P-Day again!

And it´s P-day again. :D I like this fact... a lot.
This week went by A LOT faster than the first week did. Which I´m happy about because that first week was really testing.
This past week was exhausting though (though good) and we are really happy to have a p-day in our house to just relax. :)
Sister LeBaron and I get along really well. I have a feeling we´re going to be friends for a long time. :)... if not eternity. I feel like I teach that every day or something... haha
I´m grateful that she is my trainer. I am learning soooo much. About our mission and about myself.

She gave me this great quote. Many people think that Sisters serve missions for various reasons and everyone has their own opinion.
All we know is that we listened to the spirit and that we´re supposed to be here. But this quote gave me a lot of strength this past week:

Many young women are serving missions or are preparing to serve,
not because they aren´t married or have nothing better to do,
but because they have a desire to serve and therefore are being called to the work.
The reason so many are going is because in the next generation,
Heavenly Father will be sending his priesthood army to the earth.
He wants to send them to mothers who have been trained and taught the gospel.
And what better training can a young woman have than that of serving a mission?
-President Gordon B. Hinckely

I made the choice to be here. And I put aside a few other big choices for this one.
 All I want to do is serve the Lord. I also want to be a mother.
And sometimes I´ve wondered if I should be home doing that instead, but this has helped me understand my choice and has strengthened my desire to be here.

So we had lunch with a member this past week and afterwards when Sister LeBaron and I were washing dishes we broke a cup. Oh my goodness it was sadly funny. So we showed her and said sorry and she just took it and said it was no big deal and threw it away and asked if we were hurt. It was not a problem at all and was a really small experience. But it made me think about all the things in my life that i´ve lost or have been broken and how i´ve reacted. I don´t remember everything, but I know that i´ve not always been happy slappy about it. This taught me a great lesson about how I want to be. Things are just things. People matter more. And it´s important to act like that. Lunches with members teach me so much!

Our investigators are amazing. I have met so many different people.
Over and over again our investigators tell us about their pain.
About their relationships.
About their pasts.
And all they want is relief. Some days they feel so low.
And some of them think they are not good enough or their faith in the Lord isn´t strong enough.
But everytime I think of what the Lord has done so that they can feel peace even through hard times and I just ache for them.
If only they knew.
We are here serving missions to bring the gospel to the world, yes, but more importantly to help people.
Through the savior we have the only relief that lasts if we will only use it. This is why we are here.
The Lord has said:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Then ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me,and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me and find me,when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the Lord. And I will turn away your captivity.
-Jeremiah 29: 11-14

Love you all!

Quick weekly update!

Alrighty! This week has been so great and so exhausting.

I´m tired all the time.. but it is in a good way. :)

I love Brasil. I love the people. I love my companion. And I´m learning EVEN more.

Annnnnd my Portuguese is gettting beeeettter.

Here is the quote I promised (I love it!):

You and I are engaged in this work. It is either true or false, there is no gray area. If it is false, we are engaged in a fraud. If it is true, it is the most precious thing on earth. - President Gordon B. Hinckley.

I will write more next week! Today we have an activity with our zone so I don´t have much time.

I love you all!

My First Area!

I am officially in Brasil now. For real this time.

My area is so so so small! We have a branch of about 20-40 people who come every week and about 15 streets.
We live in this cute little house. Seriously. It is probably about as big as our Family room alone and I love it!
We live on a hill and everyone else lives on different hills so we walk up and down a lot.
So anyone who says I´m going to gain weight here... I will prove you wrong! ;)

My companion is Sister LeBaron. She is an American, amazing and dedicated.
We have plans to work really hard this transfer and I am more than ready.
We talked about all of our investigators last night and it was an incredible feeling to know that these are real people. I´m not just practicing anymore. And that thought filled me with so much joy and fear.
What they learn about the gospel and about Christ is in our hands.
...Let´s just say this is putting the urgency of a lifetime in me to become more fluent in Português really quickly.

So mom asked me about our showers... and they are fine. Definitely not like in the states though. The temperature can be warm, but how warm it gets depends on how warm it is outside. haha It´s really not that bad though. It´s the cleanliness of the water that we are more concerned about. But we have great water bottles that sanitize everything. So it´s all good. :) Needless to say though.. I will still enjoy showering again back in the states. :)

Alrighty... I don´t have many specifics to write today because I´m getting in the grove of things.
We don´t have library´s to email at here so we use basically internet cafés. It´s weird because most Brazilians listen to American music. And most of the time they have no idea what they are saying... but they like it so... they listen! The reason I bring this up is because they have it playing here at the café. It´s really weird because I´m hearing songs that are already new since I´ve been here! And by artists that I love! It feels weird to listen... and I have excitement for when I come home and get to hear all this new music that will be new to me. It will be like Christmas! haha But for now... I´m good holding off.
I´m engaged in an elevated work and I cannot come down. -that´s a quote from someone but I don´t have quotation marks here...

Know that I have a firm conviction of this gospel. I will share a quote from President Hinckley next week. I don´t have it with me, but I love it! So I will for sure share next Wednesday.

I love you all! I miss you all! And Brazil is beautiful. I wish I could share every moment with you!

Love, Sister Barlow :D

Repentance is a gift!

Here are a few things I´ve been thinking about this past week:

(okay... there are no quotation marks on this keyboard...)

-You get what you go for.

-Sometimes the thing we need to change is ourselves.

This week the topic of repentance has come up in almost every meeting and lesson we´ve had with investigators.

It´s an interesting thing... repentance. A lot of people view repentance as a bad or scary  thing. And at times.. it seems that way.. But repentance is a gift!

And repentance is noble. For someone to say that they want to be better and actually make actions to do it is very respectful and admirable.

The biggest thing I can associate to repentance is relief. Relief that comes that there aren´t secrets. Relief from knowing you could´ve done better. Relief from guilt in any form that it may come.  I am awed by those people who know they want to make a change and do it.

I shared my testimony this past Sunday. The last time in English for 16 months! Wow that´s so crazy!

Hey guess what?? I go to the field this Tuesday. Yep! That is definitely what´s up!

Can I tell you how nervous, yet how incredibly excited and ready I am!? I will never know enough to be completely ready... but I know this it is my time. :)

There are 2 Germans here learning Português. One of them speaks English really fluently and the other knows enough to get by. The latter is Elder Ermler and he is the most giving person I have ever met. He bore his testimony on Sunday as well. It was the  most humbly powerful testimony I have ever heard. In broken English he shared the experience he had with a couple of his friends before he flew to Brasil. His friends are not members and they don´t completely understand why he is taking 2 years of his life to follow rules and teach people about something he can´t see.

They would say: I believe there is a God, but I don´t know it. How can you know it? I can feel it, but I don´t know it. Why are you doing this?

His reply was: Don´t be afraid to say what you feel... and follow it.

This was amazing to me. How incredibly simple was this conversation and yet he was able to express to his friends that because he knows what he feels, nobody and no one can take out what is in his heart.

I LOVE the book of Mormon. Something incredible about it is that if you pray with real desire to know if it is true, you will receive an answer. And God will help you to understand all the questions we have about everything else because of it. Moroni´s promise is not a one time thing. If you want to know if that book is true, read those verses and do what it says! :) Moroni 10:3-6

I will write again on my next p-day in the field! Whenever that is... haha

I love you all! But remember that God loves you more.

First week in Brazil!

Hello family and friends!

Okay..... these português keyboards are kind of a challenge... but we´ll make it work because we are smarter than the board.

So! I have officially been in Brasil for ONE WHOLE WEEK. Craaaaazy I knooooow.

Brazil is really different than the states. And I have fallen in love.

Brazilians are the nicest, most loving people you will EVER meet by the way.

...Brazilian men loooove American women. And they are not shy about it either. When they see us they will do anything to get our attention. It´s pretty funny... and yet sometimes awkward. But great all the same.

Yes. The food is pretty different. Which can be a great thing and... a not so great thing... But you learn gratitude.

They eat A LOT of meat... which most people already know... but really... it´s pretty much all they eat besides rice and beans. People aren´t exaggerating when they say that. But it is quite delicious! Dad, you would love it!

The weather here is a lot colder than i thought it was going to be. I wish i didn´t send my sweatpants and sweater home now... but it´s okay! maybe i´ll find some that double task as souvenirs!

This CTM is really different than the Provo MTC. In about every way. And I really don´t think I´m exaggerating that at all. It is incredibly different and that has been a trial in and of itself. But I´m learning every day and I´m finding my weaknesses really quickly.

ESPECIALLY with the language! Because so many visas are coming through right now there are more Americans here than Brazilians but our teachers and staff are Brazilian and there are still many here so we get to use the language so much more. It has been a scary, yet amazing awakening.

Next Monday we get to go proselyting! In São Paulo! Crazy! Yeah... i´m terrified. You can be rest assured that I will be relying on the Lord every step of the way. oh! cool fact... during p-day we get to walk around the city. yeah... pretty cool.. i know! This morning we went to the temple and it is gorgeous. Brasil is unlike any place you could ever think of. It is not a 3rd world country... just to clear that up, but there is poverty. And in the most content way I have ever seen. I am seriously in love with the country and these people. It is how I´ve always imagined life and people should be.

Alright! I´m almost out of time! Today is a holiday. Day of the Dead. Noooot like Halloween. They don´t celebrate Halloween here. It´s a big thing here and in Mexico also. It´s kind of like Memorial day, but bigger. Which also means the post office is closed. So I can´t send out any letters this week. But I have some written to send out next week on P-day.

Remember that the Lord will always bless you if you put him first. He will never, ever, ever let you down. Just trust him. He has more power to do all that you need more than you can do for yourself or anyone else can also.

And remember, what is written in your heart, nobody can take out.

I love you all! Until next week!