Divisions, Vomiting, and Following the Spirit

Bom Dia Família e Amigos!

This week wasn´t as normal as some other weeks. To start off, we had two divisões with the other elderes--one with the zone leaders in Santarém, and one with the other elderes in our district. I´m trying to think of something that happened during these two divisões that is email-worthy, but nothing is coming to mind, lol.

What happened after the divisão in Santarém is what makes it into the email: I got so sick! After we got back, I was feeling kind of queasy in the stomach, and joked to Elder Nascimento that I was going to throw up. Well, a few hours later it seemed like I had prophesied, because there I was, kneeling on the cold, hard ground of the bathroom, (haha sorry)

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 Needless to say, we weren´t able to go out that day to do our missionary work, which I felt so bad about. I wanted to go out and work, but it just wasn´t possible in the condition I was in. Before going to bed that night, I was feeling so sick and miserable, so I asked Elder Nascimento to give me a priesthood blessing. I have given a few blessings while on my mission, but I think this might have been the first time that I had received one myself. I knew that through the blessing, I would be able to work the next day. When I woke up the next morning, I wasn´t miraculasly healed, but I was strong enough to get up and do things during the day. Today, I don´t feel sick at all, and I´m grateful for good health and priesthood blessings. 

Today we had another district P-day, and we went to Tomar again (although now we have to take a bus instead of a car, so embarrasing). We went on a nature walk in a random part of the city, which led to some old buildings  (not ancient, more like walls from the 60´s, haha) and a river. It wasn´t quite as cool as seeing an ancient castle, but it was still fun to spend the day with our district again. 

Along the way, a random dog appeared out of nowhere and started following us. After a few minutes we realized that he really loved to play fetch, and he was really good at it as well! We would throw the stick, and then he would bring it back to us and drop it at our feet. Because Portugal doesn´t have tropical animals, I guess finding a random dog in the woods is as close as we can get ;). 

I was surprised to receive a packet full of christmas cards from various members of my family this week, which was exciting! I attached a picture showing my enjoyment (please excuse the Brazilian flag in the background, my companion is obsessed, haha). 

Two cool/special things happened this week that I want to share. 

1) Our old branch president and his two kids came to church yesterday! Ever since he was released, he hasn´t been coming to the church meetings. It appeared that he and his family were rebelling, and were becoming inactive. He has made some mistakes that have made it hard for the branch. The past few sundays, we have seen them walk past the chapel during the church meetings, without coming in or even waving. On Saturday, both me and my companion thought that we should go visit him in his house ( they live a minute from the chapel). 

We got into the apartment building, but when he saw that it was us, he said that he didn´t want to talk, and that now wasn´t a good time. Both me and Elder Nascimento felt really dissapointed, because he was so friendly in the past. Well, the next day, a Sunday, guess who showed up? Him and his two kids! When I saw them, I was so happy and gave him a hug. I felt the hard feelings that I had against him ( for he truly has done a few things that we have to clean up in the branch) go away. I just felt pure joy to see him and his son and daughter at church. Maybe he decided to come yesterday because we had made the effort to go and visit him, maybe not. But the point is, always keep trying and always help people feel loved and welcome.

2) Before leaving to visit some potential investigators in a few buildings yesterday, I decided to open up the area book to see if there were any past investigators in that part of Abrantes. I found one teaching record of a lady from a few years ago, and it didn´t say anything about why she stopped being taught. When the other people we had planned to visit weren´t home, we decided to give this lady a chance. It turns out she was home! We were able to talk to her for a few minutes, and shared a message about prayer and about the Book of Mormon. After talking for a few minutes, I realized that if we had come during any other part of the week, she wouldn´t have been home, because her only day off is Sunday. She seems really nice, and said that she will read a little bit of the Book of Mormon this week.

With these two experiences, I really believe that the spirit was involved. However, it wasn´t like I felt the spirit pushing us to visit our old branch president, or pulling me to the area book. It was more like coincidences. But, as we know, there are no such things as coincidences. The Lord is involved in this work, and guides us through our thoughts and actions. Most of the time, He won´t prompt us in big ways. But also, sometimes it won´t even seem like he prompts us in small ways. We just have to stay busy and do our best and try to do the right things, and remember that everything/everyone has a time and a place. He is mindful of all His people, and sometimes works through two missionaries who thought "let´s visit the ____ family tonight" or "let me look in this area book real quick."

I love you all, and hope you are all enjoying some warmer weather like in Abrantes! I hope you have a wonderful week and know that I miss you!

Love, 

Elder Barker​

Six Months on the Mission=Rosa and Claudia were Baptized

Olá Familia e Amigos!

So it finally happened. The two girls we have been teaching since the beginning of December were baptized! Rosa (14) and Claudia (12).

It went very well, if I say so myself. 

Our chapel doesnt have a baptismal font ( because, you know, we meet in a rented store), so when the Abrantes Branch has baptisms, we have to either (A) go to the river, (B) go to the city of Tomar or (C) go to the city of Santarém. Na verdade, they usually have the baptisms in the Rio Tejo, but since it is the middle of winter, we didnt want the girls to freeze to death, haha. We had the choice between the chapel in Santarém ( which is is a brand new one) or the chapel in Tomar (which is another rented space). 

We ended up going to Tomar because it was closer (thirty minutes as opposed to an hour). Even though the chapel in Tomar is another rented store, the members there built their own baptismal font! 

The baptism was scheduled to start at 6:30pm, and the day leading up to it was very exciting. When the time finally arrived for us to start the drive, so did the rain! We had to run out to the cars, and then when we got to Tomar, we had to run into the chapel, haha. The meeting before the baptism was wonderful! Some of the members from Abrantes were able to come to the baptism, as well as some of the members in Tomar. Also, we had three senior missionary couples, and the missionaries of Tomar. 

The missionaries in Tomar (the ones in our district ) truely are such great people! They invited all of the members over there, got the chapel all ready, cleaned up and filled the baptismal font, and cleaned up afterward. One of the members from Abrantes sang the primary song "When I am Baptized" and it was so beautiful.

 The spirit was so strong there that night! Claudia was baptized by her cousin (Diamantino) and Rosa was baptized by me. 

Haha, the water was sooo cold, and it was really low as well. 

This was the first time that Ive ever baptized anyone, and so I was getting pretty nervous. I had been practicing the words over and over in my head, but was still nervous that I would mess up or appear nervous. But I was also praying over and over that everything would go well, that the ordinace would be performed correctly and without trouble. That I would be able to say the words with confindence. It wasnt until after the actual baptism that I realized that my prayer had been answered. When I try to remember, I realize that when I was in the font performing the baptism, my nervousness fled, and I was able to perform the ordinace with confidence of the Priesthood. 

The following Sunday ( yesterday) Rosa and Claudia were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a wonderful day that was yesterday! After Rosa was confirmed, she was beaming! Yesterday was also testimony meeting, and to everyone´s surprise, Claudia went up and bore her testimony. It was short and simple ( as her first language is Creole, and she is still learning Portuguese), but it was pure and true. 

I have started to begin realizing that having church every Sunday really is a recharge that we all need. We have always taught this and we have always known this, but it hasnt been until now that Ive realized it to be truely true. We go through so many things through the week (not just us as missionaries, but also everyone does), that by the time sunday comes around, we are tired. But every Sunday, we have the  chance to learn more about the gospel, to partake of the sacrament, to be edified by our fellow members. By the time Church ends, I feel ready for the week!

This last week marked six months that Ive been on the mission. Its hard to believe that 1/4 of my mission is already over! This makes me want to work harder, because itll be over quicker than I realized. 

I love you all, and I hope you all remember that! I feel so grateful to be able to represent the Lord and my family here on my mission. It has been such a blessing to see Rosa and Claudia progress and learn in the gospel! 

I miss you! 

Love, 

Elder Barker

PS. Our mission president has made it a new rule that the mission home will no longer receive packages for us. What that means is that any packages that are sent to us will have to be sent directly to where we are staying. Since it takes so long sometimes for packages to arrive, its best to send them at the beginning of the transfer. Ill let you know my address in three weeks :) (But dont send me packages, because it is so expensive :))

PPS, I love you all!

Castelos, Menos Ativos, and Novos Horarios

Ola Ola!

Probably the most exciting thing that happened in church yesterday was when a member who hadnt been to church for a long time showed up! 

The mission presidente wanted us to choose three less active families to focus on this transfer. We had passed by her and her son a few times in the last month, just to get to know them and let them know that they arent forgotten. They are really nice! It seems that the main reason she had stopped coming was because she had started smoking again, and felt too embarrassed to come back to church. 

Her son is 16 years old, and it appears that he is just being a teenager and being lazy, lol. However, this last week we decided to pass by their home with Elder and Sister Roque. Sister Roque truly has no fear when it comes to inviting people to do things! Within the first two minutes, she told them that they needed to come back to church and that the branch needs them (which is absolutely true!). 

Well, on Friday, the son came to Noite Familiar in the chapel! It was one of the best Noite Familiares that weve had in Abrantes. The spirit was very strong, and there were a lot of youth! It was so good that he came. And then on Sunday, the mom came to church! It made me so happy to see her walk through the doors, and to see all of the branch members greeting her!

This week we also had a worldwide missionary devotional. There were a lot of inspiring things taught to us (none of which I can remember off the top of my head right now, haha). But, at the end, they notified everyone that the missionary schedule would change! It may sound really exciting, but really, nothing changed that much. The main difference now is that our daily planning is in the morning instead of the night, so now we have more time in the night when we get back home. We also are able to do our companionship study and language study later in the day, when we want. But really, nothing too exciting, lol. 

We had district P-day today! I really like my new district; we all get along and have a good time, but also work hard. My district is: me and Elder Nascimento, and the missionaries in the city of Tomar ( Elderes Kiki, Adams, and Pratt,  and Sisteres Peixe and Cabanas). Today we had our P-day together in Tomar. They have a castle there! Sometimes I feel like Portugal has more castles than people (Abrantes has one, but its not open on Mondays). There are probably as many roadsigns about Castles in Portugal as there are signs warning against deer in Colorado. 

This castle was so cool though. We spent the whole morning just exploring and taking pictures. It was way bigger than the one in Leiria, and had so many rooms that we could look in. They even had a cool giftshop, where I bought a small sword :). Ill send the pictures of today in a seperate email. 

If everything goes the way its supposed to, we will have the baptisms of Rosa and Claudia tomorrow! We just have to go talk to the mom  today at 5 (right in the middle of email time...) to confirm everything. 

I played the piano again in sacrament meeting on Sunday, and it went slightly better. I even was able to play a hymn that I had never seen before in my life, because the one I had picked ( For the Beauty of the Earth), none of the members knew. I still have a long ways to go before Im confident, but I wont give up. 

I love you all, and Im so grateful that I get to represent the Lord here in Portugal! I am grateful for your prayers and your support! Amo Vocès muitio, muito!

Com Amor,

Elder Barker