WEEK #68

Well as you can still tell I am loving my time here in Castellón. There are so many good things happening, but also the adversary is working hard here. We have seen some great miracles though and I really can't wait for Christmas!!! It's going to be so fun! Maria Laura and I haven't made cookies yet, but we will. (Maria Laura sent a Facebook message asking for a cookie recipe).  She loves talking to you mom. She said you guys are now best friends haha. She's cute though and she helps us a lot. We will send pictures when we make the cookies! 

Hermana Solos and I are doing great. Shes a hard worker and every night she says that she is learning a whole new side of missionary work that she didnt know existed. So that makes me feel special. She is crazy and fun and we are always laughing. As for staying skinny...I  have no idea how I pulled that off. I mean my body is definitely soft now haha but I've managed to keep from getting big. It's been the biggest miracle on my mission, just kidding. But I think the Lord knows that I don't have money or time to buy new clothes so he let me stay small enough to fit into my clothes still.

That is insane how many people from the ward are getting home and leaving! The Alamo ward is rocking the mission world! That's what I like to hear! Im so excited for all of them! It's the best decision they could have made at this time in their lives! Tell them that they have my full support and I'm here to answer any questions as well that they might have! 

Well of course I have to include a miracle from the week. This week is a miracle named Jonathan. So Jonathan, I think I wrote about last week. He is crazy.  He though, has  had one of the biggest changes I have ever seen. When I met him three months ago, he was going to parties every night and was no where near living a life of purpose. When we talked to him this past  Saturday, he brought a box of all his earrings and gave them to us as a sign that he really has changed. It was so funny.  The best part though was when I asked him what made him change. He looked at me and said, "YOU". Then he went on to say that he remembers about two months ago when we were talking to him and I apparently was pretty strong in my words. I told him that he said he wanted a different life, but wasn't doing anything about it. I also told him that when he's serious to call us because I'm not going to waste any more of  my time or the Lords time. I said that if he really wanted to be a good dad for his daughter, he needed to start now, not in 10 years. And apparently I said  a lot more. The truth is I really don't remember all of that, but he said that it really hit him and made him realize that his life had no meaning. He said in that moment he started to change and since that day he hasn't drank even one beer. He said sometimes you just need someone to tell you how it is and for me that someone was hermana Barker. It was a really sweet moment for me. AND I KNEW that one day my sassy and strong personality would do some good for someone haha. But he is getting baptized in December and it is gonig to be a very special baptism for me.

Sorry that was kinda long. As you can tell though, I have taken Castellón by storm and I am not backing down to anyone. Hermana Solos just backs me up with her power and so we are a pretty good team. We have met a lot of good people and are still meeting more. I know that good things are just around the corner. Oh also, yesterday Marius passed the sacrament for the first time!! It was great to see that. It really made me happy to see how much he has grown and how much he still is growing. 

Well love you all. Soon enough I will be looking at your faces over skype!!! It's really weird to think that we are already planning for December in our planning sessions. I can't even believe it! The time is just flying by! Well have a great week full of love and happiness!!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Barker

ps what do you put in the normal box brownies...i still have a bag of them but I don't have the directions to make them haha

Our new capilla (chapel)

This is one of the cities in our area, right on the beach.

This is for you mom, I know how you love sheep!

WEEK #67
Hi! I'm so glad that you all liked the video. (Rachel sent a happy birthday video to her dad) I wanted to do something special and the card just wasn't doing it!  I know it was short and not really anything, but I'm glad it made a little bit of a difference. I owe you much more than that dad for all that you have done for me in the last 22 years of my life. I hope your birthday was great!

Poor Tay!! That's so sad! I'm so sorry...but finally I wasn't the only one that got hurt in high school!  Just kidding. (Taylor got hurt in her soccer game this week, had to leave the game to go to the Er). I hope that it heals fast and nothing too serious so that you can play in your last game. If not, just have fun yelling at people from the side line! You still look cute though! :)

You can say that again about how time is flying! We are already planning for the end of November and people in the ward are already fighting about where we are going to go for Christmas dinner!  It's so weird. And last zone conference they were talking about the end of December and I started to freak out a little bit. It's getting so close and the more I try not to think about it, the more it comes up. But don't worry. I'm still focused and ready to work. It's getting a lot colder here though which sometimes makes it harder to find people because no one is outside when it's raining. We are slowly finding people though. There have been miracles happening every day. People are starting to find us...good things are happening. 

Speaking of good things, we are teaching this guy named Jonathan. He is from the Dominican Republic and speaks faster than anyone I have ever met, but I can understand so its a miracle! But when I first met him he was so far from baptism. I really never thought that I would even see him get close. We met with him after not seeing him for a month and he had changed COMPLETELY! He stopped drinking and smoking. He stopped going out on the weekends and he started to read and pray. He said that one night he decided that he was wasting his life and needed to get it together. He is 27 and has a 2 year old daughter. He said he realized he needs to be the example for his daughter. He set his own date of baptism!!! It is for the end of this month. He is really showing a change. He tried realy hard to get to church on Sunday but his grandpa is in the hospital and his mom had to work so he had to go take care of him. It's incredible though how much someone can change when they finally have the desire to change. I hope that he can continue on this road and change his life for good. 

Also there was one day this week where I was struggling a little bit. I was so tired and cold and there was nothing happening. All of our citas had cancelled and I was just ready to sit down. As we were walking to go find some old investigators, I said a prayer in my heart. I just asked Heavenly Father to put someone in our path that will at least talk to us. I apologized for my bad attitude and started to talk to whoever was in front of us. Well we get to the door and no one answers. As we turn to go, the family walks up. It was the family that we were looking for! They said that the missionaries just stopped coming by and they lost contact. They asked if we could come back on Monday to see them and to continue teaching them. It took no less than 3 minutes for my prayer to be answered. It was incredible! At that moment I knew that nothing happens in missionary work if we don't want it to. I try every day even when I'm tired to keep a good attitude and continue working. Some days are harder than others, but there is always something to be grateful for and something to rejoice about. We are blessed.

Random story: We decorated for Christmas and Halloween on the same day!  We found a baby Christmas tree and baby pumpkins. We carved them and stuck them in our piso! You can tell there is not much to do in Castellón on preparation days, but it was fun and we got to celebrate a little bit. 

Rachel's pumpkin is the one with the crooked smile.

Also random story: Hermana Solos trips more than I have ever seen anyone in my life. Every other step she is falling down haha. So if I ever write that we are at the hospital it is probably because she broke her ankle or something. Just so you can get to know my companion a little more! Well there are so many other miracles that I could write about but I don't have enough time. You'll have to wait. I can't wait for you all to come and meet the people that have changed my life forever. And to hear me speak spanish!  You heard a little bit but that was just the start! I am so grateful that I have people in my life who put the idea of a mission in my head. This has really prepared me for the future and for experiences I am going to have. Thank you family for always supporting and loving me. Thank you Bishop Orgill for being there for me to help prepare me for this journey. And thank you to all of my family and friends that have supported me through it all. I couldn't do it without you all!!!

Have a great week and always remember to smile and love every minute!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Barker

        Service

WEEK #66

HALLOWEEN!! How much I miss it! Here it's very small and hardly anyone dresses up. They think it's all about zombies and vampires and witches...no fun costumes, but it's okay. We were working anyway! But your costumes were great! I have the best family ever! Seriously when I saw the pictures of Halloween I laughed so hard!  The Christmas Story costumes killed me and mom you look GREAT! As in like skinny mini! And your queen of hearts costume is incredible! How creative of all of you in the office. I'm impressed. (Heidi and Ron dressed up for Halloween as little Ralphie in his bunny costume and the leg lamp from The Christmas Story movie and Heidi and her office at work dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland) And of course the little owl was soooo cute and he totally has a Barker nose! (Kelli's new baby Mason was an owl for Halloween) I saw that from the first picture you sent me! And Tay and Court looked better than I ever did at homecoming!

Well this week has been great. There have been so many miracles going on. I am so happy to have the chance to work a little more here in Castellón. I knew my work wasn't done. For one, we have been finding a lot of new people to teach. Just today we had a good discussion at the flea market with some men that are Evangelists. It was an interesting discussion. Also, we had the open house for the new capilla (chapel) here in Castellón and we were able to meet a lot of new people and many of them came to church yesterday! The members are definitely starting to realize that the missionaries are bringing people to church and that we are working hard. We are getting more and more people who are introducing us to their friends...I know miracles are waiting in these next few weeks.

As for my new companion, Hermana Solos...she is incredible! We have different personalities, but we mesh really well. She is so strong and has such a desire to work. She is going to go really far in her mission. And it was really cute because the other night she thanked me for being like a second trainer and showing her a different side to missionary work. She said that the way I teach is very different from what she has seen and it has made her realize that we can use our personalities to touch the hearts. It was a great little pick me up for me and it really touched me more than I think she will ever know. I'm really excited though to work with her. Also weirdly enough she looks like she came straight out of the Garr family. She looks like a mixture of Sam and Tasha. It's really weird sometimes when I look at her because it's like I'm staring right at Sam!  Her Spanish is great already so we are going straight to work. No trunkiness for me! (Trunky is a term for missionaries that are close to going home and think more about packing their trunks than doing the work).

Well I just want to write about one little miracle this week. At the open house we met a woman named Angela from Australia. She is a member that hasn't been to church in 15 years. She walked in the the church and instantly started crying. She said that she moved to Spain when she was 15 and has just had struggle after struggle. Her life is so difficult and I can't even imagine the hardships that she has had to go through. But she walked in and said she instantly felt peace. She said she could remember all the good memories of being a child in the church and that this was exactly what she needed in her life. She is so strong and she is so incredible. Just talking to her strengthened my testimony about how no matter where in the world you are, you always have a family in the church. It doesn't matter where you come from, who you are, or what is going on in life, everyone can find peace and support within the church. It was a great experience. 

As you can tell the fire is back...it was never out, but it was getting low. The mission is all about ups and downs. I think I'm more prepared for whatever is going to happen in life. I have been through a lot, but as the mission winds down, I realize how much I have grown and changed for the better. The experiences that I have had here will forever change me and be a part of my life. I can't wait to see what these next three months have in store for me!

I love you all and hope that this week brings blessings and love!  And I hope that Grandpa Ron has a GREAT 35th birthday this weekend!!! I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to send you anything but know that I'm sending my love and we will just have to have a daddy daughter date when I get home! LOVE YOU!!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Barker

Ps: mom you should look at this song for Christmas...I think it would be really cute to sing with the primary or the young women... it's called "First Lullaby / Silent Night" by Hilary Weeks. Every time I hear it I just imagine you singing it!

Pss: what color is Mason's room? I want to get something but I need to know the colors Thank you!!

and my adress is 

C/ Vicente Blasco Ibañez 36. 3H

Castellón, España 12005