Acambay

Dear Family,

     Well another week in Acambay flies by and is in the books. We had a pretty good one! First of all, my comp. and I baptized again yesterday! We baptized Arturo Garcia Linarez. He wasn´t really sure about being baptized, but last Sunday we told him that if he wants to receive an answer, he could receive it that same night. We went over Monday morning to play basketball with them, and he said he wanted to do it! He´ll be a stud as a priesthood holder and a leader. Now all we are missing are the 2 parents who just need to get married, and the 3rd brother who´s a little bit rebellious. He likes church and our visits, but he was a pretty devout baptist before, and is kind of clinging onto that. We´ll see what happens this week or next. In other news, President and Hna. Whitehead had a tragedy in their family last night, losing their 40 year old son in law to a heart attack. Their daughter, gave birth on Saturday, and the husband passed away on Sunday. Hermana Whitehead is currently home to take care of her daughter and grandkids. President stayed here to take care of the mission. We ask all to remember them in your prayers. Also, Father´s day being yesterday, my comp. and I sent a message to president thanking him for being a father figure for us. I trust him with my life. As for my real father, I want to say thanks for the example that you have always put for me. I am who I am because of your example throughout all my life. You are always interested in what I´m doing, and try your best to help me with it. I have always felt your support and encouragement. With my future kids, I will be applying a lot of the things you taught me. I can´t wait to serve in the church with you after. I love you! So my comp. and I are still getting along great. We are happy to be able to talk about a lot of similar things that we did before the mission, and that helps us work harder. That´s all I got for this week, but I love you all so much!

Con amor,

Elder Barton

Xiomara and family

The Comish family's pic in the Liahona (Jared's trek pa)

baptism pics

rooftop view

the bus Jared rides every day

view from their roof

Querida Familia,

     Not gonna lie, this week kind of drug on a bit. haha. We traveled and traveled and traveled more. It takes so long to get to each area of this zone it´s insane. We had a frustrating week because over here, they had their elections for their town governors and stuff. So the different parties have been going at it and nobody has wanted to listen. The elections happen on a Sunday, so nobody wanted to attend church...but we made do. Last night, we traveled to the city and slept in the AP´s house again because my companion had to renew his Visa. It was way fun with them and a few more elders. This morning, we went to the offices and after to the immigration offices so my comp. could put his fingerprints and everything, and we just got back to our area with a shortened preparation day...But on Tuesday, we had a zone meeting that went alright. I´ve just adjusted to it and tell people to be to meetings earlier, but I should probably teach them the importance of being prompt. Elder Floisand and I get along great. We haven´t ever had an argument or anything like that, and we have great unity in lessions and stuff. I was happy to see Katelyn´s and Lindsy´s graduation pictures! From reading both their emails, I know that it´s an insane relief for the both of them. haha congrats for graduating! Down here in Mexico, an education isn´t stressed as much. Due to the work situation, little education is required, if not any. It´s common to find people who haven´t even finished middle school, but made due with their own talents of making food or something like that. We are blessed to have education pounded into our heads, because it later leads to a gospel study too. It seems to go hand in hand, a good education from school, and a good gospel education. That´s one thing I´ve developed here. I´ve noticed that I know the scriptures pretty well, and that I can answer just about anything with a scripture. I give all the credit to the Holy Ghost´s help during my diligent study habit. And as for this Saturday, I want to wish a happy birthday to my brother Jason! He´ll be turning 8 years old. It´s weird to think that you were 6 when I left, and will be getting baptized soon. I love you bro, and I´ll see you soon! That´s all I got for this week. I love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Barton

burra

Hola Familia!

     Well, we´re already halfway through the change...we are really excited how we are going to finish this month because of the potential baptisms we have. My comp. and I baptized yesterday! His name is Josué Garcia Linarez. He´s part of a family of 5 that´s so chosen. We are hoping to get the parents and one of the brothers this week. The parents are getting married civily this week, and the brother needed some extra convincing. But the brother told us this morning that he´s ready to roll for this Sunday! And all we need for the parents is the marriage that´s scheduled for this Friday. We are excited for all of them. This morning, we played basketball with the guys of the family (3 kids and the dad) and a member friend that´s their age. My comp. and I pretty much kicked butt...haha. But we found out that we are totally out of shape and we probably won´t be able to move tomorrow...haha. But that family is so great. The first time I got their, the parents were fighting and having hard times...they were a mess. The mom was about to walk out ticked off, but I had the impression to sit everyone down using a gentle voice and ask if we could sing a hymn before she left. She sat down with arms crossed and away from her husband. We sung Count Your Blessings. The spirit filled the room and the wife began to cry. We shared a little something, and the wife didn´t end up leaving. I call it ´´the hermana Whitehead" because she always teaches us to use hymns. haha. Now, they are happy that they are getting married and they are in peace with each other. They told us,"20 years in our last church, and we didn´t see any change in our lives. 1 month in this church, and our lives have turn completely around. Something has to be true about all this." I love our missionary experiences that God lets us have. They strengthen my testimony more than anything. Tomorrow, I complete another milestone in the mission. 20 months...but I´m trying to forget it and go to work. It´s hard, but my personal prayers have been really good lately, and that gets me through. Thanks for all you have done for me. I love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Barton

pics from Xiomara

Jared is serving Acambay right now with Zach Floisand from Salt Lake city. He went to West high and played football baseball and basketball. They are having so much fun together. I met his mom, she could be my sister, we got along so well.

Acambay week 1

Hola familia!

     Week 1 in Acambay in the books. It was really fun with Elder Floisand and we get along great. We´ve had some fun stories about football and baseball, especially because we played each other once in football when we were on the field at the same time. He´s a funny kid and we are really similar. On Sunday, we had a baptism! It was a little girl who´s family was already a member, but they were waiting for some random reason to baptize her. We got their with another member family and we did a family home evening and the members convinced them to baptize their girl. The funny thing is, the little girl is american. haha she was born when the parents were in Alabama for a few years. It was fun to see Birmingham, Alabama as the birthplace. The parents speak english, and the mom was the one that sent you the pics. Her name is Xiomara (see-oh-ma-da). We´re looking forward to helping them move along in the gospel. We also had concilio on Monday and heard some more great messages. Our zone, Atlacomulco, took 2nd place overall, right behind Camarones. Camarones right now is just on fire and they can´t stop baptizing. We had our zone meeting yesterday, and I got to give a talk about President´s message that he gave on Monday. We started the meeting 20 minutes late because some hermanas didn´t feel like showing up on time...we have to talk about that too here in Mexico. Very few show up on time. I love being out here in the middle of nowhere again. The air is clean, there aren´t very many cars, but the people are more Catholic. haha. They have huge catholic churches in every single small town, and few want to go to church that´s 45 minutes away...but we are working hard and loving every second. We have 6 missionaries in our ward, and president said to me yesterday that at the end of these changes, he might move us over by the church more and just take out 2 of the other missionaries. I would love that. haha. Well that´s all I got for this week. I love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Barton