Josh's current address is 51 N 2nd St. Apt 310 Stroudsburg, PA 18360. Packages and letters will be safer going to the mission home. The mission home address is 721 Paxon Hollow Road Ste. B, Broomall, PA 19008. Keep in mind that there will be a delay because it take some time to get packages and letters from the mission home to Josh.

Monday, March 23, 2015

3/16/2015

Hey Dad,

Well first off I am staying and my companion, the one who speaks spanish in this spanish area, is leaving. Not really sure what's going to happen and i wrote president after hearing the news and he wrote back telling me to not worry that he is not going to leave me hanging out to dry. :)  We all think that an elder who served here some months ago is coming back to die [finish his mission] here. He knows the area and from what I have heard is a good elder so I am hoping for that. This week, we had lesson, it was in spanish...  It went well. Each individual of the family is progressing differently in the gospel. Adrian, the 12 year old son, is the driving force in the family for the gospel. He goes to church with a notebook and scriptures each week and writes down things that catch his attention. Freddy, the dad, believes it is true but not from a spiritual standpoint yet, it's more of this makes a lot more sense than everything else. Monica, the mom, is agnostic despite having had powerful spiritual moments with the missionaries but she did come to church with Adrian and her mom so that was pretty cool. 

Not really much else to note except that my spanish is getting better because of a free app called duolingo. it's really good and i actually understand what's going on now around me. I love it and will use it after my mission as well. 

Well, for college i've been thinking a lot and Winter has come to mind a lot. I've talked to a few returned missionaries past couple of weeks and i have gotten mixed responses on how soon i should go back to school. some have said that they wished they had a month or so to just transition i guess you could say, and others have said they liked going to work after a couple weeks. and i really don't know what will be best for me. i am going to pray a lot about it, the plan is still September and the registration is in June so there's no rush for the time being.
But what do you think? I really need some fatherly advice. 

You are always in my prayers.
I love you Dad
Love,
Elder Barker

3/9/2015


Well this week was better! We were able to have some very good lessons, (in Spanish haha but the spirit was there). Unfortunately on Tuesday my back started having spasms again. I was just standing and all of sudden it hit me. I'm feeling better now it's just sore, but it took me 2-3 minutes to put on one sock in the beginning and getting in and out of the car was horrible. Tuesday though we got new iPad mini 2s. So even though it was super uncomfortable to sit for 3 hours because of my back that was cool at least and they have 32 G instead of 16 so now I can download all the gospel library things I want haha. Did you get an email talking about having to buy it though? They told us that if we go home after August 23 that we have to buy it. I'd rather not because having a computer would help me so much more in college, but if I got a keyboard to go with the iPad then that wouldn't be too bad.  
On Monday though we were able to have a lesson in English! It felt so great haha but I felt rusty as well. His name is Arlington and we were able to teach him the Restoration of the gospel. He has been studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses for some years now and so he had some questions since this is different than what he's been learning. He accepted a Book of Mormon and that its great to have a possibility of having even more of the word of God. He lives just a couple blocks outside of our English area though so we gave him to the other elders and they have an appointment today with him.  
On Saturday we went on a mini exchange with the other elders and I was able to go to a lesson that I really loved. We met with a sister who is facing disciplinary council soon. She has come to really humble herself and see this as her way back to the church and talked about how no matter what happens she knows the church is true and will still go and work her way back to the temple. I felt the spirit so strong and it was really an answer to the prayer that I had the night before. I've had many strong spiritual experiences with Spanish events but it's hard on a daily basis, at least for me, and so I prayed to be able to feel the spirit as I had in every other area and that lesson was just what I needed.  
This is week 6 and I find out whether or not I'm staying on Friday. I don't know what's going to happen I just hope that if I stay my companion stays because I don't want to have to introduce people when I don't speak the language. I'll keep you posted on what happens though
I hope everything is going well.
I love you Dad.
Love,

Elder Barker

Monday, March 9, 2015

Email from 2/23/15

Hey Dad, 
So that's really cool about Nate's game hopefully he's able to have a good day. That's really cool that you get to go to General Conference! I want to go so bad and I think I'm going to try when I go to college.  
So this week was very slow again we had the cars parked a couple times. We did have some great things happen though, Sister A. (from Spanish branch) finally stopped drinking coffee! That was great to hear and we found out that someone we are teaching, Freddy (Spanish), stopped drinking coffee as well and we haven't even taught him about it yet! This while teaching the law of chastity to him and his 12 year old son. Freddy also told us that he wouldn't be able to attend church because they were picking up his mother in law, but as we were sitting in sacrament meeting, Freddy, his wife, and his son all walk in! It was so cool! Also we went to all 3 services on Sunday because a less active from the Spanish branch works but has time for the 2nd Ward (9 AM) so we went with him and elder leach translated for him.  
Yesterday we had a couple of 70s come and speak to us about the technology we have and will receive in the mission. We were told for everyone that has more than 6 months left they will have to buy their devices so I'm actually very happy I've been out for 18 months for that reason. But while they were talking I had a lot of personal revelation come to me about how I can finish my mission strong.  
Well I'm so happy to be on a mission and it's such an exciting time to be a missionary as well! I absolutely love it and I will never regret it. I love being a missionary
Hope everything goes well 
Love,

Elder Barker