Another bwanaa ni kamauri mai abara ae Kiribati te boboto!!!
Another week in the books! It flew by! Where does the time go out here?
We were able to get a lot of lessons in this week, so it was awesome! We tracted a few houses in our spare time (wow, we had some this week?) and I was blown away. Two of the houses we randomly visited just happened to be families from Nonouti (the island I just left). We had a great time talking about Nonouti and common freinds that we have there. They also just happened to be family members of two of the families that got recently got baptized while I was there! We started lessons with them and they are progressing well. I never cease to be amazed at how things just "happen' to work out. I don't think it was a coincidence that we chose to "randomly" visit those two houses.
I realized this week that new investigators that we pick up now may not be able to get baptized before I leave. The fastest baptism we have had here was a week and a half of teaching. Usually, though, it takes an average of six to ten weeks of lessons before they are ready for baptism. Not that I'm counting the weeks, but...it will be cutting it close. It just gives me more motivation to find as many people as I can! We talk to everyone and ask everyone if they know anyone we can teach. I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting this week and introduced myself as well. After church, almost twenty people came up to me to say hello and let me know that they will try to find people for us to teach. Member referrals are literally the stuff of dreams. If you want to make a missionary think he's dreaming, go give him a referral and offer to come to the lessons. Then see if he pinches himself to wake up.
I really enjoy this area. I still don't know everyones' names, but I'm working on it. I also really enjoy working with Elder Sablan. I don't know if I've talked about him yet. He's a rugby player from Vanuatu that played on the pacific team. He speaks five languages fluently. He joined the church just a few years ago and is currently the only member in his family. And he works so hard! It's really fun to be companions with him.
The closer I get to my return date, the more I think about missionary work and the purpose of it. There really isn't anything that can compare to it. No other work in the WORLD brings more peace and joy to people, including yourself. I have seen so many hearts changed and families brought closer together. Don't get me wrong - I want to see my family again too. But I now understand why the great missionairies of ancient times gave their entire lives for the work. Paul, Alma, Amulek, Ammon, the sons of Mosiah - they all caught the vision of what missionary work is all about. I'm grateful for my two year glimpse of it as well. How did I get so lucky to be a missionary?
Elder Barker
(a note from Michele- Kaleb will be returning to Springfield on Monday October 22 at 11pm. Anyone who is still awake at that time is invited to be there to welcome him home. He will be speaking in church on Sunday October 28 at 11:00am located at 2400 N 20th St, Ozark, MO 65721. Everyone is welcome to attend. Kaleb would love to see each of you there!)
