Working diligently and learning leadership skills...

Hello mother and father! I am very well. I have been working very diligently and this diligent has seen fruit.

WE HAD A BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEIR NAMES ARE VICENTE AND TOMAS AND THEY ARE SOME OF THE SMARTS LITTLE KIDS I HAVE EVER MET!

They are part of a less active family and we started teaching them about 3 weeks ago. Teaching little kids is easy in the part that they accept just about everything you say but the hard part is getting them to understand and actually do the things which we teach them. Vicente was the little kid that prayed and had his prayer answered so he could get baptized yesterday and still go to his basketball tournament. 

Dad I think its cool that missionaries will always do the same things to over come the problems that we have. When I first started off on the mission I didn´t like contacting at all, so my comp Elder Arriaza taught me the word game too! We played it all day one day and had 25 contacts and got about 15 good future investigators from it! I haven´t tried the running from door to door or the praying but I will try it and let you know how it goes! Being a district leader is an awesome assignment not just cause I get to work with the other missionaries and help them when they have issues but I think it has really helped me push myself to be a better leader. I have been told again and again that if as a leader won´t do something then I can´t expect my missionaries to do them and they won´t. I know that this is true with any position of leadership and I think it has really helped me understand the need that we have to trust that what our leaders and parents and the Lord tell us is something that will help us right now and in the future. My favorite song in Spanish is Ejercito de Helaman (Army of Helamen) it is super good in the way that they didn´t change the lyrics to much from Spanish to English but it just gets to me. Especially in the part when it talks about being obedient to the lord.   I love the gospel and I love you so much mom and dad.

Elder Christopher Ryan Barlow