Two baptisms!!! Grateful for my young men leaders...

  Hey dad and mom what up! I have exciting news. I had a baptism yesterday!!!!! It was a miracle baptism.  This kid literally came out of nowhere! The sisters in our area were teaching these kids and he was always listening to the lessons and was like "I want to get baptized".   The sisters were like "you live in the boundary of the Elder", so we had a baptism yesterday and I preformed 2 baptisms.   It was awesome!  The other baptism I preformed was of this 16 year old girl.  Her family is so very awesome. They are my family here in Chile. I was so happy!  Their names are Francisco and Madeline.
    I will be able to skype you guys and I will call around 4 o'clock4your  time.  I will call you guys. We are going to be skyping from a home of a member, so there won`t be any distractions. We can talk for like 30 to 40 minutes on Christmas day which will be super nice!
  That is so awesome to hear about Logan. I always thought he was a good guy and a stud. I am glad that Bridger  finally has some back up in his family. He really needs it. I am going to guess that his dad will be baptized pretty soon if I guess correctly. 
  I have lots of photos for you from this past week some are from the baptism, some are from my zone conference and some are from a district activity 

  I would invite you dad to look up the church message He is the Gift on the church website or on Christmas.Mormon.org. It is a great video about what Christmas really means.   It is a huge deal down here. All the missionaries have to give out thousands of these little cards and report how many times we watch the video with people. It is like dropping a spiritual bomb during a lesson, it is awesome! We had a inter-zone conference this past week with the president which was awesome. I think I am finally starting to understand what the Lord expects of me not only right now in the mission but in the future and I have to say that I am really excited and scared at the same time.  I know I can do it but I know my life after the mission will not be easy but that is the life of a disciple of Christ. I can`t really expect my salvation to be easy.   If it was never easy for Him then I'm going to have to suffer through some of His same trails. That is the only true way we can walk His path. 
  Thank you for preparing me to be a messenger of righteousness and please thank the bishop, Rob, Regan, Josh and my other leaders for preparing me. I now realize how much they had to go through. Especially thank the bishop and let him know that I will be praying for him because I don`t want him to suffer the same things that the branch president is suffering here. 

Love 

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Grateful for being prepared when young...

Hey first off your gillie suit and your knives are dope! I am super jealous! I feel like that might be one of the first things I will have to buy when I get back after my motorcycle. Canihuente is becoming more and more interesting everyday! So las Hermanas in our ward have been teaching a kid that lives in our sector and he wants to be baptized this Sunday. So we are going to have a baptism this Sunday. He lives in our sector but he spends all of his time in the house of his cousins and they have been receiving the lessons from the sisters in their sector. We hadn't talked to him or seen him until the sisters were like "oh here is a kid that wants to be baptized by you guys!" It`s a Christmas miracle! Elisia had her interview but didn't pass because she likes to talk to an evangelist preacher, whenever she talks about anything having to do with church and she is lacking a little bit in the lessons, so we are going to teach prophets and repentance to her again and basically guide her with memorized answers to help her pass the baptismal interview. She is really great, super kind and friendly. And wants to be a member of the church. She just has tons of stuff from every other religions of the world in her mind, so at times she is very confusing to listen to. We also don`t have permission from her husband to baptize her. I am a little worried about that because he is a huge horrible, terrible person. Like he would have been the man that stoned the prophets in the bible. We are doing good and right now we are trying to unite this ward but it is going to be really hard. This branch has suffered a lot. I am going to ask to president if I can be here one more transfer but I am going to be getting a new comp because Arriaza has been 6 months. I have lost 20 pounds and I am pretty sure when I get back you won`t be able to recognize me, which is fun. I can feel and see the changes of the mission in my life very clearly and I am so grateful you and mom taught me that I should prepare to service the Lord when I was young. I am seeing young men who don`t have a mission in mind here. It is really sad because when they aren't focusing on preparing for the future they are just living to do what is fun right now. Thank you so much! The photos are of Paolo our best friend here in Ovalle and his niece and sister cataldo the president of the Sociedad de Socorro(Relief Society). The other is of our mamita sister and brother Erises they are awesome!!
  I love you momma and dad!!!!!

Love 

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

I love being a missionary...

A little bit of Christmas from home.

Hey Pop and momma!! 
 I am pumped to hear that you had an awesome birthday and that you aren´t feeling to old.  Here in chile every man has a chain. just like a plain silver chain and every time I see them it reminds me of josh and how thug he is! I want to buy one and send it to him because I know he will actually wear it but they are super lame. I don´t really understand why they wear them but oh well. 
  We have 3 progressing investigators right now and they are super good! Barbara, Maria, Elisia. Barbara is 19 and has a baby. She is really good and listens and participating in the lesson but has a fear of attending church so her progress is shortening. Maria is great and says that if she receives an answer about the Book of Mormon she will do whatever we ask and be active forever, which is just great! Elisia is good too. She attended a branch conference with us and liked it a lot but her husband is, in the words of Jesus and Moroni "a child of hell" and doesn't ´t want us to come by anymore.  I don't know what we are going to do about her and her baptism this sunday. Here in Ovalle there is a really big lack of religiousness with the men and the men who are religious are not really willing to listen which is really hard. If we could baptize the head of the family the rest will follow and the branches here really need elders who pay tithing. I really liked the presents I got and I gave half of all my food to Elder Arriaza, don´t worry. I have two nicknames here El rey de Helado (the king of ice cream)with some of the families in the branch and with the missionaries I am the king of candy because I always have candy for the kids we are teaching. I have lost 20 pounds since I left the MTC. At one point in the MTC I was almost 200lbs and now I am about 172. Christmas is about the same here but a little smaller and we have a lot more Jehovah's Witnesses but nothing really different. 

  My favorite treat is probably the mentos but I am sorry to say that I didn't ´t follow the instructions because they were at the bottom of the package. I didn't ´t open my stocking or my letters yet so that is good! The kids here loved the ctr rings and if you could send me like 100 more that would be the most marvelous thing in the world! The tree and the nativity scene are in our study room and yes I did decorate them! Dads cookies were awesome and I haven't tried the mix yet. I am waiting till Christmas to eat it with some of the families we are going to be with. 

  I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!! IT IS THE BEST THING EVER! I also have realized something, that is really sad as well. A lot of people are going to die and have to learn all the things about the gospel in the spirit world but I know the plan of our Heavenly Father is perfect and I am so grateful I decided to be valiant in the pre-earth life to be able to have the fullness of the gospel in my life now, with all the joy and blessings that come with it. I love you guys so much for preparing me to serve a mission and I know that the people I teach, if they choose to accept the gospel will wet your feet with their tears when we are in heaven again because of their gratitude. 

Love 

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

	Dec 1 (3 days ago)

Hi momma!

1. I don´t have a new comp not till new years when we are transferred.

2. It all got deleted but I am not sure how and with the mission rules about music are only things that can be played in sacrament meeting and classical music so I can listen to all types of hymns but nothing else which kind of blows! 

3. I am always hungry but I eat a lot but I am down to about 170 I think.

4. I have plenty of money for food and the members feed us a ton.

5. We can go out to eat at restaurants but we use the mission money for it.  So we don´t usually,  we just buy what we want to eat in the grocery store and cook it at home on Mondays.

6. We can talk for about 45 minutes on Christmas day. We are going to call about 5 O´clock your time because it will be 7 here. I don´t know if we can skype or video chat but if we can I will try,  so send me your skype address.

De tu hijo 

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Hey Dad!! What up Viejo! Estoy muy bien aquí en paraíso! Esta semana era muy interesante porque tenía dos intercambios. Una vez con un Elder de Colombia y una con me líder de zona. Ambos eran muy buen y tienen muchos cosas que yo necesito desarrollar a ser un mejor misionero. Ponemos 2 fechas esta semana, ambos con mujeres. La primera es llamado Barbara y ella tiene 19 anos y ella tiene un hija de 5 meses. She is great! She likes to read the Book of Mormon and to pray, likes to listen and wants these things for her daughter as well which is awesome. She needs to attend church for the next 3 weeks to be baptized on the 21 but I think that if we can find some friends for her in the branch it will go a lot smoother and easier. The other is Elisia she is about 48, I think. She is very very religious and attended church for the first time with us yesterday and wants to be baptized on the 14. She reads the Book of Mormon a lot and has very strong feelings about the importance of family and how man and woman must work together for the betterment of the family. Which is kind of sad because her husband is a jerk and that is about the nicest word I could think of to describe him. We are also going to set another date with this woman named Maria Castillo. She is about the same age as Elisia and wants to be a member of the church and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. She is one of the best investigators I have found on my mission so far. I am still with Elder Arriaza and we will be together till new years eve because that is the day of transfers but I am pretty pumped to be with him because we are teaching well. I feel like I am lacking a lot in my part of the lessons but all the other elders say that will come with more time and experience. I love you dad! I got the Christmas package. Elder Arriaza was pretty annoyed with me because he brought it on Saturday and had to carry it around all day on Friday because he was in Viña for a training. The package weighs like 100 lbs. He said to say thank you for including double of just about everything and loves the cliff bars. 

De tu hijo

Elder Chirstopher Ryan Barlow

Translation of Chris's letter:

What's up old man! I doing great here in paradise! this week was very interesting because I had 2 exchanges with an elder form Colombia and a zone leader. Both were great and I have a lot of things I need to develop in order to be a better missionary. We have set 2 dates this week both are for 2 women. The first one's name is Barbara and she is 19 years old and she has a 5 month old little daughter...

Elder Azarria loading Chris's Christmas package. Poor guy!!!

New goals, learning so much, all scriptures are for uplifting the world...

Hey mom! I am doing really well and I am in Ovalle doing good. I did receive both the packages from you  and the bishop which was awesome! I have been giving the candy to everyone because with both of your packages combined it was like a years supply, so thank you very much! I don´t know a sister Ramirez but I will remember the name from now on. We set a goal  to have 20 baptisms because of the story that dad told me last week.  We are going to be busy working our tails off to find 20 people who will attend church for 3 weeks straight and accept that this is the real gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. Restored through a modern day prophet.  I know it is possible and with faith, prayer and hard work we will have 20 baptisms by the 31 of 

December. I don't have a whole a lot to write this week but we have been having working a lot. I am really starting to love Chile and I feel really close to the people that I am teaching.  

I love you so much mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

De 

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Hey Dad whats up!  Chilean Spanish is so different then any other country its crazy. They speak in code basically. I am doing good with the language and can talk and understand almost everything now. Reflexive verbs are the thing I still don´t understand but I can talk and speak pretty well, so I am not that worried. I am alright with what happened with Juan and his family. I know we tried our best and everything is the will of the Lord so I really don´t feel to bummed out. I have really learned so much here on my mission I can barely explain it. I have learned what I will need to do to raise a family that is strong in the church, how to really study and understand the scriptures, which are so very wonderful and clear. I really can´t understand how the world hasn't figured out that the church of Christ can´t be on the earth without a prophet. I have been studying the New Testament a lot and wish I would have read it more before my mission because it really helps a lot. I remember one time when I had started to read the bible and started in the Old Testament and you said that I should focus my study in the Book of Mormon. I have to say now that you were wrong. All scripture is for the uplifting and teaching of the world. Yes the Book of Mormon is important and the only way people can learn true conversion is through the Book of Mormon but the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify of the Bible and bring about the unifying of the tribes of Israel. Without both we don´t have the complete gospel of Jesus Christ. So I would invite you to start studying the bible again because yes it isn´t perfect but when we study the bible and the Book of Mormon together the mysteries of Heavenly Father are opened to us. 

I love you so much dad and am so grateful for the things that you taught me as a boy and young man. I am eternally grateful that you are a worthy priesthood holder and an amazing example to me and for my future sons.

Love

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Want to change area for the better...

  Hey dad, I really need to hear that story about your experience with baptisms and goals.  Our goals right now are to make sure that people were teaching are actually in their homes when we set the appointment times. I want to change the area I am in right now for the better because this branch is really struggling. They need new blood and a new set of supporters which is hard. A lot of the members want to help but they are just to scared of being rejected or just aren´t excited any more, which is the hardest part to watch for me. We have completely lost Juan. When we went to teach the Contuliano family the other day, Chile was playing Venezuela in a match and he was downing beers like it was his job. It was really sad and I felt a little disappointed but I know that I did what I could to teach him. I know that someday he may realize he made the biggest mistake of his life. 

  We have transfers this week, so I might be getting a new comp which is exciting and scary at the same time. I am pretty sure I am going to be in Ovalle until January which is pretty nice and then I will get changed on New Years Eve. We had 2 dates set for the 30th but we have to push them back again because the people didn't show up to church but we have a couple new investigators who are really great and I am hoping they will be baptizwanted within the next three weeks as well. 

  I love you so much and am so proud to be your son and so grateful Heavenly Father blessed me with such a great father.

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Grateful for priesthood...

Hey dad! I am glad that I am not missing much with the walking dead but to be honest I had totally forget about it till now. Ha. I am going to binge watch a lot of stuff with you guys when I get back. So Im not to worried about it! 

  That is awesome that you had that experience with Josh and Ben. I have trying to work a lot with the young men in this area because they don´t have a lot of great priesthood influences and only 2 or three want to serve missions, which is sad but I hope that I can teach them what it means to be a worthy priesthood holder! I am so grateful that you are a worthy priesthood holder and that you taught me how to be worthy of this power as well. I am also super grateful for Joseph and his receiving this sacred power to bless and serve. I know that it is literally the power of God on the earth and with it we can help make miracles.

I am in my last week of training and next Monday there is the possibility I might be in a new area or with a new comp. I don´t know yet but I am pretty pumped to be ending my training and being able to have more time to contact and teach because leaving the house at 12:30 because were studying sucks! I also have started to watch the talk by Elder Holland called "Feed my Sheep" every night before I go to bed to help remind me every day of what my calling is. I love this talk its fantastic I would recommend you  to watch it.

I love you so much!

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow!

I have been teaching a lot more and we had to stop teaching some of our investigators because they aren´t progressing which is really hard but I know it´s for the best. This week is my last week of training with is super exciting I am pumped for it to end. Next Wednesday will decided if I am staying in Ovalle until February or if I am going to be in a new home for Christmas with a new companion. I am pretty excited for both either way! I have been so hungry this week, its ridiculous. I don´t eat a ton but I feel hungry all the time, it´s kind of annoying. ha I think it is just because they only have one big meal here during the day and I walk around in the heat all day long. I have to log off now but I love you so much and hope that you and the family are doing super well!

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Missing you guys but getting easier...

Hola Momma!! Como estas? Estoy muy bien y me agrado hablar en Español con ti! Yo puedo contestar preguntas y hablar en Español todo tiempo ahora. Es difícil a veces pero solamente necesito mas tiempo de practicar y tener una mas claro acento. Me gusta los photos y su costumbre esta muy Maravilloso, su y Jessica's son genial. 

I am going to stop writing in Spanish now because it is really hard to type in Spanish. I love dads lame costume too. How are you guys doing. Are the girls having a good time in school and how are dad's cases? Is Stu still studying for the MCAT and when is the date of his test so I can fast for him. I also love Josh´s hang over costume its awesome. How are you doing mama? You missing me because if so I miss you guys too but it is easier and easier every day!! Its crazy to think that I have been gone since July! I am in the 5th month of my mission! I need to start baptizing more people! It was a little bit of a rough week because not a whole lot of people here know how to manage a schedule or be on time for things or keep commitments. At times it feels like I am  pretty isolated from everyone around me because everyday I listen to the same lame excuses and it can be pretty annoying at times. But like my mission president said I need to find the elect. We have a baptismal date for the  for a woman named Ana Araya. She is really great and believes everything we tell her, the only problem is she has a really busy schedule for work its everyday of the week and we have to have our investigators attend church 3 times before them can be baptized. If she doesn't attend church these next 2 weeks she won´t be able to be baptized and its possible that I won´t be here for it because we have changes in 2 weeks. We lost Juan which is a really big bummer but I honestly don´t feel that bad. I am obviously very sad for him and a little angry at his family but this is the will of the Lord and I believe he will be a member and a leader in the church one day.

Oh me and my comp dressed up for Halloween too! I was a short Costa Rican for Halloween and he was a devilishly, handsome, bronze skinned American boy from Utah.

I love you Mommma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

De tu Hijo amado!

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Last week Peter asked him a series of questions and this week he responded.

1.The most difficult thing about Spanish is the order of the words. Reflexive verbs are really hard too and I need to get down on how to use them.

2. I haven´t had to many embarrassing moments which I am very grateful. I did mistake one of the members of our branch for one of our investigators. Then I proceeded to ask her husband to go sit by her so that she could feel welcome and maybe explain some things about the meetings and asked him to talk about his experiences in the church. That was pretty embarassing but I was ok with it.

3.Mote con Husillo is nasty. It is corn and peach's in really good juice but all together it is one of the nastiest combinations of food I have ever had. 

4. I love empanadas and I love love love the helado (ice cream)!!! This country has the most delicious ice cream I have ever had in my entire life. I have actually bought half a liter for our district meeting and we all ate it during the meeting.

5.I cook a lot of hot dogs, chicken, beef, make tacos, sandwiches and fries. The best was when I made myself some home made chorillana. I chopped up fries,onions, eggs, beef and hot dogs and put it all together! Que Rico!

6. I am still struggling with having to talk out things with my comp.  It´s really hard for me because he obviously has more experience then I do and so a lot of the time if I ask why, he will just say porque si(just because).

7. I saw a member of about 9 years didn't know how to give an opening prayer in sacrament meeting and proceed to give a small talk. It was entertaining but I also felt bad.

8. I hate companionship interventions, its the worst thing ever. 

9.  I love running now. It is one of my favorite things to do and I do it every day. I also do lots of push ups, abs stuff and jump rope.

10. I love the first lesson because I had never thought that only a small portion of the world actually knows or believes Christ visited the Americas. And because the church was restored to it's original form it means God hasn't abandoned his children to the imperfect thoughts and interpretations of men. I love the lessons on chastity and word of wisdom because those are the most evident in my life. The consequences are obvious and the rewards and blessings are as well.

I love you Dad!!!!

Elder Christoper Ryan Barlow

Challenging week...

This week was super challenging with Juan because he changed the date of his marriage to January and we won´t be able to be here for it. It is really sad because he really wanted his family to be able to come to the date that they had set before but I guess that he is estranged from his family and he has tried to make up with them but they just don´t really like him or something.  Which is hard and I obviously don´t know the entire story but Juan won´t be baptized till after I am in another district! But I am alright with that! It´s not important who does that baptism as long as he is baptized! I love this Gospel and I love serving the Lord!

We planted the seed in his heart, we just need to give it more time to sprout! This is part of the problem that I think I am going to have with teaching. I am only going to be in these people lives for a couple months at best and I am going to change basically everything that they have ever known and then at times I won´t be able to see if it helped them or not.  I understand that its good for me and that helping them is the important thing.

De su HIjo

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

I will answer all your questions in more depth next week. But the nastiest thing I have eaten here is like  a corn peach thing that was awful!  I love teaching the first vision too but I like to  have my investigators read the first vision from the pamphlets we have. I love the running in the morning and I do a lot of push ups now!

Love you Dad!

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

A marriage and baptism date set for Juan...

Hey momma and dad!!! I am so glad to here about all you guys! Especially the girls and how they are all getting along!  I am glad to hear some new people moving into the ward! Fresh testimonies are great! I am sorry to hear about your leg and will be praying that you and dad can continue to run and exercise and do the things you love! You have to if were going to do mother/son marathons when I get back! My companion and me are doing really good but I really hate being in training.  The language barrier with him was really tough this week because he just basically does whatever he thinks is right. It’s frustrating because at times he treats me like a 4 year old and starts speaking Spanish in this really slow condescending tone and I have to restrain myself from shouting at him in English. He is a good missionary but is terrible at listening. Teaching lessons is really the only thing that helps me cool off after days like this.  We haven’t had many days like this and it has only happened a couple times.  Oh well!  I just accepted the fact that he does have more experience then me and can speak Spanish so I am trying to be humble and roll with the punches. Ha.

This week was so crazy I can’t even describe it! But to put it into short terms we taught 19 lessons this week and have now 5 progressing investigators and 3 people who would like to get baptized but first they need to get married! Juan Aguirre is the first and I have been talking about him for a while now. He is officially engaged starting this morning and will be married November 14^th, baptized 15th and confirmed the 16th! This week with him was pretty wild because on Monday he was totally fine and then they starting talking about wedding plans and everything went to heck in a handcart, when we wanted his family to be their and they don’t really like him that much, from what I understood. So he didn’t want to get married without his family and he was starting to get really emotional and so was Maria José his girlfriend. So we took him to the church and talked with him in one of the classrooms and he kept saying he felt alone and lost. I seriously have never been guided more in my life then in this moment. I started to talk to him about the Savior and His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. I told him about how He was alone through it all and then went through more afterwards in His trials and then on the cross and then to finish He died for us. I got to watch the Atonement and death of the Savior save this man’s hope for the future. I will treasure this experience for the rest of my life. This morning at 8 am we went down to the civil office and got the date for his marriage. So he is officially ready to be baptized, he just needs his interview! 

Your prayers are helping a lot so please don’t stop!! I also learned the importance of a real fast here in Chile! We have been taught to fast all our life but it wasn’t till here that I learned what it means to really fast for a purpose. So please help Hannah, Britt and dad remember that fasting is for a purpose and if you don’t start with a prayer and skip 2 meals or 24 hours and have a purpose for your fast and then end with a prayer it is just starving ourselves.

I also gave a talk this Sunday about faith and what things will strength our faith or destroy our faith. It was a talk by one of the seventies, not in this conference. It talked about the six steps to losing our faith and how faith requires action everyday! It was really good. We got it during our inter-zone conference with the president! Tomorrow I have my second interview with the president so I am pretty pumped for that and Excited to baptize way more people then any of the missionaries in our ward so don’t worry you’ll destroy that bet with Scott!

De su favorito Hijo Obviamente

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

                           Here are some cool photos for the blog of wall art from Chile! 

Look'n Good and feeling the Spirit...

Ovalle Zone Conference

Mission President

Now those are some good looking Elders!

Hey Dad! Juan has a Baptismal Date!!!!!! On October 25, 2014 by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood I will baptize Juan Aguirre! He believes it all and wants to live forever with his family! We are working on setting a date for the wedding this week and hoping that this weekend we will be attending our first Chilean wedding or at least next Monday. I will be sending you a picture of a marriage license! The problem right now is the less active girlfriend. which to me is so strange because all the other members who we teach who aren’t married just want to sprint to court to make their marriage official and baptize their spouse! But she is really young.  She is the same age as Jessica and is a little scared but we are praying she will be able to overcome this fear.  Juan even fasted yesterday for it!!! It was awesome! This gospel really will change the lives of people who choose to follow it, because when we sacrifice for Heavenly Father he opens up the windows of heaven and makes it rain blessings! I am really glad to hear that you’re having missionary experiences yourself! I know it is hard to have hope for some of the people you teach because I feel the same way some of the time but we don’t know all that is really going on in their lives. We just need to have faith, we invite them to make promises with the Lord through the power of the spirit and then pray that they will keep their promises. The Lord will bless us with what we want, not always immediately or in the way we think but He will. 

I love you Dad!!

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 12:08 PM, Wendy Barlow <wendypbarlow@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi honey! You look good. How are you this fine morning? I’m at work but have time to talk because the patient is in surgery for the next hour. 

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 9:17 AM, Christopher Barlow <christopher.barlow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

That’s awesome!! Sort of ha I am good. My companion and me are going to get haircuts today from one of our investigators hopefully we can kill 2 birds with one stone!

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 12:23 PM, Wendy Barlow <wendypbarlow@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh good. Hopefully she will be charmed by you into getting baptized. How was week?

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 9:25 AM, Christopher Barlow <christopher.barlow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

A little slow and we didn’t teach a whole lot of lessons but we did manage to set a baptismal date for Juan so thank you for your Prayers! He has to get married first but I hope this week I will be attending my first Chilean wedding!

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 12:33 PM, Wendy Barlow <wendypbarlow@gmail.com> wrote:

That so exciting to hear about Juan! We will continue to pray that all goes well for him and his girlfriend. Make sure you take pics at the wedding.  I was able to see pics from your zone conference and you look so handsome! I do have to say that you are the best looking missionary in your zone! But I’m also biased. I've been wondering if you are able to go running for your exercise. Also how is a normal day for you go?

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 9:40 AM, Christopher Barlow <christopher.barlow@myldsmail.net> wrote: I love our zone! I run every morning for like 15 minutes and then do some easy things on those outside gyms that are in the parks, pushups, squats and then I curl plastic bags filled with Book of Mormons. 

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 12:44 PM, Wendy Barlow <wendypbarlow@gmail.com> wrote:
That's awesome that you curl BOM!! Can your comp keep up with you? I’m so happy that you love your zone. We can tell in your pics that you are happy and full of the spirit and that makes dad and I so happy for you! Tell me about your days and your routine. Have you been able to keep the weight off with all the bread your probably eating?

Chris:

We have bread like 4 times a day but I only eat a little bit so I am not to worried and everyone says I will get even skinnier when I get transferred to Viña or Valpo because it is just hills and heat so I am pumped for that! The weather her is really weird and the temp will change like 3 times during the day! I usually run a little bit ahead of my companion but I can tell he didn´t really workout a whole lot before now so he is starting to lose a lot of weight as well ha

Christ our perfect example, loved conference and mountain of meetings at multizone conference...

Hey Momma! Como esta? Estoy muy bien!  I have a lot to tell you this week! I had a mountain of meetings and learning this week! It started Wednesday when I had my first multizone conference and the president of the mission and his wife came to talk with me and around 30 other missionaries it was awesome! It really helped me learn the kind of teacher and member I need to be. The theme of the conference was attributes of Christ and how developing them now will help us not only on our missions but also in our lives. Because Christ was the perfect example in all things and the goal of the church is to help us become more like Christ I would suggest one night for family home evening to go through one of the preach my gospels and read through the section about the attributes of Christ with the family and then choose one for the month to try and develop. The goal of the conference was to help us to learn to be assertive like Christ. That means to be courageous and to speak our thoughts, feelings by our actions. It also means to be kind and gentle and calm when talking about them. It’s walking the line of being passive and aggressive and it is very hard. I have been trying to do it during my lessons this week. I tend to lean towards the aggressive side of it but I am working on it and with more practice I can be more suave and tactful when I speak and teach. We got to practice a lot of role-playing with the president watching and I guess I am apparently way ahead in my Spanish then a lot of the other new missionaries that came out with me. The president after the conference said that he was very impressed with how well I speak and how willing I am to take the lead in lessons and answer questions, which not gonna lie made me feel really good because I have been struggling a little because only a few of our investigators are progressing right now. I attended the conferences in the stake center and got to watch them in English, which was really nice! I really liked the talk by the 70 from Europe. I can’t remember what country but he talked about how we need to take responsibility for our lives. That means responsibility for our health, our sins, our work and our families because we all chose to come down and live down here. Here the members have a big problem with blaming people for all the wrongs in their lives.

We are so close to another baptism with this guy we are teaching named Juan. He wants baptism and wants to be married in the temple but the problem right now is that he and his girlfriend live together and have a kid so they have to get married first and then he can be baptized. He wants to get married but she is struggling with the idea of marriage even though they have lived together for 4 years. We will be having family home evening with them tonight and our ward mission leader.   I think he will help them a lot because he just got married in the temple like 4 months ago. The girlfriend is a member but inactive and I think struggles a lot with her testimony but hopefully the lesson tonight will help a lot.

I had to send you the email I sent dad today because I don’t have a lot a time right now! But tell grandma not to worry my bed is fine its really just the tile and the bathroom that suck! I apparently live on the most dangerous street in OValle. Which is exciting because apparently the last Elders house got attacked by fletes in the middle of the night and they had to by a new door and I am assuming new windows because the Fletes were throwing rocks at the house. I guess the last Elder before me offended just about everyone here including the members. 

But they love me and I am bigger then everyone here so I am not to worried.

De tu Hijo

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow

Elder Barlow

Ovalle

Off to Zone Conference