Emídio!

Olá!

It seems like winter is slowly fading away, and that springtime is starting to appear! Even though it is still pretty chilly, I no longer am shivering all of the time, so I guess that´s an improvement, haha!

This past week almost went by without finding or teaching even one new person. But that changed on Friday night when we were knocking on some doors. We had gone to the center of Viseu to search for a referral from the sister missionaries. When we knocked on this person´s door, no one answered. We left a little disappointed. 

Well a few minutes later we passed a man on the street, and we said "Boa Noite!" which means " good evening!".  He was a bit far away from us, but he replied, and then kept staring at us as if he was expecting us to say something else. I decided to go up to him and start talking to him. We soon found out that his name was Emídio Carlos, and that he didn´t have a home to sleep in that night. We kept talking to him and asked if we would be able to share our message with him. We then walked with him to a park and sat down on a bench and commenced teaching him the message of the Restoration.  

This humble man hung onto our every word and asked several questions. He had told us that he has been confused with religion, God, and life for many years. After we taught him, we invited him to come to church with us this Sunday (and he went!), and then to be baptized. He accepted! Emídio will be baptized on March 17th!

As I said, he came with us to church yesterday! He only stayed for Sacrament meeting, but he really enjoyed it. He later told us that he had never cried within any other church before he came to ours. Several members warmly welcomed him and came up to him to introduce themselves. Emídio already knew some of these members, one of which was his nurse. He later told us that he doesn´t know why, but every time he thinks about Jesus Christ, he starts to cry. I can already tell that Emídio has a special, humble spirit. 

The member that already knew him (Irmã Judite) told us to pass by her house later in the day, because she would give us a jacket to give to Emídio. When I thought a little bit more about that, I got teary eyed because I realized just how wonderful some people are. I have met so many people on my mission that are so giving and kind. Especially the members of the church here in Portugal. I love them so much! 

Even though there are so many good people here, there are also some dangerous places as well, haha. One of these places was a neighborhood that the sisters sent us to because they received a referal from there. It was our mistake that we decided to go during the night. When we entered the neighborhood of buildings, we realized that all of the streetlamps had been broken, the doors to all of the buildings were shattered, and people were contstantley yelling at each other. But we knocked on the door of the referall anyways, and he didn´t answer. We then left as soon as we could, haha!

That about sums up my week! We went to a Catholic Cathedral on P-day, and I will send pictures in a few minutes.

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

Love,

Elder Barker 

Olá!

Olá!

This week I wasn´t sick at all! 

A few weeks ago we were walking with a couple of members after church when suddenly one of them said, "Elders, there is someone in this building that we are good friends with. You should visit them!" They then told us the names and which apartment they lived in. We went the next day, but the person that answered  wasn´t too friendly and told us that he didn´t want anything to do with us. 

ok. 

Well a few days ago, I felt that we should go back and try again. This time when we rang the doorbell, the student that answered was a lot more friendly and said "oh, the elders! Come right up!". It´s been awhile since I´ve heard those words, so he took me off gaurd for a few seconds, haha. It turns out that the mom of this guy ( Wilson), is really good friends with some of the members of the ward. 

Wilson even told us that he has visited these members´ homes in the past. His grandma was a member of the church (she passed away a few years ago), and he has read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants already! We basically just answered some of his questions that he had, and he told us that we can come back on Tuesday night (but only for five minutes because he is a student at a nearby college, and usually has no time). 

He was very kind and welcoming! I think the person that answered the first time was another person in the house, haha. But this just goes to show that we shouldn´t give up after just one attempt, we should always keep trying!

Yesterday after church one of the elderly members of the ward (Manuel Ferreira) asked us to come with him to give a blessing to one of his friends. He told us that this was a friend of 80 years! Manuel lives quite a bit away, but he gave us a ride right to his house. 

His friend and his wife were very appreciative of the Priesthood Blessing, and then Manuel started right off bearing his testimony and talking about the importance of being baptized! They agreed to let us come and teach them this wednesday, so wish us luck! 

Afterwards, Manuel asked us if we would like to eat lunch with him. When we said yes, he said that it would be a great pleasure to eat with us because he has always been alone since the death of his wife two years ago. I´m glad that we stayed! It was such a great experience to get to know this wonderful, old man. He was baptized 20 years ago, and he told us that his favorite calling that he has held was when he was the ward mission leader, because he loves missionary work. He loved helping the missionaries and getting to know them. He even told us that he got his drivers license for the first time when he was already a grown man, for the sole purpose of being able to more fully help the missionaries get to  appointments! 

During lunch he bore his testimony of the Savior, which almost made me cry.  He also showed us a book that he made that was full of poems that he wrote about the gospel. I could have read through that book all day! I´m grateful for the opportunity we had to go to Manuel´s house today, because I was able to see him as more than just one of the many other stooping, elderly members. I realized that everyone has a story, and I want to learn as many as these stories as possible!

Also, while sitting in sacrament meeting, I realized ,once again, that the spirit and feeling that we have at church is the same no matter where in the world we are. Whether it be in a nice, big chapel with 120 members, or in a small, rented chapel with 20, the spirit is the same. I´m so grateful for that!

I´m grateful to be a missionary, and I love you all! I want to give my all these next five months!

I love and miss you!

Love,

Elder Barker

Olá!

Olá!

This week I finally got better from my cold! I guess the shock from moving from a tropical island to a cold city was a bit too much for my throat, because the first week I was here I could barely talk. It was a really good first impression to make, probably scaring everyone off because of my crackly voice, haha. But now I´m better, so that´s all that matters, :). 

Something that I have noticed right away since I´ve arrived in Viseu is that the members really take care of the missionaries. We have started making a list of each time someone feeds us, and so far we have been fed randomly seven times since I´ve been here, haha. THere is a really nice member family that lives two minutes from our house, so they like to invite us over for dinner a few times a week. The first time I went, I was super sick. When they noticed this, they right away found some medicine, some lemons to make homemade lemon tea, and the husband gave me his scarf because I didn´t have one! They are Galega Family, and everyone that passes through Viseu loves them. 

Sunday was the first day that I attended Church here, and I´m sure it´ll take awhile to get to know all the members and remember their names. Apparently the members in Viseu are some of the oldest members of the church in Portugal. There are so many "pioneers" in this ward, and they are so faithful, and willing to help. I was talking to one man after Sacrament meeting, and he promptly told me that he is willing to help us with teaching people, whenever we need him!

The wife(Nela) of our ward mission leader (Miguel) had to have surgery last week in order to remove two tumors in her intestines, and when the surgery was over, they found out that it was worse than they thought. So when she recovers from her surgery, Nela will have to immediately start chemotherapy (probably this week). This was a big shock for their family, and they are having a bit of a hard time. So I´m sure that they would appreciate any extra prayers on their behalf. I had never met Nela yet, so on Saturday Elder Alves and I decided to go visit her in the hospital.  On the way, we ran into the two companionships of Sister Missionaries in our district, and turns out they had the same idea as us! So we all went together. When we got there, it was almost time for visiting hours to end, but we went up anyways, haha. Irmã Nela was so happy to see us. Even though she was in so much pain, she was smiling so much and joking around. It felt nice to be able to pay her a visit, and I know that everything will work out!

I had an interview with Presidente Amorim this week (probably one of my last interviews!), and it went really well. He told me that he was grateful that he never has to worry about me, and that he has a lot of confidence in me! So that made me feel good!

Remember Linton from last week? Turns out that he was already a member, haha. We had gone to the lesson prepared to teach a new investigator, but we were surprised when he said that he was already baptized! He has been inactive for a few years, but recentely has wanted to come back, and this sunday he did!

We haven´t been able to teach any new investigators this week, but I have more faith for this week. I know that there are people being prepared to here the message of the Restored Gospel here in our area, and I won´t give up until I find them!

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

Love,
Elder Barker 

Leaving Paradise and going to the "Céu" (Heaven)

Olá! 

This week feels like it has gone on forever, haha! I left Madiera () Tuesday afternoon with one other missionary that was also leaving the island (he had actually been on Madeira for 10 months!). Because we got to Porto so late, we were told to stay with some  of the other Elders for the night, and then to go to our new areas the next morning. We had called these elders and combined with them to meet us in front of their house, but when we got there, no one was in sight!  So we went and ate some food at the supermarket, and came back. Still  no one. We also didn´t have a cellphone to call them, so we were about to go ask someone on the street if we could use their cellphone. It just so happens that the person we were going to ask was a member of the church! He didnt have his phone with him, but walked with us to his home and then his mom called our companions to tell them that she found two lost missionaries on the street, haha. It turns out that they had been waiting for us, but then we were late, so they went to look for us in other parts of the city, haha. In the end, everything worked out!

The next day I got to Viseu!  I had actually already been to this city and area before on some divisions with the other elders, so a lot of the area was already familiar to me. My first thoughts on Viseu: It is so much flatter than Machico! Our area is a lot more spread out, as in we are always walking long distances to get to places here. There are so many members here, and most of them are super faithful and friendly! Apparently the ward and members here are so great that the misisonaries call this area "Vicéu" instead of " Viseu" (céu means heaven in Portuguese)

My new district consists of me and my companion, Elder Alves, and four sister missionaries, two of which are being trained. They are all pretty nice, and I know that we will be a great district!

Also, here is so much colder than Machico. As in , it is difficult to type this email because my fingers are frozen. We have to wear coats all day long, and I´m always shivering. I also have a pretty annoying cold right now. But that´s ok! It´s all worth it!

A few days ago, the sister missionaries were in the chapel when a man walked in and told them that he wanted to be a member of this church! They invited him to the Stake Conference (meaning he would have to be at the chapel at 7am and ride the bus to coimbra) and he came! His name is Linton, and ELder Alves and I will begin teaching him the lessons today after P-day (because he is a single man, the sister missionaries can´t teach him, so that´s why we will be teaching him). 

I´m excited to serve here in Viseu! I know that each area has people that are being prepared by the Lord for the gospel! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Barker