Email: January 8, 2018

Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Shout out to my parents who sent me a keyboard. This makes things so much faster and shout out to Elder Williams who is now on the weekly and to my best friend Elder Hansen who is growing the church in India and lastly to soon to be Elder Fisk who reports to the England MTC next month.

Sorry to those who haven't been getting my emails. I didn't realize that some were not on in so hopefully we have everyone now. 

So, this week was quite the thrill ride. So, with it being LA and all, obviously, we are going to meet a lot of different people and receive a lot of different reactions as well. That has never been more apparent than this week. Especially on Thursday. 

So, this week was really slow with missionary work. But the weekend got things finally rolling.

On Monday we went bowling for P-day and went to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate Sister Park's last P-day. It's sad to see her go because she was such a fun and great missionary. It was all nice to brush up on the good ole bowling skills and I think I finally got things figured out on how do actually consistently do good because for those who know me, know that my bowling skills are all over the place. At least I didn't step into the gutter and fall down onto the lane. We had dinner with our Bishop and his family on Monday and we had octopus. It's actually not that bad. I thought it would be squishy and weird but turns out it was actually pretty firm and not that bad.

On Wednesday we went out trying to contact some less active members and potentials in an area. We ended up talking to a gentleman shaking a fence at a construction site. Turns out his name is Walt S. and he is the owner of the site. We talked to him a bit and he mentioned how he was an assistant to the director of The Sandlot. He said specifically where they filmed everything and that his name is in the credits. 

On Thursday we went on exchanges with the Gardena Elders which means I went back down to Gardena and guess who ended back up in Compton.

Proof I was in Compton

Thursday was the most emotional day for me since I have been on the mission. Now, let me get this straight, I have not cried since being on the mission. But I nearly lost it on Thursday. But shout out to Elder Williams for being awesome. So, we mapped out our day and the route we were going to take and what do you know I'm in Compton again and honestly, it's not nearly as bad as people say it is. So, I rode Elder William's bike and man that bike had a rough day. First of all, it's an already pretty beat up bike. Then while we were in Compton we meet Kevin B... who then decided to relieve himself on Elder Williams’ bike. It was interesting to sit on the sidewalk of a Compton neighborhood and just look around at what I was seeing. It humbled me a lot and made me so grateful to have been raised in the wonderful quiet town that is Mapleton and how lovely and open the people are and although not everyone will get along, at least it is done civilly and safely. I truly am grateful for what I call my hometown and the opportunity, safety, and friends it has given me.

 Continuing on our adventure, and not being able to get a hold of anyone, Elder Williams and I decided to venture towards Carson. As we climbed the Dominguez Hills we stopped for direction and to admire the view. When all of a sudden, we hear profanities being hurled our way. I looked over to see a gentleman leaning halfway out his window screaming at us driving away from us and using all the colorful language that he knows. Being caught off guard I turned to Elder Williams to crack a joke and move on, so not to think much of it. As I was about to say, "imagine if the guy pulled around" the same gentleman pulled a u-turn and pulled up right next to us on the curb and began to use his colorful language again saying that what we are teaching are lies and that we shouldn't be teaching the African American community. I just stood there with the bike and looked out at the nice view on my right, not giving the man the light of day. If anything, I could have just jumped on the bike and left, but I wasn't about to leave Elder Williams. 

Elder Williams took the high road and didn't speak to the man, he just shook his head and nodded, not saying a word until the man took off again on the road. I was about ready to just cry. But I believe in the law of averages. Everything in nature will even out in due time. So, although I have had two pretty terrible experiences now on my mission in the way we have been treated, I have had so many great experiences and have so many more to look forward to.

Later, we were riding our bikes in a Carson neighborhood and a gentleman rolling a tire down the street stopped me and asked me where I got my bike helmet from. Having grabbed it from the garage that morning I didn't know how to answer him, so I told him just that, "From our garage". The guy laughed and mentioned how he has meet missionaries before and isn't interested, but respects what we do. Elder Williams stepped up as asked him if he knew anyone in the neighborhood that we could teach and the gentleman rolling his tire turns around and says. "Yeah, there is a house on the corner of Sherman that has the devil in it. My sister lives there and she is the devil, so maybe you could go exorcise her home." Laughing about it at first, we took off toward the home excited for an opportunity to teach. When we got to the house we stopped laughing. It was the most rundown house in the neighborhood. I'll leave a picture of it. Now pretty freaked out, we knocked on the door. The dog in the home started going crazy and started slamming against the door. Now, with the door shaking on a rundown house and having this dog going insane, we decided to wait around for a bit. Just as we decided to leave and were hopping on our bikes the door opened.

We then met Zeno, who is a super spiritual dude, and really open and ready for the gospel. We were able to teach him about the restoration and leave him with a Book of Mormon and he is now a solid investigator. It definitely taught Elder Williams and I a lesson in not judging.

On our way to dinner, I broke Elder Williams bike completely. Whoops

On Saturday, Elder Styer and I were determined to find success in our area and within the first half hour of the day, we were able to find a new investigator, Mary, who lives down the street from our apartment. She is from Ukraine and smokes a lot but as soon as we mentioned Jesus she put her cigarette out and started listening. We were also able to set two return appointments with two different former investigators and set up an appointment with a less active/ part member family.

Two weeks ago, we received a referral from the Elders in Lawndale. Her name is Cleo and they met her while they were hiking over in Palos Verdes. Turns out that morning she woke up looking for a church. Elder Styer and I were having a rough time trying to contact her. But this week we finally got ahold of her and she came to church yesterday. She ended up staying for all 3 hours and already has a fellowshipper. We focused the Gospel Principles class solely on teaching her. She really enjoyed learning and loves the sense of community the church provides. She plans on coming next week and we are going to extend her a baptismal invitation soon.

We were able to meet with Masaru again and he isn't keeping our commitment, so we strayed completely from our lesson plan and retaught the importance of prayer. We definitely think he will begin to progress a lot faster now that he understands prayer and why we do it. He said the closing prayer for us in Japanese and it was super cool to listen to.

Transfer calls were last night and Elder Styer and I will be staying in Manhattan Beach/ Redondo 3rd Ward. With this transfer there were only 10 companionships that stayed together.

And that was my week this week. Thanks for all the love and support and I will continue to try my best to bring our father's children, our brothers and sisters home.

I love you all, strive to be more like our older brother Jesus Christ because it is through HIM that we are able to be more loving people, better friends, better spouses and better sibling and find eternal happiness.

Your LA boi,

Elder Kyle Barton

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