Party in the YSA!

Happy Monday everybody! It’s been quite the week, and pretty much nothing is the same as it was 7 days ago. Let me walk you through some of the changes:

I am no longer in the South Mountain Ward! After 7 months, it was time for me to head elsewhere, so now I am serving in the Towne Lake YSA ward, which is a pretty good chunk of Tempe and West Mesa. It’s pretty intense. I am still a zone leader, but over a lot more missionaries than before. They reduced the number of zones from 9 to 6, which means the zones are now a lot bigger, so we went from being over 18 missionaries to 34! Quite the jump if you ask me. So yeah, pretty intense. My companion is Elder Morgan from Layton, Utah! He has been on his mission for about 10 months and is a baller. We are very similar, like creepily similar, so it’s going to be a party. #PartyInTheYSA.

Anyways, with all of this change, probably the thing that has been on my mind the most is how important it is to trust. There is a saying from one of the leaders of the church which says (paraphrased): “It is more important to be trusted than to be loved”. Trust is something very important, and something I am taking a lot more seriously with all of these changes. This ward is one of the best, which means it deserves my very best effort. I am very excited to see what will happen. I know that God gives us commandments so that we can be trusted, and receive blessings as a result. When we disobey or rebel, that trust is gone, but the love is not. Do we take advantage of that love? 

In the midst of feeling every other emotion on the planet this week, The Bushnell family went to the temple on Saturday to be sealed for all eternity! Such a powerful event to be a part of. Another miracle, one of their daughters has accepted to be baptized in December. The joy that filled that room was so thick you could feel it. On top of that, Lucia Cano, who I was able to baptize at the beginning of October, spoke at the New Convert Devotional last night, and her testimony was so powerful. This gospel leaves such a lasting impact on so many lives, and I love being on the front lines. I love you all. I hope this week is the greatest ever. 

Love, 
Elder Barlow

 P.S. New address is 2155 S. 55th St. Apt 2004, Tempe, AZ 85282

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