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.
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| 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),
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!
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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!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!! Keep working hard and loving the sister missionaries!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.
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)!
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