TWO BAPTISMS IN ONE WEEK ........

WEEK #56

I am loving life here in Castellón. As you can tell the jovenes (young adults) are awesome here. There are so many of them and they help us and support us in everything. They come to all the activities and are always willing to help us in citas (appointments). Some are preparing for missions so there is a lot of work going on here. This week was full of miracles. Let's just say that Castellón is on fire...both spiritually speaking and physically speaking.

This week was full of miracles.  Let's just say that Castellon is on fire ... both spiritually speaking and physically speaking (physically because it is sooooo hot and humid).

Well yes we had the surprise baptism of Juan Carlos on Monday and it was incredible. All of the jovenes came out to support him even though the talks and everything were in English.  It was great. Also, his testimony at the end was super cute! He is a great guy and he is really growing fast. It's incredible to watch how much he is growing in all ways. And the surprise baptism was so fun! What a great surprise! I'll take that any day, even if it was a little stressful trying to get it all ready.  (Read last weeks blog post to hear about how the "surprise" baptism came about).

Also Marius got baptized on Saturday. It was also so incredible! He has gone through probably the biggest change I have seen on my mission. From an Athiest who drank and smoked every day, to a man with super strong faith and wanting all to hear the message that changed his life! He invited everyone he knew to his baptism. He also said in his testimony that after the sisters walked away the first time contacting him, he laughed and said good luck. Now he is incredible. He has changed everything in his life and it's all because of FAITH that he wanted to find again. Hermana Durham, Jason (a joven), and I sang "I Stand All Amazed" with guitar and it was beautiful. Jason did a great job.

Hermana Barker and Hermana Durham bought Marius a new blue tie to wear on his first Sunday after his baptism.

One last miracle. All this week we were working to get pautas for the mission. It's like weekly goals that our mission strives for every week. This week we had the chance to reach all five if we worked hard. On Sunday night we still had to find four new people who were interested in the gospel. We only had an hour to do it and I'm not gonna lie, I didn't have much faith in that. But as we left the church I prayed to help us find the prepared people. The first couple we talked to were super interested in the church. They said they had curiosity ever since the new chapel had opened. BOOM. Then we kept walking and contacted the next kid. He said one of his best friends in Columbia is Mormon and that he would love to hear more about the church. BOOM. We ended up finding the four new people in about 30 minutes. It seriously was a miracle! The day before we had contacted for 2 hours and found no one. With a simple prayer and 30 minutes we found 4 people who were sincerely interested in the church. INCREDIBLE!! What an answer to my prayers. 

Well I hope the success continues. We have a lot of good people we are working with right now and we are excited to keep going. It's incredible what a little bit of faith and fire can do. OH also I FINALLY finished the Old Testament...now I just have the New Testament to go. 5 months...challenge accepted haha. 

I hope this last first week of school for Tay is great and I hope the start of sophomore year is awesome for Courtney. I can't believe it's already that far into your life! Love every minute because it goes by fast! I also got the invite to the baby shower! SO CUTE! I will be there in spirit! I hope you get lots of cute stuff Kelli! I love you!

Love you all so much. Thank you always for the support you give me. I hope you enjoy all the pictures from the JAS (they always tag her in the pictures so they go onto her Facebook page). I know I'll have to explain some when I get home...don't worry. It's always their fault :)  

And a shout out to Melanie!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I know you're reading this!  

This is Maria Laura.  I met her a year ago when I was first sent to Valencia.  She now lives here in Castellon.  So great to see her again.

CON AMOR,

Hermana Barker

WE HAVE A BAPTISM TONIGHT !!!!

WEEK #55
AHHHHHHH

So there's so much to say, but it's a weird day and I'm probably going to have to finish emailing on Wednesday. The reason it's weird is because...we have a baptism tonight!! I know, it was a shock to me too.  We are working with a kid named Marius form Romania and we had a fecha for the 30th of August. We thought all was good and dandy with that date and that he would be ready by then. Well SURPRISE!!

Yesterday we were sitting in church and when the bishop got up to do announcements, he announced the baptism of Marius tomorrow at 8pm. I just turned and looked at Marius and he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders!! When church was finally over and we had a chance to talk to him, he said he wanted it to be a surprise for us. He had called the Elders on Saturday night after our lesson and had told them that he wanted to be baptized on Monday but he didn't want us to know yet. I WAS SHOCKED!! It was the best miracle ever. So that's the reason why if I don't finish emailing it's because we have lots to do today to get ready for a baptism tonight. Marius is incredible. The change  he has made in the last two weeks is incredible. He really has a light in his eyes that is undeniable.  I have never prayed so much in my life...and prayers of gratitude more than anything else.

We also have a baptism on Saturday of Juan Carlos...Castellón is rocking it right now. The young adults here are awesome too. They help us with everything. It's a great place to end my mission. I'm very content here and I guess you have seen that on facebook That's awesome that people are putting up pictures so you can all see whats going on.  (The young adults in Rachels Castellon ward have been posting photos of their activities and have tagged Rachel and her companion in the photos.   Check out Rachels facebook page to view them).   I actually haven't seen the video of us dancing. But we have a lot of fun with those girls. A lot of them are preparing for missions so they like to spend time with us...and because hermana Durham and I are super fun of course haah.

So as you can see, im doing great. I won't lie about Tarragona. It was a hard area for many reasons. The members were amazing (like my best friend SARA!!!) but it was definitely my hardest area I think. But I really am getting my fire back and I love this work.

As for the baby stuff happening at home!!! THATS CRAZY!! Kelli is getting so big and getting so close! I can't believe it! And mom all of the baby stuff is so cute! What is it all for?  Kelli?  How lucky is she? Hopefully you're not burnt out by the time I have my first kid...inlike 7 years ahaha. just kidding. Everyone looks so good though. Sounds like you're all loving life. 

I hope Grandma Bev is doing well. I bet that was nice to go see her for a little bit. Is she going to come out for the baby? Thanks mom for including me in the baby shower...I wish I could come! I have my gift for when I get home dont worry :)

LOVE YOU ALL!! Pray for Juan Carlos for me! Have a great week with lots of love and laughter!

exerts from Rachel's letter to Ron:

This week I had to go up to Valencia, and when I was waiting in the station both Manuel and Rosmery walked in (Rachel's first babptism)!!! it was so awesome! Rosmery cried! She said she had been struggling lately and that when she found out that I was coming back she said it had been an answer to her prayers. It was so cute. I think she is leaving for Bolivia in September to be with her kids again. But it was incredible to see them again.

Facebook photos thanks to Tamy Moreno:
Tamy Moreno is Rita. She's a young adult from the ward who is waiting for her mission call. She is crazy, but we have a lot of fun with her. She is a super strong member and a great example to a lot of people. and I was soaked because we had a ward activity and the primary kids all gained up on the missionaries. It was really fun. we had 120 people come to the activity.  

con amor

Hermana Barker

THERE ARE GOOD THINGS HAPPENING HERE ......

WEEK #54

It sounds like all is well in California. That was the cutest thing from Sara! She is awesome. She wants to come to Castellón to visit me. It was cute because I didn't have time to say goodbye to anyone so she came to the train station with us to say goodbye. It was really cute. She's the best. She treated me like a sister and we have big plans ahead of us...depending on the whole money thing. But she's awesome and I love her like a sister.

Hermana Barker and Sara Isa a fond adios at the train station.

Also Hermana Gittins and I talked about Taryn! What a small world. Hermana Gittins is awesome. We had so much fun together haha. It was a fun week in Cataroja. (Taryn is Rachel's step cousin who lives in Weber Utah.  Taryn and Herman Gittins were on the high school dance team together. Taryn recognized Hermana Gittins picture while reading Rachels blog).

Well it's super weird to be back in this zone. I mean I'm far enough away (from her 1st area) that I don't really feel like I'm in Valencia, but we travel every week for district meetings to my old chapel in Valencia. That's the weirdest part! The craziest part this week was that during our meeting a man stuck his head in the door to talk to one of the missionaries and it was...MANUEL!! Like Rosemary and Manuel. Rosemary wasn't there, but Manuel started jumping up and down and almost cried when he saw me. He just held my hand and it was the cutest thing ever! After he left, the sister serving in that ward told me that every time they go to his and Rosemary's house, they just talk about me. My picture and the letter that I wrote them before I left the area, is hanging up on the wall. She said that Manuel calls me his angel every day. It was so cute and it really touched me. It was awesome to hear too that they are both active still and love church. What a tender mercy! That was an awesome start to this area. (Rosemary was Rachel's first baptism.  Manuel was completely inactive for years and Rachel and her companion tracked out Manuel and Rosemary and brought Manuel back into activity and baptized Rosemary),

This is the new capilla (chapel) here in Castellón.  It's brand new and sooo nice. The only problem is that it's in the middle of NO WHERE!! But it was in the news here for how beautiful it is so that's kinda cool.

As for Castellón, it's incredible. My new companion is Hermana Durham.  We have some great people who are preparing to be baptized. We are working with a family right now where the mom just got baptized but the dad and 3 children haven't joined yet. They are slowly making progress though. Luz the mom is incredibly strong!

This is part of my district in Tarragon at the train station before I left for my new area in Castellon. That's my new companion Hermana Durham and the Elders.  We are missing an elder that already left.

Also my favorite man is named Juan Carlos. The sisters found him the week before I got here. He is an older Spanish man who says that God sent these two angels to him in the perfect time. He used to do drugs and drink and he said the day he met the sisters, he stopped drinking. He hasn't done drugs in a long time so that's not a problem. He said he didn't know why, but after the sisters left, he felt like he needed to stop drinking so he did. He is now preparing to be baptized on the 23rd. He just has to quit smoking. He's on his way though! We had the goal of only 4 cigarettes and when we saw him he gave a huge smile and said, "I only smoked 2! Aren't you proud?" It was so cute! He's incredible. I have no doubt that he will be baptized. 

We also are working with a kid named Marius. He is 23 years old and he's from Romania. He took the discussions a while ago, but something happened and he just disappeared. One day, the sisters ran into him on the street and he asked if they could talk. Every since then, we have been meeting with him. Hermana Durham was a little scared to try to set a fecha because he ran away last time, but I felt like it was right, so I invited him and he said he would work on it. He said that we can't be disappointed though if he isn't ready by the 23rd. He is so cute. He is so shy and he thinks he is so awful, but there is something in him that I haven't seen in someone for a while. One night this week we prayed with him to ask God to help him prepare for baptism. It was the first time in a while that I sincerely felt the love of God for someone as strong as I did. After the prayer, he looked at me and asked why I had tears in my eyes. I said it was because he is a special person and I could feel how important he is. I told him we cared about him and he said, "but you don't even know me". Then he just looked at me and got tears in his eyes and said in a quiet voice, "Thank you". It was a super spiritual moment. One that I will never forget!

So as you can tell, there are good things happening here. The only downside is that its hotter than you know what!! At 9 in the morning we are already sweating! It's awful! Yesterday it was over º100 with humidity. It's a really gross feeling, but I'm excited to be here. As for what's going to happen to me after this transfer I have no idea. I won't know anything until the end of the transfer either but that's okay. I'm just going to enjoy the time I have right now. At first I was bummed to be going back to the same zone as before, but I see it as a blessing now. I get to see old friends and keep up on whats going on in Valencia. It's a great blessing. And now too It'll be a lot easier to visit my area in the future because I only have two zones to go to....that's super unheard of. 

Well I love it here. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Im finding my fire and love for these people. I just hope I dont actually catch on fire from all the stinking heat here! Luckily it's going to be winter soon (I hope). I guess I just couldn't get away from Valencia in the summer. And don't worry about the members here. We get fed every single day...here goes my weight gain at the very end of my mission!! Get ready to see the fat hermana Barker....AHHH!!! 

An excerpt from Rachel's email to Ron this week:

I really am getting used to the mission life. Nothing shocks me or really blows my mind. The thing that is weird is everone keeps saying that me "quedo poco tiempo" (there is very little time left). And that's the thing that's throwing me off. I still have 6 months people! haha but that's weird.

I kinda wrote about the area...I'm going to try to write a letter with more detail soon. It's just gettting harder and harder with time. The ward is great here. It's not big but it's not small. They love the missionaries here and they take great care of us. There is one kid named Carlos, well by kid I mean he's 30, who doesn't work or study or anything so he just goes with us every afternoon to our citas. He even calls some of our investigators and sets up citas with them for us! It's awesome. So the ward is great.

LOVE YOU ALL!!! Keep working hard and loving the sister missionaries! 

Con amor,

hermana sweating all over, Barker

ps my new adress is Av. Casalduch 16 1B

Castellón 12005 España

pss did you send the package to the mission home? I hope so!  (I did)!

I'M GOING BACK ......

 WEEK #53

My district for one week.  Shortest transfer ever!  Don't let this picture fool you, we really aren't this serious, just being funny!

I'M GOING BACK!!!

First I gotta start with my news this time because it's a lot. I spent an awesome week in Cornellá. Hermana Gittins and I got along so well and we had so much fun together. We saw a lot of miracles and we lived up our only week together. I know we're going to be friends forever...only a week, but she's awesome. She actually reminds me a lot of Miranda Koutz. She would smile and I would think I was sitting with Miranda. It was so cool. 

So anyway transfer calls right?? Well I'M GOING BACK...to Valencia! (Rachel's very first area was in Valencia.  She will be in a different area of Valencia then she was previously). I'm going to a pueblo called Castellón that is in the zone of Valencia. My district are the missionaries from my old ward. It's all a little weird still. I'm still in shock. Apparently the new missionaries didn't get visas in time so they had to change everything this transfer. (The Barcelona mission was expecting 24 new sister missionaries this week but due to visa issues they did not arrive.)  I'm going to Castellón with Hermana Durham. She has the same time in the mission as me, but I'm hoping it's because  am going to train someone next transfer. They had to close a lot of areas because they couldn't get mini missionaries in time. It's all a little weird and there were a lot of changes, but I'm excited. I get to see people from my old Valencia ward! The only thing that was awful was that I didn't have time to say bye to anyone in Tarragona because I got in late last night and I leave today again. I had about 2 hours to pack and clean out my whole piso...Let's just say this transfer has been the craziest transfer of my mission, but I'm excited...the weirdest part is that now I will probably "die" (missionary term for finish her mission) in Castellón. I won't be surprised if it's my last area...what a weird thing to say!

As for Rosa, she has a baptism date still, but she is now the elder's investigator...kinda stinks, but as long as she gets baptized I will be happy. It's also weird that I will have served my whole mission in only 2 zones...that is unheard of! My mission has been a little weird in terms of transfers, but I'm not surprised because my life is always a little crazy so my mission has to be crazy as well right? 

As for the bed bugs...don't worry mom they're not my problem anymore! BUT, we came back last night after they had fumigated TWO TIMES and hermana Gittins woke up this morning with bites...so the fumigation obviously didn't work. I think it's a blessing that I'm leaving. The truth is it has been a little hard here in Tarragona. I love the people, but the district, it's a hard area. I'm ready for a new place. 

So as you can see it's been a crazy few weeks. I'm happy though and doing well. My miracle for the week was a girl named Marta. She is 11 years old and her sister was baptized in December. She wants to be baptized really badly and has a strong testimony but she is waiting for permission from her dad. She is incredible! She goes to every activity and she loves the church so much. She has such a strong testimony. I know she will be baptized one day soon. 

Okay now to all of you! MOM YOU LOOK HOT!!! You looked so good on your hike!  And I am so jealous that you all went the beach! We better make trips out there when I get back! 

Well love you all. Here I get to start my new adventure once again, in my last area maybe!! Wish me luck! Love you and keep doing big things at home. Remember to help the missionaries as much possible. They need your help!

Hermana Gittins, me, Marta and her brother and sister. Noche de jugar

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Barker

ps you are going to be amazed with how much patience I've learned on the mission. It's incredible how much the Lord has pushed me. I know I say this a lot, but I have done things I never thought possible. I am completely changed...but still the same crazy sister I always have been...still got my sass..and people still comment on it haha.  

We got our keys stuck in the lock ....

The Elders had to come rescue us .... again!

On P-day we went and played lazer tag in our matching moo moo's.  Hermana Gittins and I got first and second place out of the entire district, that's right!  You shouldn't be surprised.  No one in the mission is ever surprised at what I can do anymore.  Just call me "Mighty Missionary"