April 29, 2013

Bom dia!

Cipó is still Sião. I see miracles everyday, I just have to look for them. One of our investigators, here name is Debora, was really progressing, but we just couldn´t get her to church because she had to work every Sunday. It was just sad because her and her boyfriend are both really interested, but could never come on Sundays. Well we passed by last night and she got fired! She´s not super excited about it, but I know that it was a blessing. Bruno is her boyfriend and they have a three year old daughter. They said they´ll be coming to church this Sunday, we´re super excited for them.

One more cool story. We were walking up one of our huge hills in Cipó on our way to visit a recent convert (Gideyuma), and I had an impression that we should stop and knock one door (except for it´s really clap at one gate). Well it turns out that a family of four lives there and we´re teaching them now. Tais is the one that came to the door and she´s the most interested. She´s 19 and asks some really hard questions, but it´s really good. Anyway, after the first lesson when we were walking away, Elder Ribeiro said that he had had the same feeling to stop at that house with his companion before, but never did. It was a confirmation to me that as long as we´re in tune with the Spirit the Lord will guide the work.

Oh, for Mother´s Day you need to let me know if you want to Skype or just talk on the phone. Next week, tell me what Number or Skype to use and what time you want me to call and all that good stuff :) I think I´m three hours ahead, right? We get one hour to talk, so anytime after noon is good for me.

We´re still working with Victor. He stopped drinking coffee and is still really solid. He has a strong testimony. For some reason his parents are still a little resistent, but the Bishop talked with his step dad (Inactive) and I think he´s going to allow Victor to be baptized this weekend. We´re excited for him.

The food is still super good. I don´t know if you´ve ever heard of Feijoada, but the Brazilian women make good use of almost every part of the Pig. It´s really good, you just have to be careful to not eat the bad stuff. I love the fruit here too! The bananas taste like banana Creamies and the help my legs not cramp up, so I eat a lot of them.

Anyway, I love you all! I have a strong testimony that the Lord knows us personally and he is looking out for us.

Love, Elder Barker

(President Pinho as been dropping some PMA quotes on us from Napoleon Hill. He´s Awesome)

 

Monday April 22, 2013

 

Hello!

So...

I totally forgot to tell you about the Temple. It was beautiful, and the inside is even cooler. It was an awesome trip. We went to Wal-mart too, so that was kind of cool/ strange.

We are doing very well. We have two baptisms planned this weekend, Tiago and Victor, but we´ll see what happens. Victor´s parents want him to wait a while, so I don´t know.

We helped carry a Drunk guy off the street yesterday. He was sprawled out Spread Eagle in the middle of the road. It was pretty crazy.

We have some great people preparing for baptism right now! The work is going very well. Transfers tomorrow, but we~re both staying in Cipó. Love you all! I have a testimony that the Lord is looking out for us at all times! Ate Logo! (mother´s day three weeks!)

Elder Barker

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 15, 2013

Opa everyone! 

Life is as great as ever in Cipó. Life really is so good. Courtney wrote me and said that with the kind of family we have She´s excited for eternity. Man, I love her. I couldn´t agree more. We are extremely blessed. 

Thanks for the update on everything. Sounds like things are going pretty well. I´m really glad to hear that Nathan Anderson is doing alright. That´s so scary. The Lord was definitely looking out for him. 

Track going well? I wish I would have enjoyed it more. Looking back on it, they really are some good times, even running 400s.

I´m trying to send pictures, but it´s really difficult, so we´ll see.

And mom, will you save my emails? My teacher in the MTC said that he´s really glad he has them to look back on, like a second journal.

Anyway, the work is going well. There are amazing people here. We have a baptism set on Sunday for Victor (13). He´s really awesome. His step-father is an in-active former bishop/counselor in the Stake President. He´s been in-active for years. Sounds like you dad, except for the falling away from the church part. You´re not allowed to do that. Anyway Victor is really solid. He´s reading the Book of Mormon and Praying every night. We´re just praying that his family won´t keep him from being baptized. Also teaching a great family right now with a member of the ward. The member´s name is Jefferson Santana and he´s super solid. The family lives right next to him and he comes with us to the lessons. I´ll keep you up dated.

I miss everyone, but probably Zoe the most... ;) So I´m glad you´re recording some things!

Love you all, My testimony is getting stronger everyday. Here´s something I learned this week, Studying the Scriptures gives us Spiritual Strength. Simple, but so true. Romans 12:21

Love, Elder Barker

 

Chocolate stuffed crust pizza. America could learn a few things.

And I can´t wait for the package! 

 

Happy B-day to jim and stock!

Monday, April 8, 2013

 

Hi Everyone!

Thank you so much for writing me, everyone. You don´t know how nice it is to here from each of you. Sounds like Spring Break and the cruise and everything were a blast! I wish I had more time to write back to everyone, but we only get a limited time. Today isn´t P-Day, we just get to email. P-day is Friday because we get to go to the temple! I´m so stoked. The only bad thing is we have to use 50 Reais for travel this week. For District Meeting, Interviews with the President, and the temple, but it´ll be worth it. The buses here are nuts. It´s pretty exciting. Conferencia was awesome! Even though I only understood about half or less than half I still feel refreshed, happy, and excited for the future. Those men are truly called of God and if you listen to them you can´t deny it. I was curious if L. Tom Perry broke any rules with his visual aid? Did the other brethren not tell him about the letter they sent out. JK. But seriously every talk was really really good. I can´t wait to read them next month. I heard the word luz a lot. (light). And I´ve been studying in my scriptures a little bit about truth and light lately, it´s pretty interesting if you want something to study. Jesus Christ is our beloved Savior. He is the Life and the Light of the World. He is also our older brother and our friend. I´m eternally grateful for him.

I was wondering if anyone has contact with Brother Leifson... I want to say that he told me he served in Cipó too, but maybe not. Somebody should ask him. Oh, mom if you haven´t sent the package yet, my companion´s birthday is coming up at the end of Abril and I thought you could send him something. He loves soccer, so if you can get your hands on a cheap jersey or t-shirt, Real Salt Lake or USA team, he´d love it. If not no worries! He also loves Reese´s, Beef Jerkey, and Peanut Butter so any of those things would work. Ooohh, maybe some gray socks too, if you have time. It´s really not urgent. Elder Watson told me he just got a package from his mom that she sent in June, so hopefully a little bit faster than that :) 

I wish I had time to tell you all the incredible things that have happened...

We had a an 11 year old boy named Gustavo tell us that he wants to be baptized. He is amazing, I don´t know any 11 year old boys like him. You should see the light in his eyes, from the time he started talking with us and reading the book of mormon and pamphlets. Seriously Incredible. Love you all. I have to go!

 

 

Elder Barker, Elder Ribeiro, and a member in the ward who often goes on splits with them.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Hello Family!

I am doing very well in Cipó. There is a lot of good stuff going on here. Pascoa was really great. They don´t do Easter Eggs, but there was still a lot of chocolate. They have what´s called Brigadeiro here. It´s so good, it´s like pudding, but 10 times better. I had one of the best meals of my life yesterday. The members feed us so good. We have an Almoço appointment everyday except for P-day. We eat at noon everyday and dinner isn´t very big here, so we have to wait til we get back to the casa everynight to eat. That was hard to get used to, but it´s just normal now. My companion works really hard, he´s a really good guy. The ward is great, we always have people willing to come out with us on splits. It´s a lot different than Cleveland, but still the same work. The people are just super receptive which is great. The hard part is getting them to commit to something like coming to church. We met a great guy named Tiago last night. He´s 18 and was on his way to church I think. He is looking for the truth, and we can give that to him ;). We´re excited to meet with him again on Thursday. We set a baptismal date for the 27 of April and just need to help him work toward that date. We had our Trainee/Trainer meeting last week, which was really good. President Pinho is really a great guy. This mission is really a great one to be a part of. I got to see my MTC companions last week, which was really cool. They´re both doing well! Sorry no pictures again this week, I need to get my hands on an SD Card reader. Keep sending me pictures though, I love to see what´s going on. I know I said Email was easiest, and it is, but we only have a limited time on the computer, so sometimes I can´t reply to everyone. Hmmm the food here rocks. People said rice and beans everyday like it was a bad thing. The rice and beans here are awesome. I eat like a King everyday (for at least one meal). You have the mission home address I think (Kenzee asked).

We have a great opportunity to watch general conference this week! Take advantage of it. Our prophet and apostles were called of God. It]s going to be great! LOVE you.

Elder Barker

Response to Jesse's letter......

Hey bro. Love you. You are the MAN, or CARA in Portuguese. I have so much respect for you man. BE happy. Life is so good and we are all extremely blessed.

 

Monday, March 25, 2013

My Family!

Man alive, I love you all so much. Wish I would have gotten an email this week, but I understand... Cruise and all. Here's my address Euzébio de Souza St. #121 Jardim Londrina, São Paulo, Brazil. That's the mission address for anything else, but I can email friends and family so that will probably be easiest. I'm two hours ahead of you here. Everything is different here! It was really strange at first, but I'm getting used to it. My Portuguese is getting me along, but I'm still working hard on it. The weather is great. The people are amazing. We had two confirmations on Sunday. It was really cool. My companion is Elder Ribeiro he's from Espirito Santo Brazil. He speaks a little bit of English. I'll send pictures next week. I love you all. OH Yeah I'm in Cipó, São Paulo. It is not a big city. hahah

Love You All, 

Elder Barker

He's leaving on a jet plane..........Monday, March 18, 2013

Dad!

Crazy Day. I didn't get a chance to call anyone. I'm in Atlanta right now staying the night in a hotel. We left Cleveland at four o'clock today for Atlanta... Then we couldn't land in Atlanta because there was a really bad storm... Then we went to Jacksonville, Florida. Waited there for a long time and then flew back to Atlanta. We ended up finally getting off the plane at about 10 o'clock. We missed our flight to Sao Paulo and had to go threw all that stuff. So now we are booked to fly down there at 735 tomorrow night. We'll just be in the hotel and at the airport all day. Maybe I'll get to call tomorrow, I hope so. How's the Cruise? I'm sure you're loving it. Well I love you and will hopefully be in contact!

Elder Barker

P.S.- If you get this in time, Send me some phone numbers so I can call someone! J Dawg or Grandma or one of my friends or something. Thank you!

Mommy!

Man alive I could use my mother right now. Hopefully you'll get this on your phone. I told Dad what happened, but it's just been a long day. I'm at the LaQuinta Inn in Atlanta and I'll be flying down to Sao Paulo tomorrow night at 735. Hope the cruise is going great! I love you all. Hopefully be in touch ;)

William Mackay