My Fifth transfer!

Alriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggghhhhtyyy. So my name is Sister Barlow, I´m in Santa Gertrudes for my fifth transfer and I´m with Sister Roundy my third American Companion.

And yes, I am happy! :D haha I was with Sister Tirrell for 3 transfers, so it´s weird to be with someone else, but I´m excited to work with Sister Roundy. :)

I´ve been thinking about conference and how many times we are told that we can ask for mountains.
At first this thought terrified me.
What?? I can barely handle the hills of death here in Santa Gertrudes! How would I ever achieve a mountain??
But then I started thinking about all the stories I´ve heard of all the people who have climbed the biggest mountains in the world...
Question: why do we remember these stories? Answer: Because they were tragic! because they were adventurous! Because they did something that stood out to us!
All of those stories that I have stuffed up in my brain somewhere are there not because they made it gracefully up the mountain, but because the men and the women that made the climbs had a story to tell after.

I want to make it to the top of a mountain. Whether it be real or through the experiences God gives me.
What I´m praying for now is the stamina.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

I Want to see the Temple

...I went there today!

Today we went to the temple and it was so amazing to feel such peace. It was a little hard because everything was in Português and my vocabulary is very missionary at the moment. haha but it truely is the house of God.
As I was leaving though I realized that I had been feeling sort of different. Not like when I had the chance to visit often 7 months ago. This whole time I´ve been here on my mission and the exact reason I decided to stay here and serve is because of eternal families. How can I just sit at home and enjoy the blessings of eternity with the ones I love and not share that with others? We teach people the gospel so that they can have eternal families. We have missionaries not so that everyone can be mormon, but so that people can have eternal families. Without the authority in God´s church it simply can´t happen.
As I was leaving the temple I realized that´s what it is... I´m on the journy for myself right now, but the next step is what you do with your family, being sealed for eternity. Learning more and growing together.

"While I am in my early years, I´ll prepare most carefully, so I can marry in God´s temple for eternity. Families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father´s Plan. I always want to be with my own Family and the Lord has shown me how I can."

Now don´t you all worry. I´m not writing this because I`m trunky all is in it´s due time.
I just needed that little reminder of why we´re all here and thought I´d share.

P.S. my companion is going home on Monday! The update on transfers with arrive next Wednesday!
Love you all!

Conference and a little more cofidence!

It´s funny how the first thought that comes to my head when I sit down to write something is to start with "it´s funny...".
Moving on.
Conference truely was amazing. We watched the first session in Português, but then didn´t have any more investigators attending so we slipped into another room and watched in English which was even MORE amazing. Now, now, don´t get me wrong... I love português, but there´s something about hearing the gospel in your own language.  That´s why we have missionaries all over the world pulling their hair out trying to learn a second language, so that God´s children can hear the gospel in their own tongue. It just means more.  Since conference I have been blessed with the amazing quality of a little bit more confidence. It was a nice little whisper in the ear of what I´m really doing here. And how I can improve in every aspect. I´m not going to lie... Talking to a bunch of people you don´t know everyday and that sometimes yell at you is a littl unnerving... but since i´ve been teaching and getting to know these people I´ve learned that they don´t really mean what they say. Most of the time... they just... don´t know what else to say.
On another somewhat related note: it is funny how much can change in a span of time. Or... in an instant. How a person can change and how everything can change once you accept it. I can honestly say that I love change. Love it. But I hate letting go. Annnd. Generally I know what I want and how far I´m willing to go or sacrifice for it. I decided to serve a mission in an instant because of a change of a point of view.  I´ve made mistakes over a span of time, which I still kick myself for but have made me the missionary I am and put me on the path of the daughter of God  I want to be. There are people all over the world who are even more lost than I have been, who are more nervous than I am, and have less than I have (spiritually or physically). So I will serve them. And until the Lord has called me home, I trust in him. I trust in him to lead me, to guide me, and to walk beside me. You can´t get better than that.

If there is anyone that didn´t have the opportunity to watch conference, open up the next tab, go to the church website, and watch it!
Who can give us more direction in life than God? He has a lot to say. :)

In the City!

Today we´re in the city and it´s more than expensive to use the computers here so today´s email is going to be nice and short.

Sunday was one of the hardest and most rewarding days I´ve had in my mission.

Life is hard for everyone. We can try and do everything to help, but still they have the choice to accept and keep on going after. After all that we can do, Christ will heal the rest.

We just need to make the choice.

This past week 3 of our recent converts passed the sacrament in sacrament meeting.

All of them were beaming. They are so excited to have the priesthood.

What an honor to see. I am one lucky missionary. :)

 

This is why I´m serving a mission. :)