July 20, 2015

How ya'll doin?! (this is my foreign language haha)

This has been an interesting week! So last Tuesday, we did this really interesting conference call with all the new missionaries. We had to call this number and then we got placed in a huge phone call with like 25 other phones. It was pretty chaotic at first but as soon as President Salisbury came on, everyone started to listen. He talked to us for a while and answered some questions, it was so cool! Then later that day we had scheduled with our ward mission leader to go and see a family that we have been teaching. The parents are Phil and Jessie and they have more kids but there were only two that were home when taught, Steven (8) and John (17). We planned to teach them the Plan of Salvation and it went great! They were very receptive and I was even able to put them on date to be baptized! I have been practicing putting people on date many times but asking a real investigator to be baptized was way better! We hope that they will be ready on the 8th of August. If all goes well it will be an amazing experience. So as we were leaving, our ward mission leader who wrote a book on member missionary work and gave us some advice and things that we could work on. I was so grateful that he came because he helped show me how to be a better teacher which I always enjoy. Plus it felt a little bit like the MTC again so that was fun haha.

On Wednesday we had our interviews with President and it was awesome. We drove to a chapel in Vienna, West Virginia where we talked with the President and his wife and then did interviews. I really enjoyed talking with President and it assured me that he is supposed to be my mission president and he cares about me individually just like our Heavenly Father. Fridaywe did exchanges with our district leader and I went back to Vienna. Vienna is really cool. The houses are really nice and it actually felt similar to California in some places. Nice houses, nice cars and shirtless people haha. We did a lot of walking in the heat and most of the missionaries hate it but I dont mind it all that much. The humidity doesn't bother me as much as it bothers other missionaries so that is definitely a blessing haha. 

Sunday was really fun because Elder Spinks and I taught primary. We had the 7 and 8 year olds and it was pretty funny to try and teach them. We could only get them to listen for a few minutes but over all it was good. Well thats all for this week. Love you all and keep writing me!

Elder Barazoto

July 13, 2015

Hey Family and Friend!

This was a pretty awesome week! On Tuesday we went to our bishops hanger where he builds airplanes and got to look around at his airplanes that he's built and it was so cool! Apparently he is pretty good at flying them and has won a bunch of awards that he keeps in his office. I know dad would appreciate this so I took pictures of all the planes haha. On Wednesday and Thursday we picked up a family as investigators and another lady as an investigator and the family came to church too! They are super nice and humble. I know that the gospel will bless their lives so much. The dad's mom is a recent convert too so we hope that that will help with their conversion. The lady that we met with on Thursday is Peggy and she is Methodist. She was super easy to teach because our churches are actually pretty similar, but they lack some of the most important aspects of the true gospel. Priesthood, Prophets, and the Book of Mormon. 

Saturday there was this big event for speed boats, but not any speed boat that you have ever seen before haha. They look like mini submarines with a boat motor on it and they go like 90 miles an hour. Elder Spinks and I watched one flip too. The driver was fine but it was pretty sweet haha. On Sunday we met with our ward mission leader and he is awesome. He is always finding ways to help us with missionary work and he is always finding ways that he can help too. The ward here is a missionary ward. They are so friendly to every single person who comes to church and they make everyone feel so welcome. Its awesome. Today, Elder Spinks and I went fishing with another companionship in our ward. I bought a pretty cheap fishing pole and now we are probably going to go fishing every P-day haha. I taught Elder Spinks how to solve a Rubiks cube and now he looks for any chance he can get to solve it. He is so proud of himself haha. We play chess a lot while we eat and I really enjoy that. We don't get too many dinner appointments so we make a lot of our food. I make lots of smoothies, toast, cereal, eggs, and sandwiches. I wish I knew how to make more foods haha. 

Im really excited for next week because we are planning of picking up a bunch of new investigators! I know that when we have faith in our Heavenly Father, he will bless us. He wants us to turn to Him because then He can bless us! He wants us to be happy and thats why He has given us this gospel. Alma 41:10 is one of my favorite scriptures right now. Wickedness never was happiness. True happiness comes from living God's commandments. I know that is true and I am so blessed to be a missionary of His church. I love and miss you all so much! Choose the right!

Elder Barazoto

July 6, 2015

Holy cow! Time in the field is way faster than time in the MTC! haha! So West Virginia is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. It feels likes a rain forest to be honest. The roads are only two lanes and usually one side is covered in vegetation like a wall ha. I've said it to my companion but he doesn't get it because he has been out for about a year but it reminds me of Jurassic World haha. Speaking of my companion, my new companion is Elder Spinks and our area covers Williamstown, West Virginia and Marietta, Ohio. There are a lot of other places that we cover, but i cant remember them all. Elder Spinks is from Washington, Utah. Its in southern Utah near Arizona. He is HUGE truck fan and will always say something like "now that's a nice truck" whenever we pass a Chevy (not a Ford, he hates Ford haha). He loves my rubiks cubes too. He can figure them out sometimes too! Hes a really smart guy and has taught me a lot about missionary work already. He is a little bit younger than me, but he is way ahead of me when it come to missionary work. He is awesome. So the last Sunday in June, there was a convert baptism and then yesterday Elder Spinks confirmed Ronda Little as a member of the church and it was really cool. We went and visited her on Saturday and we were worried that she might have a problem with being confirmed that day, but everything worked out perfectly and it was an awesome experience. This week was kinda slow because of transfers and the Fourth of July, but next week we know that we are going to have a lot of success and its going to be awesome. People here on the east coast are way more patriotic than us haha. They have a lot of fun of the fourth with fireworks and stuff but me and Elder Spinks played chess instead :) I love being on a mission and I know that I am being blessed because of it. It's an amazing thing to be serving the Lord and you just have to experience it to know what i'm talking about. I love you all and be sure to read your scriptures and pray every night! :)

Elder Barazoto (People here can never pronounce Barazoto correctly it's so funny haha)

June 24, 2015

Family and Friends!

Time in the MTC is probably the weirdest thing I have ever experienced! Ha! I feel like I've been here forever but its only been a week! So my companion is Elder Stephens and he is from Fairview, Utah. He is seriously so funny and can quote movies like you wouldn't believe haha. 

When I arrived on Wednesday, it was very strange introducing myself as Elder Barazoto but I think that I am used to it now. The food here is ok, nothing can compare to mom's cooking so be sure to cherish how good mom is at cooking! I have learned soooooo much here. My teachers are amazing. They understand the gospel so well and know exactly how to teach it! They will show how to teach and what to make sure to include when teaching and as soon as you get caught up in trying to just spit all these words at the investigator, they always remind us that the spirit is the real teacher and words mean nothing as long as the spirit it there when you teach. Teaching is hard so everyone planning to go on a mission, study the Book of Mormon, and study Preach my Gospel. You probably hear that all the time, but it is absolutely true. Understanding the Book of Mormon and the role it has in conversion is crucial for any investigator to gain a testimony of this gospel. As the key stone of our religion, it has everything needed to grow closer to Christ. Trust me when I say that studying the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel is the best thing you can do for yourself and also your future investigators. I want everyone to know how amazing this gospel is. I have felt the spirit so much while being here at the MTC and I can testify that the spirit and recognizing the spirit has helped me so much while I've been here. Strive to have the spirit more in your life and I promise that you will be happier. Its more present in my life and I am so happy here. The MTC is hard and the days are long, but the rewards of being more in tune with the spirit is worth it. 

I love you all and I hope to hear more from you all soon! :)

Love Elder Barazoto