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.
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
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!!
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