weekly email TRANSFERS!!!!!!!

Hello everybody!!!! Elder Barton coming atcha with some news that I will be TRANSFERRED!!!!!! I am headed to an area called Rochdale which is in Osasco. Where i was in my first area!!! But Osasco is huge so i will be pretty far from where I was! I will be opening the area (again!!) and training a part time missionary who will only stay for one transfer! I'm scared, but excited also!!

This week was a super super awesome week.... A perfect last week here in Granja Viana!! The first awesome thing that I COMPLETELY FORGOT to tell everyone last week is that ELDER NEIL L. ANDERSEN came to visit our mission!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow soooooooo awesome!!!! It was the coolest thing ever, I feel so blessed to have had that opportunity to receive an incredible training about the Atonement of Jesus Christ from him! I felt the spirit soo very strongly in that room as he testified as an Apostle of the Lord to each and every one of us! Most of the time, he was speaking in Portuguese!! haha it was sooo sick!! He speaks Portuguese, English, french, and Spanish! And he was speaking Portuguese soo well! It was incredible!! But his training was seriously so good. He talked about the Atonement the entire time, and how it applies to us as missionaries and how it can help use have a stronger desire to share the gospel when we understand our Saviors sacrifice for us. It is only through the Infinite Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ that we can return to live with him forever and have happiness here on this earth. And when we understand that, and feel that love that he has for us, we will want to share this gospel with the whole world so that they can feel the same thing and have the chance to return to live with God!! Sister Andersen was also there, and gave an incredible talk about Honesty and how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are our perfect examples of honesty. When we are honest with Heavenly Father, trying to use the Atonement of His Son more and more each day we will have the Holy Ghost with us more abundantly each day. "We have to do this if we want the Holy Ghost with us. We simply wont have it any other way!" is what she said, and I loved that! Its soo true, Heavenly Father wants to give us the company of the Holy Ghost always, so that we can have him to lead and guide us but we have to do our part and be honest, using the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ! It was so soo awesome to be there and receive such great trainings from such incredible people. I want to write so much more of what they said but also don't have much time haha! But all I will say is that my testimony of the Atonement grew so much this week, and want to study it more and more each day better understand the Sacrifice that my Savior suffered for me!

Also wanted to talk about the baptism we had with Tiago on Sunday! It was awesome to receive that training and then see Tiago putting the atonement to use the following day. He is such a stud, he is the kid I talked about last week, that told us he wants to serve a mission! It was crazy to see how fast he was prepared by the Lord and the testimony he received through prayer! I had always known him, Elder Cabral and I met him the first week here in Granja Viana but he was never quite ready... He went to church a couple times but wasn't progressing much. All of a

sudden these last couple weeks he started having Incredible experiences and desires to follow Christ! It was such a special baptism, he is such a stud and I am so grateful for that Opportunity I had to meet him and learn from his example! He is only 16, and hardly has any support from his family. It was super sad no one from his family came to watch his baptism, but the young men all welcomed him in so well and he had a lot of people there from the ward to support him! Hes awesome! Also Sergio is progressing sooo well! He was there to watch the baptism and loved it.I will definitely come back on the 13th to watch his baptism!! I still cant believe how much this man has changed!! It is incredible how the ATONEMENT of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon can change people!! I have gained such a strong testimony of that here in this area. Because it happened with me! 

This area was super tough, but I truly learned soo much. I grew my testimony so much in this area and am so grateful for the things I have learned, and blessings which I have received! Sorry this letter is soo long today, but I just want to let you guys know that I know without a doubt that this church is true. That the power of the Atonement is real and truly changes people and their desires. I am so grateful to be serving my mission and for the support which I feel from you guys! Couldn't thank you enough! Hope ya all know how much I love ya and have an AWESOME WEEK!!!!!! 

Until next time!

ELDER BARTON

                                                       Tiago's Baptism Photos... 

                                         Pizza celebration APOSTLE and BATISMO!!!

The last supper with Maria do Carmo!!!! :(

                                  (elder b is fed well! we never have to worry about that! whew!)

Sergio!!!!!! (pay attention to the paintings that he painted

 in the backround! sooo sweet!) PICASSO IN THE FLESHHHH

Weekly Report 8/17/2015

Opaaaaaaa Bom Dia todo mundo!

Elder B comin atcha to give a report of the awesome week!

This week was truly full of miracles, miracles, and more miracles!! Had some super awesome experiences and learned some great things this week!

I wanted to start off talking about my main man Sergio who I talked about a couple weeks back.... Or maybe last week? haha times flying some I'm not sure which week it was! But he is the older man who is having awesome experiences with the Book of Mormon.... So he doing super super well! He went to church again yesterday and we marked him to be baptized on September 13th!!! I cant believe it! We visited him last night and talked about baptism and he told us that he is wanted to change his life and be baptized! I still am kind of in shock, haha because he was so dang stubborn earlier and didn't want anything to do with our church. And now he is ASKING US if he can be baptized and what he needs to do to prepare! It is so incredible how the gospel and Book of Mormon literally changes and transforms lives. I have been able to grow my testimony about this soo much these last couple weeks.

Also have an awesome Investigator named Tiago who we have been teaching for a long time but he was never really progressing. He is 16 years old and we almost stopped visiting him a lot of times because he wasn't able to go to church. But we felt that we should keep visiting him and inviting him to church. He went last week, and absolutely loved it! He told us that he said a prayer when he went home and asked if the church was true, when he prayed he felt super happy afterwards and that he wants to SERVE A MISSION!!!!! he also told us he wants to be baptized and we marked him for next Sunday!!! I couldn't believe it, truly these are miracles that are happening. And I don't even know how to react, except to just feel grateful. This area has been super super hard, we have never had much success in this area and it is 7 months without a baptism. I questioned Heavenly Father a lot of times why i am I here in this area, why am I not having success, why is it so hard? But I have come to learn that He has control over everything... He knows what he does with each and every one of us and I am soo soo grateful for the things which I have learned here in this area. The transfer is about to end, and I am wanting to stay here just to be able to learn more!

I am learning so much with my companion Elder Inocencio and am so grateful for the spirit i feel and awesome experiences I have each day. I know I say the same thing every week, but I am truly loving my mission. I am so happy and grateful to feel my Saviors love each day! This church is true, and miracles are real! I hope ya all have an awesome week and thanks for everything!

Elder Barton

(FROM AUG 3rd email)  

We just had an exchange with the traveling APs the whole week. It was sooo awesome! learned so much from them, they are great missionaries! They are constantly traveling to help out other areas. STUDS!

1. Burger at THE FIFTIES last pday! ohhh gosh so good!

2. Bday party for Sister Almeida this week in district meeting!

3.PIZZA WITH THE ASSISTANTS!!!!

(Last WEEK)

Lil exchange pizza celebration with my Zone Leader Elder Norambuena!!!

WEEKLY REPORT 8/10/2015

We had lunch with the SeCama family this week haha oh my gosh sooo much food! it was amazing I ate cow stomach and this super good cake!!

​This is the cow stomach!!! pics are super bad, but it was danggg good!

a little bit of the JUNGLES and favelas  in COTIAAA!

HAND MADE SUSHI that an awesome Japanese inactive member made for us last night!!!!!!! HOLYYYYYYY COW SOO GOOD!

​Tereza and Paulo SeCama, such an awesome awesome family!!!! Paulo is famous for karaoke competitions in Brazil and Japan haha and has like 200 hundred trophies in there house haha! we are trying to help them go back to church, they always make a bunch of food for the missionaries.... Such an awesome family!!!

Heyy heyyyy whats up Everybody!!!

Solid week this week, it was one of those tougher weeks where Satan was working a little bit in the hearts of the people but turned out to be a great week!

I wanted to start off talking about the power of The Book of Mormon, and the ability it has to transform hearts and move lives! We have been teaching a man named Sergio for a while now. He is an older man that is about 74 years old and first came in contact with the sister missionaries here in this area. He is a very smart man, and is constantly studying hundreds of books about religion and all sorts of stuff. He is also super good at painting!! Hes like Picasso haha his paintings are soo abstract and sick! But we have been visiting him a lot talking about the Book of Mormon, and answering all of the many many questions that he has. He is a great friend of ours, and has always had a lot of respect for us but has previously said to me that he never wants to be a member of the church. We kept visiting him, (usually him showing us his books and paintings) but always inviting I'm to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and we would come back to answer his questions. Last Monday, he gave us a call and asked if we could come over. We did, and he told us that he spent almost 3 hours reading the book of Mormon Monday morning because he couldn't stop. He then prayed, and said he felt the most powerful, indescribable and happy feeling come over him and began to weep. He then told us that he didn't know what it was, but said he wants "to try and be the best Mormon that he can" haha. We testified of the power of the Holy Ghost and how he testifies of the truth. Sergio was super happy and came to church with us this Sunday after having many dreams and other awesome experiences with the Book of Mormon during the week. It was incredible, I couldn't believe it! We are planning to invite him to be baptized this week... We wanted to last week, but something just wasn't feeling right! We are so stoked, and I truly grew my testimony soo much about the power that the Book of Mormon has to convert souls and change our lives for the better! 

 The Book of Mormon is true, and it testifies of the Immense love that our Heavenly Father has, and always has had for each and every one of us. So grateful for that, and these experiences I was able to be apart of this week. I invite all of you guys to read, and pray to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon because it will bless your lives so much! I'm grateful for this restored gospel and the PLETHORA of blessings that I have! Hope yaaalll have an awesome week!

ELDER B SIGNING OFFFFF

Weekly Email MILLAGRES E MACACOS SÃO REAIS!!!

YELLO everybodyy!!!!

Super awesome and rewarding week this week!! First wanted to start off that we saw SO MANY MONKEYS THIS WEEK HOLY COW I'M SO STOKED!!!! My dreams have come true!!!! hahaha it was sooo sick we ate lunch at our bishops house one day and when we were leaving there like 30 monkeys in the trees in the front of his house!!! holy

cowwwww itwasawesome!!! we where feeding them bananas and they would grab the banana right of your hand!!! it was the SICKEST thing ever!!! I wanted to slap one in my bag and take him home as a pet! Maci and Demi you guys would have LOVED it!!! I didn't have my camera :( but i took some pics with our cell phone and our bishop emailed me a few pics that ill send to ya guys!;)

Other than the MONKEY MADNESS, this week was a super great week! Had some awesome experiences with "Nosso Resgate" as well as with NEW INVESTIGATORS!!! The first experience withe nosso resgate was awesome... We found an inactive family on our list that lives super close to our house and heard that he was an ex bishop and had fallen away from the church. We had an impression one day this week to go visit them, We went over and he let us in, we started to talk and get to know him a little better when his wife (also a member) got home. We ended up talking with them for about 30 minutes just getting to know them and talking about the church, their family, and life. We left everything super light and just let them know that we are here to help em out with anything they need and asked if we could leave with a word of prayer. After the prayer Regina (the wife) began to cry and just had the biggest smile on her face. It was such a neat moment, just to see her gratitude from a small and simple visit to show our support. I have gained a huge testimony of this recently, that small and simple acts to show our love for those whom have fallen can make a huge difference! Also that the Lord truly prepares people to accept and hear our message of the Restoration. We found such an awesome family this week, a young couple named Edson and Eliane with their two little daughters Carolina and Aline who are 5 and 7 years old, so dang cute! They really accepted our message super well and really want to go to church!(weren't able to this Sunday) But are super excited for next Sunday!!! Edson told us that he feels so happy and good when we teach them and wants to change his life. We testified of the love that Heavenly Father has for us and it was such a great experience! Super excited about them!!!

Definitely has been super hard in this area, but I have learned SO much here, about my Savior and about myself. Elder Ulisses S. Soares of the presidency of the seventy gave a talk this Sunday in our ward (Its his home ward and hes just here visiting) and he said something super awesome that I liked a lot. He said "Something easy wouldn't be of God" which really hit me. That all these tough experiences I have been having have been from my Heavenly Father to help me learn and grow my testimony. so grateful for that, and I know that that is true what he said. Sorry I have written a novel this week, but Super grateful for this week which I have had and for this incredible opportunity to serve. I couldn't do it with out all of your support and the support from my Savior! Thanks YA LL so much!!!! Have an AWESOME WEEK!!!!

Elder Barton

 

MACACOS!!!!!

​the pics are super bad but AHHHH SO SICK!!!

Little friend in our house this week!!!

ZONE PIC (minus two sisters)

Joker mask that one of the investigators of my zone leaders has haha! During an exhange this week

Weekly Email 7/20/2015

Whats up everybody!!!!!

Solid week this week!! Received my new companion Elder Inocencio who's a bosss! Like I said last week, hes a Brazilian from Rio Grande do Sul and he loves to drink Maté which has been a plus cause that's some good stuff haha!

Its been an awesome opportunity to have a little more control in everything in this area, because hes new here so I gotta show him the ropes! Ha ha, I am learning a lot while doing so! Its super awesome. We have been continuing to work with "Nosso Resgate" and all of the Less and Inactive members of the church. We did exchanges yesterday with the Elders Quorum (each missionary with a member of the quorum) and visited a ton of inactive members in the quorum. It was a great experience, I felt like we the Army of Helaman all suited up heading into battle to rescue our injured comrades! haha it was an awesome experience, we found some great people and I truly feel that a good number of them will be at church next Sunday! I got paired with Maurcio, the president of the quorum (super awesome guy) and we were talking about the great impact that small visits have on people. Just a quick 5 minute visit to an inactive member of the church can help them feel loved and a desire to go back to church! Just to share a quick testimony with them about how much their Father in Heaven loves them and that we are all here to support them makes a huge difference! It was awesome, we had some great experiences and even found some new people to teach while at it!

Sometimes we just need to have courage to open our mouth, whether it be for a inactive member of the church, or someone who knows nothing about the church. My brother Ryan sent me an email last week that really helped me out. All of us have a purpose in the areas which we are in as missionaries. Whether it is to find people who have been prepared to be baptized, and baptize them. Or to plant seeds and search for new people to teach, helping others who have fallen as well. I know that I have a purpose here in this area, and I feel that more and more each day. I know that the savior is with me and I just need to always remember to have courage to open my mouth and help those people whom the Lord has prepared for Elder Inocencio and I! I know this is true, and am so grateful to be here serving my mission. I feel my saviors love more and more each day.

D&C 84:88

 88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

ELDER BARTON

                                  

                              Service Project with Carlos (our ward mission leader) this week!!!!!!

First pizza with the new crew in our house!!!! Elder Lopes from North Africa and Elder Inocencio!!

MONKEYS

MATÉ

First REAL motorcycle I have seen here

Ponder Break

​In dat foriegn land