me and that He lives again is a life-changing truth! So we should be changed by it. We can repent and have peace. Because Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, Christ suffered for our sins and died for us so that we can have peace and overcome death. I love my Savior. And as I come to know Him more, I love Him even more and I gain a supreme gratitude for His sacrifice. So remember Him each week as we partake the sacrament, and live so that others will know that we believe in Christ. I know that we can become clean through the blood of our Savior and Redeemer. He is the only way to eternal life. And He is always there with outstretched arms. He calls, Come Follow Me. So let us follow Him. Easter is something so incredibly special that celebrating it can't be confined to a single week. It is a celebration of a lifetime. I know He lives, and that He loves us.

Have an amazing week!

Love Elder Barlow

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)

April 3, 2017 - Snakes are Dangerous

Hey everyone!! I hope everyone had a fantastic week and a wonderful conference weekend!! Unfortunately I won't be viewing general conference until next week, but I want to thank you all for your amazing insights on the messages that were given! I promise I'll send my thoughts and highlights next week.

Chi-town District, best in Zim

We had our last district meeting with everyone together on Tuesday, which was a little sad, but super powerful as always. I'll definitely miss being in this district when transfers come. We were super busy this week, and Elder Ray and I improved on teaching lessons in a shorter time so that we can see more people. On Wednesday we had interviews with President Mkhabela. He is a powerful man and very caring. I am feeling more and more comfortable with him and I always appreciate his counsel. We had to stay at the mission office longer than we expected, so we missed a couple appointments but were able to see some people. We were able to be with Simba again a bunch this week, which was awesome. We had a little incident on Wednesday that was pretty crazy. We paid a guy some money to clean our yard, and he came back the next day wanting more money for more work. We refused, and then he came telling us that a snake bit him in our backyard and that we needed to pay him for it. Well, funny thing is, there was no bite there. This guy then cut his arm to try and prove it to us. We went away from him, but he kept harassing us for the next day or so. I won't share too many details, but with some help from our neighbors and the police, the issue was taken care of and we are safe and ok!! No worries!! I promise everything is under control!! Gotta love Zimbabwe.

With Simba

We had a couple of great lessons this week. Solomon seems to finally be ready for baptism this coming week. His marriage issues have begun to blow over and he really has begun repenting. We also got to see Lloyd again. He has a baptism and marriage date for the end of this month and he's been reading the Book of Mormon on his own!! That guy is a stud. We taught a bunch of lessons on Saturday. I'm getting much better at teaching to the needs of the people instead of just teaching what I want to. The Spirit has definitely been with us a lot. We had another YSA activity on Saturday where we had popcorn and watched the Other Side of Heaven. We had even more investigators than last week and it was great. We got to teach lots about repentance and the Book of Mormon throughout the week which was awesome. I'm feeling much more comfortable with the people and I love getting to know them and smiling with them.

On Sunday we had 10 investigators at church!!!! It was so amazing to finally reach our goal. Faston also received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday, which 

was really cool!! We taught Ms. Chiwairo about prophets after church, and she continues to be one of my favorite investigators. She seems happier and seems to have a greater desire to study the gospel which is sweet! Last night we visited the Bomba's and their new baby boy Kayden! He's adorable and they are so happy. I baked them banana bread and it turned out pretty nice! Overall it was an amazing day!!

Well, that's about all for this week!! I love you all and wish you all the best!! Since I haven't seen conference yet, I just want to recommend a favorite past talk that I studied this week. It's called "Which Way Do You Face?" from 2014 by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. It meant a lot to me and I'm sure it will speak to you as well!!

Love Elder Barlow

Veggietales!

Studio C shirt I saw on the street