More pics...because Christmas happened and I forgot to post these...sorry guys! -Kj

Puddle Hopping!

This has been a wet week. The streets were so full of water that Elder Tinti and I were thinking of pulling out some innertubes and floating down the road. It was a riot having to hide behind traffic light boxes to avoid getting splashed and praying that the driver isn't anti-Mormon. "HA HA! TAKE THAT, MORMONS!" (OK that part didn't happen, but it would have been pretty funny if it did!)

Monday we were approached by this fellow on the street who was really annoying. "Una pregunta- una pregunta- una pregunta" Dude! you've already asked twelve preguntas and we aren't getting anywhere. All you want to do is prove how much you think you know and overlook the truth when it is plainly put before you. So--- have a nice day! After that we had some hot dogs. I can't remember if I've told you about the hot dogs before... They're to Die for! Wrapped in Bacon, with mayo mustard and ketchup on a toasted bun, tomatoes, sauteed onions and a grilled Jalapeno.... Wow.

Tuesday we met with Tweety. Poor guy. he keeps falling asleep during our meetings. Funny story (and I'm getting ahead of myself) on Saturday we met with him again and he was like, "OK! Give me one minute to sleep and I'll be OK-zzzzzzzzzz....zzzzzzz... has it been a minute yet? no? zzzzzzz....... time? no? ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....zzzzzzz "OK time" Yeah! See? Now I'm all rested and ready! Ah... much better." ha ha ha. Funny guy.

We taught the English class in the evening. It's so funny. They were learning how to say a prayer in English and this one guy (Who apparently is a famous luchador from Mexico [not because he could fight well but because he got beat up every time]) couldn't say "Heavenly Father" he'd say "Hebemi fadder" No no no... watch my mouth. Heh-ven leeee Faaah Thheeerrrr. Got it? OK say Heh "heh" now Ven "ven" Now Lee "Lee" Now father "father" OK Say heavenly father "Hebemi fadder" Slowly but surely... right?

Wed was the wet day where we had to hide from puddle splashes.

Thursday was district meeting. I always hope that my district can understand what I'm trying to convey. After that we went to Wendy's. Memo to me! Never get the fish sandwiches at Wendy's! I was thinking, "Ooo a fish sandwich! that'll be a taste from home! I simply must try it!" Wrong! It was horrid! they just don't know how to make fish right in the Pacific I guess. After that we met with tweety and helped him learn how to tie a tie. He was so excited to have ties to wear to church that would match his shirts and yadda yadda yadda- It's hard to teach tweety. When he isn't falling asleep he's gabbing your ear off.

Friday was Friday. One kid said something pretty interesting. I asked her, "Do you believe in God?" -Yes we do! We have two gods! One right there! (pointing at the statue of la virgin de guadalupe in the shrine surrounded with Christmas lights flashing on and off in the living room) and one in the back room!

Hmmm.... later we taught a family that has been kind of... I don't know... lazy in their progression. And it's like I want to show them all the great things that will come as a result of praying and reading in the scriptures, but they just... won't. So, we talked about the restoration of the gospel and the mom just was totally not paying attention. So I asked her what she was feeling or thinking, and she opened up and told us that she doesn't feel that she's received an answer from prayer and this and that. So we testified of the truthfulness of prayer and invited them to really come to church this Sunday. (And they Did!)

Saturday Was a crazy day. We tried to get tweety to a baptismal service in the morning, but he got lost and showed up late. So we planned on meeting up with him again later. Then the zone leaders called and said, "what are you doing right now?" -uh... getting out of the car to go talk to people.. why? "We need you to do a baptismal interview in 20 minutes! our investigators came to the baptismal service and they want to be baptized... today." Oh! OK. So I got to interview this sweet old couple and, man they were ready. Then we taught tweety and he fell asleep... so we told him to get some sleep and make it to the baptismal service that evening (he made it). i twas a wonderful service. It was funny because, i was sitting there and then they announced that i was conduction the music. Oh... OK! :D And then after the ordinance harped it was announced that we were to sing songs together, oh.. OK! :D So twenty minutes of conducting. Whew. It was a marathon.

Sunday was pretty cool. That family made it to church. Later in the evening we taught a couple lessons that went relatively well. It's hard to teach when their consumption of Alcohol is clouding the spirit.

And today!

I love you all so much!

have a great week!

-Elder Barker.

Snork!

Od Dear... By dose is so clogded ub...

Oh well!

Hello, Hello and Hello!

Let me see, what happened this week. OH that's right!

Monday: elder Tinti was trying his luck on one of those games at the mall that you can win stuff if you are really accurate and lucky AND HE WON! An $800.00 watch! (not the best accessory to be wearing around the ghetto of Santa Ana, but still it was cool)

Tuesday: Our sink backed up and we played plumber until we realized that we had no idea what we were doing. (I NEED A BIGGER WRENCH!) Thankfully the apartment maintenance crew knows what they are doing. It was fun. "Hey why isn't this draining?... Whoa... Why is water coming up out of the drain?... WHY ISN"T PLUNGING IT WORKING?!!! AAAAAHHH!!!!" we

Later we taught our most progressing Investigator... I can't remember if I gave him a name last time... I shall call him Tweety! (If you saw his car you would know why.) So Tweety is doing good. If he can keep up the whole staying away from smoking he'll be right on track! But funny thing is that every time I speak his eyes start drooping and hid head starts nodding. I'll say that it's because i have a soothing voice...

Wed: Zone conference was so great! There was a brother who spoke to us. Brother Virgin was his name and when he served his mission in Pennsylvania and the states round about, back in the day, he only had one family during his entire mission join the church. He thought that his mission had been a failure. BUT! Later he found that the son of the woman he baptized had served a mission, marries in the temple, served as mission president, had kids who all served missions and the kids' kids and now serving and one is serving in the California Anaheim mission. Cool! Kind of awesome to think about how many people are affected because of one person doing what's right despite opposition and assumed failure.

Thurs: I went on exchanges with one of the missionaries and we had a grand day out! We taught a man who we met right as we were walking away from his door. We taught a couple others and had a feast of a dinner, and taught another man who we met outside his home! It was a blast!

Fri: Nothing really happened.

Sat: Was a wonderful Temple tour and Tweety came.

Sunday was... Sunday. In the evening we were out in the rain, which we were later told by people we met was radioactive rain from The melt down on japan. So... If I suddenly grow a third arm or I gain laser vision, or turn green and burst out of my shirt when I get upset You'll know why: I served a mission in radioactive rain.

Well... That's the news from lake Wobegon where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

Hope things are good for you in your neck of the woods.

Thanks for your love and support.

Catch you later!

-Elder Barker

Heavens He's tasty and expeditious!

Where's Waldo?

No worries. Sorby's got 'im.

Happy Pie Day!

Well hello there! It's been a wonderful week of madness!

Well this week We invented an amazing dish! Italian sausage Tacos! Oh man... They are to die for. Simple Fire up the barbie and roast some Sausages, onions, and jalapenos and then while that's cooking whip up some guac and Spanish rice, then have the whole thing in a tortilla! Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!

We had some wonderful lessons with people this week. One girl who works at El Gallo Giro was so prepared to hear our message. We stopped by her apartment with another member, because we can't teach a single lady without another male present, but she didn't answer the door. So we left a note for her to call us, and we went away kind of disappointed. BUT an hour she called! So we called the member and had a great lesson! So, that was cool. But the catch is that we have to pass her to another group of elders in another congregation, because She's English speaking, and now I am all Espanol. Oh well...

Oh I found out that B, From my last ward, ( you remember B he's the Muslim who read the book of Mormon in a week) got baptized! YAY! good to hear.

On Friday we had a lovely dinner. It's called "Siete Mares" And it has about every seafood creature in it that you could imagine. crab, clam, shrimp, craken, fish, the whole nine yards. It made me think of home... mostly cause it smelled like the bay. ;)

We also met some wonderful people and taught them and they are excited to learn more! Yay! so things are going good.

Well... Wow... Japan... Too intense. There was even rumors of the tsunami coming over to California, so things were a little tense for a bit. Man. But the good news is that the Missionaries in Japan are safe! Hooray! Actually I wasn't too worried about them, I just hope that the people of the world don't do the whole, "HOW COULD A LOVING GOD LET THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN???!!!" To questions like that I think about the Plan of Salvation, and how wonderful it is to know that Death isn't the end of life! It's a graduation to the next part of the plan. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, but the sting of death is swept away by the Promise of Resurrection that is given to everyone by Jesus Christ.

So it goes.

Know that I love you all! thanks for your love, prayers, and support!

I hope all is well with you.

Catch you laters!

-Elder barker

This week's episode of: MISSIONARY MAN!!!

HELLO!

What fun! This week was pretty great. The Spanish is coming along nicely. I understand a BUNCH but the whole Make a sentence that has the correct conjugations and the subjunctive tense and putting the emPHaSiS on the Correct SilAblE is still a challenge. BUT Life goes on and the perplexed look that says, "Que en el mundo?" on our investigators faces makes me laugh. So, things are good

Monday, Elder Tinti gave props to English speaking missionaries after we knocked a predominately English area. "What?... " "Not interested!" "JESUS DOESN"T LIVE HERE!" Those kinds of phrases don't usually come out in a Hispanic area. I guess the Spanish aren't quite as RUDE as English folks.

Tuesday, I lived up to Obispo Santos' wishes and knocked so many doors that my knuckles became bloody! Don't worry: the doors in Santa Ana are sanitary........I think. I got my shots.......right?

Wednesday, we went up these rickety old stairs to find somebody who had met with missionaries in the past, and Elder Tinti Broke though one of them! Don't worry, it was the second to the last step. Later we walked past the "Tent Church" which in my book is one of the greatest examples of Silliness I've seen. There is this run down tent where every other night, the services go on and on, and the singing is just awful and on Wed when we walked back, I guess somebody was speaking in "tongues." To me it sounded like, "Gla bla beega ble!" So I wasn't edified by it at all...

But the best part of it it the pastor's home next to this run down tent is all spiffy and nice and has new paint and good windows and all that stuff.... hmmmm, I wonder where the money goes from that congregation?

Thursday was district meeting, and my district seemed to understand what I said, so improvements are happening! Yay! I can talk in Spanish!

Friday was a lot of searching.

Saturday we taught a cool lady who said, "that just rings true! I've always known that God is our father and Jesus Christ in the Son of God!"

Sunday was testimony meeting and it was awesome! One hermano got up and started talking about how he was reading in the scriptures the other day where Aaron was blessing the Israelites outside the Tabernacle and he said, "And can you just imagine, Aaron dressed in his robes and wearing the ephod and raising his hands to bless the people and saying, 'AL AHEG LA BLEG A BLEE GLAAAP A BLEWW GAGA BA!" It was just like the tent church! Thankfully, Obispo Santos got up and said to him, "We don't understand what you are saying. We speak Spanish." YAY! Obispo saves the day! It was just too Hilarious.

And that was that.

Things are going great! I'm loving it! And I love you! Thanks for the letters, emails, cards, love, prayers, all that Jazz.

love you much!

be well.

-Elder Barker

HOLA! (Feb 28)

WOW! One week down!

Wow... that's all I can really say.

Most of the week i didn't have a clue what was going on and the other part I didn't have a clue how to explain myself and get points across. Lots of praying for the gift of interpretation of tongues for those we teach so they can understand me.

ANYWAYS! Tuesday I met the bishop (or rather Obispo) of my ward Obispo Santos. (Cool name huh?) After teaching English class in the evening, he came into the relief society room and asked if we could talk for a 1/2 hour. Sure. It was so cool. He pumped me up so much to work. "Everyone in Santa Ana will know Brother Joseph again! So wear out your shoes and bloody your knuckles knocking and talking to everyone! Camine Commo un Leon! Walk like a lion!" And he said more too, but I can't translate very well, but It was good stuff.

Thursday I was on exchanges With Elder Saxton! Blast from the past! Funny thing: second birthday in the mish, and I was with him for the last one too! Fun Fun! We taught some great lessons, and had a grand ol' time.

Yes, I did get the b-day packages in time! Thank you thank you thank you! That really is too cool that you were picking out all that Spanish stuff mom, and you didn't even know that I was going to be serving in a Spanish area! What an inspired Mother I have.

In church on Sunday Obispo Santos asked me if I would bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. Oy... Miraculously we went over on time so there wasn't time for me to go. YAY! But I know he'll try to get me later. Funny story: after sacrament meeting I was standing in the hallway and an Hermana put her head out of the class room door and said in Spanish, "Elder! I need you to dress up like king Benjamin and come in and talk to the kids about king Benjamin! Can you do that?" ...Uh... sure! So I got to be a king for a few minutes!

Sorry I'm not including too many details about the week. I'm still trying to get down who it is that we are teaching and all that fun stuff.

Wow. The Lord is great! I'm so thankful for your prayers and thoughts and good wishes in my direction. I love you all!

Be well!

-Elder barker

Hola! Soy Un Misionero! (feb 22)

Wow! What a week! WHAT A WEEK!

First off, Happy President's Day... yesterday... I hope it was presidential for all of you.

The big news from this part of town is that I am no longer a knight who says, "Nee" I am now a Knight who says, "Iky-iky-iky-kapang-I'm in a Spanish area now- zip boing." Wow... Didn't see that transfer coming. But I guess I'm staying true to my usual transfer cycle. 4.5 months in an area. But SPANISH?! Wow.

So Last week (and you'll have to forgive me- I forgot my old planner at the apartment so I don't remember all the details)

We met with B almost everyday. He went to the beach to have a bonfire FHE activity with the Branch. But other than that we met with him everyday and everyday he was further and further in the Book of Mormon. By Friday he came to us and said, "I don't understand this part." And he opened up to the index. -You're all done? "Yes of course. But what is this part talking about?" -That's a study aid that you can look up stuff by topic, but B you finished! "I read until 4am every night. I read more than you do!" -Yes, B that's true. WOW! And he came to Church and he's just doing great! When I told him that I was being transferred he was really sad, "You aren't just my teacher or a friend! you are my brother! How can you just leave me?" So we talked about how the Lord calls us to different places to labor and serve. Man... I'm going to miss him.

We had a great miracle happen! Power of prayer manifest! We were trying to get this TV remote to work so that a district meeting could have a TV to do some training but the code just wouldn't program into the remote. We spent about 30 min. trying to get it to work, using different combinations of buttons and so on and so forth. So we stopped and said, "let's pray." We knelt and prayed and then picked up the remote AND VI-OLA! It worked! Huzzah! So--moral of the story, nothing is too big or too small to ask God to help with.

Well my new area is about 1/10 the size of my last one and the apartment is about that too. My companion, Elder Tinti is very cool and his Spanish is Awesome! Mine on the other hand... isn't. BUT I get to learn! We have some lessons to teach today and tomorrow I teach district meeting so I will have many opportunities to perfect my espanol.

After Church on Sunday Bloomingdale's came up to us and proudly waved her newly issued limited use temple recommend! So now she can go to the temple and do baptisms for and in behalf of those who have passed on who never were able to do that themselves. "I just wanted to thank you for teaching me and getting me to this point and all of that. Now I know everything!" -Well... you don't know everything yet. You're still learning. "Oh... that's right. I'm just getting ahead of myself." Ha ha ha.

Pues... Gracias por sus oraciones y apollo. I love you all so much!

Be well!

-Elder Barker

They're Popping out of the snow! (feb 14)

LIKE DAISIES!!!

WOW! This week has been amazing!

Recently we've been meeting with Tonks' Father. He's struggling with alcohol problems. We knocked on the door last week and asked if Tonks was there but she wasn't. So, we asked if we could do anything to help, and he said in Spanish, Yes come in. We sat down and he explained that he wanted to quit drinking. So we've been going by. On Monday he said, "When you are here I feel good. I don't know your names, but that doesn't matter. You bring the love of God into this home." And then after the closing prayer, I looked up and his hand was resting on the scriptures. He read the title very slowly, "The Book of Mormon." Then he asked, "You are Mormons?" -yes. "God Bless you! Thank you my brothers for coming into my home! You are always welcome here."

Tuesday we watched The Lamb of God with Ski Cap. It helped to clear up some questions he had about Christ. Then we met with a guy who I'm going to call, Lucky Charms--cause he had a leprechaun tattooed to his arm. It was an interesting meeting. He was very hospitable, and listened... a bit--mostly he was smoking cigarettes and taking a hit on his Bong. He had an interesting view on life: "I'm going to live my life to the fullest and have as much fun as I can--not at the expense of others of course. And the way I see it, when we die it's just a deep sleep. And If there is something after then I got a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven or Hell." Hmmm... It's sad to see what one's mind comes up with when the knowledge of God's Plan of Happiness isn't there. He'd know that his odds are sooooo much better than 50/50 for one thing.

Then we met with Tonks' dad, and when we knocked on the door he asked, "Quien es?" -los Mormones! "Ah- esperaba." I have been waiting. By the end of our evening he said in Spanish, "I only can use one eye, but I will use it--to read the Book of Mormon." Later in the evening we got a call from some missionaries passing the information of a man to us so we could meet with him. He is from Iraq and he was forced to leave because he was interested in learning more about Christianity. The government was going to kill him. And now, because of some unique spiritual experiences, he is interested in learning about the Book of Mormon and joining the church! Wow. I will call him B.

Wed we met with B outside his apartment, he is such a nice man and he is so sincere. We told him that we had to set up an interview with one of the mission presidency for him to be taught. (It's for safety reasons: Too many times a Muslim has joined the church and then they are never heard from again.) But WOW! B is so excited to read and he already received and answer that the Book of Mormon is true! How exciting!

Thursday I was on exchanges and we had some amazing experiences. We talked this one couple on the street who really tried to avoid talking to us: "Oh, no hablamos espanol." -Esta bien. Hablamos! Podamos dar les un- "Oh... Parlez vous Francias?" -Oui! C'a va? ha ha! My four years of French did pay off! And while I was out of the area on these exchanges, B got interviewed!

Fri we got word that B could be taught! And we got a hold of a copy of the Book of Mormon in Arabic! He was so excited to get it! He was like, "The way this is written looks like the Koran!" He was so stoked! Then we were able to get him to an activity and the Branch members did a wonderful job fellowshipping him, and making him feel at home.

Sat I was baby sitting a sick elder. But B made it to a baptismal service and he got so excited to be baptized!

Sunday B made it to church! And he loved it! It was really great! And that's all for this week!

HAPPY VALENTI E'S DAY!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!

WAAAA HOOOO!!!

Life is great!

Catch you next time.

-Elder Barker

Another Week in the life (Feb 7)

Hello!

Boy this week was fun! Ups and downs: the whole nine yards.

On Tuesday we were on exchanges with the Assistants and We had an interaction with a young man who claimed to be Atheist (In my experience there is no such thing. Only a mere denial of what the heart truly knows to be true). He really was a character. He wasn't very interested at all and he wouldn't accept our invitation to find out for himself if it's true. Oh well. It was just so sad to meet him and talk with him because He truly wanted to not believe. He had grown up Christian but somewhere down the line I guess something happened and he lost his faith entirely. It pains me to see that. Someone so unsure of their way through life and so unwilling to make the effort to grab the hand that can help him through.

I share that with you, I suppose, to urge you to not to lose faith. what ever is going on can be overcome, and whatever will come your way can be endured, and endured well I might add, as you follow the steady hand of our Father in Heaven.

Anyways! we met with Skicap! and talked about the Word of Wisdom! His inactive member roommate came out half way though the lesson and asked, "What are we talking about today?" -The Word of Wisdom. "Yes! I LOVE this part! This is the best! The five words of wisdom man!" So it was good to have his support. And at the end of the meeting he poured out his drink and said he was going to start living it again! Sweet!

Later during that day we met a girl who spoke french. Gahh! my french! WHERE has it gone?!

so sad...

Thursday night we were contacting people and we met a woman on her way out of her home and we struck up a conversation. It turned out that she was moving the next day, and we offered our help. She said no, but after we explained that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and all we do for two years is talk to people about Christ and do service, she accepted. So on Friday, we (and a couple other missionaries) helped her and moved her stuff to her new home. She was so grateful. "You are such blessings! I don't know how you fit all of that in the Uhaul. It's simply miraculous." It was such a great experience.

Later Friday evening we were walking around and we met these four young boys. They were just hanging around, so we sat down with them and talked about the Book of Mormon. At the end of our meeting they each said a prayer asking Heavenly Father if the book is true. Such a wonderful experience to hear from these 13-14year old boys their desire, much like the boy Joseph Smith's, to know what way to go.

Saturday we were blessed to be able to speak with four different Spanish families. It sure was fun. I don't know how they understood a word I said, but I suppose the lord blessed them with the interpretation of tongues. We didn't even have Spanish Scriptures with us. Oy...

Sunday (Superbowl) was pretty good. It was amazing to see the city slow down when the game was on. The streets were empty. The houses were dark, accept for one on the street where you could hear cheers and laughing every time a goal was scored. Not too many people were interested in speaking with us while the game was on. Oh well.

Something that I keep finding interesting is the people that we meet who say, "Oh that's OK. We don't need to talk to you. We have friends who are Mormons, so we're good." That is such a silly thing to say. I think of it this way: If a person is sick and a doctor comes and says, "Here: If you use your medicine and follow this diet you will be well on the way to recovery." And the sick person replies, "Oh that's OK. We don't need to talk to you: we have friends who aren't sick, so we're good."... Do you see where I have a little bit of a disconnect? We met so many people this week who said that.

Anyways. The work continues to move forward. No unhallowed hand can hinder it! Thank you all for your prayers and support and love. You keep me sane.

I love you all!

More than you'll probably know.

Be well! Stay happy. Be strong!

Catch you later

-Elder Barker

BLOOMINGDALES GOT BAPTIZED! (Jan 31)

What a wonderful week!

Monday was the start of our wonderful goal of finding 1,000 people as a mission this week to share the book of Mormon with. All of us missionaries knelt in prayer at 5:00 to start this wonderful week and It went well. In the evening Bloomingdale's Got baptized! It was such an epic event. It was packed! Like... Standing room only and the Guy who spoke was the institute teacher and he was Wonderful!

So! And... oh, Bloomingdale's' Mom is Jewish! WHY WASN'T I TOLD?!!! Hello!!! I LOVE THE TRIBE OF JUDAH!

Anyways, the speaker brought alot of Hebrew connections into the reason for baptism and the role of Christ being our redeemer (or in Hebrew, our kinsman). Great stuff. And the Refreshments! WOW! Amazing! So.... it was good.

Tuesday Elder Reidhead and I split up for what was planned to be a short exchange (just to pass off a guy who should be taught in another ward) BUT It ended up being the whole day! We just couldn't work out the logistics of switching back. So that was fun. We (Elder Toland and I) taught Bloomingdale's about missionary work and how she as a member can share with her friends! She is so stoked and has a huge fire in her. When Elder R. and I finally met up again it was time for another exchange!

Wed was a fun day. Lots of talking to people. But we didn't really get to teach anything. This one woman who is a Jehovah's Witness was just getting home from ministering. She talked our ears off about all kinds of stuff ranging from, "Oh So you ONLY do this for 18 months?!" well, actually it's 24 months. "That's All?! WE minister ALL our LIVES!" Then she went on about some weird stuff that I didn't quite grasp. Anyways.... You get the picture. Not the most effective day. And then Elder R. and I met up again JUST in time for our NEXT EXCHANGE!!!

Thursday I got to help a young missionary see the importance of inviting every one to draw closer to God, specifically though baptism. And It was a great day to help him grasp that because we met with the cousin of one of the girls on the branch who had attended Bloomingdale's' baptism (Whom I will call McDonald's because she works there). So McDonald's really wanted to learn more about the book of Mormon so we got her one in Tagalog so she could read it better and we taught about why it is important to even have the Book of Mormon and we invited her to pray to God and ask Him if the book is true. Good stuff.

Friday was Friday. On of the Elder's in the zone wasn't feeling well, so we went on splits so his companion could go out. So I stayed and read in the scriptures for a bit.

Saturday I played babysitter again and I caught up in my journal! (It's been 4 months since I've been caught up so that's a good accomplishment) and I read thorough 1 and 2 Chronicles and had wonderful time to ponder and reflect on stuff.

Sunday Bloomingdale's Got confirmed and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost! And Church was great! In the evening we gave...ooh I don't know if this girl has a nickname...I will call her Flower. We gave Flower's Mother a blessing because she will be having surgery on Monday (today) and it was great.

SO! the week was fun! and full of great things!

I hope yours was as well.

I LOVE YOU ALL MORE THAN I CAN EXPLAIN!

Be well!

Love,

-Elder Barker

Did we just do this? (Jan 24)

Well hello again!

It's good to talk to you again. Even though it's just been a few days. We had some wonderful things happen!

Wed. We had two meetings at the same time: So we had to split up with members to cover more ground.

I went to this one gal who had met with missionaries in the past but because of family tradition (We'll call her "Traditionnnnnnnn____ TRADITION!"), she hadn't really been able to progress in the gospel very much. She feels that it is the right thing for her to do though, and when she reads in the Book of Mormon she feels the peace it brings. So, our meeting was fun. We talked about a bunch of things and answered a lot of questions she had, and yeah... it was great.

Thursday. We had a meeting with that one guy who I can't remember what I called him last week... Beanie? Ski Cap? Yeah that was it! Well we met with Ski Cap and talked about the ten commandments and it went OK. I think. Afterwards we stopped by and talked to our Wolverine Paul Revere Friend and he made us such wonderful limeade. We invited him to come to the tour of the temple on Saturday and he said he would! Woo Hoo! He's been struggling for the past few weeks with his testimony.

Friday was planning... and we met with Traditionnnnn___ TRADITION!!! and we were able to bring a couple members to the appointment and she was very well fellowshipped! One of the members is trying as best as she can to come back to activity, but she's so darn busy.

Saturday we had an amazing meeting as Zone Leaders. This up coming week we are going to work extra hard to help place the Book of Mormon into the hearts of 1,000 people in orange county! That works out to 13 people per companionship! How exciting! It was a very spiritual meeting and I'm so stoked to start and meet people and introduce this precious volume of scripture to them!

We met with Ski Cap and talked about Church and he was excited to come! YAY! Then we rushed over to Wolverine/Paul Revere's and he made us pancakes and we got stuff straightened out to get him to the temple tour. And the tour was wonderful! There were familiar faces from past areas: the best was to see this man we taught in the waiting room of Pep-Boys when I was on exchanges. What a great blessing to see him still learning! Wow... Good day.

Sunday was good. We talked to Bloomingdale's and she is soooo excited to be baptized. TODAY (Monday evening) she said, "My main goal is to help others who are learning now. Maybe I can help someone who is in a position I was in when I was learning. I just want to be a 'Mini-Missinoary!' " Woo Hoo!

And that brings us to today!

I love you all so much!

Thank you all for your cards, letters, Prayers, love, and all those other good things you're sending my way.

Catch you next time!

-Elder Barker

Boy! That felt like a week and a half! (Jan 19)

IT WAS!

Hello! Whew...

This week has been a good one. we had wonderful meetings with faith-filled persons and great answers to prayers and We are SO BUSY!

Last Monday night Jan 10 after we got all of our missionaries in their new areas and snug and happy and all that jazz We had a wonderful lesson with this Gal that missionaries had been trying to get a hold of for months and We finally did! She is pretty cool. Think Tonks from Harry Potter. Pink hair and all. She has so much faith. Like in her prayer at the end of the lesson she asked for God to let her know if the Book of Mormon is true in a dream. Yes, she requested a vision. Hello Nephi! So cool.

Last Tuesday Jan 11 we played Bus driver and got some missionaries to meetings and then we had a great meeting with a guy who I think I mentioned last week. He's on probation and he is overcoming some stuff BUT he has one of the greatest desires to change that I've ever seen. (Ya know one thing I've learned out here is not to judge. I look back at how I viewed people a couple years ago And hearing the word "Probation" was an instant Judge reflex. Same with Hearing "L.A.'s most wanted" But now I've learned that some of the greatest hearts and nicest people have gang tattoos and are trying to make changes) SO we met with him and we had a great lesson with our friend from Bloomingdale's. (she called us Sunday night at 12:00am With all these questions about "How do we KNOW that Mary was a virgin, and how we KNOW that Christ wasn't just Joseph's son?" and stuff like that. That really comes down to reading the account in the Scriptures and asking God if it's true. Asking if What the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenents, Modern day Prophets, and all that Jazz is saying is TRUE.) So we talked about faith and prayer and a lot about Christ. I mean this gal comes from no religious background so it's understandable that she has questions and doubts. But she is standing strong and she's progressing so well. (IN FACT I'm going to spoil the ending of the email [mostly because I'm already writing a lot and I'm sure you'll get tired if you read through this whole thing {you can thank me later ;) } ] SHE PASSED HER BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW Last night [Tuesday Jan 18] AND SHE'S GETTING BAPTIZED THIS NEXT MONDAY!!!!!!!) So that was our Tuesday.

Wednesday last we knocked on a door of some potentials that were super drunk last time we saw them BUT they wanted us to come back, and when we did none of them were home BUT this other guy (Ski Cap) was. AND he wanted to learn more! Sweet! So we talked with him about God and how he could strengthen his faith and it was a really good meeting.

Thursday we met with Ski Cap again and invited him to be baptized in Feb. He is willing to prepare! Wow! and we met with our Probation friend (gotta think of a better way to remember him...He highlighted the book of Mormon according to what he would want to read when he's in a particular mood e.g. blue when he's sad and yellow when he wants to be happy etc. so We'll call him "mood book") So we met with Mood Book and he's doing pretty good. He has like a million things he's working on. His back got all messed up in an car accident so he's on meds, he's getting his wisdom teeth out soon so his jaw hurts, he's got to go to addiction recovery classes so getting transportation to those is tricky-so pretty much we talk with him and he vents and we help him realize that God is there.

Fri we had a couple good meetings one with Mood Book and another with this busy member who is SUPER cool but super busy too so she doesn't always make it to church. We talked about a lot with her-- mostly about how wonderful it is to live in a time with a Prophet and the Church. Good stuff.

Sat We met with Ski Cap and talked about the plan of salvation and where we came from before this life. He is really grabbing onto the things he learn and reads. Like he totally read and understood the first few pages of the book of Mormon (which we don't see in people very often so this is a nice surprise). In the evening we met with Tonks and her Friend and we talked about the importance of reading a praying to know that our message is true.

Sunday was great! Before church we met with Ski Cap and because he lives/supervises at a home for guys who are trying to change their lives around our lesson turned into a sort of group therapy session, which is good I guess. Church was great and Bloomingdale's made it to church. And after church we watched Finding Faith in Christ (Soooo good! I totally recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. It helps explain Christ's ministry from the viewpoint of one of his apostles [Thomas] and he's talking about it with his friends. Cool way to tell the story) and then we went to a member's home and ate dinner and taught some more! Woot!

Monday was fun! We met with Ski Cap and it was fun. We talked about part two of the plan of salvation and he really understands and stuff. So that was cool. We knocked on a door and were welcomed in by some Spanish people and they fed us and a half hour later we realized that we don't understand Spanish as well as we thought we did. Wow... they talked fast. They weren't mean or anything; it was just that we couldn't understand them. ha ha. oh well.

Tuesday we trained the zone on how to make our companionship studies more effective. Mostly involving the spirit more. And we met with this cool black guy from Mississippi and we had Bloomingdale's's baptismal interview (Which took a really long time 1 1/2 hours and we were hoping that she was ready and feeling confidant. But really it's nothing to worry about) and she PASSED! Woot!

So that was my week.

long stuff.

THANK you for your love and support

AND HERE'S A SHOUT OUT TO BARKER COUSIN HEATHER! CONGRATS ON YOUR UP COMING WEDDING! Thanks for the wedding announcement. You have my best wishes and my blessing and may you both live a long and fruitful life in joy and happiness. mazltoff!

I love you all!

Be well!

be good!

Be better!

-Elder barker

One more go around (Jan 10)

Another week gone and that's also the mark of another transfer. Elder Reidhead and I were a bit nervous when the transfer calls came, after all We've been together for two transfers now and he's been in the branch for three. BUT we're still together! WOO HOO!!! Fun stuff!

Dang it! I left my old planner in the apartment so... I'll do my best to remember Good stories from the week.

This week I went on exchanges with Elder Schweinkie! He's such a great Missionary! He's Samoan, but obviously his name is German (His dad is half). Anyways, we had a wonderful day finding people and talking to everyone we came in contact with. We met some interesting people: One guy looked like he just got in a scuffle with a werewolf, and he was going on about how "we're all one and part of the whole... Pass it on," and how creation came from an atom that had an imbalance and then expanded and la-dee-da-dee-doo. So I interrupted him and asked a question that i thought was rather obvious, "What or who created the Atom? Where did it come from?" He stood there for a second, and then acknowledged the existence of a supreme being. YAY!

We knocked on this one door and when they opened it up, there was this Spanish woman and her four CRAZY daughters (maybe they weren't all hers... I never could get a straight answer from her... "something about their teeth falling out...") And when we asked if we could come in and bless her and her home and pray with the family, she said yes, BUT because there wasn't a man home, we couldn't go in (Darn politics). BUT she said we could come back in an hour, so we did.

We talked with some other great people and then we came back and there was a man home! YAY! So we went in, sat down and began with a prayer- BAM- Right when we lifted our heads up from the prayer, they shot all of this anti-Mormon stuff at us. And to make it even better IT WAS IN SPANISH! So although the things they were throwing at us were nothing difficult at all and could be answered really simply, I couldn't form the sentences to sound intelligent in Spanish! So, it was an interesting experience. All we could do was tell them that we know that the book of Mormon is a true record of the word of God that he revealed to the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, and that Joseph Smith truly was called by God to be the prophet of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, And that Jesus truly is the son of God and our saviour and redeemer. That's all we could do, and they didn't even listen. OY! Oh well...

We met with this one guy who's 19 and has gone through ALOT! Like... near death, on the streets, crazy life, bunch of madness stuff. and He has the greatest desire to change and become clean. We were able to help him get to church this Sunday and one of the members was talking to him and right before the third hour was like, "hey elders! Let's have a lesson right now!" so we skipped Sunday school and talked about God's plan of Happiness for all of us and how Jesus makes salvation possible. Great stuff.

That's all I can remember. Sorry.

This truly is a great work! wow!

I Have to apologize now. I'm going to be cutting back the frequency of letters out. I don't have time to write what I would like and I really need to devote more attention to the work. I'll still be writing the weekly email, but I don't have time to write all the letters I have been writing in the past. Sorry for the cut backs.

I love you all soooo much! You are so wonderful and you keep me afloat! Stay strong in the Gospel and Be wise!

Love,

Elder barker

Another Week in Paradise (Jan 3)

Happy new year everyone!

Wow... 2011. What a year this will be, eh? I'm excited to see what'll happen. Hopefully all of your new years resolutions will come to fruition. The rain is calming down a bit and my voice is back, so that's good. This week I learned a lot. I learned that answers truly come from prayer and the scriptures. I learned that a person's faith needs to have the confirming feelings and thoughts of the spirit to keep it alive. I learned that Fasting for others and asking that their faith and testimony might be bolstered is more strengthening to my own testimony and faith than I thought it would be. I learned a lot of things. Isn't it nice to know a lot?... and a little bit not.

Monday: Was loverly. We had a meeting with our friend from Bloomingdale's who is doing great! She said that she really wanted to make it to church and, " The holidays are over and God is more important than Bloomingdale's!" Great stuff. After her lesson we moved the rest of our stuff from the old apartment and Now we are Officially moved out! ha ha ha.

Tuesday: We had an awesome day! All of our appointments fell though so we knocked- a lot. We started in one apartment complex and we knocked a few doors and talked with some people and then this golf cart with two Manager dressed ladies drove up. "Oh hey guys!" -Hi. "We're sorry but we're going to have to have you stop knocking in here. It's a private community." -Oh... OK. so we headed out and went to another complex and we met some interesting people: This catholic priest who was getting his new plasma screen put up and who was nice but not interested in learning more about Christ (I can't imagine why. ;-) ),and some people from Iran, and others from India and other places that I couldn't understand. Anyways We were there for quite some time and we were about to head out when this golf cart with two Manager dressed ladies drove up, "We heard that you've been knocking doors around here, Can we help you?" -We're just out talking with people about God and how they can strengthen their faith in him. "Do you have a licence to be here?" -We have a clerical document that was signed by the prophet. "No no. Like a licence." (Are you kidding me?... A prophet of God authorized me and my companion to be here... what more do you want?) So we were cast out of that complex too. Later that evening we went to another complex and the first door we knocked on the lady said, "Are you supposed to be here?" -Yes, we are inviting people to learn more about God. "Well, I'm not sure you're aloud in here." Ha ha! Three Complexes in one day! wow...

Wed: We Had two wonderful lessons! And the second was awesome! They both were awesome, but we didn't have an extra guy to come with us to the second appointment and because she's a single girl we can't meet with her by herself (.....politics) BUT, shortly before the appointment we got a call from Nate Malm (Blast from the past Missionary in Damariscotta back in '05) inviting us to go out to dinner with him. We asked if he'd come to the lesson and everything worked out perfectly. She pretty much is living the gospel even before she knew what it was. Cool beans.

Thurs: We had exchanges and I was on bike! It's been a while since I've been on Bike... at the end of the day I was puffing. Oh well. Fun stuff. Um... yeah it was a good day.

Fri: We had Zone Leader Council and talked and talked and talked about upcoming changes in the mission and about expectations and implementation and goals and it was great! I love meeting with the leaders in the mission. (Sometimes i feel a little intimidated that I rub shoulders with such great Missionaries) we stayed up till 10:30 and said happy new year and then fell asleep.

Sat: We planned and planned. And we met a really nice Hispanic man and we talked about prayer and how he could strengthen his relationship with god though reading the book of Mormon and praying about it.

Sunday: Was great! I love fast Sundays and i love it when investigators are there for great meetings. And it was great. after church there was a baptismal ceremony and it as also wonderful to have an investigator attend. Huzzah!

And in a reader's digest nut shell that was my week.

Thank you soooooooo much for your prayers and love and letters and such. I love you all.

Be well.

-Elder barker

Launchpad! Launchpad! I've lost my voice! (Dec 27)

CAN YOU NAME IT!??? (besides immediate family of course and Kj if you didn't catch it I WIN I WIN!!!)

So! Hey It's another Monday! Woooo hoooo! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Thank you for your gifts and letters and Updates about stuff. I sure had a wonderful time Christmas morning tearing through letters and cards and yummy food. Awww...

SO! The week! The week! There were wonderful things that happened during the week! Last Monday we had a great lesson with that girl who's been attending institute and works at Bloomingdale's (I hope she can get me a discount--JK). The lesson went really really well. We talked about the scriptures and praying and the Word of Wisdom!

She is so great.

We said, "So, Now that you know about the Word of Wisdom are you willing to follow it?"

Her response "I'll try."

"What would be the hardest for you to over come? Alcohol? Tobacco? Drug---"

"I like meat!"

"What?" "It says to eat meat sparingly... and... I like meat... But I'll try to cut down."

Isn't that great?!

After the lesson we had an exchange with one of the District Leaders. [ this means Soren and his companion switched things up for a bit and taught lessons with the District Leader and his companion ].

Tuesday we met with this one guy who was baptized almost two years ago, who has drifted away from the church. Mostly he stopped believing in a God. He said after his friend's mom died he had to question why. And it's sad to think what the world is like for those who don't believe in a loving God who wants us to return to his presence. It's Not the End! There's more! Your friend's Mom isn't gone forever: We will still exist when we pass on. There were more miracles that happened on Tuesday, mostly with perfect timing and meeting people and showing up on their door and all that jazz at EXACTLY the right time.

Wednesday we were able to meet with this cool gal. She's awesome! She's been going to church with her friend and now she wants to meet with us and come to our congregation. YAY!

Thursday we had district meeting and then we MOVED TO OUR NEW APARTMENT!!! It was like the city of Enoch... except... not quite.

elder griffin says hi!!!!! e. barker is awesome!!!

on Friday we did planning and then we moved more stuff to the apartment! AND we had the most wonderful Christmas eve dinner! Rice Ala-mond! and HAM and then after dinner we had a white elephant exchange! I got a pen... Not too too crazy. But I was able to give it to a poor elder who didn't receive much for Christmas. AND we delivered last-minute packages to the missionaries and Caroled our way home!

Christmas I talked to my FAMILY!!!! YAYAYAYAY!!! And opened packages and letters! AND we had dinner with some members! TAMALES! YUM! and then we caroled with the district and that's when I lost my voice!

Sunday was great! We were able to meet with this great guy who's been coming to church with us for a few weeks but has been hesitant to really meet with us. It was wonderful! He's so curious and eager to learn more!

And we caroled (a day late) and my voice left even more!

Today... is today!

We just watched the video: "How Rare a Possession" SO good.

I love you all!

I hope the New Year brings true happiness and great resolutions to be Marvelous!

I love you!!!

_elder barker

And a partridge in a palm tree... (Dec 20)

Hello, Hello Hello HELLO!

How are you all on this fine blustery misty moisty morning? Things are going pretty great out here. It's only a few more days till Christmas! WHAT?!?! Where did the time go? It seems like yesterday it was August. wow...

This week was a pretty good one. I missed Santa Lucia... Mostly because there isn't a girl in the apartment who could bring cookies to the household and welcome in the solstice ;-)

So, Monday we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned our apartment 'Cause we're moving soon. This Thursday to be precise. Merry Christmas to us! We'll be in a new home for Christmas! We were able to meet with a wonderful Girl that we met last Sunday. I can't remember if I told you about her BUT she is awesome! She has been going to Institute (Scripture studies) for a few weeks and has been loving it and her friend said, "Hey why don't you meet with the missionaries?" And so we met up Sunday evening and then we met with her again Monday Night. Woot! It was after the Multi Stake Family Home evening Activity Ginger Bread house making contest which she won! The lesson was great. and her prayer at the end was priceless: "Thank you Father for my friends and for My Elders and helping me to learn more about you and where I came from and I'm excited to learn more and to be baptized." She is super cool.

Tuesday we had a cool meeting with a man on a park bench who was watching his friend doing some Jackson Pollack-style painting. Is that the right guy? Splatter paint Dribble Master mess madness? It was a good talk though.

Wed. We got to inspect the missioinaries' cars that were at a Zone conference. Fun stuff! After that we me with this one guy who is kind of out there in his beliefs, but It was a really fun discussion. And that was it. We did some knocking and that was fun. We met this guy who talked to us for about 45 min about how the Lord healed him in multiple occasions and it was fun. Fun!

Thursday WE GOT TO HAVE ZONE CONFERENCE! And we acted out the nativity scene, and sang and had a great spiritual meeting. I WAS THE ANGEL!!! Afterwards I got to interview an amazing woman for baptism. Wow. What a wonderful experience. She is recognizing blessings and great stuff. AND we met with our friend from Monday night and it went great.

Friday we planned forever and then we had a couple meetings.

Saturday we had exchanges with the Assistants. It went great. We followed so many promptings and knocked on doors of people that needed us there to brighten their days and it was wonderful!

And Sunday was good too. Church was the Christmas program and it was lovely.

And now it's today! yay!

I'm soooo excited to call home! YAY! I love you all sooo mcuh!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR your cards and notes. I love My Christmas gifts! It's the best to hear about your missionary efforts or Church investigating.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Love ya,

-Elder Barker

WHY DO I NEVER HAVE TIME! (NOV 29)

So this week was a wonderful mixmaster of miracles and fun.

Thanksgiving I was able to go on exchanges with one of the district leaders and have two thanksgiving dinners! One was Mexican! YAY! Pavo con chile! Wondrous!

Saturday we had an amazing lesson with a family that we knocked into. AMAZING! And to add on to it, it was in Spanish! WOW. So we talked about God and Prophets and Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith and Modern Prophets and The Book of Mormon, and they prayed about the Book of Mormon. It was such a powerful prayer. Like at the end we invited them to prepare for baptism and they were all stoked! And at the end we asked the Father who he'd like to say the prayer and he said his wife and so we taught her and she at first wasn't able to start... So he held her hand and prayed, "Heavenly Father, my wife isn't able to pray right now. So I'll pray for her..." So he went on for a bit, then she started up and then prayed for a bit then she broke into tears cause she was feeling the spirit and then they ended the prayer and embraced! Great! Beautiful! Most amazing experience I've been able to be a tiny part of!

Sorry I don't have time to write much. We had transfers and because of all the madness and such I have 6 minutes left to email. YAY!

So. I love you all!

Thanks for being so good. I wish I had time to tell you all how much I love you, but this will have to do.

Have a great week!

Merry Christmas!!!

-Elder Barker