I found a trumpet in Kiribati!!!

Mauri oooooh!

Another seven tally marks scratched into the wall...

Not a whole lot happened this week. I know I say that a lot, but it's true. We taught some lessons, did some stuff in the office, ate some (some) food, and...

...had a double baptism!!!!! It was pretty awesome. These people have been waiting for a very long time to be able to be baptized. It was a very joyful experience to see them finally able to reach that goal! We have another one scheduled for this week, so it should be a great week. The work is finally starting to pick up here in Banraeaba... We should have had another baptism this past week, but he showed up to his baptismal interview a little happier than usual. Why do people have to drink alcohol?

This week was the week that strikes fear in the hearts of all missionaries: transfer week. It happens every six weeks, so I've gotten pretty used to running into my room and cowering in the corner when the phone rings on transfer day. This week was a close call. I am NOT leaving Banraeaba (whew!), but I am no longer working with Elder Veresoni. I was pretty sad about that; he's such a great guy. My new companion in Elder Austin Miller from Utah/Alaska/Japan (?). He's pretty cool, so it should be fun working with him. Changes, changes...

Perhaps one of the best parts of the week was that I finally did it. My eleven-month quest has finally ended. Victory is as wondrous as they say...

I found a trumpet in Kiribati!!! After eleven months of asking around, I finally found one that is used by the police brass band twice a year. One of our recent converts has a husband that plays in it. I asked him if he could bring it home sometime so I could play it, and he finally did! Granted, it was completely plastic and probably costs about $30 in America, but...hey it's better than nothing. It was fun to play for a few minutes (and a little scary). I guess that's what happens when you don't practice for a year...

Well, almost a year. Tomorrow I hit the milestone of eleven months on my mission. It's pretty weird to think about. I still feel new here! Sometimes it goes by slowly, especially at first. But now, looking back, I'm actually a little scared of how fast the time is going. I've been looking forward to serving the Lord as a missionary for my entire life. Now it's almost halfway over. It makes me want to work as hard as I can, because I know that it really is only a short time in the grand scheme of things.

I know that I say this a lot as well, but there really is nothing that can replace serving a mission. Yes, you can learn a lot of life skills like talking to people and cooking and stuff like that. But those things can be learned anywhere. There is one thing that cannot be found anywhere else like it can while serving as a missionary: a testimony. It's hard to explain, but the more I struggle, teach, serve, and learn, the more I realize how true this message is. When you forget everything else and focus on the Lord, you start to see amazing things that you had never noticed or even thought about before. It's truly a blessing!!!

Elder Barker