Well family y'all seem super busy and just having a blast without me.. i hope you somewhat miss me ;)!!! I'm glad everyone sounds so dang good!!
Well my week has been great as usual!! Hermana Richardson and I are still having a blast and got called the dynamic duo this week by one of our investigators.. we only have about two and 1/2 weeks lefts together and we're really sad but we are going to make the most out of it! Monday night after P-day brother Moala tooks us to dinner at Chick-fil-a
because he knows it my favorite and not only did he buy us dinner then we were getting ready to leave and he was like Sister there is food waiting for you at the counter I bought for you to take home. He is such a generous guy and I can never thank him enough for everything he does for me... If i ever have hand fulls of money I hope I can be as charitable as he is!! AFter that we had an FHE with the familia Islas in the spanish ward and their sister from Mexico lives with them who is not a member. We had a great first lesson with her and she will end up getting baptized but she had a little baby on Thursday so I dont know when we are going to be able to go back and teach her!! On Tuesday we spent a long time tracting which was fun and we taught a lesson to a man
named Bernidino.. he is from the Phillipeans and barely knows english but we taught him a really realy simple first lesson and then we ordered him a book of mormon and gospel principles book in Tagalog for him!!.. We are trying to find someone in the stake that served their mission there because he is so genuine and so CUTE!! We were also knocking doors and this man answered.. looked at us and said hold on.. then came back to the door carrying a Triple and said.. I've read it all the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.. I know its true and Joseph Smith was inspired by god... we just sat there... then he told us he has studied theology his whole life and knows that mormons as the closest to what Jesus Christ taught and all this CRAZY stuff!! I told him I know.. becaus we are the same church that Jesus Christ establish.. well we got a return appointment with him on Sunday and went back and taught him a first lesson.. he knew it all.. but its sad because he is so knowledgable that he is just stupid... here I am a 22 year old girl.. i haven't studied my whole life but i have more light and knowledge because I can actually listen to the spirit.. We are going to continue to teach Chris lingle... please pray he listens to the spirit! On Wednesday was Zone Conference in McKinny.. and it was super fun!! Our whole zone wore green to show our unity and the trainings and talks were amazing... One of the AP's Elder Erickson talked about the miracles we see everyday on the misison and it is so true!! He gave five steps to seeing miracles 1. Faith-all miracles are based on it 2. Look to the Loard for your blessings Mosiah 8:18 3. Make the sacrifice- give allt he world up to accomplish your goals here! 4. Expect the miracle- if you don't expect it you won't recognize it when it comes 2 Nephi 26:13 5: Receive the miracle with complete humility Alma 26:11 you didn't do it the Lord did!! The other talk I LOVED was by President Smith.. he is amazing! He said something to the extent of ... I'm sending this now because the I don't want the computer to kick me off and loose it!!
okay my computer was acting funny so here is the rest of the e-mail.. so President Smith said something to the extent of... " WE never stand still- we're either going forward or backward. Do that which is difficult everyday.. try to find the wall of fire and walk through it. Do not try to find what is easy.. find the difficult. If you always look for the life of least resistance, you will become less resistant to the temptations of Satan. you never hear,"I hope they call me on a mission and I get to sweat all day..." No one said it was going to be easy. Never be comforable as a missionary.. the reason you grow so much at the beginning of your mission is because you push outside your comfort zone. You become a great missionary by doing the hard things others aren't willing to do!" I LOVED THAT TALK!! ... missions are hard.. but this mission has changed the rest of my life.. pushed me beyond where I even imagined I could be and has forced me to do things I never thought possible but with the help of the Lord really everything is possible!
We had a testimony meeting and I bore my testimony about grown, change, and protection from the Lord... most of you know how I decided to go on a mission I got my answers when I asked the quesiton where Heavenly Father would have me be in my life so I could walk where Jesus would walk if he was here today.. but what i didn't realize before my mission is that not only do i walk in the footsteps of Christ everyday he is walking right next to me.. it is amazing how much my relationship with my brother Jesus Christ has grown..I owe him everything in my life! That night we met with Teresa and her baptismal date is still on but her work was goign to have her satrt working on Sundays.. she asked for ti off but they said they really need her.. she didn't comet o church on Sunday which means she can't be baptized ont he 12th anymore.. we have an appointment with her tonight.. I hope for some good news.. man does Satan try to keep people form making this amazing blessing in their lives!! Teresa's son Davin is five and like my bestest buddy.. all during the lessons he leaves the room and comes back with some kind of candy for me.. then leaves then come back with more candy.. he's so funny and cute.. We met with Rosibel Flores again this week and walked the REstoration video with her.. at the end of the lesson she told us that the day she met us she had been praying to Heavenly Father for someone to invite her to church and tell her how to become closer to
him!! then she ran into us!! ha ha.. man if God amazing.. he definitely prepares people everywhere we go!! now we just have to get her to find a new job so she isn't working at a bar!! ha ha... GREAT!!
We went to dinner with a memeber family on Thursday and her kids had just moved in with ehr from Garland and her step-son had just got out of jail so we are going to start teachign him this week which will be fun too :)!! We also taught that little 11 year old named Jessica the first lesson this week and she is SOOOOOOOOO excited to come to church and the activities.. she is kinda a space case but she is super cute and she has a really hard family life so i'm excited for her to have a constant something good in her life.. On Sunday we took the Elmores to this special fireside where Elder Fluekinger from the Seventy came and spoke to us on the subject of whether mormons are considered christians or not.. it was a special fireside for misisonaries and either less actives, investigators, or recend converts and it was amazing!! My week has been GREAT!! and I have seen the Lords hand in every aspect of my life.. thank you for all yours prayers.. please pray for Teresa Andrade, Familia Gonzales, and Jessica Jackson by name.. the power of prayer is amazing!! I pray for you all daily.. thank you for all yoru support and love!! Only 28 days till my birthday!! HAHA!!
con amor,
Hermana Barber
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Time Flies When You're Having FUN!
hola familia y amigos,
como estan? Well first off I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD on the 27th!! How old are you turning?... 20? (you can send me money for that later ;)!) Also i want to say CONGRATS to LIZZY HENDERSON soon to be JENSEN!!! I can't believe it and I am soooooooooooo excited for you... what a lucky guy! Thanks Matt for the cute videos of Jules, she is doll and getting so big.. can't wait to play with her when I get home. Mom and Dad it just sounds like you partied all weekend with the family. I was a little jealous and miss you all but I know i'm right where i need to be.
This week was a GREAT week filled with lots of hard work and exhaustion but also miracles! On Monday for p-day we had a zone p-day and played dodgeball against the Yound Men and Yound Women in the stake, it was so fun because most of us missionaries showed up wearing shirts i helped design for the zone that say JUST DO IT! on the front with the baptism sign then ont he back says 09 TDM (texas dallas mission) and sponsered by MOALA.. he paid for them!! they are Texas Longhorn orange and SWEET!! ha ha.. then that night we did FHE with two inactive spanish families...It was really fun but it is so hard to see the light in peoples eyes slowing fading and them not even realizing it!! Tuesday we had a district meeting then afterwards our whole district plus the zone leaders came and did a BLITZ in our area (where they all just come and knock doors in our area or contact people for us!) It was amazing and they found us five new investigators and it is a new challenge in our mission to get baptismal commitments (at least soft ones) during the first lesson.. and the elders got TWO baptismal commitment for us during the BLITZ...they haven't all panned out yet but still new investigators and people to work with is great! The BLITZ was two hours of knockingdoors in the middle of the afternoon and it was really hot but I think it was one of the funnest experiences of knocking doors i have had...Hermana Richardson and I just laughed for two hours straight... she is so funny and we get along so well, at every door she would say somethingwhitty and i would just die laughing.. we also found two new investigators and got four return appointments... oh and we got to offer a pray in the house of a catholic lady and we were praying right next to a table where there were probably ten candles burning and five pictures of the virgin Mary.... felt pretty awkward.. and yet they say they don't worship idols.. can't figure that one out! For service hours that night I tutored a little girl of an inactive family in math for an hour... I found out that i miss school and i love learning.. random side note!
Wednesday was a really really good day also... the english ward i am in Dallas 6th randomly had a 13 year old boy's record show up in their directory and sent us out to figure out who he was and what was his story. So we got an appointment with him and visited him on Wednesday. He lived with his grandma in Alaska and took the lessons and joined by himself... he just moved back to Texas to live with his Dad and step sister Jessica who is 11 and she know wants to take the lessons. The Dad said he has a beef with the big man upstairs but would sit in on our lessons.. his name is Alex Jackson, please pray his heart softens!! They are so cute and I am really excited to teach her... she came to church on Sunday and we went to primary with her and she was so excited just to make friends, just to be there! Then after we met with the Jackson family we drove to Copell and met with a spanish young lady who is 21 named Teresa Andrade... she was a missionary referral from the Elders up in Garland and she took all the lessons with her parents before she moved out to Copell with her five year old son Davin. Her parents got baptized yesterday in Garland.. but she backed out on her old baptismal date. It was a really cool experience as we taught her the first lesson again and answered her questions... then i just looked at her and said, "You know it's true." She just looked at me and said, "i know." Then we set a baptismal date for September 12th!! My first real baptismal date..just pray that she has the strength and time to keep this one! This will change her and her sons life forever!!!
Thursday was planning and there is a family that feeds us every Thursday Familia Garibaldi.. they are amazing. They have very very little but they insist on feeding us every week because they say they always get blessings from it.. we always insist they can feed us every other week and they say NO!!! They have such faith... well they couldn't feed us last Thursday so they gave us money (after I refused it three times and they were getting really really frustrated with me!!) so on Thursday we treated ourselves and went to my favorite restuarant OUTBACK!! YUMMMMY!! Then that night we had two lessons.. one with an investigator then an Less Active English family.
On Friday we fasted for the Gonzales Familia that has been taught for five months and come to church almost every week... we just wanted to know how we could get them to progress or in other words get baptized. Well Friday during the day we were invited to a 16 year old birthday party for a less active girl in the ward and we showed up and we were the only ones there.. it was so sad good thing we got her a gift or she would have only got one shirt from her mom for her birthday. then we ate at this old spanish ladies house.. the creepiest/weirdest dinner i have had on the mission... she handed us this oatmeal, milk drink...i told her i have milk allergies.. which i do but Hermana Richardson had to drink it and was sooooooooooooo sick the rest of the night. We walked into her house and we asked her if she lived alone and she said no I live with my dolls.. there were dolls everywhere and mannequins too.. really creepy!! then after that went to teach the Gonzales family... Hermana Richardson wanted to commit them to baptism so I just took the backseat but they told her they still didn't feel ready but we finally got them to pray about a date and we told them we would set one next appointment.. so this coming week!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for them!!
Sunday we had 5 people at church and got to go to Primary so all in all it was a good day :)!! Plus all of the men Sister Brundage baptized while she was here and the recent converts i've been blessed to work with received the Melchizedek priesthood yesterday Brother Elmore, Brother Gregory, and Hermano Aguilar.. Hermano Aguilar also blessed the sacrament for the first time in a sharp looking suit.. he did awesome. And Brother Elmore got his first call as the Ward Executive Secretary.. they are AWESOME!! I am really coming to love the people here in Carrollton.. I hope I don't get transfered in three weeks 'cause i'm already planning my Birthday with them in a month!! (ha ha.. anyone that knows me would not expect anything less... my birthday is a big deal!!) Mom about my birthday I could use some journals, church cd's (not the Mormon Tabernacle choir), and I can't really think of anything else.. oh maybe spanish scripture cases for my biblia y libro de mormon... but they are bigger than normal so i don't know if you will be able to figure that out!! Love you all.. hope you can all figure out what to send me for my birthday ;) you only have one month and four days to figure it out!! ha ha ;)!!! Thanks for all your love and support and prayers.. missions are great.. EVERYTHING IS BETTER
IN TEXAS!!
con amor,
Hermana Barber
como estan? Well first off I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD on the 27th!! How old are you turning?... 20? (you can send me money for that later ;)!) Also i want to say CONGRATS to LIZZY HENDERSON soon to be JENSEN!!! I can't believe it and I am soooooooooooo excited for you... what a lucky guy! Thanks Matt for the cute videos of Jules, she is doll and getting so big.. can't wait to play with her when I get home. Mom and Dad it just sounds like you partied all weekend with the family. I was a little jealous and miss you all but I know i'm right where i need to be.
This week was a GREAT week filled with lots of hard work and exhaustion but also miracles! On Monday for p-day we had a zone p-day and played dodgeball against the Yound Men and Yound Women in the stake, it was so fun because most of us missionaries showed up wearing shirts i helped design for the zone that say JUST DO IT! on the front with the baptism sign then ont he back says 09 TDM (texas dallas mission) and sponsered by MOALA.. he paid for them!! they are Texas Longhorn orange and SWEET!! ha ha.. then that night we did FHE with two inactive spanish families...It was really fun but it is so hard to see the light in peoples eyes slowing fading and them not even realizing it!! Tuesday we had a district meeting then afterwards our whole district plus the zone leaders came and did a BLITZ in our area (where they all just come and knock doors in our area or contact people for us!) It was amazing and they found us five new investigators and it is a new challenge in our mission to get baptismal commitments (at least soft ones) during the first lesson.. and the elders got TWO baptismal commitment for us during the BLITZ...they haven't all panned out yet but still new investigators and people to work with is great! The BLITZ was two hours of knockingdoors in the middle of the afternoon and it was really hot but I think it was one of the funnest experiences of knocking doors i have had...Hermana Richardson and I just laughed for two hours straight... she is so funny and we get along so well, at every door she would say somethingwhitty and i would just die laughing.. we also found two new investigators and got four return appointments... oh and we got to offer a pray in the house of a catholic lady and we were praying right next to a table where there were probably ten candles burning and five pictures of the virgin Mary.... felt pretty awkward.. and yet they say they don't worship idols.. can't figure that one out! For service hours that night I tutored a little girl of an inactive family in math for an hour... I found out that i miss school and i love learning.. random side note!
Wednesday was a really really good day also... the english ward i am in Dallas 6th randomly had a 13 year old boy's record show up in their directory and sent us out to figure out who he was and what was his story. So we got an appointment with him and visited him on Wednesday. He lived with his grandma in Alaska and took the lessons and joined by himself... he just moved back to Texas to live with his Dad and step sister Jessica who is 11 and she know wants to take the lessons. The Dad said he has a beef with the big man upstairs but would sit in on our lessons.. his name is Alex Jackson, please pray his heart softens!! They are so cute and I am really excited to teach her... she came to church on Sunday and we went to primary with her and she was so excited just to make friends, just to be there! Then after we met with the Jackson family we drove to Copell and met with a spanish young lady who is 21 named Teresa Andrade... she was a missionary referral from the Elders up in Garland and she took all the lessons with her parents before she moved out to Copell with her five year old son Davin. Her parents got baptized yesterday in Garland.. but she backed out on her old baptismal date. It was a really cool experience as we taught her the first lesson again and answered her questions... then i just looked at her and said, "You know it's true." She just looked at me and said, "i know." Then we set a baptismal date for September 12th!! My first real baptismal date..just pray that she has the strength and time to keep this one! This will change her and her sons life forever!!!
Thursday was planning and there is a family that feeds us every Thursday Familia Garibaldi.. they are amazing. They have very very little but they insist on feeding us every week because they say they always get blessings from it.. we always insist they can feed us every other week and they say NO!!! They have such faith... well they couldn't feed us last Thursday so they gave us money (after I refused it three times and they were getting really really frustrated with me!!) so on Thursday we treated ourselves and went to my favorite restuarant OUTBACK!! YUMMMMY!! Then that night we had two lessons.. one with an investigator then an Less Active English family.
On Friday we fasted for the Gonzales Familia that has been taught for five months and come to church almost every week... we just wanted to know how we could get them to progress or in other words get baptized. Well Friday during the day we were invited to a 16 year old birthday party for a less active girl in the ward and we showed up and we were the only ones there.. it was so sad good thing we got her a gift or she would have only got one shirt from her mom for her birthday. then we ate at this old spanish ladies house.. the creepiest/weirdest dinner i have had on the mission... she handed us this oatmeal, milk drink...i told her i have milk allergies.. which i do but Hermana Richardson had to drink it and was sooooooooooooo sick the rest of the night. We walked into her house and we asked her if she lived alone and she said no I live with my dolls.. there were dolls everywhere and mannequins too.. really creepy!! then after that went to teach the Gonzales family... Hermana Richardson wanted to commit them to baptism so I just took the backseat but they told her they still didn't feel ready but we finally got them to pray about a date and we told them we would set one next appointment.. so this coming week!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for them!!
Sunday we had 5 people at church and got to go to Primary so all in all it was a good day :)!! Plus all of the men Sister Brundage baptized while she was here and the recent converts i've been blessed to work with received the Melchizedek priesthood yesterday Brother Elmore, Brother Gregory, and Hermano Aguilar.. Hermano Aguilar also blessed the sacrament for the first time in a sharp looking suit.. he did awesome. And Brother Elmore got his first call as the Ward Executive Secretary.. they are AWESOME!! I am really coming to love the people here in Carrollton.. I hope I don't get transfered in three weeks 'cause i'm already planning my Birthday with them in a month!! (ha ha.. anyone that knows me would not expect anything less... my birthday is a big deal!!) Mom about my birthday I could use some journals, church cd's (not the Mormon Tabernacle choir), and I can't really think of anything else.. oh maybe spanish scripture cases for my biblia y libro de mormon... but they are bigger than normal so i don't know if you will be able to figure that out!! Love you all.. hope you can all figure out what to send me for my birthday ;) you only have one month and four days to figure it out!! ha ha ;)!!! Thanks for all your love and support and prayers.. missions are great.. EVERYTHING IS BETTER
IN TEXAS!!
con amor,
Hermana Barber
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Eduardo Is Baptized!!
Hola familia y amigos!!
This week has been an incredible week!! not only did I get oddles of mail from all of you I also got two packages filled with goodies from Zach and Kelly and also one from Amber!! Also the cutest letter I have ever received came from Lacee this week.. she had her primary class all write me letters about being a missionary...It was so cute!! Thanks Lee!! Well I guess Stewart got blessed yesterday without me there but i hope my card made it to him... Charlene tried to send me pictures but the computer at the library wouldn't let me open them and i was pretty bummed. You all sound like you are doing amazing... Aunt Diane, I hope you know I love you and you are in my prayers every day.. day and night.
This week honestly has been amazing.. I started the week last Monday by getting to go and get the two new sisters from the mission home to take them out for their first night in Texas. It was one english sister named Sister Crawley and a spanish sister from samoa/missouri named Hermana Ulberg. We took them to a spanish lesson with the familia Gonzales who we have been working with for quite some time and they just aren't getting the concept of praying and recieving an anwser but our lesson with them was AMAZING... they actually prayed and we were able to help them connect the good feelings they
had after they prayed to an anwser from the holy ghost.... the light CLICK!!! love that. Then the teenage daughter Claudia had been promising me for two visits she would say the closing prayer but never would and this time i was not letter her get off the hook... she made excuse after excuse and finally found out she didn't feel comfortable praying in spanish.. so she said the most beautiful pray in english and will never forget her thanking heavenly father that we were there and that her family could learn about Jesus Christ. This is such an amazing job.. being an missionary.. nothing better! The family also came to church on Sunday and loved it.. the two teenage daughters loved young womans and the little girl who is a doll didn't scream her head off like she had the times before when she came.. (probably because I bribed her with candy.. I guess i am learning something from Mindy :)!!) After the Gonzales we went to a FHE with a recent convert english family the Elmores and it was fun seeing the dad trying to be such a faithful member doing everything he has been asked to do.. he prepared a lesson on honesty and the kids were SO ROWDY, and joking and wouldn't be serious.. he was getting frustrated and all i could do was laugh because I felt like home again!! ha ha!!! We then took the sisters back to the mission home and it is ALWAYS fun getting to see President and Sister Smith.. they're amazing.. but what was even weirder to me is that it was 3 months ago I was going out for my first night in Texas... man does time fly!! I remember it like it was yesterday.. seriously!!
Well we are teaching a lady named Esperanza from Honduras that i have told y'all about before but she has stopped coming to church and we were getting really frustrated because she told us her "espovio" (live in boyfriend) told her she couldn't go to church because she wasn't home in time to make her lunch... well we asked her if she would let us come and teach him and talk to him. I was a little nervous because i didn't think he was going to take the aspect of two young ladies telling him what to do.. but honestly the lesson was amazing! We showed up on Saturday and not only was Miguel and Esperanza there but also his brother sat in for the lesson. We taught him the first lesson and he asked us to come back and said it was beautiful... he also said he was going to come with Esperanza to church next week!! man does the Lord bless us and guide us in this work. Well we had to go to the car to get another Book of Mormon for Miguel but it was the most incredible sight to see that as we were walking back up to the apartment Miguel's brother Ivan was already on the back porch reading from the Book of Mormon... he was honestly "feasting" on the words!! It made me realize how much I take for granted this amazing book and the guidance and help we receive as members because of it! We also got to teach a recent convert new member lesson this week to a man named Brother Gregory and his daughter April who is 10 years old. We showed up to the lesson and couldn't get a woman to come with us so we had to teach him on his porch but the best part about this lesson was April had invited two of her ten year old friends to come over to play and be at the lesson. The whole lesson she explained to them what things were, why we believed them, and why we needed them. It was so simple for her to share her testimony... she has been a member less than a year and she is TEN and she had no reserve in sharing what she knew to be true. Share your testimony with everyone... don't be embarressed or think it will ruin your friendship... the greatest gift you could give someone you love is your
testimony and the amazing blessings that come with this gospel.
We are teaching another lady named Elsy and she was so close to being baptized... we went into the lesson with thoughts of setting a date... She has been so entuned with the spirit since the first lesson and loves the story of Joseph Smith.. she started giving the restoration videos we gave her away to her friends... well long story short we asked her to get baptized and she just looked at us and said.. i'm not gonna lie.. i was already baptized in 1990... so no wonder she was no entuned to the spirit she has the gift of the holy ghost!! A lot of the work in this area is less active work but it is so amazing when she them walk in to church on Sunday or realize the importance of the sacrament in their lives...
We got food poisioning twice this week from eating with members...thats all
i'm going to say about that...
Sunday was the best day of my mission so far.. we had eight people in sacrament meeting which means more stress for the misisonaries but that is our game day.. that is what we work for so it was awesome! Then after church we had dinner with a recent convert family who sent their brother-in-law who is not a member to buy us pizzas for dinner... I felt like a sinner eating the pizza on the Sabbath.. ha ha i guess out next lesson with them should be Keep the Sabbath day holy!! after dinner the Quinn Couple from the englishward drove us to Iriving for Eduardo's baptism.. IT WAS LIKE COMING HOME!!! I walked in the building Eduardo was sitting on the couch waiting to see me with a huge smile all dressed up in his church pants, white shirt and tie!! I can't even explain the feelings I had that day.. i've never felt them before. I saw all my family in Irving... got so many hugs, kisses on the cheek, smiles.. I miss them so much and man do they miss me.. :) ha ha they all said they're praying for me come back.. i hope i finish my mission in Irving! Well the baptism service was awesome and the WHOLE ward was there.. the chapel was FILLED... we had a talk on Baptism then Eduardo was baptized by the old first counselor in the bishopric Hermano Magana.. and i started crying during his baptism.. all the little kids looked at me and were like why are you crying Hermana Barbie.. ha ha.. then we had a talk on the Holy Ghost then Eduardo got up and bore his testimony and thanked God for the Misioneras that found him and saved his life. he then said he felt alone before he found the church and looked out and said now i have a bigger
family then i know what to do with!! ha ha.. he then said this was the best decision he has ever made in his life!! and I agree!! ha ha... i gave him the stain glass dove that Aunt Janene made and gave me that symbolized the holy ghost during the story of Jesus getting baptized and is suppose to remind him of his baptism day... i also gave Eduardo a three page letter I wrote in ALL SPANISH!!! aren't you so proud of me? I'm sure it has tons of mistakes and took me three days of language study to write but I did it!! ha ha... I will never forget the smile on Eduardo's face, the tears in his eyes, and the strength of his testimony.... This work is so worth it! It effects people's eternities!!
Well family I am doing amazing and Hermana Richardson and I are going to rock this transfer... we work so well together and we see miracles and the lord's hand in thiswork everyday!! Keep praying for our investigators!!
love you so much! thanks for the love, support and prayers!
con amor,
Hermana Katie Barber
This week has been an incredible week!! not only did I get oddles of mail from all of you I also got two packages filled with goodies from Zach and Kelly and also one from Amber!! Also the cutest letter I have ever received came from Lacee this week.. she had her primary class all write me letters about being a missionary...It was so cute!! Thanks Lee!! Well I guess Stewart got blessed yesterday without me there but i hope my card made it to him... Charlene tried to send me pictures but the computer at the library wouldn't let me open them and i was pretty bummed. You all sound like you are doing amazing... Aunt Diane, I hope you know I love you and you are in my prayers every day.. day and night.
This week honestly has been amazing.. I started the week last Monday by getting to go and get the two new sisters from the mission home to take them out for their first night in Texas. It was one english sister named Sister Crawley and a spanish sister from samoa/missouri named Hermana Ulberg. We took them to a spanish lesson with the familia Gonzales who we have been working with for quite some time and they just aren't getting the concept of praying and recieving an anwser but our lesson with them was AMAZING... they actually prayed and we were able to help them connect the good feelings they
had after they prayed to an anwser from the holy ghost.... the light CLICK!!! love that. Then the teenage daughter Claudia had been promising me for two visits she would say the closing prayer but never would and this time i was not letter her get off the hook... she made excuse after excuse and finally found out she didn't feel comfortable praying in spanish.. so she said the most beautiful pray in english and will never forget her thanking heavenly father that we were there and that her family could learn about Jesus Christ. This is such an amazing job.. being an missionary.. nothing better! The family also came to church on Sunday and loved it.. the two teenage daughters loved young womans and the little girl who is a doll didn't scream her head off like she had the times before when she came.. (probably because I bribed her with candy.. I guess i am learning something from Mindy :)!!) After the Gonzales we went to a FHE with a recent convert english family the Elmores and it was fun seeing the dad trying to be such a faithful member doing everything he has been asked to do.. he prepared a lesson on honesty and the kids were SO ROWDY, and joking and wouldn't be serious.. he was getting frustrated and all i could do was laugh because I felt like home again!! ha ha!!! We then took the sisters back to the mission home and it is ALWAYS fun getting to see President and Sister Smith.. they're amazing.. but what was even weirder to me is that it was 3 months ago I was going out for my first night in Texas... man does time fly!! I remember it like it was yesterday.. seriously!!
Well we are teaching a lady named Esperanza from Honduras that i have told y'all about before but she has stopped coming to church and we were getting really frustrated because she told us her "espovio" (live in boyfriend) told her she couldn't go to church because she wasn't home in time to make her lunch... well we asked her if she would let us come and teach him and talk to him. I was a little nervous because i didn't think he was going to take the aspect of two young ladies telling him what to do.. but honestly the lesson was amazing! We showed up on Saturday and not only was Miguel and Esperanza there but also his brother sat in for the lesson. We taught him the first lesson and he asked us to come back and said it was beautiful... he also said he was going to come with Esperanza to church next week!! man does the Lord bless us and guide us in this work. Well we had to go to the car to get another Book of Mormon for Miguel but it was the most incredible sight to see that as we were walking back up to the apartment Miguel's brother Ivan was already on the back porch reading from the Book of Mormon... he was honestly "feasting" on the words!! It made me realize how much I take for granted this amazing book and the guidance and help we receive as members because of it! We also got to teach a recent convert new member lesson this week to a man named Brother Gregory and his daughter April who is 10 years old. We showed up to the lesson and couldn't get a woman to come with us so we had to teach him on his porch but the best part about this lesson was April had invited two of her ten year old friends to come over to play and be at the lesson. The whole lesson she explained to them what things were, why we believed them, and why we needed them. It was so simple for her to share her testimony... she has been a member less than a year and she is TEN and she had no reserve in sharing what she knew to be true. Share your testimony with everyone... don't be embarressed or think it will ruin your friendship... the greatest gift you could give someone you love is your
testimony and the amazing blessings that come with this gospel.
We are teaching another lady named Elsy and she was so close to being baptized... we went into the lesson with thoughts of setting a date... She has been so entuned with the spirit since the first lesson and loves the story of Joseph Smith.. she started giving the restoration videos we gave her away to her friends... well long story short we asked her to get baptized and she just looked at us and said.. i'm not gonna lie.. i was already baptized in 1990... so no wonder she was no entuned to the spirit she has the gift of the holy ghost!! A lot of the work in this area is less active work but it is so amazing when she them walk in to church on Sunday or realize the importance of the sacrament in their lives...
We got food poisioning twice this week from eating with members...thats all
i'm going to say about that...
Sunday was the best day of my mission so far.. we had eight people in sacrament meeting which means more stress for the misisonaries but that is our game day.. that is what we work for so it was awesome! Then after church we had dinner with a recent convert family who sent their brother-in-law who is not a member to buy us pizzas for dinner... I felt like a sinner eating the pizza on the Sabbath.. ha ha i guess out next lesson with them should be Keep the Sabbath day holy!! after dinner the Quinn Couple from the englishward drove us to Iriving for Eduardo's baptism.. IT WAS LIKE COMING HOME!!! I walked in the building Eduardo was sitting on the couch waiting to see me with a huge smile all dressed up in his church pants, white shirt and tie!! I can't even explain the feelings I had that day.. i've never felt them before. I saw all my family in Irving... got so many hugs, kisses on the cheek, smiles.. I miss them so much and man do they miss me.. :) ha ha they all said they're praying for me come back.. i hope i finish my mission in Irving! Well the baptism service was awesome and the WHOLE ward was there.. the chapel was FILLED... we had a talk on Baptism then Eduardo was baptized by the old first counselor in the bishopric Hermano Magana.. and i started crying during his baptism.. all the little kids looked at me and were like why are you crying Hermana Barbie.. ha ha.. then we had a talk on the Holy Ghost then Eduardo got up and bore his testimony and thanked God for the Misioneras that found him and saved his life. he then said he felt alone before he found the church and looked out and said now i have a bigger
family then i know what to do with!! ha ha.. he then said this was the best decision he has ever made in his life!! and I agree!! ha ha... i gave him the stain glass dove that Aunt Janene made and gave me that symbolized the holy ghost during the story of Jesus getting baptized and is suppose to remind him of his baptism day... i also gave Eduardo a three page letter I wrote in ALL SPANISH!!! aren't you so proud of me? I'm sure it has tons of mistakes and took me three days of language study to write but I did it!! ha ha... I will never forget the smile on Eduardo's face, the tears in his eyes, and the strength of his testimony.... This work is so worth it! It effects people's eternities!!
Well family I am doing amazing and Hermana Richardson and I are going to rock this transfer... we work so well together and we see miracles and the lord's hand in thiswork everyday!! Keep praying for our investigators!!
love you so much! thanks for the love, support and prayers!
con amor,
Hermana Katie Barber
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I'M STILL ALIVE!!
Hi familia!!
Well I have had a really exciting week this week so I'm just gonna jump right into telling you all my fun stories. Well after e-mailing last Monday I went with all the elders to go to dinner with the head elder at the Bishop's storehouse...His name is Elder Willie Moala...I felt kinda bad going to dinner with him at this Brazilian Meat Restuarant which is expensive when i didn't even know him. But it was the most amazing lunch/dinner ever! Brother Moala sat right next to me and there were 18 other missionaries but we ended up talking the whole dinner. He told me all about his life. He graduated from high school when he was 14...played professional rugby for new zealand by 16... joined the church when he turned 20 and went to byu hawaii. He played rugby at BYU provo and was scouted to play football for the Denver Broncos and played for them for five years when he had never even played football before! Anyway he owns his own general contracting company and is very successful... But he was so inspiring because we talked about my future dreams and schooling and he told me as long as i always remembered to put God first I would be successful in whatever I did. Mom that is cool that he called you and I am shocked that he really called y'all and offered to do that.... he really does want to do it out of the sincerity of his heart. Willie is an amazing man who has given his life to the lord and loves this missionary work... I have his address and have already sent him a thank you card for spending so much on us for dinner... He serves with nothing expected in return... I hope I can live such a selfless life like him. And I am happy that Presidentsucc Carrasquillo called you too.. he is AWESOME!! i love this spanish branch and I love his family... he wants me to marry his son! ha ha..
Well the next eventful day was on Wednesday... On Wednesday Hermana Richardson and I were on our way to an appointment and we were in the 2009 Malibu. She was turning left on a road she thought was three lanes.... but i noticed it was really four lanes when i saw a red F-250 truck heading right towards me really fast! I yelled to Hna. Richardson to go FASTER but instead she tapped on the brake... I just remember thinking HOW CAN YOU BE SO STUPID!! then the next thing i remember is facing the other way down the street and Hna. Richardson was hitting the air bag out of my face and my head completely POUNDING! The next couple hours were kinda a blur... but pretty comical now that i look back. The paramedics were talking to me trying to decide if I should go to the hospital and they asked..."What is today?" I knew it was Wednesday but as a missionary i loose track of the days... Hna. Richardson leaned over and said, "It's the 29th!" The paramedic just looked at her not amused and said, "You can't help her!" ha ha talk about companionship unity! Well then he thought i didn't remember anything so i looked at the paramedic (remember I was in complete shock!) and said, "I know it is wednesday and i have an appointment with romeo right down the road right now. I am a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. I speak spanish...well kinda. I know that today is the 29th because yesterday was two months until my 22nd birthday." Yep... he just stared at me and said, "I'm gonna recommend you go to the hospital!" Well i refused a ambulance...but me and my companion just sat there on the side of the road. Another funny thing was my companion was talking on the phone to the missionaries int he office and She told Elder Hansen that she was going to go try to back up the car and get it off it street... and i look in the street and there is a wrecker getting ready to take the totaled Malibu off the road.. i told her she couldnt move it but she just kept repeating she was gonna go drive the car! ha ha.. well we were not in the best of shape so the Mission President and his wife wanted us to go get checked out... after a CAT scan, and spine X-day i got some pain killer, ice packs and went on my way with some whiplash. Well Elder Hansen from the mission office went to go look at the car the next day and just called us and said all he could do is pray and thank God we walked out of the car.... honestly if Hermana Richardson didn't tap on the brake our car would have been T-boned right at my door and it was so bad I know the outcome would have not been good. I know angels were watching over us...even though we have been really sore we are very grateful we are okay! We actually got back to work a full day on Saturday and I am feeling GREAT now!! So now I am the designated driver and Hna. Richardson can't drive the rest of the mission... we got a new car.. well a 2005 Malibu! ha ha Well that night after having a REALLY LONG BAD day... I was laying on my bed with ice packs all over, on a muscle relaxer and pain reliever and i got a phone call from a number i didnt' recognize so i answered... I asked who it was and it was ELDER PINCOCK my Z.L. from Iriving he proceeds to say, "So you don't happen to remember an investigator named Eduardo do you?" all i could say was NO WAY!!! Well yep Eduardo is getting BAPTIZED on August 9th and I can't wait! The Elder said he comes to church every week in a white shirt and tie (and they said they were nice ties like Donald Trump times.. ha ha!!) I have never experienced the joy i felt when i heard that news! The Elders might get the number but Eduardo will always be the miracle and answer to prayers for me and Hermana Brundage. Hermana Brundage and I always wanted to give away one of the stain glass doves that Aunt Janene gave me and now we are going to! God always answers prayers its just in his timing and in his way. Well I got permission to go back to the baptism and I can't wait!
Well transfer calls were on Saturday and we didn't get a call which means I am staying in Carrollton with Hermana Richardson for six more weeks and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!! We are going to rock it this next 6 weeks... Thanks for all your prayers, love, and letters!! Texas is GREAT!!! ADIOS Y'all!! (that is my Tex-mex spanish for you!! ha ha) con amor- Hermana Katie Barber
Well I have had a really exciting week this week so I'm just gonna jump right into telling you all my fun stories. Well after e-mailing last Monday I went with all the elders to go to dinner with the head elder at the Bishop's storehouse...His name is Elder Willie Moala...I felt kinda bad going to dinner with him at this Brazilian Meat Restuarant which is expensive when i didn't even know him. But it was the most amazing lunch/dinner ever! Brother Moala sat right next to me and there were 18 other missionaries but we ended up talking the whole dinner. He told me all about his life. He graduated from high school when he was 14...played professional rugby for new zealand by 16... joined the church when he turned 20 and went to byu hawaii. He played rugby at BYU provo and was scouted to play football for the Denver Broncos and played for them for five years when he had never even played football before! Anyway he owns his own general contracting company and is very successful... But he was so inspiring because we talked about my future dreams and schooling and he told me as long as i always remembered to put God first I would be successful in whatever I did. Mom that is cool that he called you and I am shocked that he really called y'all and offered to do that.... he really does want to do it out of the sincerity of his heart. Willie is an amazing man who has given his life to the lord and loves this missionary work... I have his address and have already sent him a thank you card for spending so much on us for dinner... He serves with nothing expected in return... I hope I can live such a selfless life like him. And I am happy that Presidentsucc Carrasquillo called you too.. he is AWESOME!! i love this spanish branch and I love his family... he wants me to marry his son! ha ha..
Well the next eventful day was on Wednesday... On Wednesday Hermana Richardson and I were on our way to an appointment and we were in the 2009 Malibu. She was turning left on a road she thought was three lanes.... but i noticed it was really four lanes when i saw a red F-250 truck heading right towards me really fast! I yelled to Hna. Richardson to go FASTER but instead she tapped on the brake... I just remember thinking HOW CAN YOU BE SO STUPID!! then the next thing i remember is facing the other way down the street and Hna. Richardson was hitting the air bag out of my face and my head completely POUNDING! The next couple hours were kinda a blur... but pretty comical now that i look back. The paramedics were talking to me trying to decide if I should go to the hospital and they asked..."What is today?" I knew it was Wednesday but as a missionary i loose track of the days... Hna. Richardson leaned over and said, "It's the 29th!" The paramedic just looked at her not amused and said, "You can't help her!" ha ha talk about companionship unity! Well then he thought i didn't remember anything so i looked at the paramedic (remember I was in complete shock!) and said, "I know it is wednesday and i have an appointment with romeo right down the road right now. I am a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. I speak spanish...well kinda. I know that today is the 29th because yesterday was two months until my 22nd birthday." Yep... he just stared at me and said, "I'm gonna recommend you go to the hospital!" Well i refused a ambulance...but me and my companion just sat there on the side of the road. Another funny thing was my companion was talking on the phone to the missionaries int he office and She told Elder Hansen that she was going to go try to back up the car and get it off it street... and i look in the street and there is a wrecker getting ready to take the totaled Malibu off the road.. i told her she couldnt move it but she just kept repeating she was gonna go drive the car! ha ha.. well we were not in the best of shape so the Mission President and his wife wanted us to go get checked out... after a CAT scan, and spine X-day i got some pain killer, ice packs and went on my way with some whiplash. Well Elder Hansen from the mission office went to go look at the car the next day and just called us and said all he could do is pray and thank God we walked out of the car.... honestly if Hermana Richardson didn't tap on the brake our car would have been T-boned right at my door and it was so bad I know the outcome would have not been good. I know angels were watching over us...even though we have been really sore we are very grateful we are okay! We actually got back to work a full day on Saturday and I am feeling GREAT now!! So now I am the designated driver and Hna. Richardson can't drive the rest of the mission... we got a new car.. well a 2005 Malibu! ha ha Well that night after having a REALLY LONG BAD day... I was laying on my bed with ice packs all over, on a muscle relaxer and pain reliever and i got a phone call from a number i didnt' recognize so i answered... I asked who it was and it was ELDER PINCOCK my Z.L. from Iriving he proceeds to say, "So you don't happen to remember an investigator named Eduardo do you?" all i could say was NO WAY!!! Well yep Eduardo is getting BAPTIZED on August 9th and I can't wait! The Elder said he comes to church every week in a white shirt and tie (and they said they were nice ties like Donald Trump times.. ha ha!!) I have never experienced the joy i felt when i heard that news! The Elders might get the number but Eduardo will always be the miracle and answer to prayers for me and Hermana Brundage. Hermana Brundage and I always wanted to give away one of the stain glass doves that Aunt Janene gave me and now we are going to! God always answers prayers its just in his timing and in his way. Well I got permission to go back to the baptism and I can't wait!
Well transfer calls were on Saturday and we didn't get a call which means I am staying in Carrollton with Hermana Richardson for six more weeks and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!! We are going to rock it this next 6 weeks... Thanks for all your prayers, love, and letters!! Texas is GREAT!!! ADIOS Y'all!! (that is my Tex-mex spanish for you!! ha ha) con amor- Hermana Katie Barber
Monday, July 27, 2009
Last week of second transfer!
HOLA!!!!!!
Hi my dear family!!! Man how i love getting e-mail... they always makeme laugh my face off and miss y'all just a little more. This has definitely been my most interesting week in the mission and honest pretty unproductive. We spent most of Monday packing up the old apartment which consisted of junk from years of missionaries... honestly there was globes, sombreros, car seats... who knows!! Then on Tuesday we spent the day unpacking and moving into the new apartment but I am not complaining because I HAVE HOT WATER!!! and we live in a complex with three other way cute couples from the ward so that has been fun... plus the manager LOVES us.. her name is JJ Jantz, she loves us but she hates the church. Kinda ironic. I guess one time one of the couples gave her a Finding Faith in Christ DVD and she gave it back to them. But she comes and visits us like everyday and asked us to pray for her daughter-in-law that has cancer so maybe we are making little steps with her. She really is a loud, crazy, texan though with the big hair and all and i love her!! On Wednesday we spent the day deep cleaning the old apartment which was pretty gross but we are breaking our lease so we didn't want to give them any excuse to do anything to the church... so that took some hours. Then we thought we were done for the week and Elder Hansen (from the mission office) told us we need to take our 2009 Malibu in for a Oil change and then he asked if we could drive into the office and drop off the keys to the old appartment. So we spent the day at Pep Boys and Dallas... Then we were so happy because we finally thought we could really get to work then Hermana Richardson got a bad cold!!! We still worked really hard this week don't get me wrong it was just so mixed up with "worldly" chores!! So on Sunday we got done at dinner (I made spaghetti!! aren't you proud of me!) and went out to work and it started pouring like cats and dogs and lightning and thundering but we went out anyway!! Then we got home at 9 PM and our building was the only one in the whole building that didn't have power!! We asked the neighbors what happened and I guess lightning struck the electrical pole RIGHT OUTSIDE our front door!! ha ha.. so pretty much we didn't get power till one in the morning our apartment was scorching.. but hey we had HOT WATER!! ha ha.. aren't we the luckiest hermanas you've ever heard of!!??? Another funny thing from this week... two weeks ago two Elder in our Zone got hit by cars while they were riding their bikes so for district meeting on Tuesday I made a better than #%* cake and brought it to them with a label on it saying "In honor of Elder Dalley and Elder Zobell... Better than "getting hit by a car" Cake" Everyone laughed so hard and the cake was SUPER good!! But on the spiritual stuff of the week!! The spanish ward is kind of falling apart with lots of less active families and even the long time members of the ward don't really GET the gospel. So we have been contacting a lot of less active families this week and it has been amazing to watch from the second you enter their house to when you leave... they feel the spirit and understand the need to come back... all of them have fifty million reason why not to or have been offended by something but none of them deny the truthfulness of this gospel and the power of the spirit. All they need is to feel the love and that they are missed.... it was amazing to watch two of the families walk into sacrament meeting on Sunday!!! I was so happy! i love the spanish branch though.. the President is amazing.. his name is Presidente Carasquillo and his wife Hermana Carasquillo went on her mission to Argentina and is American... they are so loving and truly care so much about the ward and about this missionary work. He took us to lunch at Chili's this week to discuss the new ward missionary leader and what the plan was going to be and my companion and I shared a chocolate moulton cake... at the end of the meeting he thanked us for coming and then looked at me and said, " It was an EXPERIENCE watching you eat that cake.. i never knew someone could love chocolate as much as my wife but i think i just found her!!" I was laughing so hard.. he always gives me such a hard time! But he is going to Vegas this week for work meetings and i gave him mom's cell number (the only one i could remember) and he should be calling y'all since he is going to be in "my neck of the woods" like he said... he is hilarious!
One of my goals this week has been to talk to everyone I see...even if it's awkward just talk to them... well we were coming out of an apartment and I saw a lady pushing a stroller a little ways off.. out of my way so I was not going to go talk to her since we were late for another appointment but then my goal popped in my mind so I went up and talked to her and got a return appointment for that Friday. We went back to teach her on Friday and her name is Nancy Adame and has the cutest little boy ever... she pretty much told US the Joseph Smith story.. She remembered it from when she lived in El Salvador when she was 14.. she said some young men used to come teach her and her friends at school but she hadn't seen missionaries since they were transfered out. We asked her how she felt and she said she knew it was true... she is so prepared!! Our next step like with every other hispanic is to get her a job that she doesn't work on Sunday so she can come to church and for her husband to give up his catholic tradition!! But i just thought it was amazing how much the Lord knows us and longs to help us accomplish our goals when we are willing to put in our work and effort!
We got a couple great english referrals this week from a couple that live in our same complex... They are the Hansen family and honestly theyare the cutest little family I have ever seen... Brother Hansen is going to the Chiropracter school her and Sister Hansen takes care of their two little boys... they are from somewhere in Utah. But they called us this week and left us a message about a referral they had for us. They preceeded to tell us that they had been having a picnic at the park and
gave a Book of Mormon and our number to a homeless lady that lived on the south side of a certain bridge... We haven't been able to find her yet! Then they called us and gave us another referral of a lady thatlives in our complex...they invited her to dinner with us and she said she didn't know if she had time because she had to take care of the complex's ducks... she feeds them, talks to them, and has named them! So pretty much we are getting some outstanding english referrals this week!! ha ha.. got to love the Hansens! We can't get ahold of Willie this week which is really weird... it is the same thing that happened with Eduardo in Iriving.. they are like GOLDEN!!! and then we can't find them for a week or a month... so I'm praying she comes back as prepared as Eduardo was!! We also met an amazing older man this week named Joseph Esters that we are going back to teach this week.. He is really really really smart in the Bible so our lessons are going to be interesting.. but he is caring for his wife and nephew right now who are in the hospital with cancer, plus his little granddaughter and still trying to work on top of that!! His wife used to be a preacher but stop because she realized her church was hypocritical... so we are really really excited to go teach him and hopefully his wife when she gets out of the hospital. We have one family in the spanish ward that is ready to get baptized but the wife has to get a divorce from her old husband in Mexico first who won't give her the divorce because she has the two boys.... but she has to get that first so she can marry her boyfriend she is living with now so they can all get baptized.. We almost set a date with another lady this week named Esperanza but she has to marry her boyfriend of ten years also because she can and he doesn't see the need to be married.. most of the time i feel more like a wedding planner than a missionary. but it will all work out in the Lord's time... please pray for them!
Well I feel like my letter is completely jumbled just like my mind this week... I guess I have really realized the importance of being set apart from the world while you are on your mission and focusing all your attention on the work!! I am excited for this week and know it is going to be AMAZING!!! Love you family!!
con amor-
Hermana Barber
Hi my dear family!!! Man how i love getting e-mail... they always makeme laugh my face off and miss y'all just a little more. This has definitely been my most interesting week in the mission and honest pretty unproductive. We spent most of Monday packing up the old apartment which consisted of junk from years of missionaries... honestly there was globes, sombreros, car seats... who knows!! Then on Tuesday we spent the day unpacking and moving into the new apartment but I am not complaining because I HAVE HOT WATER!!! and we live in a complex with three other way cute couples from the ward so that has been fun... plus the manager LOVES us.. her name is JJ Jantz, she loves us but she hates the church. Kinda ironic. I guess one time one of the couples gave her a Finding Faith in Christ DVD and she gave it back to them. But she comes and visits us like everyday and asked us to pray for her daughter-in-law that has cancer so maybe we are making little steps with her. She really is a loud, crazy, texan though with the big hair and all and i love her!! On Wednesday we spent the day deep cleaning the old apartment which was pretty gross but we are breaking our lease so we didn't want to give them any excuse to do anything to the church... so that took some hours. Then we thought we were done for the week and Elder Hansen (from the mission office) told us we need to take our 2009 Malibu in for a Oil change and then he asked if we could drive into the office and drop off the keys to the old appartment. So we spent the day at Pep Boys and Dallas... Then we were so happy because we finally thought we could really get to work then Hermana Richardson got a bad cold!!! We still worked really hard this week don't get me wrong it was just so mixed up with "worldly" chores!! So on Sunday we got done at dinner (I made spaghetti!! aren't you proud of me!) and went out to work and it started pouring like cats and dogs and lightning and thundering but we went out anyway!! Then we got home at 9 PM and our building was the only one in the whole building that didn't have power!! We asked the neighbors what happened and I guess lightning struck the electrical pole RIGHT OUTSIDE our front door!! ha ha.. so pretty much we didn't get power till one in the morning our apartment was scorching.. but hey we had HOT WATER!! ha ha.. aren't we the luckiest hermanas you've ever heard of!!??? Another funny thing from this week... two weeks ago two Elder in our Zone got hit by cars while they were riding their bikes so for district meeting on Tuesday I made a better than #%* cake and brought it to them with a label on it saying "In honor of Elder Dalley and Elder Zobell... Better than "getting hit by a car" Cake" Everyone laughed so hard and the cake was SUPER good!! But on the spiritual stuff of the week!! The spanish ward is kind of falling apart with lots of less active families and even the long time members of the ward don't really GET the gospel. So we have been contacting a lot of less active families this week and it has been amazing to watch from the second you enter their house to when you leave... they feel the spirit and understand the need to come back... all of them have fifty million reason why not to or have been offended by something but none of them deny the truthfulness of this gospel and the power of the spirit. All they need is to feel the love and that they are missed.... it was amazing to watch two of the families walk into sacrament meeting on Sunday!!! I was so happy! i love the spanish branch though.. the President is amazing.. his name is Presidente Carasquillo and his wife Hermana Carasquillo went on her mission to Argentina and is American... they are so loving and truly care so much about the ward and about this missionary work. He took us to lunch at Chili's this week to discuss the new ward missionary leader and what the plan was going to be and my companion and I shared a chocolate moulton cake... at the end of the meeting he thanked us for coming and then looked at me and said, " It was an EXPERIENCE watching you eat that cake.. i never knew someone could love chocolate as much as my wife but i think i just found her!!" I was laughing so hard.. he always gives me such a hard time! But he is going to Vegas this week for work meetings and i gave him mom's cell number (the only one i could remember) and he should be calling y'all since he is going to be in "my neck of the woods" like he said... he is hilarious!
One of my goals this week has been to talk to everyone I see...even if it's awkward just talk to them... well we were coming out of an apartment and I saw a lady pushing a stroller a little ways off.. out of my way so I was not going to go talk to her since we were late for another appointment but then my goal popped in my mind so I went up and talked to her and got a return appointment for that Friday. We went back to teach her on Friday and her name is Nancy Adame and has the cutest little boy ever... she pretty much told US the Joseph Smith story.. She remembered it from when she lived in El Salvador when she was 14.. she said some young men used to come teach her and her friends at school but she hadn't seen missionaries since they were transfered out. We asked her how she felt and she said she knew it was true... she is so prepared!! Our next step like with every other hispanic is to get her a job that she doesn't work on Sunday so she can come to church and for her husband to give up his catholic tradition!! But i just thought it was amazing how much the Lord knows us and longs to help us accomplish our goals when we are willing to put in our work and effort!
We got a couple great english referrals this week from a couple that live in our same complex... They are the Hansen family and honestly theyare the cutest little family I have ever seen... Brother Hansen is going to the Chiropracter school her and Sister Hansen takes care of their two little boys... they are from somewhere in Utah. But they called us this week and left us a message about a referral they had for us. They preceeded to tell us that they had been having a picnic at the park and
gave a Book of Mormon and our number to a homeless lady that lived on the south side of a certain bridge... We haven't been able to find her yet! Then they called us and gave us another referral of a lady thatlives in our complex...they invited her to dinner with us and she said she didn't know if she had time because she had to take care of the complex's ducks... she feeds them, talks to them, and has named them! So pretty much we are getting some outstanding english referrals this week!! ha ha.. got to love the Hansens! We can't get ahold of Willie this week which is really weird... it is the same thing that happened with Eduardo in Iriving.. they are like GOLDEN!!! and then we can't find them for a week or a month... so I'm praying she comes back as prepared as Eduardo was!! We also met an amazing older man this week named Joseph Esters that we are going back to teach this week.. He is really really really smart in the Bible so our lessons are going to be interesting.. but he is caring for his wife and nephew right now who are in the hospital with cancer, plus his little granddaughter and still trying to work on top of that!! His wife used to be a preacher but stop because she realized her church was hypocritical... so we are really really excited to go teach him and hopefully his wife when she gets out of the hospital. We have one family in the spanish ward that is ready to get baptized but the wife has to get a divorce from her old husband in Mexico first who won't give her the divorce because she has the two boys.... but she has to get that first so she can marry her boyfriend she is living with now so they can all get baptized.. We almost set a date with another lady this week named Esperanza but she has to marry her boyfriend of ten years also because she can and he doesn't see the need to be married.. most of the time i feel more like a wedding planner than a missionary. but it will all work out in the Lord's time... please pray for them!
Well I feel like my letter is completely jumbled just like my mind this week... I guess I have really realized the importance of being set apart from the world while you are on your mission and focusing all your attention on the work!! I am excited for this week and know it is going to be AMAZING!!! Love you family!!
con amor-
Hermana Barber
Sunday, July 26, 2009
CARROLLTON + HOT WATER = HAPPY KATIE!!
Hola familia y amigos!!
I want to start my letter today by wishing MY VERY OLD BROTHER WHO IS TURNING TWENTY FOUR AND NOT MARRIED a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Love you Bubbie!! your card is in the mail.. I'm just sending it to the house! wish i could be there to celebrate... don't do anything too crazy! I can't believe Matt and Charlene just picked up and went to Hawaii.. super jealous.. and I heard matt is starting school in August.. so did he get into BYU or choose a different school? Stewart sounds like he growing healthy and Mike and Kara are having a riot being parents.. and I'm excited for Brandon Howick to get married.. please tell him i said CONGRATS!! mindy and tales are still ridicuously hopelessly romantic...enough said! Brad... still waiting for another e-mail from him.. as always! Brad.... did you ever make that phone call??
Well my week has been great! i have been in carrollton for two weeks now which means two weeks without a hot shower. But they have been dealing with this for over eight months now in that complex so we are breaking the lease and moving into a new apartment tomorrow that is really cute and in a way better part of town. So yes i have to pack all my stuff up again!! plus the rest of the apartment today!! super fun huh?? i am just excited for the HOT SHOWER!!! Plus in the complex is like four young couples going to Parker the Chiropracter school here and they are super excited for us to live close by... its like moving into the same complex as family... so i'm super excited and will feel super safe there!
We had zone conference this week in Frisco which was amazing as usual... my President and his wife are truly the sweetest most amazing, funniest couple ever!! Our whole conference was about getting investigators to church and then how to help them have the best experience possible once we get them there. We talked a lot about how each of our investigators don't just need someone to fellowship them but friendshipping.. not just being there becasue they are on assignment because they really care! We have been doing a lot of member training in hopes that our investigators will feel more welcome at church and stay... members really have a desire to help in the work but a lot of the time they have no clue what to do... so it has been fun getting to know the members more and do some little trainings on friendshiping our investigators. I always love zone conference because it is like a pep rally... we get all pumped for the work again and spiritually revived!! I talked to President and Sister smith after the conference and they gave me a little insight... we have one spanish sister coming in in two weeks so I really dont' know how transfers are going to go in two weeks we are praying that me and Hermana Richardson stay together and they seperate the threesome but that would mean they would probably double transfer someone back into
Iriving which doesn't really make sense since I know the area.. so it might be another shocker transfer.. but then we have three new sisters coming in in September and President said to me... just so you know all sisters that have over a month in the field will be training so I would study hard if i was you! with a little smile... then said most people don't get that much insight before such a big change!! i really am super nervous.. three transfers in the field.. four months in Texas and
training. Y'all better pray doubletime for me!! PLEASE!! Spanish work here in Carrollton in a lot more receptive and progressing then the english work here.. which shouldn't be a shocker! We have some fun families that are investigating but not progressing very fast for marriage problems or others... they are Familia Escalante, Familia Gonzales. We are also teaching older ladies named Elsy and Esperanza.. they are just kinda lazy and not willing to do the work to change. But really i have fallen in love with the hispanic culture and people. They are so warm and loving... plus they make good food! The english ward has some great families that I love.. one of the strongest families in the branch are actually converts from Sister Brundage... the Elmore Family and you should just meet them.. they are incredible and have such a desire to learn and grow in the gospel... Brother Elmore actually does his home teaching with a smile!! imagine that! It is amazing to see people come into the gospel after never having it in their lives and then I truly realize all the things I have taken for granted in my life always having the church...simple things like home teaching, visiting teaching, going to the temple... makes such a huge difference!! But the english work has really been suffering in this area there are lots of inactive families we have been trying to get back to church and we have been trying to find some solid english families and Man, has the lord blessed us! We got six new english investigators this week which is honestly unreal!! The first one is named Anne McDougal-Thompson and i'm not going ot lie is a bit of a nutcase. She loves world of warcraft and is a computer programmer that loves cats. She was in the former investigators pile from years ago and in her record it said she had an online boyfriend who was LDS. so my companion a couple weeks back went and knocked on her door and a guy answered the door and after they did their contacting spill thinking
anne didn't live there anymore he look at them and said, "I'm an Elder." So pretty much we went back and met Anne and she had married her online boyfriend, he moved away from his parents that were pushing him to break up with anne and go on a mission so he left... moved to Texas and they are married now. We found his records on the ward list and no one has EVER tried to visit him. So we started the lessons with Anne this week. She went to a lot of churches when she was younger and has some crazy
concepts of God... but we started teaching her and I stopped and had the impression to ask Zach how the gospel has blessed his life and his families. This was kinda a risky thing considering he hasn't come to church in over a year and I had no clue if he even had a testimony anymore. but the spirit poured into the room as he bore such a sweet testimony and was bawling as he talked about the power of the priesthood and other blessings. It was amazing... Anne still has crazy theories but at lease Zach is on his way of coming back to church! So then later in the week we got a media referral for a Bible for a person named Willie Owens... now usually when you get a referral for a Bible here in Texas they don't go anywhere.. or lead to bible bashing. But we decided to set up an appointment with Willie on Friday and we showed up to a older african american lady with a really strong and deep accent who loves the bible!! At first I honestly didn't think it was going to go anywhere.. we would share a quick scripture from the Bible and leave....then she started openning up to us and telling us about how her daughter had just died from cancer and she has gone from church to chruch trying to find something... so right then we knew we needed to share a first! She really related to Joseph Smith about going from church to church and wanting to know which of all of them were right. After the first vision she just looked at us and said with excited REALLY!!! well we committed her to pray about it and read and then set up an appointment for the next day. The next day we went back and we followed up if she had prayed and she said... you know i haven't slept since my daughter died and i prayed last night, felt complete peace, and slept like a rock until eleven in the afternoon. Then she continued to tell us how she had been praying that God would send someone to heal her broken heart and then we came along. She said she knew we wer from God. She is honestly golden and has such a caring, loving spirit about her. After we explained the steps to return to the celestial kingdom, faith,
repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and endure to the end. She said, "So do i need to get baptized again in your church?".... we explained proper authority and re-explained the apostasy but that is the PERFECT question that every missionary wants to hear! we have another appointment with her tonight... so wish us luck..well i guess you don't need luck as long as you've got the spirit!!
I am definitely seeing miracles here in Texas and God answers our prayers everyday even in small ways...even if it is just giving us hot showers again! ha ha.. but this the best work I could be doing right now in my life.. i'm in the business of saving souls and answering people's prayers... can't think of anything better to be doing with my time!
Thanks for all your love, prayers and support! My letters are starting to dwindle... DONT FORGET ABOUT ME!!!
love you all,
Hermana Barber
I want to start my letter today by wishing MY VERY OLD BROTHER WHO IS TURNING TWENTY FOUR AND NOT MARRIED a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Love you Bubbie!! your card is in the mail.. I'm just sending it to the house! wish i could be there to celebrate... don't do anything too crazy! I can't believe Matt and Charlene just picked up and went to Hawaii.. super jealous.. and I heard matt is starting school in August.. so did he get into BYU or choose a different school? Stewart sounds like he growing healthy and Mike and Kara are having a riot being parents.. and I'm excited for Brandon Howick to get married.. please tell him i said CONGRATS!! mindy and tales are still ridicuously hopelessly romantic...enough said! Brad... still waiting for another e-mail from him.. as always! Brad.... did you ever make that phone call??
Well my week has been great! i have been in carrollton for two weeks now which means two weeks without a hot shower. But they have been dealing with this for over eight months now in that complex so we are breaking the lease and moving into a new apartment tomorrow that is really cute and in a way better part of town. So yes i have to pack all my stuff up again!! plus the rest of the apartment today!! super fun huh?? i am just excited for the HOT SHOWER!!! Plus in the complex is like four young couples going to Parker the Chiropracter school here and they are super excited for us to live close by... its like moving into the same complex as family... so i'm super excited and will feel super safe there!
We had zone conference this week in Frisco which was amazing as usual... my President and his wife are truly the sweetest most amazing, funniest couple ever!! Our whole conference was about getting investigators to church and then how to help them have the best experience possible once we get them there. We talked a lot about how each of our investigators don't just need someone to fellowship them but friendshipping.. not just being there becasue they are on assignment because they really care! We have been doing a lot of member training in hopes that our investigators will feel more welcome at church and stay... members really have a desire to help in the work but a lot of the time they have no clue what to do... so it has been fun getting to know the members more and do some little trainings on friendshiping our investigators. I always love zone conference because it is like a pep rally... we get all pumped for the work again and spiritually revived!! I talked to President and Sister smith after the conference and they gave me a little insight... we have one spanish sister coming in in two weeks so I really dont' know how transfers are going to go in two weeks we are praying that me and Hermana Richardson stay together and they seperate the threesome but that would mean they would probably double transfer someone back into
Iriving which doesn't really make sense since I know the area.. so it might be another shocker transfer.. but then we have three new sisters coming in in September and President said to me... just so you know all sisters that have over a month in the field will be training so I would study hard if i was you! with a little smile... then said most people don't get that much insight before such a big change!! i really am super nervous.. three transfers in the field.. four months in Texas and
training. Y'all better pray doubletime for me!! PLEASE!! Spanish work here in Carrollton in a lot more receptive and progressing then the english work here.. which shouldn't be a shocker! We have some fun families that are investigating but not progressing very fast for marriage problems or others... they are Familia Escalante, Familia Gonzales. We are also teaching older ladies named Elsy and Esperanza.. they are just kinda lazy and not willing to do the work to change. But really i have fallen in love with the hispanic culture and people. They are so warm and loving... plus they make good food! The english ward has some great families that I love.. one of the strongest families in the branch are actually converts from Sister Brundage... the Elmore Family and you should just meet them.. they are incredible and have such a desire to learn and grow in the gospel... Brother Elmore actually does his home teaching with a smile!! imagine that! It is amazing to see people come into the gospel after never having it in their lives and then I truly realize all the things I have taken for granted in my life always having the church...simple things like home teaching, visiting teaching, going to the temple... makes such a huge difference!! But the english work has really been suffering in this area there are lots of inactive families we have been trying to get back to church and we have been trying to find some solid english families and Man, has the lord blessed us! We got six new english investigators this week which is honestly unreal!! The first one is named Anne McDougal-Thompson and i'm not going ot lie is a bit of a nutcase. She loves world of warcraft and is a computer programmer that loves cats. She was in the former investigators pile from years ago and in her record it said she had an online boyfriend who was LDS. so my companion a couple weeks back went and knocked on her door and a guy answered the door and after they did their contacting spill thinking
anne didn't live there anymore he look at them and said, "I'm an Elder." So pretty much we went back and met Anne and she had married her online boyfriend, he moved away from his parents that were pushing him to break up with anne and go on a mission so he left... moved to Texas and they are married now. We found his records on the ward list and no one has EVER tried to visit him. So we started the lessons with Anne this week. She went to a lot of churches when she was younger and has some crazy
concepts of God... but we started teaching her and I stopped and had the impression to ask Zach how the gospel has blessed his life and his families. This was kinda a risky thing considering he hasn't come to church in over a year and I had no clue if he even had a testimony anymore. but the spirit poured into the room as he bore such a sweet testimony and was bawling as he talked about the power of the priesthood and other blessings. It was amazing... Anne still has crazy theories but at lease Zach is on his way of coming back to church! So then later in the week we got a media referral for a Bible for a person named Willie Owens... now usually when you get a referral for a Bible here in Texas they don't go anywhere.. or lead to bible bashing. But we decided to set up an appointment with Willie on Friday and we showed up to a older african american lady with a really strong and deep accent who loves the bible!! At first I honestly didn't think it was going to go anywhere.. we would share a quick scripture from the Bible and leave....then she started openning up to us and telling us about how her daughter had just died from cancer and she has gone from church to chruch trying to find something... so right then we knew we needed to share a first! She really related to Joseph Smith about going from church to church and wanting to know which of all of them were right. After the first vision she just looked at us and said with excited REALLY!!! well we committed her to pray about it and read and then set up an appointment for the next day. The next day we went back and we followed up if she had prayed and she said... you know i haven't slept since my daughter died and i prayed last night, felt complete peace, and slept like a rock until eleven in the afternoon. Then she continued to tell us how she had been praying that God would send someone to heal her broken heart and then we came along. She said she knew we wer from God. She is honestly golden and has such a caring, loving spirit about her. After we explained the steps to return to the celestial kingdom, faith,
repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and endure to the end. She said, "So do i need to get baptized again in your church?".... we explained proper authority and re-explained the apostasy but that is the PERFECT question that every missionary wants to hear! we have another appointment with her tonight... so wish us luck..well i guess you don't need luck as long as you've got the spirit!!
I am definitely seeing miracles here in Texas and God answers our prayers everyday even in small ways...even if it is just giving us hot showers again! ha ha.. but this the best work I could be doing right now in my life.. i'm in the business of saving souls and answering people's prayers... can't think of anything better to be doing with my time!
Thanks for all your love, prayers and support! My letters are starting to dwindle... DONT FORGET ABOUT ME!!!
love you all,
Hermana Barber
Monday, July 13, 2009
Hola from Carrollton, TX!
Hola from Carrollton, TX!
Well last monday after I got done writing my e-mail we got a phone call from the A.P.'s saying that since there are only 5 hermanas in the whole mission who speak spanish and one is going home in a transfer and we are getting four new ones...(which mean we are all probably going to have to train) he was changing us all around to prepare for that. So we got that phone call about one in the afternoon and we had to be out of our apartment and to District meeting the next day by 10:30 am. It was crazy night of visiting tons of members and getting addresses/pictures and telling them all to pray that I come back!! ha ha... it would be fun to go back there when i know spanish tonz better. We said goodbye to some of our investigators but i didn't get to say goodbye to Eduardo because he was in Missouri working so we just called him and luckily he has met the other elders and knows people in the ward so i think he is goign to be okay. It is funny how attached you get to complete strangers and how much you come to love them and they love you. I was so sad to leave but everything happens for a reason. I spent probably three hours working on the AREA BOOK for the Elders that talks about all our investigators and potential investigators so that no one would fall through the cracks, I wrote up all our appointments we had already scheduled for the week plus put a sticky note on everyones teaching records to let them know exactly what we were going to teach and their background so hopefully we don't loose anyone that would have progressed... but the elders in my other district are amazing and I made them promise me they would at least get Eduardo baptized.. and it was really funny 'cause when I called to say bye to Eduardo I told him i had already gotten permission to come back for his baptism... ha ha and he doesn't even have a date but all he said was okay! ha ha Well the next day I went to district meeting, then to eat with my district. hermana Medlyn went to Grand Praire which is in the same Zone, like 15 minutes away into a threesome with hermana Christensen and Hermana Schulte... then the Missionaries from the Mission office Sister and Elder Hansen came and picked me up and took me to the mission office to meet with my new companion.... There were like seven sister there at the mission office doing transfers also and I met up with Hermana Richardson and then we came out to Carrollton,TX.... it is about 15 minutes away from the mission home and the temple so i'm realy close to downtown dallas. We have a HUGE area and cover a small part english and then all of it is spanish. We have a English Ward Dallas 6th... then a Spanish Branch, Sunbeck. I have loved the members in the English ward so far because there is a Chiropractic school called Parker here in Dallas so a lot of the members of the ward are young couples that just came here from BYU and they are so sweet..it's kinda like eating with mike and Kara... it's really fun. I went to church in English yesterday for the first time in almost 5 months which was actually really weird! and now we have to trade off teaching in english and spanish and i really CAN'T pray in english!! Which is probably a good sign with my spanish! Well the area has a lot of eternal investigators and part member families that have been worked with for YEARS so this week is going to be a lot of tracting to find new investigators especially english work and cleaning out the old investigators that aren't going anywhere. It will be good especially since my new companion and I work so well together. her name is Hermana Heather Richardson and she is 24 and from Woods Cross, UT. She has onlybeen out 6 months earlier than me and kinda has had a hard time learning spanish because she is dislexic but she is definitely better than me and can get her point across. She actually helps me in door contacts and I actually feel pretty confinant walking into lesson which is definitely a good change. We are growing and learning together which is also fun! Sorry I don't have any amazing spiritual stories this week... its kinda just been a week of getting to know everyone and the area which is huge.. all of Carrollton, Addison, Lewisville, and Coppell and it's a lot more ritzy then Irving was.. i never realized I was in such a ghetto part of Dallas before.. i loved it! But this area will be great also and I'm excited to meet new people and grow to love them as much as i love the people in Irving! With my new address... maybe only send letters there this week because we don't have hot water in our apartment and they have been promising to fix it for 8 months so we are moving to a new apartment maybe this week.. not sure!
It was good to hear that everyone seems to be doing great at home! i can't believe Jules is Two.. and that TemeKula Riley is turning 5 this week!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEKE!!! i hear my little nephew stewart is cuter than ever and I hope he still lets me snuggle him when I get home. Brad is still trying to find a wife...you better not even think about getting married till i get home! Mindy and Tales are still in their mushy gushy newlywed stage. Mom and Dad ya'll sound like you are traveling the world to see your kids and grandkids! I love you all and miss you tons!! thanks for all your love and support... keep the letters coming PLEASE!!!
con amor-
Hermana Katie Barber
Well last monday after I got done writing my e-mail we got a phone call from the A.P.'s saying that since there are only 5 hermanas in the whole mission who speak spanish and one is going home in a transfer and we are getting four new ones...(which mean we are all probably going to have to train) he was changing us all around to prepare for that. So we got that phone call about one in the afternoon and we had to be out of our apartment and to District meeting the next day by 10:30 am. It was crazy night of visiting tons of members and getting addresses/pictures and telling them all to pray that I come back!! ha ha... it would be fun to go back there when i know spanish tonz better. We said goodbye to some of our investigators but i didn't get to say goodbye to Eduardo because he was in Missouri working so we just called him and luckily he has met the other elders and knows people in the ward so i think he is goign to be okay. It is funny how attached you get to complete strangers and how much you come to love them and they love you. I was so sad to leave but everything happens for a reason. I spent probably three hours working on the AREA BOOK for the Elders that talks about all our investigators and potential investigators so that no one would fall through the cracks, I wrote up all our appointments we had already scheduled for the week plus put a sticky note on everyones teaching records to let them know exactly what we were going to teach and their background so hopefully we don't loose anyone that would have progressed... but the elders in my other district are amazing and I made them promise me they would at least get Eduardo baptized.. and it was really funny 'cause when I called to say bye to Eduardo I told him i had already gotten permission to come back for his baptism... ha ha and he doesn't even have a date but all he said was okay! ha ha Well the next day I went to district meeting, then to eat with my district. hermana Medlyn went to Grand Praire which is in the same Zone, like 15 minutes away into a threesome with hermana Christensen and Hermana Schulte... then the Missionaries from the Mission office Sister and Elder Hansen came and picked me up and took me to the mission office to meet with my new companion.... There were like seven sister there at the mission office doing transfers also and I met up with Hermana Richardson and then we came out to Carrollton,TX.... it is about 15 minutes away from the mission home and the temple so i'm realy close to downtown dallas. We have a HUGE area and cover a small part english and then all of it is spanish. We have a English Ward Dallas 6th... then a Spanish Branch, Sunbeck. I have loved the members in the English ward so far because there is a Chiropractic school called Parker here in Dallas so a lot of the members of the ward are young couples that just came here from BYU and they are so sweet..it's kinda like eating with mike and Kara... it's really fun. I went to church in English yesterday for the first time in almost 5 months which was actually really weird! and now we have to trade off teaching in english and spanish and i really CAN'T pray in english!! Which is probably a good sign with my spanish! Well the area has a lot of eternal investigators and part member families that have been worked with for YEARS so this week is going to be a lot of tracting to find new investigators especially english work and cleaning out the old investigators that aren't going anywhere. It will be good especially since my new companion and I work so well together. her name is Hermana Heather Richardson and she is 24 and from Woods Cross, UT. She has onlybeen out 6 months earlier than me and kinda has had a hard time learning spanish because she is dislexic but she is definitely better than me and can get her point across. She actually helps me in door contacts and I actually feel pretty confinant walking into lesson which is definitely a good change. We are growing and learning together which is also fun! Sorry I don't have any amazing spiritual stories this week... its kinda just been a week of getting to know everyone and the area which is huge.. all of Carrollton, Addison, Lewisville, and Coppell and it's a lot more ritzy then Irving was.. i never realized I was in such a ghetto part of Dallas before.. i loved it! But this area will be great also and I'm excited to meet new people and grow to love them as much as i love the people in Irving! With my new address... maybe only send letters there this week because we don't have hot water in our apartment and they have been promising to fix it for 8 months so we are moving to a new apartment maybe this week.. not sure!
It was good to hear that everyone seems to be doing great at home! i can't believe Jules is Two.. and that TemeKula Riley is turning 5 this week!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEKE!!! i hear my little nephew stewart is cuter than ever and I hope he still lets me snuggle him when I get home. Brad is still trying to find a wife...you better not even think about getting married till i get home! Mindy and Tales are still in their mushy gushy newlywed stage. Mom and Dad ya'll sound like you are traveling the world to see your kids and grandkids! I love you all and miss you tons!! thanks for all your love and support... keep the letters coming PLEASE!!!
con amor-
Hermana Katie Barber
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