So I got a picture with Jeffery R. Holland. haha we watched a talk of his on Sunday night on the TV. The other Elder is Elder Worthington

We got doorbell ditched by the district next door. I looked through the peephole to see this....they meant business.

This is Hermano Urquhart. He's a stud. He was one of my favorite teachers.

I made this binder to help me organize my lessons. I put in pictures from pamphlets to decorate it.

It's been a long day... we were given a ten minute break right before our last in field orientation meeting.

Ran into some school friends. Elder Butler on the left and Elder Bagley (he's in our stake) on the right

I forgot to tell him, he didn't have to wear them all at once

Work it!!

Showin' off

This is Hermano Holman. He was the teacher that sparked the most ideas in our head about some really deep doctrine. He speaks Spanish and a native Nicoraguan language called Mesquito. (to pronounce it, say the Nevada city Mesquite, and add 2 O's on the end. haha) And yes, I'm wearing all the tie bars I received,  I forgot to take them off.

By the way, the other two elders are from another district that leaves the same day as us. Elder Mielke and Elder Christensen

Again, no need to say it. I got skills

Yup....explains itself I think

This is my district. Our last photo session...

Hey Everyone!

     Here's my last email before I head out to Mexico!!! One problem is....i only have an hour layover in Atlanta. Which means no call time because that hour will be used running through security and boarding the next plane. But I'll call if we have a delay. But I may be able to call in the morning before I leave the Salt Lake Airport. My flight is scheduled around 8:30 or so. So you'd have to get up early to talk to me...and it would only be for an hour or so. But I will get to the airport around 6 a.m. and probably will be able to talk around 7 or so. If I buy a call card, you have to answer the call or else it charges me like $1.30 just to attempt the call. If I don't get a chance to call during the day, I will for sure beg and plead for President Whitehead to let me call home. On other matters, this week has been pretty eventful! I sung in the MTC choir for my last Tuesday night devotional and it was so fun. I love singing songs to the Lord. Also, yesterday we had "in field orientation." Which is just what it sounds. An all day meeting telling us what to expect and what to do when we get there. Like get in contact with the ward mission leader and bishop and such. It was pretty cool because all the teachers at the MTC are recently returned missionaries. One teacher was apart of "the district" that we are supposed to watch before going on our missions. It was Elder Christensen for those who know what I'm talking about. We went up to main campus for it and we stayed there pretty much all day. When we got back, we checked our mail and I got even happier than I already was! I got my jacket and boots and the "13 lbs of love" haha. I was so happy! I am so grateful for everything I received. I'm not sure exactly who contributed what, but please tell them thank you. Because it made my day! But there is one small problemo...haha. The razor blades you sent don't fit on my razor handle because they're a different kind from Gilette. But the good news it, I have the handle that they go with in my bathroom drawer back at home. I don't know if you can find it in there and drop it off by Sunday night, but I need it or else I can't use the razors. If you can't find it, just bring all of them in the drawer. haha. It should say "Gilette Fusion" on it somewhere. But thank you so much for everything. Also, Cheryl needs to know that we can check our mail more than once a week. haha apparently she got in a scuffle with someone on the phone. We check our mail 2X every day, so I'll likely receive her package tonight. I'm so excited to leave for Mexico right now. I know it's going to be some of the hardest few months of my life, but I'm going in with a full head of steam and I'll be ready for whatever the Lord has in store for me. This morning was my last opportunity to go to the temple here. My companion and I decided to do a sealing session. It was so cool to do that for other people. The temple worker performing them said that he is so sure that the people that we perform them for will personally thank us in the next life. As missionaries, we can only perform them as a son or daughter. But it was so cool! The Spirit was so strong. It gave me a better testimony of eternal families. I had an old Tongan couple be the proxy for the parents for me. And after we were done, the man came up to me and said,"you're a good son" and laughed really hard and walked away. haha. Anyways I'm gonna start sending pictures now so I got to go! I love you all, and I look forward to emailing you for the first time in a foreign country! Thank you for all the love and support. I can literally feel it, and I hope you feel mine too. I have grown so much since being at the MTC, and I wish I could share with you all the knowledge I have obtained from my teachers. We have the best teachers here. One of my teachers, Hermano Holman, put the MTC experience like this. "You're going to forget everything about the MTC. You'll forget your teachers, your districts and fellow missionaries, and all you'll think about is the mission field. Right now you're probably all thinking that this isn't even possible to forget the MTC, but I believe we felt the same way in the pre-existence. We were ready to come down to earth, we were told that we wouldn't remember anything, and we couldn't believe it, but here we are." It is really hard to think that I won't remember a lot of this place, because I have grown so much here. The time has flown by for me, and I hope to make the best of the next 2 years. I love you all so much!

              Elder Barton