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