Os Melhores Dois Anos

Olá!

Well, it looks like my time has come! This time next week I will be in Lisboa ending my service as a full-time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can hardly believe that two years have gone by already! It really seems like no time has gone by at all, but at the same time, I feel like I have been here in Portugal for so long.

Over these past two years I have:

Served in five different cities-- Leiria, Abrantes, Castelo Branco, Machico, and Viseu

Served with ten different companions (and learned something from each of them)--

Elder Cardenuto( I learned to love to feel the Spirit),

Elder Nascimento(I learned the importance of loving the members),

Elder Santos, (I learned not to give up on people)

Elder Tavares(I learned the importance of loving the Holy Bible),

Elder Rodrigues (I learned how to have fun activities)

Elder Burt (I learned how to prepare more effectively for lessons and how to be more creative in our lessons),

Elder Romano(I learned how to teach and testify to someone right as you start teaching them), Elder Franco( I learned that the mission isn´t about what I want, but what the Lord wants),

Elder Alves (I learned how to plan something for every hour of the day)

and Elder Hirschi ( I learned that it is important to be a friend with the people before you even start teaching them)

Seen five people that I taught be baptized--Rosa, Claudia, Manuel, Susana, and Pedro

Seen six people taught by missionaries in my district be baptized-- Carla, João, Albertina, João Siva, Tomás, and Susana

Had two mission presidentes-- Presidente Amorim and Presidente Fillmore

And seen and experienced so much more!

I am so grateful that I have been able to serve this mission!

I have gained a love of the Portuguese people. They are such wonderful people! When I think about next Sunday when I have to leave Viseu and say goodbye to the members here in Viseu, my eyes start leaking again. The people here in Portugal are so giving. The members of the Church in Portugal love the missionaries. Even though I have been rejected so many times on my mission, many of the the rejections have been polite. I love the Portuguese language and accent! Apparently I am funnier when I speak in Portuguese than when I speak in English haha. Portugal is such a beautiful country! For my last P-day, we went as a district (six missionaries) with our Ward Mission Leader to seem some cool places in the mountains of Portugal, and the views on the way there were breathtaking.

While on my mission I have strengthened my testimony so much. I have learned so much about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that there is much to learn still. I love being a member of this Church! So many people are looking for the truth, and they just don´t know where to find it! So many people want to have peace and true happiness in this life, and the place to find it is within Christ´s restored church! I know this. I know that my Savior lives. A lady was being very rude with us on the road a few days ago, and she even said that we don´t even know who Jesus Christ is. But we do. I do. I know that he is our brother. I know that he submitted to God´s will to come to earth and to give his life for us. I know that he suffered not only for our sins, but for our weaknesses, for our sadness, for every hard thing that we have to go through. He felt everything, and because of that, he is able to comfort us. Because of Him, we can repent and be forgiven. Because he died on the cross and resurrected three days later, we will all live again. I have come to know Him and I have searched to become like him these past two years. I know that I am not perfect and that I have so much more to learn and go through, but I am trying. When we fail, we just need to get back up again, and He will be there with His hands stretched out to help.

Once again, I am grateful to have served a mission, and for all that I have learned and experienced. I have gone through good and rough times on my mission, but everything has worked out to make me a better person and strengthen my testimony.

I love all of you! This is my last group email that I will send! See you all in a few weeks!

Love, Elder Barker

Olá de novo!

Olá!

This last week was pretty good! 

We were knocking on some doors to try to find someone new to teach when we found a woman named Sara. When we first started talking to her, she gave us the excuse that she was busy preparing dinner (everyone uses this one on us, haha.). But we were able to start a conversation with her, and found out that she was born Catholic, and had studied with the Jehova´s Witnesses for a little bit, but now she doesn´t pertain to any religion. She told us that she thinks that religion is something someone should choose for themself and that they feel a confirmation inside them that it is true. We told her that we believed that as well! 

We both then felt prompted to offer her the Book of Mormon. For some reason my companion had been carrying it in his hand all day instead of in his backpack, so it was easy to show her. As we started talking about what the Book of Mormon was, I could feel the Spirit pretty strongly, and I know that Sara could as well. When we offered her the Book of Mormon she was pretty happy. She accepted it without delay and asked us where the church was and what days she could go there. She said that she felt like she connected with this Book, and that she wanted it. She also said that when she says that she wants something, she really means it.

 We asked if we could come back later this week to see how her reading has been and she said that she would like that. It was amazing to see how quickly she changed after we talked about the Book of Mormon. Both me and Elder Hirschi left that building feeling very grateful to have been able to find her. We also both feel strongly that she will accept the gospel and choose to be baptized. She will most likely have to be taught by the Sister Missionaries because she is probably living alone, but that´s ok with us. I will be so happy if Sara progresses and chooses to be baptized! This all happened as we were fasting as well!

The second person we met was a friend of a recent convert. The recent convert (Liliana) arrived to the ward party a little late, but she brought with her a friend named João. I was able to go up to them and start talking, and found out that João was super nice! We got along really well and I felt like he would be a person that I would be friends with back at home. After talking for a little bit I asked him if he was going to go to church the next day, and he said that he had never been invited. After talking a little bit longer, he found out that I only had three more sundays, so he said that he would for sure go to church one of those times! (He didn´t show up the next day, so we will follow up with Liliana to see what happened).

One thing that I have been learning is that an easy way to talk to people about the gospel is to just be their friends. We need to show true interest in a person and show that we care and that we are normal people too. As you become friends with someone, it´ll be easier and more natural to talk about the gospel or invite them to Church.

Yesterday was my last opportunity to bare my testimony at church on my mission! I had decided beforehand that I was only going to go up to bare my testimony if felt the spirit telling me to. I sat through most of Sacrament meeting without feeling anything telling me to go up there. I was happy listening to the members share their thoughts and their testimonies. But then with 7 minutes to go I felt my heart beating faster and I thought "well, I´ve been prompted enough times on my mission to bare my testimony to know that now´s the time" so I got up and walked to the pulpit. I knew that if I started off by saying that this would be my last testimony I would bare at church in Portugal, I would start to cry right off the bat. So I just spoke about what I believed and what I knew to be true. But at the end I finished by saying that I loved the Portuguese people, and that was where my leaky eyelids started to work, haha. 

I loved to hear the members share their testimonies and their stories. I love being able to serve this people and to be able to keep finding people to teach and help, even with only two weeks left. I talked with a missionary in Viseu who recently returned home from her mission in Australia and she said to take advantage of these last two weeks. To keep trying my best. That the best feeling is to be able to find new people to teach even in your last few days. 

I´m grateful that I can still be here! That I can still be a missionary and to share the gospel with so many people! I love this gospel and this church! 

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Barker

Olá!

This week I had my last interview with Presidente Amorim! The Portugal Porto and the Portugal Lisboa missions are going to turn into one big mission at the start of July, so Presidente and Sister Amorim only have about two more weeks left on their mission. 

But before they go home, Presidente wanted to have one last interview with each of his missionaries. It also seemed like he wanted them majority of these final interviews to be in person, and not by video chat like he sometimes has done. So he scheduled to drive down to Viseu last Wednesday just so that he could interview the six missionaries here. One by one we went into the room with him, and one by one we left feeling really uplifted! This was one of my best interviews that I´ve had with my mission presidente! He was just so happy and positive and encouraging! I really felt like I was talking with a dad, haha. 

He asked that everyone come with a question to ask him, and he would base his final interview off of that. Because I am nearing the end of my mission, he gave me some advice on what I should do when I get home. He told me that when I get home, I should prayerfully make a list of all of the honorable, worthy things that I want to accomplish in the next ten years, and then do everything in my power to accomplish them. 

To end our "chat," we closed with a prayer, and in it he basically just prayed for me and for my safety and my success. It was a successful last interview with Presidente Amorim!

This transfer my companion and I have decided that we want to work more with the members. A few days ago we decided to go and pay a visit to a young couple (Vladi and Marta) that me and my last companion never visited. As we were walking there we passed a small group of people and just said hi to them as we passed. A few seconds later, when we were getting to the apartment building, one of the people from the group appeared behind us and asked us in English if we were looking for Marta. We said yes, and she said that she was her sister and also said "here, let´s go on in", and she went and unlocked the apartment building and then opened the apartment door and yelled inside "Marta! The Elders are here!", haha. 

Unfortunately Vladi wasn´t at home, so we weren´t able to enter and talk, but we combined a day to come back this next week. Me and my companion were both surprised at how nice Marta´s sister and mom were (her mom appeared right behind her), and we both feel really good that we will be able to start to teach them about the gospel! 

There is a new family in the Viseu Ward who just moved here from Brasil. They are so nice! They invited us and the other Elders and Sisters to eat dinner with them yesterday. I knew that they lived pretty far, so I was expecting them to offer us a ride to their house, but instead, they just described how to get there, haha. 

He (Antonio), told us a reference point, and then he said "Vai sempre em frente!" which basically means "just keep going straight forever!". And it was forever, haha. He said that the journey would be about 4km, just to get there. But we weren´t going to pass up a dinner with a Brasilian family, so we (the missionaries) met a little over an hour before the dinner appointment to start walking together over there. 

Haha, it was quite the journey! Especially because it was so hot out, and we were walking on the side of the road for a good part of it. But it was worth it because this family is such a great family, and the food was delicious! They live in our area, so we are going to go back more times (just us, that way we can have a ride!), and start to do missionary work with them. They love the missionaries, and I know that they will really be a great family to have in the ward! 

PS. I just looked at google maps, and it was actually 5.3 kilometers just to get there, which means we walked a total of about 10 KM, yesterday, which is about 6 miles!

I´m grateful that I can be a missionary, and that I get to meet so many different, kind people! I love the people of Portugal, and also of Brasil, haha! Even when the work seems to be going slow or it seems that nothing we do is working out, I know that if I just do my best, than that is enough. There is a part in Preach my Gospel that says that nothing that we do in the missionary work is in vain. Every smile that we give, every card that we pass out, every reference that we contact, nothing is in vain and everything is a part of Heavenly Father´s perfect plan! 

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Barker

Vou ficar em Viseu!

Olá!

Sorry about my short, lame email last week! Usually we receive the news about transfers on Sunday night, but we got a text sunday afternoon telling us that we wouldn´t know until Monday around noon. But then around 11am we got a message telling us we wouldn´t find out until Monday at 6pm! I´m pretty sure everyone on the mission was so antsy to find out what would happen. I was especially anxious because this would determine who would be my last companion, and if I would be staying in the same area. Well... 

I´ll be staying in Viseu! I already knew  that I would probably end my mission here, but sometimes crazy things happen with transfers. My new (and last) companion will be Elder Hirschi, from Treemonten, Utah. He will actually goes home a few months after me, so he´ll be "killing me" and then he will receive his last companion as well. It seems that that tends to happen a lot in this area, haha. If this first week is any indication of how the rest of the transfer will be, then I will be grateful, because I will have a great last transfer! We get along really well, and he understands that I want to end my mission working well. 

We also received one more companionship of Elderes in Viseu, Elder Pina and Elder Howard. So now there are four elders and two sisters, and we all get along pretty well! I´m looking forward to serving with all of these missionaries these next five weeks, and I know that we will have success this transfer!

This last week Elder Hirschi and I decided to take a twenty minute bus ride to a small "aldeia" (village), that is in our area, because I have never been there, and we had a reference of a person that lives there. I´m so glad that we went! The people there are so nice and humble! I think its because the missionaries don´t usually go to this place (Vila Chã de Sá), so the people are as used to us, so they are actually curious, haha. This village seemed exactly how I pictured how all of Portugal would look like: tiny cobblestone roads and houses, and lots of farms. I know that there are plenty of people that live there that will listen to our message, we just have to go back and find them! I unfortunately didn´t bring my camera, but the next time we go, I´ll be sure to take a few pictures!

For our first day as a companionship, we went to a funeral . There was a member who had been sick for several years, who just passed away the day before we got back to Viseu. His name was Irmão Cardoso, and I had never met him, but I had gotten in the habit of praying for him because all of the members loved him and always kept him in their prayers. At the funeral, the bishop and a member of the stake presidency gave talks, based on the plan of salvation. They were really positive and full of hope. So many of our members went to the funeral, and it was really hard for me to seem them so sad. I have grown to love the members of the Church in Viseu (like in all of my areas), that when I saw them crying I started crying as well!

I was sitting in Sacrament meeting yesterday at Church, and I just felt a great love for the Viseu ward. The members here are so kind, and so strong in their testimonies. I truly am so blessed to be able to serve here and help them. I love Portugal so much! Everything about it is so wonderful, I just know that I am going to be so sad when I have to say goodbye.

I am so grateful that I can be a missionary! I love this Church and this Gospel so much! I know that my life has slowly been changed over the past two years, and that my testimony has grown. I love being able to wear my nametag everyday and have the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ wherever I go! 

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Barker

Olá!

I know that you are all waiting on the edge of your seats to know who my new companion will be, and so am I! For some reason the transfer plans have taken longer this time around, so no one on the mission will know about transfers until today at 6pm... But, I am in Porto right now because I had to drop Elder Alves off because he is ending his mission, so I am kind of just floating around in Porto changing companionships every few hours haha. So, I´ll let you all know next monday what happens, lol. 

Also, once again I am with little time to use email today because there are about 8 missionaries that use the same two computers in the chapel in Porto, so I only have a few more minutes to write! 

So this week:

- We had a multi-stake conference with a satalite transmission for all of Europe

-We were called angels by another member because we were in the right place at the right time to help her carry a few boxes-

-We had Elder Alves´ "funeral" on Saturday

-A member told me and the other Americans missionaries in our district that we had chicken skin because we burn so easily, lol

-I´m starting my final six weeks on the mission

-I love Portugal in its people, and I also love the gospel and the Church!

Sorry that this email is so lame and short, but I will send some more pictures to make up for it :)

I love and miss you all! Wish me luck!

Love,
Elder Barker

Olá!

I don´t have too much time today to email, so I will only be able to write my main email, and not reply to the personal ones! But I´ll make up for it with a bunch of pictures!

This week Susana was baptized! The Sister Missionaries have been teaching her for  a little over a month, and she has come to church at least five times. She moved in with one of her friends  who just happens to be a member of the church, so that´s where it all began! Because I am the District Leader, I get to have the opportunity to interview the investigators being baptized who were taught by the sisters, so I got to interview Susana a few days before her baptism. I had never spoken to her too much, so it was nice to be able to get to know her and see the faith that she has. She has already read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, read all of the pamphlets (including how to prepare to go to the temple!), and was very happy to join the church. Susana also has breast cancer, which has been causing lots of pain for her these past few weeks. We actually gave her a Priesthood Blessing about a week ago, and the next day she called the Sisters to tell them that she had been able to sleep soundly through the night without any pains for the first time in months! She was so happy and she said she new that it was because of the blessing we gave her. She is supposed to have surgery, but she was putting off the day in order to be baptized this past saturday. I know that the Lord has seen her sacrifice, and that she will be greatly blessed. She has since had her surgery, and has to stay in bed for a few days now in order to rest.

Remember that Italian girl from last week? We went to "deliver" her Italian book of Mormon with our testimonies in it, and she happened to be walking down the road at the same time as us. When we gave it to her, she seemed very appreciative, and said that she would read the parts that we had marked for her to read ( we had marked several verses specifically for her and her questions, because she doesn´t quite believe that God exists). She didn´t agree to meet with us again, but she asked for our number in case she has any questions. Once again, planting seeds!

This morning we went with a member named Irmão Dias to help him on his "land". He owns a few acres of land out in the middle of nowhere, and every once in a while he invites the elderes to come help him for a few hours. It was a cool experience! Portugal is so beautiful, especially when you get out of the cities. Even though Portugal is a very modern, advanced country, they still have a very strong agricultural culture. Many people who live in the city, still have their "land" out in the middle of nowhere  where they grow their gardens, etc. It was nice to be able to help him. Afterwards his wife (Cidália), made us lunch! 

This is Elder Alves´ last week on the mission! We have stayed three transfers together (or about four months), which has been the longest I have ever stayed with the same companion. We have had our ups and downs, but in the end we have become friends. I hope that I can help him to have a great last week on his mission before he returns home to Brasil!

I´m greatul that I can serve a mission and be able to learn how to be more like my Savior. I´m grateful for the opportunties I have every day to serve and teach other people. I love my mission and I want these last 7 weeks to be the best of my mission!

I love and miss you all!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Barker

One by One

For the past few weeks I have tried to start focusing more on one person at a time. I know that this is how Christ treated people and the Church has really started trying to get us as members to act this way as well! As I have done this, I have realized that I love people! Especially the people of Portugal! Everyone is so important, and everyone is special.

This last week we had divisions with the Zone Leaders in Coimbra. To be honest, I think out of all the divisions in my mission, this was the one where I learned the most! Maybe it was because I went into it looking for things to learn. I actually had a desire to improve my area. I was able to learn some new ideas on how to find new investigators, on how to work more efficiently with the members, and how to make the day more productive. We didn´t knock on a single door, but I ended the day feeling that I had worked hard! I am for sure going to bring some of the things that I learned in Coimbra back to Viseu!

A few days ago Elder Alves and I visited an area where we haven´t worked in before, and he mentioned that there was a less-active that lived nearby. We ended up passing by, and he was at home! This man (Carlos) has been a member of the church for many years, and just recently has stopped coming to church. He lives in a simple home with a lot of land, but he has lost his job and hasn´t been able to pay for electricity for a few months. He has been taking showers out of a bucket of water ever since. But as we talked with him, I realized how great of a person he is. We shared a scripture with him, and then he bore a very strong testimony of Jesus Christ to us. He bore his testimony of the Restoration of the Church and of the Saviour´s Atonement. He told us that he knows that the Church is true, just that he doesn´t want to come back until he gets his situation under control. We will talk with the bishop to see if there is anything he can do, but I am grateful that I could meet Irmão Carlos and could be strengthened by his sincere testimony! 

While in Coimbra, we were walking back to the house for lunch when we passed an older man who was very obviously struggling with his grocery bags. We went straight to him to offer our help, and he let us carry his groceries back to his home (which was another ten minutes away). While we were walking we got to know him a little bit more. He is a very humble gentleman, whose wife is struggling with cancer. As he told us about his wife (who is bedridden), he got all teary eyed. Then we got to his home, which reminded me of the home in "Up", because it was the only actual house in the middle of a bunch of tall apartment buildings. He let us enter to say hello to his wife, and they both started crying and thanked us for the help and for the visit. We asked them if the sisters could pass by later that day (because it was their area), to pay them a visit, and they said they could. I felt so much love within this house, and so much humility as well. I truly hope that the sisters will be able to teach them and help them to accept the gospel, because it will bring so much hope and peace to their lives. I love moments like this!

Saturday night Elder Alves and I contacted a referral from the sisteres named Paulo Ribeiro. When we knocked on his door, he was very friendly and let us in right away. He has been here in portugal for about a month (he´s Brazilian and will start studying in September). We were able to teach him the first lesson (the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ), and the spirit was super strong. We also showed him the new video of the Prophet Joseph Smith´s first vision, and it went well. We were able to bare our testimonies of the gospel, and invited him to be baptized. He didn´t accept baptism (yet ;) ), but he didn´t say "no" either. He wants to think about it and learn more. But I am so grateful that we were able to teach him, and I´m excited to keep helping him learn more!

After that, as we were walking home, we talked to a girl on the street who was from Italy but who also spoke english. We found out that she is an atheist, but was very nice. We asked her if we could deliver an Italian Book of Mormon for her to read, and she denied. But I felt strongly to bear my testimony (for the first time in English for almost two years!), about this Book. At the end, she consented to receive the Book of Mormon, so we will bring it to her tomorrow.

I´m grateful that I can be a missionary, and that I can help so many people, one by one! As we were offering to help a lady on the street, a family of members passed by. The ten year old daughter asked us why we always offer to help people, and her 12 year old sister  answered and said " It´s because they are missionaries. The Elders and Sisters exist to help people!" 

It´s true! We exist to help people. We serve missions to bless the lives of others, whether they be poor or rich, members of the Church, Catholics, athiests, the elderly or the young. We want to help everyone, and we especially want to share our message of the hope and happiness found within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

I love and miss you all! 

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Barker

Olá!

I hope all of the Moms were able to have a great Mother´s Day yesterday! Mother´s Day in Portugal was actually last week, but yesterday I was able to still celebrate because I got to Skype with my family! It was so nice to be able to see my parents and my siblings, and it feels like it wasn´t too long ago that I was skyping with them at Christmas time. The next time I see them, it´ll be in person!

At church there is an older member named Manuel who is a man full of faith. He has to walk with a cane now, his wife passed away a few years ago, and he lives about 20 minutes by car from the chapel, but he is always diligent in being at church every week, even arriving early. Unfortunately, he often sits alone during sacrament meeting. A few weeks ago I decided that I would start sitting with him every week (In Viseu we don´t sit together as missionary companions so that we can split up and sit with the investigators, less-actives, or just any member that seems alone.) 

I didn´t realize that this was making a a difference for Irmão Manuel until yesterday when he suddenly handed me a book. This book was a book full of poems that he has written for 20 years, and that he published. Almost all of these poems are written with gospel themes. He told me he wanted to give me this in order to thank me for the nice company I have given him these past several weeks. When I started sitting with him, I didn´t do it in order to receive any recognition or presents, I simply did it because I didn´t want this kind man to sit alone. 

A lot of times our seemingly small acts of kindness make a big difference in the lives of others. We need to always be on the look out for those people that seem to be forgotten, and act as the Savior would and help them to feel loved and remembered. I will forever treasure this little book of poems, because it will help me to always remember Irmão Manuel!

Also during church yesterday, we were able to hear from two members who went through the temple for the first time this last week. The first of them was Irmão Carlos, who was baptized a little over a year ago. This week he was sealed to his wife for time and all eternity! When he got up to speak, I looked around, and there were several people smiling real big. We all love this man and his wife, and I was so happy for him. The second was another member named Luís. He has been a member for several years now, but went to the temple for the first time this last week. He was just bubbling over, haha. Both of these men had a new light to their countenance, and I could tell that they both strengthened their testimonies this last week, and gained a new spiritual strength. The goal of every member of this church should be to prepare to go to the temple! There is so much power from this!

A few days ago we were looking for Emídio, but found out that after returning from Guarda, he left for Coimbra. So we don´t know when we will see him again! But as we were looking for him, another man came up to us and started talking. His name is Vítor, and he went to church a time or two in the past. He said he wanted to talk to us again, so we marked a time yesterday (but he unexpectedly had to work, so it fell through...). Before he left, we decided to give him a Book of Mormon, because he said he never received one. He got really happy and told us that this could be his birthday present because his birthday was going to be on Saturday! He asked us to sign it before we gave it to him, so we both wrote our testimonies! Even though our appointment fell through, we have his phone number and we will mark another day this week to teach him! 

I love and miss you all!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Barker 

Backs and Books

Olá!

This week I want to start off with another experience that I had with a health problem (haha, I´m falling apart!) This time it was with my back! I think it was friday that I started having a lot of pain in my upper back. The whole day I would go between using my backpack on my back and carrying it in my arms, because when I would put it on, the pain would become very uncomfortable. By the time we got home at night, my back was having so many problems. It was even worse when I went to bed because I had nothing to distract me from the pain, and couldn´t get to sleep. It was seriously the worst pain I have ever felt in my back, and I my eyes may have even leaked a little bit ( ;) ). I decided to pray and ask that the pain would go away and that by the next day I wouldn´t have any more problems. After this I remembered that our apartment has a bunch of medicine, so I decided to look through it and I found one that was specifically for back pain and headaches. So I took that and went back to bed and found a more comfortable sleeping position, and by the next morning there was no more pain! I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, and many times those answers come through small and simple things (like reminding me that there was a drawer-full of  painkillers in the house!)

This week I had the idea to organize our Area Book (which is a  three-ring binder full of the teaching records of past and current investigators.) For some reason, we had three, and neither one was organized, haha. I organized it by specific areas within our working area, and by date. Through this, I was able to see that there were a bunch of teaching records with phone numbers, but without any address. I hate talking on the phone, but I felt that I should start calling these people to see if they were still interested. Within half an hour, I had talked with so many kind people who were happy that we called. We were able to set a few appointments with some of them, one of which will be today after P-day ends! There are so many different ways to find new people to teach, and one of those is by coming into contact with past investigators!

We also decided to go to the park this week to try to give out a Book of Mormon to someone. When we entered the park, there were a lot of people gathered in groups, but I wanted to find someone that was by themselves. After a few minutes, we saw a man sitting alone watching his daughter rollerblade. We went up to him and immedietly offered the Book of Mormon. He was very gracious and accepted it without us having to do much prodding (haha). But as we were talking about this wonderful Book, the spirit was very strong. I realized that each time we give a Book of Mormon to someone, the Spirit is also there because this Book truly is sacred. I love the Book of Mormon, and the truths that it contains! I started re-reading it this morning, and I learned so much from just the first chapter, even though I have read the first chapter so many times before. There is always something new to learn! 

I love and miss you all! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Barker

Bom Dia!

This week we met some interesting people!

The first is a Brazilian named Pedro. He isn´t living here in Portugal, but he has been traveling the country for the past month. He´s 19 and decided to come to Portugal and explore this country by just getting lost, haha. As we were walking down the street, we saw him smiling at us, so we decided to talk to him. Apparently he had met the other missionaries while he was staying in Braga a few weeks ago. They had taught him a few times, and he even went to church with them. He also has a friend in Brazil who is a member of the Church. When we found him, he was looking for  a place to charge his cellphone, so we brought him to the chapel, haha. There we taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He was only in Viseu for one day, and left for Porto the next day, but we invited him to search out the missionaries and talk with his friend who´s a member, when he gets back to Brazil. We also told him that it probably wasn´t just a coincidence that he met the missionaries two times in two different cities while he was here. He said that he would definitely search out the church when he gets back home! It´s one of those stories that I will probably never know the end of, but I´m grateful that we could share the gospel with him and plant a seed in his heart that will hopefully go with him as he returns to São Paulo!

Another person that we met this week was an old man on the street, haha. But he wasn´t just any old man. It turns out that he is the great-uncle of the wife of our mission presidente! We knew that Sister Amorim had family here in Viseu, but this was the first time that we had found one of them! He was so nice and told us where he lived, and said we could pass by this week. Right after we finished talking to him, Sister Amorim called us to let us know that the Presidente was sad I hadn´t written him a weekly letter (this was the first time I forgot!). But I buttered her up by letting her know that we had just finished talking with her Tio José, and she got so happy! She told us that she would write about this in her journal, and then gave us more references of her other family members that lived in Viseu! 

Last night we taught another old man named José (there are a lot of them in Portugal, haha). He was also so nice, and told us to come back this thursday! Something that I love about Portuguese older people is that they love to give us "tours" of their homes and show us all of their pictures of when they were younger. It was neat to hear the stories of José, and also hear him play harmonica (he about passed out after playing a song for us, haha). He told us that he will come with us to church one of these days, and we hope that it´ll be this week!

We also had a Family Home Evening in the chapel this week, and I will send pictures in a little bit!

I love and miss you all!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Barker

Transfers

Olá!

This week we traveled to Coimbra to do divisions with the Zone Leaders there. It was a good division and I had a good time! However, getting there was a bit of an adventure, haha. For some reason we didn´t use the bus company that we usually use to get there. Instead we used another one that seemed just as good and didn´t seem like there would be any differences. 

Well when we arrived in Coimbra, the bus that we were on didn´t enter the bus station like we were used to, instead it drove right past it! I thought that maybe it had forgotten to turn into the station, and that the bus driver was going to make a U-Turn or something, haha. It ended up making a quick stop at a random little bus stop, but we didn´t get off because my companion felt confident that it was going to return to the bus station. 

It didn´t. It got right back onto the freeway and started heading towards Lisbon! I thought to myself "well, looks like we´ll be visiting Lisbon today." haha. 

But after a few minutes the bus driver noticed that we were still on the bus, stopped on the side of the road, and ordered us off the bus! So there we were on the side of the freeway with our small little suitcases, haha. We were still pretty close to Coimbra, and it was only a 20 minute walk back to where we wanted to go, but it was still a little annoying, haha. But we made it safely!

The actual division was good. My companion for the day was Elder Bates from Idaho. He goes home a few months after me, and he was a fun missionary to work with! As we were knocking doors,  a man let us into the building. When we went up to his door, we introduced ourselves and asked if we could share a message with him. He said yes, but when we asked if we could enter his house to share it, he made a very firm shake of his head. So after a few minutes of conversing with him, we found out that he was athiest. I never really know how to talk to athiests, but I remembered a few things that my old companion, Elder Franco, would say, so I tried a few of those out. We ended up not being able to teach this man, but we did offer to say a prayer with him in his doorway. He said that he had never said a prayer in his life. After I said the prayer, we could really feel the spirit, and I know that this man could too, even if he didn´t want to admit it. I love being able to bear my testimony, and help plant seeds in the hearts of people! You never know, maybe one day this man will remember the feelings that he had while he was talking with us, and choose to change his life.

When we got back to Viseu, we started knocking on doors (like usual ;) ). We decided to go to this random little side street next to the cemetary. The first door that we knocked on, a man answered the door, and he didn´t seem very friendly. And he wasn´t. 

He was probably one of the rudest people that I have talked to on my mission so far, and that´s saying something. No matter how kind and nice we tried to be towards him, he got even meaner. He said repeatedly "Rua! Rua!", which means "road!", which is what people say to their dogs that are misbehaving. Of course we left after that, and even though I left trying to be in a good mood, I was feeling pretty down.

 Half heartedly we knocked on the door of his neighbor, and a very nice lady answered the door. Her and her boyfriend let us in, but we weren´t able to share a message with them. However, they were so nice to us and made us feel so good. At the end, I just wanted to give the man a hug for the kindness that they showed towards us.  I felt that these people were a tender mercy for us, because instead of leaving that neighboorhood feeling sad and discouraged, we left feeling happy and appreciated!

He (Antonio) doesn´t live with this lady (Maria), so she lives alone. We passed her address for the sisteres to visit, and they did the very next day. It turns out that Maria was almost baptized 20 years ago, and the only reason she wasn´t was because her family opposed it and wanted her to baptize her children into the catholic church. Well when the sisters visited her, they invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Divisions in Coimbra

Olá!

This week we traveled to Coimbra to do divisions with the Zone Leaders there. It was a good division and I had a good time! However, getting there was a bit of an adventure, haha. For some reason we didn´t use the bus company that we usually use to get there. Instead we used another one that seemed just as good and didn´t seem like there would be any differences. 

Well when we arrived in Coimbra, the bus that we were on didn´t enter the bus station like we were used to, instead it drove right past it! I thought that maybe it had forgotten to turn into the station, and that the bus driver was going to make a U-Turn or something, haha. It ended up making a quick stop at a random little bus stop, but we didn´t get off because my companion felt confident that it was going to return to the bus station. 

It didn´t. It got right back onto the freeway and started heading towards Lisbon! I thought to myself "well, looks like we´ll be visiting Lisbon today." haha. 

But after a few minutes the bus driver noticed that we were still on the bus, stopped on the side of the road, and ordered us off the bus! So there we were on the side of the freeway with our small little suitcases, haha. We were still pretty close to Coimbra, and it was only a 20 minute walk back to where we wanted to go, but it was still a little annoying, haha. But we made it safely!

The actual division was good. My companion for the day was Elder Bates from Idaho. He goes home a few months after me, and he was a fun missionary to work with! As we were knocking doors,  a man let us into the building. When we went up to his door, we introduced ourselves and asked if we could share a message with him. He said yes, but when we asked if we could enter his house to share it, he made a very firm shake of his head. So after a few minutes of conversing with him, we found out that he was athiest. I never really know how to talk to athiests, but I remembered a few things that my old companion, Elder Franco, would say, so I tried a few of those out. We ended up not being able to teach this man, but we did offer to say a prayer with him in his doorway. He said that he had never said a prayer in his life. After I said the prayer, we could really feel the spirit, and I know that this man could too, even if he didn´t want to admit it. I love being able to bear my testimony, and help plant seeds in the hearts of people! You never know, maybe one day this man will remember the feelings that he had while he was talking with us, and choose to change his life.

When we got back to Viseu, we started knocking on doors (like usual ;) ). We decided to go to this random little side street next to the cemetary. The first door that we knocked on, a man answered the door, and he didn´t seem very friendly. And he wasn´t. 

He was probably one of the rudest people that I have talked to on my mission so far, and that´s saying something. No matter how kind and nice we tried to be towards him, he got even meaner. He said repeatedly "Rua! Rua!", which means "road!", which is what people say to their dogs that are misbehaving. Of course we left after that, and even though I left trying to be in a good mood, I was feeling pretty down.

 Half heartedly we knocked on the door of his neighbor, and a very nice lady answered the door. Her and her boyfriend let us in, but we weren´t able to share a message with them. However, they were so nice to us and made us feel so good. At the end, I just wanted to give the man a hug for the kindness that they showed towards us.  I felt that these people were a tender mercy for us, because instead of leaving that neighboorhood feeling sad and discouraged, we left feeling happy and appreciated!

He (Antonio) doesn´t live with this lady (Maria), so she lives alone. We passed her address for the sisteres to visit, and they did the very next day. It turns out that Maria was almost baptized 20 years ago, and the only reason she wasn´t was because her family opposed it and wanted her to baptize her children into the catholic church. Well when the sisters visited her, they invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Happy (late) Easter

Michael Frank Barker <michael.barker@myldsmail.net>	Mon, Apr 2, 5:59 AM
to Charbel, Cheryl, Chris, Daniel, DeWayne, Eric, Kent, Michael, Paul, Reed, Tammy, Kirk, Elder, Alexis, Brandon, Diana, callleeann, Jessica, Forrest, me, Brittany, John, Dad, Anna, Jake, Patrice, Barb, Erik, Kristalyn, Linda, Mason, Matt, hanceyfamily, Rick, David, Abigail, Haley, Gillian, Mark.Stutz, matt, AJ, Cindy, Linda, Meagan, Mickal, Vince, Mom, Michelle, Kurt, Bailey, Frank, Marci, Karen, Karen, Danielle, Lisa, rwdubois55, Janine, Lew, Mark, DeAnne, Carol, Paul, Winston, Joseph

Olá!

I just remembered that it has been two whole years since I received and opened my mission call! I can still clearly remember the day that I received that big white envelope. I was still at BYU at the time, so whenever we received a package or a mission call, we would receive an email to go pick it up. I remember when I got that email at the beginning of my Psychology class, I tried to stay put and stay until the end, but I ended up getting up right in the middle of the lecture and leaving to go pick up my mission call, haha (sorry!). For some reason, I wanted to wait a few days to open up my call, but with my family so "patiently" urging me on ;), I ended up opening it up that very same night. It definitely doesn´t feel like it has been two years since I read the words "You are hereby called to serve . . . in the Portugal Porto Mission" in my sister and brother-in-law´s kitchen (connected with skype with the rest of my family!) 

I am so grateful for all of the experiences that I´ve had in my mission up until now, and I´m looking forward to serving for four more months! 

This week one of the members here in Viseu requested that we give her a Priesthood Blessing. This is the same member that had to have a surgery in her intestines a few months ago. She has still been in a lot of pain, and she really wanted that blessing. It was nice to exercise this priesthood that we hold, and I have faith that she will start to feel better. This member (irmã nela) actually came to church for the first time in several months yesterday! It was so good to see her, and all of the other members were so happy as well. (She hasn´t been able to make it to church lately because of her surgery and the pain she has been in). 

While we were there at their house, they also gave us some special homemade easter bread. Apparently here in portugal they have specific special homemade easter bread for every region. The one they made us was a recipe specificly from a small village a few miles away, and it used sweet potato, and it was so good! 

I love portuguese people!

I really enjoyed General Conference yesterday, and I will end with a phrase that I felt strongly to write in my journal yesterday at the end of Conference:

"I´m so grateful to be a member of this Church!"

This truly is the Lord´s Church on the earth, and I know that by seeking to be His disciples in our everyday lives, we will truly be blessed and be able to find everlasting joy! I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know that he gave His life for each and every one of us!

I and miss you all!

Love,

Elder Barker

Ps, I usually send  my personal emails during the afternoon, but I don´t know if the place that we use will be open,so if I don´t send a personal email today, it´s because of that :)

Tchau!