THIS WEEK WE HAVE HAD AMAZING MIRACLES ......

WEEK #43

OH MY GOSH!!! I had to include Kelli in my email reply because yet again she made me cry in the locutorio! I was crying so hard when I saw the little babys face (we sent a picture of Kelli's sonogram in our email to Rachel)! Its so cute!!! Honestly I am just so excited. Stop making me trunky, as they say in the mission, to come home! hahaah Just kidding. I am sooo excited for you though! I am so glad to hear that everyone is happy and healthy and the baby is good. Honestly I have been waiting for this email since you told me you would find out on the 22 of May!!! AHHHH I wish I could scream through email because I would be screaming so loud right now! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I'll be thinking of names don't worry haha....

Well, now I guess for the boring stuff of the mission (ha joke!) Tarragona is amazing. There is so much work going on. The ward is huge! We are working to get everyone in the ward involved in missionary work. Little by little people are starting to work with us more. This week we had amazing miracles. 

One miracle is named Obed. Obed is 24 and he is amazing. The missionaries haven't seen him in over three weeks because he lives super far away. When we saw him this week, he had still been reading every day and praying and he told us he was ready to be baptized. It was a miracle because his work schedule changed for the month of June and he can finally start coming to church! Everything just fell right in to place. He has a fecha (baptism date) for the month of June. He is seriously one of the most prepared people I have ever met. He has such a strong testimony and he is so ready. I am so excited to see his progress. He is already working on his goal to go to the temple. I was just lucky enough to be in this area at the time to see his baptism. 

We also are teaching a family named Christian and Yolanda. They have three little girls and they are so cute. Christian basically teaches us when we go over there. This last week he taught us about the plan of salvation and how the plan just "made sense". He is incredible. Of course he has his doubts, but he wants this path for his children. Yolanda is very open to the church as well. She said that the church has answers that no one else has ever been able to give her. Of course we got along great because I know what it's like to be in a family of all girls. The girls are super cute. They aren't old enough yet to be baptized, but they are going to love primary (Primary is Sunday School for children ages 3-11). We just have to get them to come to church! 

The last one I am going to tell you about is named Manuel. He lives in the Elders area, but he is incredible. He contacted the sisters on the bus a while ago and they gave him a Book of Mormon not thinking much about it. We found his number on a list of potentials and called him. We had so many people fire on us this week so we were a little hopeless about him as well. But at the time of our cita, he was there with a big smile on his face. He said he had been reading the book and started explaining to us where he was at. He also said that he loves the church and he thinks this is his path that he needs to take. He is INCREDIBLE. It also doesn't hurt that his friend Is a member. I have no doubt in my mind that he is going to be baptized one day soon. 

Wait I lied, one more. We have a recent convert named Ignasi in our ward and he is awesome. He wants to share the gospel with everyone and is always telling his friends about the church. This week he introduced us to his friend Maria Jose and her son Eduardo and her handicap daughter Noelia. They are amazing. Maria Jose is the strongest woman. She has a heart of gold and has so much work with her daughter and raising her kids alone. She told us she has seen the way the church has changed a lot of friends in a good way and she wants to know why. She invited us over to dinner this week and she is so prepared. I know that she is going to find so much peace in this gospel to help her with her struggles and her challenges in life. 

As you can tell, the work is going. Those are just a few of the many people we have. I guess the work is a little bit easier in an area that's a lot bigger than Martorell. I miss Martorell though a lot haha. But I guess that's how I will always feel at every transfer. I am happy except for the weather here. It's more bipolar than most women! This moring for example it was pouring rain and storming outside...now it's hot and humid and sunny. It's a little challenging but I guess it keeps life interesting. I know there is going to be so much in this area. I am so ready to work hard these last months of my mission. The time is flying and I can't even believe it. I can't believe I only have two months until my year mark. That seems unreal! I am just hoping to put everything I have into this mission and love life and every minute. My testimony has grown so much. I have learned so much about myself and about who I am and my strengths. It's incredible what the mission can do for not only myself but the people around me. I am so incredibly grateful to my Father in Heaven and the blessings I have in my life. I know that He is with me in every step of the way and in every decision I make. Don't ever be afraid to share what you know even in your example of who you are. And don't forget to SMILE! It's the best way to turn a bad day into a better day.

LOVE YOU ALL!!! CONGRATS Kelli and Mark!! 

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Barker

I WANT THE WARD TO UNITE AND HAVE A FIRE FOR THIS WORK JUST LIKE THE PEOPLE IN MARTORELL DID .....

WEEK #42

Tarragona is beautiful! Seriously it's incredible. There are Roman ruins everywhere and a ton of history...and I guess the fact that our area is a balcony around the beach isn't so bad either. It's a little dangerous though because the Spanish people are very free here on the beach if you get what I mean...AH!!! Really though it's beautiful. Finally I have an area that I can call beautiful! My other areas have been beautiful but not like this.  We live super close to the church again so that's a blessing. It's nice to have citas (appointments with investigators) in the church instead of in houses because then it's easier to get people to come on Sundays. The ward is HUGE!! There are over 160 people that come every week. They have rooms set up to broadcast the sacrament because there aren't enough seats for everyone to see the podium. It's a change from the rama (branch) of Martorell with 60 people.  There's a lot of work here, it's just a matter of figuring out how to do it in the right and most efficient way.

I'm happy though and doing well. The poeple here are great just like everywhere else in Spain! There are a lot of Russians and a lot of Catalan people. I'm excited to work here though. I think there are going to be a lot of miracles if we work hard. Hopefully we will see a lot of unity in the ward and a lot of growth. They are planning on splitting the area soon to make two wards! That would be awesome! 

We have a recent convert here named Ignasi...he is awesome. He knows everyone here in this town because he has lived here his whole life. Tonight he is taking us to meet two of his friends. He is battling with some temptations, but he is so strong and wants to work towards the temple. He is a great example of someone who has been fullly converted to the gospel. He wants to share it with everyone and I love the fire he has! On Saturday he took us to a gladiator fight in a super old roman amphitheater! It was super cool! He was so excited to show us around his town and all the cool tings that are here in Tarragona!

Also yesterday we had a conference with our zone and I recieved some great news! President Pace came over and told me that Martorell is goign to be a BARRIO (ward) in three weeks! That's huge for Martorell. They have been trying to get a barrio started for 2 years now but they have never had enough people come to church to get it. President Rodriguez of Martorell sent President Pace and email saying that he was so grateful for the missionaries, especially the sisters, that have come to the rama. He said that the growth of the rama went up by 20 people in the last 6 months and that is a huge rate. It was so awesome to hear that because I always felt like I wasn't doing much in Martorell because we didn't have many baptisms. We had a lot of people return to church though and that was what put the number over the edge! I am so excited for Martorelll and Im so happy that I was able to be a part of that growth! It's not all about the baptisms after all!...Hopefully now it's my turn to see some baptisms ha. 

We have already seen some miracles here in my one short week in Tarragona. We have had investigators call us to set up citas. We have had people stop us on the street to contact us! We are planning some really big activities to get the members involved in this work. The problem here is that there is a huge ward, but the members aren't very united. Not many people come to the activities and no one really helps with citas or anything. I am going to try to change that as much as I can. I want the ward to unite and have a fire for this work just like Martorell did! 

We have an investigator whose name is Jose. He is 26 years old and he is amazing. He has a testimony, but he doesn't want to admit it. He's right at that age where here in Spain all people do is go out to the bars and drink and do whatever they want. He is afraid to give up that life. But he stops by the church just because and he loves talking about the church. He knows it's where he should be, he just hasn't admitted it yet to himself. He is progressing though and reading so hopefully he will recognize what he knows inside. He is great though. 

Well, as you can tell there's a lot of work to be done here in Tarragona and I'm excited to get to work and put all my strength into the work. I'm ready to hit the pavement and not stop until this ward is too big for the chapel that we have. Of course we are coming to Tarragona (when we go to pick her up next January) because it is beautiful and you would love the history and the beach! Except it'll be cold in January...oh well hah. 

I love you all and hope that everything is going well. Doesn't Kelli find out if she's having a boy or girl this week??? I'd better hear about it!! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Barker

AND OF COURSE I DIDNT FORGET!!! I know you thought I did haha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAY! FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!! I hope that you have a great birthday...but stop growing up! I don't wanna miss your high school years to embarrass you!! I hope you got super spoiled though and recieved lots of love. I send all the love I can through the computer. I hope you got my little gift!! LOVE YOU MY 

T-TWERK!!

TRANSFERRED TO ..... TARRAGONA

WEEK #41
Hi!! So my email is going to be super short because we just talked yesterday and I don't have much time to write. The new area Tarragona is beautiful!! It's right on the beach and it has so much roman history. They say there are tons of places to explore so I'm actually super excited. It's much bigger than Martorell so that'll be a nice change. The ward is apparently huge and a lot of missionaries today told me that Tarragona was their favorite area. Im ready to start again and make my mark here in Tarragona. (Tarragona is 63 miles south of Barcelona located directly on the coast.  Martorell, where Rachel has been serving, is 24 miles East of Barcelona).

Transfers were super hard on Sunday. After we skyped, Carolina and Roberto drove us back to our piso. Carolina tried to walk away like it was no big deal, but she turned around and came back and gave me a huge hug and just cried. It was so cute. I seriously love that family so much. As you can see, im being well taken care of here in Spain. (We met Carolina and Roberto and their family on Sunday as Rachel was Skyping from their home.  Carolina is the cook for President Pace, the Barcelona Mission President.  They have adopted Rachel as their "American" daughter.  It was so very sweet to see their interaction with her and the love they have for her was very apparent).

As for last week its all kindof a blur because of transfers, haah but I'm doing well. I'm ready to work hard. I'm going to be better when the sun comes to stay because it's getting cold again!! Boo!

Sorry I don't have much for you this week. Transfers kind of screw everything up. Hopefully though I'll have more for you next week!! I'm glad all is well in Danville. It looks like everyone is happy.  Kelli and the baby (baby bump) are sooo cute!! hahaah

Rachel and the other missionaries in her area participated in "Mormon Helping Hands"  They cleaned up the river in their city.  This a day set aside to give service to the community.  Latter Day Saint members work side by side with other community volunteers.  This is a worldwide project, organized by the  LDS church.  To read more about "Mormon Helping Hands" and to see projects that were done in other countries and across the US click here.

Love you all!!

Hermana Barker

FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE ......

WEEK #40

I honestly can't wait to see your faces on Sunday!! (Rachel gets to skype with us for mother's day). Yesterday we were at a member's house and her son who is on a mission called! She started crying and I almost cried too.  I just imagined hearing your voices again! I can't wait! Also FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE to all the moms out there...especially wonder woman aka Heidi Barker!! Yesterday was mother's day in Spain. Let me tell you, it was an emotional day. In Relief Society the lesson was about families. Hermana Oli who was teaching asked me to share a story about you mom. I couldn't even get a word out. I choked on my tears. Hermana Carolina, my favorite woman ever!, just hugged me and gave me a kiss and said she can only picture how great of a mom my mom is because of how great of a girl I am. I love you mom!! Just know that this week I will be thinking about you every day. You are amazing and you have made me who I am today (with the help of dad of course). Thank you for always supporting me and loving me even with my flaws. 

Enough about you mom, It's my turn!  I'm so glad you got to see Tiffany Van Berklom...who would have thought that I actually miss her...BROMA (that means joke)! I miss her mucho and I'm jealous that she got to have dinner with my family! That's crazy about the Oakland mission ( the missionaries in Danville, California will no longer knock on people's doors uninvited). That's going to be so hard for the missionaries, but so good for the members! You better believe I am going to help the missionaries so much when I get home. I want to be that member of the ward that the missionaries write home about. I hope they find success this way though. And I love what you do with my blog mom. You are spreading the word and letting me do missionary work for my friends and family back home as well as here in Spain. Thank you mom.

As for us this week, it was a good week of fun. We went to Monserrat again with Hermana Oli for her birthday. It was super nice to just relax and look at all that God has given us. The mountains here are so peaceful and make me grateful for what I have and the beautiful earth that we have been given. 

Later in the week, we were teaching our muslim mom (Dhakvia) how to speak Spanish. She is so cute. She always cooks us a ton of food. And they have the best herbal tea I have ever had in my entire life. Anyway, her daughter was here from France and she asked if we wanted Henna tattoos....so we let her do a henna tattoo. I got a real henna with real paint and a real muslim woman...another cultural experience for the books I think! 

Also a fun story from the week: we were at Hermana Oli's house for lunch yesterday. her dad (Yayo...that's abuelo in Spain) isn't a member of our church, but he loves the missionaries. Yesterday, I was waiting for Oli to finish doing something so she could drive us back home and I was talking to Yayo. I was asking him about all the missionaries that have passed by and he was telling me story after story. He was telling me about all the missionaries that made big impacts on him and who were his favorites from the past. After he told me a story, he paused and looked at me. He then said, "You know what, in 10 years when another missionary comes to my house and asked about my preferred missionaries, you better believe that I am going to talk about Hermana Raquelin Barker". He had a big smile on his face and it touched me a lot! He calls me Raquelin because I'm little and I guess that's the way to say Raquel for little girls. It was so cute though. I told him the day he finally gets baptized, I better get an invite. He just laughed and went back to smoking his cigarette. 

Although the number of baptisms we see here in Spain isn't huge, I feel like I have touched people and made memories and relationships that will go far beyond this life. I am grateful every day for the little testimony builders that happen in my life. I am grateful for the knowledge i have the the Lord loves me and I truly believe that He places people in our lives for a reason. I know all the people I have met here on my mission have changed my life and hopefully I have changed theirs. I love the people of Spain!

I hope you all have a great week and are as excited as I am to see your faces and to talk to you all!! I love you all and hope you have a great mother's day mom! I hope you all remember that you are important no matter what passes in life. I know that families are forever and that God gave us families so we would always have a support group. I am so grateful for the family I have and every day I am more aware of how blessed I truly am. Thank you for everyone who is in my life and has impacted me in one way or another. Keep letting your light shine and being a FARO (lighthouse) to the world!

MUCHO AMOR,

Hermana Barker

ps I'm pretty sure I'm getting transferred so don't send any more letters to this address. Use the mission address or wait till I get my new one. Thanks!