Wednesday, November 26, 2014

WELCOME HOME ELDER BARKER!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Querido Família,

Só falta dois dias! Estou muito animado ver todos vocês.

Can´t wait to see you all. Any last requests? Did you get the email from E. Dean? I´ll be arriving in SLC at 10:27 am on Wednesday.

So, Dean asked if I could get some brazilian clothes for his kids. I´ll do my best, but there is not really `traditional` clothes, I´ll try to get some indian stuff.

Love you all. Just got out of my interview with Pres. Dalton. Pretty crazy. See you soon!

 

Elder Barker

Monday, November 17, 2014

Dear family,

I love you all soo much. I´m excited to see you too! I´ll be flying home on the 25th and I´ll get there on the 26th. So, don´t worry about a thing ;) So Monte already got married or is engaged? I´m confused. 

The weather has been great these last few weeks, it´s a little warm for my liking, but I can´t complain.

I´ll be visiting recent converts today and on Sunday I´ll get to go again, it´ll be really cool to see people from my past areas. 

Great things are happening here and we have three baptisms planned for this last week. It´s going to be a great way to finish my mission.

Next week, I think I´ll just send a quick message from the office, so if there is anything you need to send, I´ll still be able to read it next week.

 This has been the absolute best experience of my life. I´m so grateful that I have had this opportunity. I love these people, love this country, love the food and most of all I love the eternal truths that I have taught for the last two years. I know that this church is the restored church of our Lord Jesus Christ. He really lives. The doctrine and organization are perfect. It is to bless our families and bring about eternal life. How blessed we are. There is no better work than this. The Lord gives His spirit to those who are in the front lines of the battle, the people who share the gospel! That´s one of the reasons that I will ALWAYS be a missionary. 

One idea I had is to start inviting a lot of people to church for the 30th of November. Use my talk as an excuse to invite people that have never visited, it´ll be a good opportunity for them to get to know the church.

I love you all! I´m very excited to see you here in a few short days :)

 Elder Barker

Monday, November 10, 2014

Dear Family,

Well we had another fantastic week. I love this work. We´re seeing a lot of results in the ward from reactivation and retention. The bishop couldn´t be happier. Really good things happening. 

Meg´s engaged?! Good for her! That´s great, is Beau getting close as well? I guess I´ll be home for the wedding... sweet.

We´ve had a dry, dry year here in São Paulo. It hasn´t rained hard in a really long time, but apparently in other parts of Brasil they are flooding. So, the area presidency sent a letter asking all members in Brasil to participate in a special fast this weekend to ask for rain in the dry places. It´ll be cool to be a part of it. I haven´t been affected by it, but a lot of people go two or three days without water, get water for a couple days and then go without again. 

A mission is great because you learn to feel what others are feeling. When investigators and recent converts go through conversion I feel it as well. When they succeed we´re happy and when they quit we´re devestated. It´s actually quite the emotional roller coaster. We´re teaching a family that has gone through a lot. They love the church because it´s the only place they´ve felt real peace. The three teenagers (Sabrina, Samara and Alex)  went to a church dance on Saturday and they said that they loved it. They had never been to such a clean dance or had healthy fun. The gospel may seem to restrict us sometimes, but it really does set us free. The commandments and Jesus Christ are the only path of true, lasting happiness. It´s incredible.

Well I love y´all. (E. Fisher´s got me saying y´all) 

Is it really at this point? I have to admit, it´s a little bit hard for me to accept the fact that I´ll be leaving soon. I´m sure it´ll sink in at some point.

See you soon!

 Elder Barker

P.s. Mom, I´ll talk to the secretary about the travel plans, you don´t need to be concerned :)

 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Dear Family,

I am so very blessed. I love you all so much. Thank you for your emails and words of support and encouragement. A mission is really hard for some people, but it´s the easiest thing in the world for me because I have all of you back home rooting for me! I had an incredible week. I´m learning so much about faith. Pres. Dalton let everyone read Calling Down the Powers of Heaven by Grant Von Harrison. I´ve been studying it for a while now and it has really helped me exercise faith as a principle of power. There are some things that are out of our control, but there are many, many things that can be controlled by the powers of heaven. Something interesting I´ve learned is that the Lord will always try our faith. He wants to see how bad we want it, he wants us to depend on Him, and he wants us to be purified, be cleansed and grow in the process. Tribulations are blessings!

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope" Romans 5: 3-4 

I remembered Elder Uchtdorf´s talk about being grateful in all circumstances. The Lord has a perfect plan. He is letting us participate in this mortal life. We are already eternally indebted to Him for His son Jesus Christ and the atonement. He has been so good to us. We should thank Him for the good times and for the hard times. He really loves us.

We have some great people that will be baptized this weekend. One family, specifically, is going to be very special. They are family members of a young woman who has been going to church on her own for the last three years. Her family just barely started to accept the church and most of them will be baptized this weekend. Her aunt, cousin and sisters. Her parents will just take a little longer because we had to mark their wedding this last weekend, so they won´t be baptized until December. The church is true!
Love you all!

Elder Barker

"As we act in faith we often find that the blessings of the Lord are much different than we expected, but much better than we imagined." - Elder Neil L. Anderson

I forgot to tell B-ridge happy birthday! Happy Birthday little brother, hope you had a great one! Now you can do home teaching visits, yess. (And go to stake dances ;) )

Love you!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Dear Family,

Loved the pics! Thank you for sending them. A good looking family. Could you ask the teenage boys to stop growing so much. Jesse? Carson? Bridger? Those aren´t the little boys that I remember. 

So, I´m short on time today, but I´m loving life. I can´t think of a better place or way to end my mission. We´re having great success. The Lord is really blessing us and great things are happening in our ward. The attendance got up to 110 this last weekend, which is great for this ward!

This weekend was election week in Brasil. It´s mandatory to vote here and everyone has to go on the same day, Sunday. So, there were some investigators that tried using that as an excuse, but we still got a good number of people to go to sacrament meeting. 

President Dalton announced a mission tour that Interlagos will have on the 26th and 27th of November. The Area President of Brasil, Claudio R.M. Costa is coming. How cruel. And on that same weekend, in this stake, another general authority is coming to call the new stake president. Bad timing.

We had success in reactivation this last week, which was great. A woman that hasn´t gone to church in three years. We visited her on Saturday night, and she went to church Sunday morning with her husband and kids that aren´t members. Her name is Simone, and she said that the kids said that they have to go to church EVERY week now. We were very happy to see them there, and the son and husband accepted baptismal dates in November!

This is such a great work. Love you all.

Have a great week!

 Elder Barker

 

Temple trip with recent converts and investigators

 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Dear family,

How are all of you? Sounds like the regional conference was pretty cool. Getting ready for Halloween festivities? I´m doing fantastic in my new area. I´m in Vila Natal (Christmas Village) with E. Fisher. We live with the Stake President, he´s also a great guy. I couldn´t ask for anything more. I can´t think of a better way to finish my mission. We´re already having a lot of success together.

 Elder Fisher is from Houston, Texas, but he actually lived in Evanston when he was really little. He says he has family there, Van Langens? I didn´t recognize the name, but maybe you will. He´s very talented, he plays piano and sang in the BYU men´s choir. We get along really well. 

 Yesterday, we had a surprise at sacrament meeting. Paulo, a guy that we taught one time showed up at church all on his own. His brother (Moisés)  is a member, but didn´t go on Sunday. So, Paulo went walking by himself. He´s only 18, but he´s really intelligent. He used to go to a different church, but said he prayed last night and felt that he should go. He loved church, went to an FHE last night and we have another appointment with him tonight. He said that he´s had trouble with the word of wisdom lately and that he had been feeling guilty. But he felt a feeling of peace and tranquility at the church. He gladly accepted a baptismal date. We´re going to teach the rest of his family tonight, including Moisés.

I could go on and on about the great people that we´re teaching, but it´s sufficient to say that the Lord is preparing His children. The elect of the Lord really recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ. I could do this for the rest of my life. I love this work. 

 Heavenly Father loves all of His children. It truly is incredible.

 The work goes on!

 Love, Elder Barker

 

 

 

Elder Fisher

Baptism, last area

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014

Dear Family,

 How was the wedding? I´m so happy that everything went well. Sounds like mom worked pretty hard. Now tell all the cousins to wait until I get home to get married! Monte. Happy birthday to Josh and Jen and Beau! Hope they all have fantastic birthdays. That´s crazy that Megan is already home and reported. I love our family.

So, this week is the start of my last transfer. I don´t think I´ll be finishing my mission here in the office. I´ll most likely be heading to a new area for these last weeks. I am very excited!

I really, really love this work. We had some great meetings yesterday. We´re teaching a young couple that is living together, but they´re not legally married. Their names are Rafael and Camila. The class was about the law of chastity and the sacrament talks were great. After the meeting Camila said, "So, to get baptized we need to get married first?" I said yes and she replied, "Then we´re going to get married." 

It was really cool because they have so many questions and doubts and weren´t really sure if they wanted to get married. The church meetings were perfect for their needs. I am so happy for them.

I love our savior Jesus Christ. I know that this work is true. Joseph Smith really was a prophet. 

 Love, 

Elder Barker

 P.S.- We made an awesome video for the transfer, I´ll try to send it to you.

 

Monday, October 6, 2014

Before I forget...

Luncheon.

 Well, I can´t believe I´m having to do this. It wasn´t too long ago that I was selling lemonade in the street with my little blonde, kid sister. I´m very happy for the two of you and I´m happy to have a new brother in the family. Welcome to the family, Brad! Yankees shirt and all.

I love you Kenzee and I´m very proud of you. Can´t wait to see you here in a couple of weeks. 

So, a good memory about Kenzee... First of all, she´s had many, many pets. Hermit crabs, kittens, fish, rabbits and guinea pigs. Sadly, she never had much luck with any of them. None of those pets reached the average life expectancy for their type. I remember one summer day, it was very, very hot. Kenzee didn´t have much to do, so she decided to take her guinea pig, Harry on a walk around the neighborhood in an old red wagon. It must have been more than 100 degrees. Poor thing. About a half an hour later, Kenzee returned. Harry did not make the trip. And so it was with Snuggles, Jo, Shy Anne, and many others. So Brad, a voice of warning. Protect your dog!

I really love you Kenz. I hope you can feel that. I couldn´t be happier that you will be sealed in the House of the Lord. I know that you will receive many, many blessings because of that choice. I know that families can be together forever. The blessings of the gospel are true.

I´ll be seeing you soon! 

Dear Family,

 Weekly Report. General Conference was awesome. I especially liked Elder Godoy´s talk in Portuguese. All of the talks were very, very good. We are so blessed to have a living prophet on the earth. Everything is great here, this is the last week of the transfer. We´ve got one meeting with new missionaries on Wednesday and that´s it. Sounds like the deer hunt was a success. How are the preparations for the wedding? I´m very happy for Brad and Kenzee. Hope everyone has a great week. I have one request. I want to see pictures and videos of everything and everyone, okay? How´s Megan doing? The 93 club is going to be back together, just without me. I´ll be home soon enough. 

Well, I love you all. I don´t have too much to report on. I really liked Elder Scott´s talk. We can all do the simple things. Read, Pray, FHE and Go to the temple. We will have the Lord´s protection. Our leaders are called of God and this work is true!

 Elder Barker

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!

 

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Dear Family,

 

I´m sorry that I wasn´t able to send email this week. We were running all over the place. I´m watching conference here at the stake center and it´s right by the office, so we thought we would send a quick message. If I know my family... Dad went deer hunting today with the boys? Hope everyone is still getting a dose of conference. I´m loving it. We´re three hours ahead so the priesthood session will be 9 at night. President is going to let us watch it and then sleep in until 8! I´m excited to sleep in ;) The work is going well. I´ll be sending another email on Monday, but I can´t believe Kenzee will be getting married in one week.

 

This is a picture of my birthday cake. Speaking of birthdays, how was it for Zoe? Did she get all she wanted? I love her! Tell Roy happy birthday too!

 

Love you all!



 

BIRTHDAY CAKE FROM MOM, VIA DEAR ELDER

Monday, September 29, 2014

Hey mom, we don´t have time to send email right now, but I´ll write later today... or maybe another day. I love you!

 

Office Elders

 

Dearest Will,

Another week is here and we enjoy the blessings of life and the gospel.  This week was especially memorable with Mackenzee going through the temple to receive your personal temple ordinances.  It was awesome.  I felt the same way I felt when you went to the temple, total happiness and joy.  As parents all we really want for our kids is what the gospel can give.  No other worldly success can compare to being with your family in the temple as a parent.  I am so pleased and happy that both of my children have made these choices in their lives.  I am so blessed.

 After the sessions at the Jordan River Temple the girls went to Kristens house for the shower, Dad and Chris went to Cabellas, and I took a 3 hour nap on Jims bed while watching golf.  I have been pretty stressed and busy latlely and to take a undisturbed nap with the windo open and the rain coming down was heavenly.

Today was a good day.  We had 3 missionary farewells and I reorganized the High Priest Group Leadership in Yellow Creek Ward.  Tonight me and the boys went to a bishops fireside at Bishop Wellings house and I talked with the youth about preparing for missions and making the decisions now to follow Jesus in our lives.  It was a good night.

 After the fireside we came home and watched Brooklyn 99 with the family. (new fall episodes)  Now everyone is in bed.  Janet and Mackenzee are sending out wedding announcements and I am talking to my first born son.  My Will.

Any way the next few weeks will be exciting.  We have conference, deer hunting, Kenzee’s Wedding etc.  October is going to fly by.  Jeff Lee is home in 19 days.  Crazy.

 Well son,  we love to hear of your mission experiences and the lives you are changing.  Love the people continually and God will do the rest.

 I love you son.  Keep up the good work.

Dad.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Hey family! Thank you so much for the messages and the video. Zoe is so grown up. Still a cutie-pie. President told me to reply to you. It´s been chaos here in the office today. We had a transfer and we´re preparing meetings for the rest of the week. 13 zones and 240 missionaries. I haven´t had time to breathe, but I´m loving it. I got my package yesterday! I loved it. I can´t believe you sent waffle crisps. You should have seen my joy.Thank you so much! Don´t worry, I made my birthday cake last week and I´m going to buy a pizza tonight. There are some members that did some stuff for me too. So, I´m doing great!

Pres. wanted me to tell you that he had everyone at the transfer sing to me and everyone in the office did, too. He wanted me to report to you ;)

I have the best family in the world!

Well I sure love ya, sorry I don´t have more time. I´ll talk to you on Monday to let you know how everything went.

Love you all!

 Elder Barker

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY

GREAT FAMILY TAKING CARE OF MY BIRTHDAY BOY

Hello sister, Good Night!

My name is Kemely and we ward Campo de Fora / Sao Paulo / Brazil. We just have a party for Elder Barker, and he gave us his e-mail we send a little pictures that are attached but forgot to tell her sister's name.

His son has followed our family since my baptism. Congratulations to your son, he is very special to our family and today he had the privilege to talk to you this made him very happy.

Congratulations to all.

 A big hug,

 Kemely e Eduardo

Monday, September 22, 2014

Dear Family,

Boommmm Diiiiaaaaa! How is my lovely family? I´m doing great, it really is a wonderful life. I just don´t know how it passes so fast. Tomorrow I´ll be 21. That´s so old. Oh well.

So, I spoke in church yesterday. It was a really edifying experience. I learned a lot. And it was very interesting that I learned more giving the talk than I did in the preparation. The Spirit testified of simple truths and lessons. I spoke about feeding the Lord´s sheep. I was able to share some personal experiences that I had in Wyoming that many Brasilians never have. I talked a little bit about the ranch and taking care of the animals, I also shared some personal experiences I had had doing home teaching with Dad and Grandpa. I talked about Bev and Howard and about some of my friends that were baptized in high school. I´ll never forget those moments. I learned valuable lessons.

Josefina was baptized this weekend. She is such a sweet, humble lady. She´s a widow and has a son that doesn´t take very good care of her. He´s more interested in drugs and his girlfriend. It really is a sad situation, but she is so faithful. After the first time she went to church she said her feet weren´t touching the ground. She returned home flying. She said she´ll NEVER leave this church. It was so good to hear her testimony. 

We´re also teaching an English teacher that has gone to church a few times. His name is Nelson. He´s a great guy, but is having a hard time leaving his other church. Sometimes we teach in English, it´s very strange and a lot harder than you would think. We left a bunch of English Liahona´s for him to give to his students and he´s given us a bunch of referrals. The work is going great.

We have the multi-zone meetings this week, should be fun. Pres. Dalton is going to train us on goals. (A training that he gave in his business career many times and in many countries)

Deadline

Realistic

Etched in Stone

Always Reviewing

Measurable

Supreme Being

 Dreams in Portuguese is Sonhos. We created a new one for Portuguese ;) It´s pretty cool.

Well I love you all and hope you have an incredible week.

 Elder Barker

September 15, 2014

Dear Family,

 I had another fantastic week. Thanks for the emails and pictures! I still didn´t get that package yet, but no worries, I´m sure it´ll get here. Wow, I´m getting old. The temple dedication sounds like quite the deal, I´m jealous. Thanks for news update, I loved it! Sounds like everyone is doing well.

 So... this week was pretty normal. We had some meetings, and we´re just preparing everything for some conferences next week. We´ll also be getting six new Americans next week. I have to go to the Federal Police to renew my visa on Wednesday, seems like yesterday that I was there, but I guess it´s been a year and a half already. 

 I like this scripture. It´s 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

There are so many things going on in life, but we´re never distressed, in despair, forsaken or destroyed. We are God´s people and He loves us. He is on our side. I love the gospel and I´m grateful for the chance to serve. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 Elder Barker

 

September 8, 2014

Dear Family,

 Spring is arriving, the weather is getting warmer, and there are more kites in the sky. They fly a lot of kites here, it´s pretty impressive. Wow, I was surprised to hear about those weddings. Good for them. And everything is getting prepared for Gizmo. Can´t believe she´s all grown up.

 So, miracles of the week.

 We did a contact in the street with a man named Luiz. He went to church and really liked it. He even got up to bear his testimony. I was a little bit worried to be honest. You never know what investigators or recent converts will say at the pulpit. But he got up and said, "I know that this church is true. I´ve been to others and I was baptized in a different church. But I want to be a part of this church. I want to stay." It was really cool. He said that he got an answer from God through small things. The only part that was a little bit different was that he said Gloria a Deus! at the end instead of in the name of Jesus Christ. It was surprising, but very, very cool. He will be baptized next week. 

 We also had recent converts bear testimony about overcoming addictions and repentance. The spirit testified very strongly when they told of their personal experiences.

 I love this gospel. And I love the work of Salvation. The Lord is so wise in his purposes. As we work in the work of salvation we´re really changing our own lives. He´s molding and changing our lives as we are in His service. I´m loving my mission and my area. A lot of great things are happening.

 Love you all!

Elder Barker

 

Elder Barker and President Dalton

 

 

September 1, 2014

Hey Mom!

Hope you had a great birthday. So, President doesn´t do that call for anyone else, he was willing to do it for me, but I couldn´t tell anyone else. He said that he left a message. Hope you liked it! So, I would love to live in that house, I think it would be awesome. Elder Cole really liked the idea too, but some of the Elders say that it isn´t good to live off campus as a freshman or sophomore. But, I trust the Hamblins. What do Josh and Hailey think of it?

For me, it´s great and Pres. already did the endorsement, he said that he endorsed me full-heartedly :). I´ll send the pictures again, and I still didn´t get the package, but I´ll keep an eye out. Thankk youuu!

Love you!

Dear Family,

 Another great week has begun! We had a great week and good things are happening in the mission. I ate at Fogo de Chão today. It was the fanciest place I´ve been to eat maybe in my whole life. I didn´t know what half of the stuff was. It´s a buffet but they bring the meat around like at Braza Grill and Tucanos. They even had free mouth wash in the bathroom. Sweet.

Last night we went to a musical fireside in a ward called Jardim Ângela. It was one of the best firesides I´ve ever seen. There is a lot of talent down here in São Paulo. It certainly brought a strong spirit to all that were there.

Well, congrats to the Red Devils on the win in Cheyenne. Keep up the good work.

A new transfer is starting and I´m really excited. It´s been fun preparing everything for this week. A lot of meetings and new things happening.

 So, I have to tell you about Renato and Laura. They are a great couple and have two kids, Agatha (6) and Vinicius (5). Well on Saturday, a half an hour before the baptism Laura wanted to give up and leave it for another day. She didn´t really have a reason for wanting to quit, I think she was just nervous and unsure about the future. Well, we talked with them and told them they were ready and bore our testimonies and told them that we loved them and just when I thought there was nothing more we could do, there was a pause, and Laura started crying. She said, "Why wait?" "I stopped smoking for this. I went to church for this. This is what I want." It was incredible. It was a pretty chilly night and the water heater broke (again) but that didn´t stop them. It was a very special experience. We´re going to take them to the temple garden this week.

I love the gospel and know that families can be together forever.

Have a great week and month of September!

 Elder Barker

 

 

Monday, August 25, 2014

Dear Family,

I´m thinking about just sending email every other week instead of every week, because it seems like they are passing faster than ever. Just kidding. I will write every week, it´s a rule from the Prophet. I´m doing great and I´m loving the work. Our area is being extremely blessed. We´re having great experiences and the mission is doing well. Happy Birthday for the best Mom in the world! Hope you have a great week and that everything goes your way :). I love you so much! Have fun at school and work! I loved the video of the family reunion! Crazy that Matt Johnson got married. Good for them, I´m happy for them both. Sounds like the open house at the temple will be pretty cool!

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week. I have gained a strong testimony of obedience. It is the key to happiness. We can always choose the right and trust in the Lord. He will bless us for being obedient. Miracles really happen. God is a God of miracles and they will always happen according to our faith. This is the true church of Christ, I bear my testimony of it.

You guys are the best!

 Elder Barker

Monday, August 18, 2014

Dear family,

 Well... My week was fantastic. I believe that the Lord knows exactly what I need to pass through and experience every day. He prepares everything. It seems like there´s always something new to learn how to deal with. Just when I think I´ve got it all figured out, there´s a new challenge. I got to thinking, Is it going to be like that my whole life? And I think that it will, huh? We´re here to learn, and we wouldn´t learn much if we already knew how to handle everything. 

Everyone is getting excited about football season? I´m happy for Reece, he´s a great guy. I can´t believe he´s home already. 

So I read a talk about Remembering and Gratitude by Elder Eyring. It´s a classic apparently. I realized how blessed I really am. We often think that things are "ours" or "mine" when really we came into this world with nothing. Everything that we have comes from the Lord. We also often take for granted two of the greatest gifts, The Atonement and the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

 I´m grateful for an experience we had this last month-

So... About four weeks ago a member in our ward was robbed walking home from work. A guy on a motorcycle pulled up and ended up taking her purse. So she was very upset and crying, and a woman that lived near by helped her and took her into her house. They said that she was a very nice lady and they wanted us to pass by there. Well, that week we marked a visit with them to visit a different investigator that we had met in the street. Her name is Lucia. When we got there, they couldn´t believe that it was the same lady! So, she had clearly been prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel, missionary contact and member referral in the same week. Turns out that her husband was receiving the missionary lessons right before he died and that her son wanted to be baptized in the church many years ago, but she didn´t let him. When we taught the Plan of Salvation and about temple work it really touched her. She was very emotional, knowing that she could be forgiven of the past and return to see her husband one day. And even have his work done in the temple! Lucia accepted the invitation and was baptized on Saturday. She loves the church and is anxious to go to the temple. She is a great lady.

I love the gospel. I especially love the hope it gives us when we think there is none. And the relief that replaces regret. Families really can be together forever. The Lord lives and loves us. We are so blessed.

 I love you all,

 Elder Barker

Monday, August 11, 2014

Dear family,

Life is so good. I love hearing from you all. I am happily working and life is flying. I´m constantly tired, but really happy. It´s a different feeling, that I think we only have when we are serving the Lord. Elder Cole is doing great, he loves McDonalds. I think I eat more fast food now than I did in the U.S. It´s pretty sad. There´s a Burger King here in Santo Amaro as well, so it´s pretty hard to avoid. We have an elevator in our apartment, too, so I´m a little bit concerned with my weight. Gotta keep doing exercises.

 I have learned a lot about faith these last few weeks. Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel for a reason. When we have faith, anything is possible! Sometimes it takes time, but our faith really brings miracles. We just have to act, or exercise our faith. Think about Peter. All of the other Apostles stayed in the boat, but when he saw the Lord he took a few small steps onto the water. He felt a solid surface walking on water! That´s incredible. But when he fell, Christ called him a "man of little faith". If Peter is a man of little faith, what am I? Sometimes people criticize Peter, but he is the only one that had the faith to leave the boat. It´s hard for me to leave the comfort zone sometimes, but the miracles happen when we "leave the boat". 

Things in the area are great and there are so many cool things going on in the mission. 

Oh by the way, I got my birthday package this last week! That was very fast. Thank you very much! I´m stoked to make the cake. And it was perfect mom, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Have a great football season! Go Red Devils!

Love you all,

Elder Barker

 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Dear Family,

I love you all and I´m grateful for all of you! This week was great. A man named Eduardo was baptized on Saturday. His family was baptized a few weeks ago, but he had to stop smoking. His son, Bruno baptized him and it was really, really cool. This is a special family. They now have a picture of the temple in their front room with the date of one year from the baptism as a goal to be sealed. They are incredible! We´re also teaching some of their friends in the same neighborhood. The other missionaries are some that taught him before the transfer. I´m loving my new area and my companion. It´s been really great. Thanks for the pictures and updates. 

So, I don´t have much news. The days are blurring together and the time is flying by even faster. Sounds like you had a good reunion! Too bad that everyone got sick... Don´t worry about the emails mom. You are the best. Tell Hailey happy birthday for me. She´s getting old! I know that this work is true and that the Lord works with us according to our faith. Faith is truly a principle of power. I´ve seen that so much is possible when I just believe and ask for specific blessings. The Lord wants to bless us! He just wants us to ask Him and show that we are dependent on Him. Love you all! 

Mormon 9:21

 

Monday, July 28, 2014

Dear Family,

I hope all is well with you. How was the 24th? Is Kenzee going to do anything cool for her birthday? 

This was a very hectic week. I got transferred to one of the best areas in the mission. It´s called Campo de Fora. It is really great. My new companion´s name is Elder Cole. He´s lived in many places, but his family is currently in St. George. He will be going home in October. He was a skater before the mission. He skated with a lot of pros, he also likes wake boarding and his dad is a brain surgeon. He is a great missionary, I´ve already learned a lot with him. I got called as an assistant as well, so we´ve had a lot of meetings and trainings to prepare. It´s been cool to work with Pres. Dalton a little bit more. I was hoping to be able to train a new missionary to finish, but I´m happy wherever the Lord wants me. I love being a missionary.

So is Preston Pace home? And how´s the summer going? Has it been hot? It´s been pretty cold here lately.

I really know that these things are true. I love the Savior and I love serving Him. I´ve seen so many things in these last few weeks, I couldn´t write half of them. The gospel changes lives. We are so blessed, and we don´t realize it sometimes. We have Temples that are so precious. Families really can be together forever. God is our loving heavenly father, and he really knows us personally. I love you all!

Elder Barker

Monday, July 21, 2014

 

This was our temple trip that we made with investigators and recent converts. It was a classy bus. 

The other is The Ranieri Zone. It´s missing a couple of missionaries, because it´s always like hearding cats trying to take pictures. The Chilean in the front is a cool guy, he is a surfer. He surfed with Jack Johnson! He was sponsored by Billabong and his name is Pablo Córdova. We also have a couple of Valedictorians, a genius, a dancer and a lot of other talents. Very cool people.

This was President Pinho´s last meeting with us. I´ll send a new picture with Pres. Dalton soon. You´ll see the height difference!

Dear Will,

First of all I believe that you can NOT beat up Brad. Because he works out everyday. And even Kenzee can not. Our Kenzee. Are there any animals in Brazil? Because I heard there are monkeys😱. I need to be working more this summer, because mom says I work 100 hours I will get an iPod 6 or 5. I'm so exited!!!  I love you please please PLEASE write back soon.

                             Love, Mia.

 

Hey! I work out everyday too, ya know. I´m a pretty physically impressive missionary... Okay, maybe not impressive. There are all kinds of animals here! Sooo many dogs and cats and rats and possums and owls and cool birds and monkeys too ;)

Keep working hard. You´re the best!

Love,

 Elder Barker

 

Dear Family,

Thanks for the email.  Very good to hear from you.  How was the week?  Did you go on a trip?  Pioneer Days this week too.  Fun Stuff. I like the family history stuff, keep sending it!

Well, I got transferred again.  I don’t know where I’m headed now, but I’m sure that there are great things in store.

The zone took 28 recent converts and investigators to the temple garden on Saturday!  The stake rented a bus for us to take.  It was really cool.  We taught in the garden and went to the temple store to buy things.  It was a very good experience.  And it helped the investigators understand that baptism isn’t the end, it’s just the first step.  Well, not much to say this week.  I sure do love you all.  Hope that everything is well and that you all keep writing me ;).  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Barker

 

 

 

Monday, July 14, 2014

Dear Family,

How was your week? Mine was fantastic! Happy anniversary Mom and Dad. And Happy Birthday for you Dad. Hope you have a good.... 50th? Not yet. But I love you both and hope you have a great week!

We had interviews with Pres. Dalton this last week. It was a very good experience. We talked about the mission, family, goals for after the mission and everything. Transfers are next week, I´ll let you know of any changes. 

 We had a baptism this last week. His name is Darius. He´s dating a member of the ward and had been going to church on his own. He said that last week at church he received an answer. He felt peace. His baptism was very special. We´re taking them to visit the temple this weekend, to start thinking about the next steps. He´s anxious to take the name of his grandparents to do baptisms. He is a great guy.

The world cup is over, so that´s nice. Not as many distractions now. And things are basically back to normal. 

 It´s incredible to think that I´m never alone on the mission, well I´ll always have my companion, but in DC 84:88 it says that there are angels round about us to bear us up. I learned recently that those angels are not necessarily strangers. Why would the Lord send angels that didn´t have anything to do with our lives? I believe that they are the people we love. Our ancestors, descendents and the family of our investigators.  

 

Alma 13:24

 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our  land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive
 his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

 Love you all!

 Elder Barker

Monday, July 7, 2014

Dear Family,

How was your week? Mine was great! We had the first leadership council with Pres. Dalton and then another meeting with all of the zones. Sister Dalton is great too. She doesn´t speak Portuguese, which is kind of nice. I like speaking english sometimes. Pres. Dalton showed a slide show of his life. I was impressed. He´s very humble for the kind of success he´s had. He played basketball in Powell, Wyoming. He said the coaches didn´t want him anywhere, but it was one of his goals, so he did it. Then he said that one of his goals was to graduate from Harvard. After being rejected once, he got in. THEN, he decided he wanted to graduate in the top 10 percent of the class. And he did it. He´s been the president of three companies and has given speeches in many parts of the U.S. He is a Huge (almost 7 foot), happy man. He has enough energy for the whole mission to feed off. We have a strong focus on the temple now. We´re going to take everyone to the temple. Investigators, Recent Converts and Less Actives. Everyone will be doing Family History and taking their own family names to the temple. Very cool.

 Speaking of family history. In my zone there´s an Elder Hardman. He´s from Liverpool, England. And I remember that story of our ancestor Margaret Hardman also from Liverpool. Maybe we have ancestors in common. Do you think Grandma Lynn could send me her generation chart and Grandpa Jess? 

 We´re teaching a lot about the temple. It´s a new rule for missionaries everywhere to teach the 5th lesson before and after the baptism. It´ll be very good.

 Woohoo! I got accepted to BYU. Thanks Uncle Jimmy. Now, I just need to make a final decision. 

 I love you all and I know that families can be eternal. I also know that there are many people in our family on the other side of the veil waiting for their work to be done. Keep up the great work with family history, because it truly is missionary work.

 Love you all!

Elder Barker  Vai Brasil!!!!!!

Monday, June 30, 2014

Dear family,

I´m doing very well. Missionary life is the best life, because you can´t go wrong serving the Lord. Life is good, can´t complain... just that my sister is getting married in October. So much for waiting. I´m just kidding, I´m happy for them and hope all goes well in preparation for the wedding. I used to think that a month was a long time. I now realize that as fast as you count them, they´re gone. We have a ward activity on Friday (4th of July). Maybe we´ll make hamburgers and light of fireworks... Oh wait, they´ll be doing that anyway for the Brasil game. It´ll be perfect. 

How´s Grandma Barker doing? Tell her that I love her and am praying for her. I´m sure that everything will be alright. 

President and Sister Dalton got here on Friday. We have a meeting with him tomorrow and then another one with the zones on Friday. He sounds like a really good guy. He said in his letter that they were trained by all 15 of the Apostles these last few weeks, so he´s definitely excited. The zone is making progress and we´re excited for July. 

Have I told you about Robson? He´s a cool guy. He´s been to church the last few weeks and he´s preparing for baptism. He was just a street contact that was really needing spiritual help. He showed up at church all by himself (we didn´t follow up) and he said, `told you I would come`. Pretty cool. He participates in protests and movements of some sort. He doesn´t like the government, but he really likes the Book of Mormon, so that´s good. He will serve well in the church.

 Love you all. Being a missionary is the best. We don´t have problems, only solutions. Jesus Christ is our captain and master. He is leading this work and I know it. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it will draw us nearer to God than any other book on earth. I love it. Have a great week!

 Elder Barker

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Ranieri

 

Magic Syrup

 

USA!

 

World Cup Streets

 

FIFA 2014

 

Elder Will "Neymar"

 

Families are Forever

 

 

 

Dear Family,

 

I´m doing great! Ranieri is a blessing. New President is getting here on Friday, I think. Tomorrow is our last meeting with Pres. Pinho. It should be good. Brasil is winning so the people are happy. It really hasn´t been too crazy. Just a lot of fireworks and people drinking, but we´ve been staying home every game. Yesterday we made Pancakes and I introduced `magic syrup` to the other Elders. They liked. I made french toast today, too. Good stuff. 

Attitude, faith and desire is so important as a missionary. I think it´s important in all aspects of our life. Something I´ve learned is that there is never ´lack´ of desire, there only exists a greater desire to do something else. If someone doesn´t have desire to work, it just means they have a greater desire to stay at home. We can control our desires. It´s so cool and simple. We simply have to want to want it. Our thoughts determine our desires. 

 I´m doing great and loving the work. I love getting your letters and emails. Keep writing me! 4th quarter is where the magic happens. Gotta go to work! 

Love you all!

Elder Barker

Monday, June 16, 2014

Dear family,

How´s it going? Good to hear from everyone and sounds like you a had a good week. I´m in a new area called Ranieri, it´s in the Guarapiranga stake. My new companion is Elder Dudley. He´s from Detroit, Michigan. I´d already worked with E. Dudley before, not as companions, but we were togeter in Parelheiros and Itapecerica. We´re happy to be together a gain. He calls our area the ghetto, but it´s really not. Maybe Monte has heard of Flint, Michigan. He says it reminds him of Flint. We´re teaching some great people and the Bishop is young and has a lot of energy. The Stake President is also excited. This stake is very close to splitting. We´ve been making plans to be able to help out a little.

Some of my best friends on the mission went home this last week. So weird and really sad, but life goes on. Did Preston Pace already get home as well? Hey, I got the Dear Elder package with the Peanut Butter. I love getting those things. Thank you! I live with another companionship of Elders and everyone is asking their mom´s for a package like that now. So... with the World Cup we stayed at home on Thursday and we have to stay home again tomorrow (Brasil is playing). So, tomorrow is really our P-day, we´re just sending email today. Next week we´re going to stay home on Monday and email on Tuesday. It hasn´t been too crazy yet, but it is an interesting environment. It´s like the 4th of July or Christmas, but a lot bigger, at least when Brasil is playing. You also have the protestors, a small percentage of the people, who are against the government saying that they spent way too much money on the Cup when they had bigger problems to worry about. The´re never satisfied. Vai Brrraaassiiilll!

The work goes on. I had the opportunity to go back to my last area for some baptisms on Saturday. Very convenient, because it borders my new area. I baptized a man named Agnaldo. His nickname is Alemão, which means German. He´s a big white guy that didn´t even participate in the lessons when we taught his family. He was always drinking when we went over. The week before he left he said that he wanted to talk to us. He said that he wanted to drop the addictions and be baptized. He was so determined that he stopped with everything in two days, aclohol, smoking, coffee and tea. He got sick and went through withdrawals, but he stayed clean the whole week. He was the happiest I had ever seen him this weekend. He was baptized and now his whole family are members. They can´t wait to pass through the temple. I´m so happy for them. I know that this gospel really changes lives. The atonement was not made for just a few people or just some sins. It was the eternal and infinite sacrifice. Christ came to heal the sinner, each of us. I saw the miracle of the atonement in the life of Agnaldo. I know and testify that we can always be forgiven of our sins. There is always hope. I love you all!

Elder Barker

Monday, June 9, 2014

Dear Family,

 I´m trying to send pictures, but you can never trust the Lan House. Let me know if you get them.

My week was good. We had the mission conference and Pres. Pinho gave like a three hour training. It was awesome. We also watched Ephraim´s Rescue, which I really liked as well. Have you already seen it? The meeting was really good. They had a clip of Pres. and Sis. Dalton talking to us, so that was neat to see them, too. 

Someone told me that Hollywood is making a Book of Mormon movie, is that true? You´ll have to check it out, because Mormon rumors are so distorted by the time they get to São Paulo. 

We also had a stake conference this last weekend. It was a transmission for 101 stakes and 13 districts in Sâo Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake by Elder Ballard, Elder Scott, Carol Stevens and Ulysses Soares. Very good. We took some investigators and they really felt the spirit. They slept a little bit as well, but at least they felt the spirit. The theme was basically Hastening the work and the Work of Salvation, but what impresses me more and more is that the Prophet and Apostles aren´t as worried about bringing in new members as they are about protecting and saving the very members of the church. The work of salvation is not just to baptize more people. It is about that, but it also includes saving the families that we already have and getting them to the temple. That is why `Now is the time for members and missionaries to work together` because members need the spiritual protection that comes from missionary work. Family History is the same thing. When we´re anxiously engaged in a good cause we don´t have time to sin. Everyone was talking about missionary work the whole weekend, and then when Elder Scott got up to talk (In Portuguese) he spoke about prayer, our family relationships and the temple. Elder Ballard talked about technology, pornography, family, and the temple. They stressed that the laws of the land will never change the laws of God. The family is under attack and we´re going to have to bear down and protect our beliefs. It was very edifying.

 Oh yeah, I got transferred. I´ll be leaving Elder Schleiger tomorrow morning. I still don´t know where I´m going. We´ll see tomorrow!

 Love you all so much. I´m grateful that our family can be eternal.

 Elder Barker