Inferno Week 7

ABC15 Photo of a Haboob over Phoenix
Hello everybody!!! Hope you have all been doing great :) I sure am. Part of that is because for the next 3 days it will be in the high 90's which is quite the break for us!! We have been outside a lot today just enjoying it. You might think I'm crazy, but welcome to my life. 

We are at the time of year that is referred to as 'monsoon season' here in AZ. Basically there is a small dust storm that rolls through and immediately after there is a huge thunderstorm to follow. We hadn't had one until last night! On top of that, instead of there being just a small dust storm, there was a "haboob"!! For you movie fans, if you have seen Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, there is a huge dust storm that looks pretty intense, that is what a haboob is. So we had one of those last night, it was super sweet because there is dust, lightning, rain all at the same time. I loved it. 

This week has been full of some great experiences and some not so great, the whole spectrum. But hey, that's life right? :)  It has been awesome though. For those of you who don't know, I have now been on my mission for more than a year!! Which is a pretty weird thing to say. Time is the weirdest thing, but I'm still super glad that I have a year left. :) Lots of great things will happen in these next 12 months!! How did I celebrate, you might ask? We went to the only reasonable place you would to celebrate...Cafe Rio!! And, someone paid for our meal!! #blessings 

We actually had some pretty awesome visits and lessons that day.  We were able to teach the Benjamin family, who are still my favorite people, and that night we taught our weekly Book of Mormon class, and read from Jacob chapter 7!! Which is a great chapter if you ask me. I'll put a link to it below.  Give it a read and tell me what you think!! :) 

Also, sad thing, we had one of the missionaries in our zone that had to return home, which put a damper on things, but it was what was best for him. We had his companion, Elder Smith, with us that day and we made the most of it! We were able to teach Leo and Rebekah, two of our investigators, and help them commit to baptism in September!! Pretty far away, but they need to take care of some other things in order to be able to get baptized.  It was super cool because it was a 10-minute lesson that was short, simple, powerful, and they were super excited about preparing to be baptized. We are so excited for them!

Finally, last night was our monthly New Convert Devotional. I was asked to conduct the music, so I showed up ready to go, and found out that Stephenie, one of the people I taught and then got baptized, was not only there, but also spoke!! It was super cool to see her again and hear her story once more. It was a super spiritual experience. Those kinds of events where you see people learn and grow from the gospel is what makes this time spent on a mission worth it, despite all the challenges, struggles, frustrations, and anything else. I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. 

Have a great week everyone, and look for how God helps you during the week! If you look for it, you will see it. 

Elder Barlow


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