Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Hey family,

All is going well here in São Paulo. I have a new companion. His name is Elder Cerda. He´s 25 and he´s from Chile. He has about 5 months on the mission. He´s really cool and I think we´re going to work well together. He says he´s from Viña del Mar which is pretty close to Santiago I guess. Three of my companions are going home either today or tomorrow. (Laughlin, Nazareth and Nogeuira). It´s pretty crazy how the time passes.

Before I forget Mom, Happy Birthday this week! I love you and hope that everyone treats you super great. Are you and Dad going to go anywhere or do anything special? Anyway, I´m so grateful for everything you have done for me and continue to do for me. You´re amazing. I know how blessed I am to have you as my Mother. I got the package you sent for my birthday. I think I´ll save it until my birthday. Does it have anything that I would need to open earlier than that? Thank you so much! I´m almost as excited as the other Elders to open it.

I went to the temple earlier this month, but it was still the same. I had heard that there was a new video, but I won´t know for another couple months if it´s here in Brasil.

Sounds like everyone´s doing well with school starting up. All three of them look very grown up! What is happening?...

Karina had her baby this last week. Have I told you about her? Her and Jefferson are brother and sister in law to Gabriel and Carol. They´re not married yet, but I think they´re ready now. They both want to be baptized too. We´re super excited for them.

Well that´s about it for me, our activity yesterday was awesome. We had a barbeque as a mission, that´s why I didn´t email. We played volleyball, ping pong, and had a few card games. President Pinho is really good at volleyball, and he got a little bit competitive. It was really funny. He told us it was a day to relax and not think about missionary work. Everyone really enjoyed it.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. The more I learn about Him the more I want to live and share His gospel. I´m so happy that we have the gospel in our family and I know that it will bless us for eternities. I love you all and I´ll talk to you soon!

Elder Barker

Monday, August 19, 2013

Hey family,

Another great week has come and gone. I didn´t email earlier because Elder Nogueira had a meeting for all of the missionaries that are leaving next week. It was a training about life after the mission so they don´t go home AS awkward. The mission really is a different life. So I´ll be getting a new companion next week. It will be my ninth if you count trios and the MTC. 

     I got your pictures mom, but the video didn´t work. And thank you for the Priesthood line of Authority. It´s awesome. How´s Kenzee liking college? Football season already, que bom. 

 

I don´t remember Uncle Bud really well. I think I remember visiting him once. I´m glad you got to go see some of his family. The plan of salvation is real.

 

I ate Subway last week. It was awesome. We did a ´blitz´ in the area of the sisters (Interlagos) and they have Subway and McDonalds. Blitz just means we worked in their area one day. The people there are super wealthy, it´s alot different from where I´m at.

 

I´ve been thinking a lot about Family History work lately. I have a feeling that there is still some work to be done for our ancestors. There are people waiting for us to do their work. Help the ward get excited about it, and take advantage of having temples so close to our house. The temple is a blessing that we take for granted some times. I read in the Topical Guide, I think it was, that Temples are the most sacred places on Earth, and the Lord visits His temples. If we have a recommend why wouldn´t we want to be there?

 

I love you all! Talk to ya soon,

Elder Barker

 

Monday, August 5, 2013

Good Day Everyone!

Tudo está tranquilo aqui. Nossa área realmente está fazendo muito bem. We have a really good ward here and we´re working with the members a lot better now. The pictures are Gabriel and Carol with me and my companion. The other is a family home evening and I made pancakes again. And the last one is with my zone leader, Elder Fernandes in our house. I´ll try to get better pictures of what my area is like here soon. 

Kenzee had a good birthday? That´s awesome, and fair week too! Good times. Now it´s already time to wish Courtney a Happy Birthday! S/O to her ;) Love her so much. 

We had a good Sacrament meeting yesterday. Something that´s cool here is there´s never a pause in the testimony meeting. There´s always a line to bear your testimony. And usually if a woman bears her testimony, the husband does too. It´s always a really good meeting.

Oh, I´ll try to answer your questions better. You asked about my release date, and it´s looking like it´ll be Jan. 3, 2015 or around there. But that´s a long ways off mother ;)

Oh, I have to tell you Mom that when people ask to see pictures of my family they always say how young and beautiful you look. A family yesterday couldn´t believe you were my mom, they insisted that you looked more like my sister. You´re the best.

I liked a scripture that I read in DC 50 today. It´s verses 41 and 42 I think. It is just a great reminder that the Lord is looking over us and He loves us. We have no need to fear anything.

Love you all! 

Elder Barker