White October

The Mercado Army!
Hey there all of my favorite people!! I hope this week was the greatest week of all time, because it definitely was for me. So many cool experiences and good things to share with you. Where do I even start? We gotta start somewhere. 

First off, I am so grateful to be in the South Phoenix area for a 5th transfer. That is usually above average for a missionary, you usually stay in an area from 2-4 transfers, so I was interested to see what would happen this transfer and so far it has been miracle after miracle. I had a really cool opportunity this weekend to baptize one of our investigators named Lucia, who is such an awesome person. She had been taught by missionaries for 5 years, ad finally in August she decided that she needed this in her life. At the end of the baptism service, she got up and shared her story with all of us, and it was so powerful to hear the hard things she had gone through to get to where she is today. When I first got into the area, the first interaction I had with Lucia was her telling us that she wasn't interested and was sort of standoffish, but now that has completely changed. She is now a member of the true church!! Such a cool thing.

Mesa Temple
Another really cool experience, Sister Benjamin, who we have worked with for quite a while now, has also been through some really hard stuff recently in her life. She seems to have more trials than anyone I know, and it is amazing to see her testimony stays unshaken. We had a cool experience going to the Mesa temple for baptisms. We could see that all the stress and other worries were completely gone once she entered the temple doors. What a cool things to be a part of. She also gave a great talk in church yesterday on honesty. She is doing so well! 

At our Mission Leadership Council on Wednesday we were told that we would now be using smartphones in stead of our "dino phones". It has been so different using one of those things again, it is like I forgot how to be a millennial or something. But we have seen so many cool things. We have been able to talk to more people, and we have been able to have so many powerful lessons. Changes are coming, but there are so many great things ahead for the world!! I love my mission, I love the gospel, and I love all of you! have a great week! 

Love, Elder Barlow
The Walters Family




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