Blue-no YELLO-O-O-O-o-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w-w....

So!

 

What a week! I'm not even sure where to start... maybe at the beginning is best.

 

MON: Our car battery died. and so we had to get a jump and then have a new battery put in. OY! What a drag that was. But thankfully our car works now! Yay! But it took along time for us to get back out work, so we decided to check up on some potentials and then Check up on David. David greeted us with a big, "Hey guys! Guess what?! I'm going to be a Dad!" ... Yay? "And I'm Moving in with her!" (she lives out of our area) DARN YOKO Ono's:  they always break up the band.

 

Tuesday: Two solid appointments fell through. OY! So we decided to go out knocking. The first Door where someone answered the Guy (Brad) was interested in hearing more and we sat down with him and talked about God and Prophets and The earthly ministry of Jesus Christ and How after The Apostles and their followers were killed the authority that they had was lost. and then we talked about Joseph Smith and how God and Jesus Restored that Authority through him and we talked about the Book of Mormon and it was really good talk. So that was cool. OH then we had FISH TACOS! I know... sounds weird BUT Oooohhhh man... They are so good. I ordered two and ended up eating Five.

 

Wed: I went on exchanges with Elder Lancaster up in the North Hills. and We talked with alot of less active members. and ate at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. MOM! I've found it! POG!!~!~~!!!!! I wasn't able to get my hands on it but I know where to find it. Ohhhh boy. Passion Orange Guava Here I come!

 

Thursday: A lot of clearing up weird Ideas about the Church. "Aren't you guys a Cult?" nope here's why... "Don't you believe that Satan and Jesus are blood brothers?" Nope, here's what we do believe... "Don't you believe that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy ghost are one person?" Nope, I don't know how you would think that we believe that because Joseph Smith saw God the Father who said pointing to Jesus Christ "This is my beloved son Here him" two people. Lots of stuff like that. Then we met with Brad again and talked more! Wooot! Cool stuff.

 

Fri: oy... long day.

 

Sat: Talked with lots of people.

 

Sun: Stake conference!!! Sooo GREAT! Elder Holland and Sister Matsumori and President Uchtdorf Spoke. SOOOOOOO good. then we met with Brad again! Soo long week but it ended on a high note.

 

 

Let me see what else to write... um....

 

 

well, you asked me a few questions: How was my week? See above.

 

What new things have I tried that I have never seen before? Hm.... FISH TACOS!!!

 

What does it Smell like here? It depends on where I am. If I'm in a Hispanic area, Mexican food. If I'm in a Indian Area, INDIAN FOOD! OOooo curry... so good. If I'm in a English area... not much...

 

What is my name? My name is James Tiberius Kirk!

 

What is my favorite color? Blue... no YELLO-O-OW

 

 

MOM! I love the pictures of the Living room! It's about time that room had a little fung added to it's shwey. I like it alot. and thanks for the hug. I can feel it all the way out here! Ooof... Can't... breathe...-There. that's better.

 

DAD! thanks you soooo much for your letters! I LOVE THEM! AND YOU! So... The young men met together and planned the year out eh? Ahh the memories... so fond. and (this just shows how far behind I am on the whole new thing... you took KJ to the airport. Well... the sooner she goes then sooner she can come back, right!

 

KJ! I'm sitting here talking about you and you're right there. How rude of me. How are ya?! I hope all is well in the world. I LOVE YOUR GUTS!

 

MAREN! Guess what! I met this girl who I think you'd like. her name is Natelly (sp?) and she has Hydrocephalus. She reminded me of you.

 

KJ! Natelly has a shunt. It took all I had in me not to say, "I'll tell you one thing Doc: I Love My Shunt!" ha ha.

 

Yes I know... I'm insane.

 

well. That's it folks! 

 

Thanks for your letters and email! they are a stream on golden light when all about is dark. Their coming brings us pleasure and their departure leaves us longing for more. (anyone? anyone?)

 

OK! I'll catch you later!

 

I LOVE YOU!!!

 

-Elder Barker (Esquire the Third)

 

;)

So!

Well another week has come and gone. And the Year went with it too! 2010. Weird...

Well this has been a week.

Last Monday we were in a trio because Elder Cowan's Companion was heading home so he was without a comp. until his new companion came in on Tuesday. It was a crazy night. Mostly it was crazy because of the people we talked to. I already wrote mom about it, and I'd rather not get into the details, but sufficed to say the guy was really negative and mean and downright rude to us. But that was Monday.

Tuesday was an example of how there is balance in all things. Monday we had the crazy evil guy and Tuesday we were walking in the park and we talked to these two people and they wanted to sit down and hear more and were really interested, and it was like night and day from Monday. Funky stuff...

Oh funny thing. We thought that the mail from Maine took a long time to get out here, but on Tuesday I got a letter that was sent on November 24 from China. (I got the letters on Tuesday because we met with the zone leaders to pick up some supplies and they had mail. I still have to wait until Thursday to get mail on the normal day) But hey! I got a letter from China! Thanks Em.

Wed. It rained again... But cool thing I found out that the one of the missionaries who is taking our old place in our last district is ELDER LIM! My old companion is in my Zone! HA!

Thurs. We officially moved into the new district! (And the past few days didn't count because...?) "Because I finally unpacked the last box, so now it's official. Haw-haw-haw." We had district meeting. It was good stuff. Oh ha ha ha! funny story. So that night we were out knocking and this one house didn't have anybody home, but the cat seemed really interested in our message. He was like the friendliest cat I've ever met. and then when we walked away HE FOLLOWED US DOWN THE STREET! ha ha ha! We couldn't shake him for the longest time. - Then we stayed up and drank sparkling cider and said happy new year, and went to bed at 10:30.

Fri.We were at this park and this mother was frantically searching for her lost son. So we decided that we'd find him. We walked around the lake and then we found him. Flagged down the mom and returned him safely to mama. Cool stuff. It made me feel like, "Just doin' my job m'am."

Sat. We knocked this door and the guy who came to the door was like, "Hmmm this must be a popular street today. We've already seen four other missionaries before you guys." Oops. Ha ha. Dude! It's a sign! Talk to us man! How many windows of opportunity are you going to pass up? Then later we ran into him again at the park! DUDE!

Sunday was a lovely Sunday. Man i love church and having that time to really recharge.

Well that was my week. Oh By-the-by

I think that they are changing up the email thingy so my new email address will be

soren.barker@myldsmail.net

I think...


Thank you all for your emails and letters. I really REALLY appreciate them. They are the ray of light in my otherwise cloudy day. WHOA DOWNER! Sorry about that. Didn't mean for it to sound like I'm not having fun out here. Why would I be out here if I wasn't having fun?

I love you all. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. I miss you tons.

Happy new year. Let's make it the best!

-Elder Barker

Whew!

That was a great game.


So, this week has been a fun-crazy-rock-n-roller coaster week. Monday night we went to the Branch Christmas party at the Jones's House. Were we feasted very well and then wrapped presents for a struggling family that the Branch adopted for Christmas and decided to give them a Christmas! It was such a great experience seeing all of these college kids giving of their time and money and all of that worldly junk to bring a little joy into this family's hearts. Great stuff.

Then we (Elder Summers and Myself) Got loaded with about ten tons of cookies and a diagnosis of Diabetes if we ate them all. So we had to think of a way to get rid of them all. Which we did. We went caroling door to door and gave cookies to the people who listened to our caterwauling. It was fun! The greatest house we went to had lights up and a wreath and a sign saying "Merry Christmas!" and the whole deal and we knocked on the door and sang and said, "We're missionaries. Have you ever talked to Missionaries like us before?" the response: We're Buddhist. HA ha! We were like "You could have fooled me."

Talk about commercialism of Christmas.

Christmas was great! I loved talking with you. I miss you guys so badly. (I wanted it to be you... I wanted it to be you so badly.) Sorry I had to do the quote. ;)

What else... Oh Christmas day we ate like kings at the Jones's again. So much food.... Urgh... I think I'll be ok until new years.

Thank you all for your letters and emails. They really make things easier out here for me.

I'm not going to lie. It's been a tough Christmas for me... Being away from home during my favorite time of year to be home. But I know that I'm where the Lord wants me to be. Yesterday we talked with this guy at the park who was dead set on bashing and all of this other junk and all I could do was say, "All I know is that the church is true."

What a wonderful time of year to be in the service of my God. I can't imagine myself back home right now. I'm supposed to be here.

I love you all. I miss you tons. and you rock my business socks!

-Elder Barker

Pictures!

 

 

Elder Barker in front of the big world map!

 

 

Buddies in the MTC.

Too hot outside!

Soren by the statue of the 1st missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, Samuel H. Smith (Joseph Smith's younger brother)

The lavish California apartment....

Now, lest you think that Soren has gotten all serious and studious on us while hard at work, you can BET he's still the hilarious guy we all know and love. HA!

Christmas in California will certainly be different for him this year. Traded palm trees for evergreens...

"After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas..."

Tis the season to be jolly and joyious! FA-La-La!

hee hee hee.

Wow. Crazy week. I can hardly believe that Christmas is already here.

So this past week has been crazy fun rollercoaster of insanity! But thankfully a new week of pandemonium has begun.

The weather has decided to be kind to us this week. Ahhh.. Lovely walks in the park and sunny strolls down the lane. It was funny- the other day we were in the park and we saw this guy and we walked up to him and introduced ourselves as missionaries and he was like, "I'm sorry but I'm going for a run right now." And I was like, "Can we run with you?" And he was like," sure!" So we ran and talked with this guy. Fun stuff. He wasn't all that interested but we got some exercise out of it.

Man this week has been a crazy battle. Lot's of people who just wanted to bash. All I could say was, "I'm not here to bash with you. I'm just here to invite you to read and pray and find out for yourself if what I'm telling you and what you are reading is true." I think it's so funny that people have all of these assumptions about us and they don't really know because they've never taken the time to find out what we believe.

Oh well.

One of our investigators, Darla, Got baptized yesterday! It was so great. All week she was so excited and at the baptismal program she was just beaming. It has been really cool to see her progression and her enthusiasm about the gospel. It was a real battle for her to quit smoking but She DID IT! (if you can't tell I'm really excited) YAYAYAYAYAY! Cool stuff.

Um... what else... OH! Right! MOM DAD KJ MAREN! I will call you guys Christmas day at approximately 9:30am your time. Which means that it will be 6:30am my time, so if I'm a bit groggy please forgive me. But I'm sure that once I hear your voices I'll wake right up. OOOOOOOooooo I'm sooo excited! I can't wait to talk to you and tell you about all the fun things that are happening that i don't have time to write about.

Thank you all for your letters and cards and emails and packages! I truly appreciate all of your love and support. You are always in my thoughts.

Merry Christmas! I'm so happy to be a missionary at this time of my life, and at this time of year. What greater gift can I bring someone than the news that Christ Lives and that he personally directs his church today through a living prophet. I love this time of year. and i love you all.

I'll be home for christmas if only in my dreams. I miss you all. and i love you all. and I'll seee you all in less than two years! Hey where is the time going?

Cat chew later.

-Elder Barker

Mormon Missionaries

Here's a video from Mormons made simple

-Posted by Kaje

HEEEELLLLOOOO!!!! oh sorry deary I must look like a yeti in this face mask.

So! How did it go?
-I think she took it rather well. ;)

Wow what a week. I think that the holidays are going to kill me. Nobody was home all week. It's like it's thanksgiving weekend or something. Shiesh. Anywho... It was a long week of knocking on doors and nobody being there. But the miracle of it was that sometimes when we'd go try to find someone who had talked with the missionaries in the past and see how they are doing, we'd run into someone else who wants to hear more. Cool stuff.

Wow, mom. I'm so sorry that you've been ill. It's no fun being the director from the sick bed, in the best christmas pagent ever.

Hoorray! for Dan! He's home safe and sound and it feels like he left only yesterday. fun stuff.

I haven't recieved any thing from BYU-I yet. (o_0) I hope I get to go back...

Mi companero es muy asombros! And as far a food goes, Mother, you need not worry. The branch is crazy about feeding us. we have meals every night. most nights. ok once a week. alright we don't even have dinner. We're starving! I'm wasting a way with no room to play. I'm stuck in a zoo With- well you know the rest of the story. JUST KIDDING! I'm getting lots of food. Perhaps too much... Oh well.

our apartment is right next to the train tracks so that's always fun to hear the whistle go off at 10:45pm. Ha ha. I feel a little like Jake and Elwood- except we have a lot more room. We have a couch and one of those awsome velvity chairs with those metal tack thingys that I love that go up and around the front of the arm rests. AND we just got the gas turned on so we can cook! Hurray!

as far as the work goes: It is work. I am exausted everyday. But yesterday we had a miricle. This new guy just showed up at church and was really excited about learning more and he is just awsome! I mean it's his first day at church and he was activly participating in sunday school! CRAZY!!! So we're hoping that he will progress. That's was so cool. So more updates on him later.

Other than that. THANKSGIVING was great! We ate with the branch presiddent and his family. SO funny! Oh man. And the food was so good! Not as good as you make mom but mmmm still good.

OH! Dad! I have a makeup book somewere in the madness that is my room that you should look at! It might bee with my school stuff or on the book shelf or in the vortex of doom under my bed or Heaven forbid in the closet. BUT! It would have info for ya. and if you can find my make up folder it has tips on how to do facial hair. and on the book shelf is my make up kit. SO Have at it! It's there to be used! I know it'll turn out great!

Um.... let's see what else. Oh funny thing for the week. We knocked on this house and this guy comes out. "Hey-y-y-y..." Hi we're missionaries, have you ever talked with missionaries before? "Um... I don't know maybe." Cool, Well I'm elder barker and this is my companion elder Summers. Good to meet you. "Yeah same." Well, as missionaries what we do is we go around seeing if there's anything we can do tohelp people out and maybe share a message about christ too. "Who do you guys work for?" Um... God. "Whoa that's tight man." Yeah it is. "Hey I'd love to talk more But I'm stoned out of my mind right now and I'm just gona chill in my house for a while. But Good luck to ya!" ha ha ok. Thanks.

Maybe you had to be there...

Any ways. Thank you for you letters and DAD thank you for that picture and the story. I had forgoton about that them. Great stuff. thank you thank you thank you. My companion says that I look just like you Dad. I was like. Yeah we do. (Oh am I mistaken or have I seen that suit that you are wearing in the picture before?)

Kj- Keep on keeping on! I love your guts! I love hearing from you ya know. OH! I got a christmas cd an it has that one song that's like Dum dee diddle de dum Isabella. ya know? And there's another song on it that is... Oh I can't remember what it is right now. But I keeps reminding me of our christmas parties! Ha ha. Fun times great oldies. I love you! I miss you piggy. It's MY PILLOW! Dunnie...

Mom- I hope you feel better. And I hope the show goes well. and I hope the chickens start laying again. That post fox atack scare can last for a while.

Dad- I hope you can find the make up stuff. And I Love hearing from you. Do you realize what an example you are in my life? You are a giant. I love you so much.

Maren- Happy BIRTHDAY!!!!! i love you!

Abby- Stop running away! You have to stay home. You can't pull a homeward bound and come out here with me. (although that would be rocking cool!)

Em- Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh chinese people and that fun language barrier. Wow. That's all I can say wow.

Grand-ma-ma- I love you!

Grand ma and Grand pa- I love you!

Amanda- You rock my socks!

Everyone else that I don'tt have time to comment on individualy- YOU ARE AWSOME! I love you all and I think about you often.

Well. Further up and further in!

Keep your stick on the ice. Remeber I'm pulling for ya.

-Elder Barker