Bienvenidos a La Casa Laurel

 

This week has been crazy busy! We started off the week by getting a call from the mission office in billings that we would be moving to a new apartment and that we had to start moving right away. We used to live with 2 other elders In the same apartment, and laurel was split between us, but because of corona, the mission is trying to make sure everyone has their own apartment for safety. So now we live on the other side of laurel in a new apartment. We went from a set from that 70's show at our old place to granite countertops at our new place, so a nice trade-off. 

Most of our days consist of a LOT of studying and service, we spent 5 hours in the sun on Saturday doing a food drive for the local Lutheran church, and it was so much fun! Felt like we met the whole town as they passed through with their cars. Everyone is super nice and belongs to a different church, as there are like a dozen of them here. We do have a couple of investigators we are trying to meet more often with these crazy times, but all we can do is service or meet in a chapel, making our choices quite limited. But the few conversations we do have in person with nonmembers are super cool and exciting for the future!

The work is definitely progressing here, people in general are just more open to missionaries after these weird few months in the world, which definitely makes our job much easier. Through Facebook and our awesome ward we are slowly finding more people who are interested in the gospel! So hopefully we will be able to keep on going! 

That's pretty much it here, It's just never a dull moment here in Laurel, a nest of hornets kept us locking inside for a couple hours, we have our own deer herd at our apartment, one minute the sun is out and then ya blink at it's raining sideways, and every train that passes through town at night lays down on the horn so, fun times siempre. 

Cheers from your local Montanian Elder Barlow! 

Photos:

-Couple of sunsets from our apartment junkyard

-Our cool dwarf door in the bathroom 

Our cool dwarf door in the bathroom 

"Least experienced 8th month missionary ever"

 

Laurel Montana

Surprise surprise!!! Elder Barlow is indeed still alive! I did not get kidnapped by gangs in Mexico or stuck at home watching NBA basketball, I've actually made it to my mission after around 7 months of surgery and quarantine! I have been assigned to the tropical paradise that is Laurel, Montana! Laurel is a pretty fun place, there is the Yellowstone river here, a really cool refinery, a handful of casinos, and a Trump store on Main street. There is also a grand total of ~3,000 residents (and literally 1 cow) that get to enjoy everything this town has got to offer.

When it comes to missionary work here, it's really a mixed bag. We have been doing a lot of service, we cut down thistles for around 4 hours Saturday at a bird sanctuary(got to hold a marmot at the end so I'd say it was worth it) Lots of yardwork to be done out here which I personally love, I sweat more in a single phone call honestly. We also meet with a lot of members and nonmembers, which is weird because the mission is quite strict about corona(and we follow those rules the best we can) but a lot of people don't wear masks, which makes it just a weird time. But the people here are so cool and nice, they more than make up for the lack of mountains here.

It's weird being both older than your trainer and also technically almost out as long on da mish as well. My new companion is Elder Upper and he is a really cool dude. He is from a small town called Los Angeles, and he has spent 5 months in Brazil and around the same here in Laurel. He's a really swell and swole dude, just overall a great trainer that somehow has not quit after training me for 6 days.

Overall, that's kinda it honestly. Missionary work is changing rapidly, we're moving more and more over to Facebook as it is surprisingly really successful. We're kinda just all turning into YouTubers out here, so follow the Churches Facebook page in Billings and you'll see some fire vids and hopefully me on there one day! Hope everyone is having a great time wherever y'all are at! Love y'all!

- Elder Barlow

Quote of the week "You're the least experienced 8th month out missionary I have ever met" - President Larsen