Author: Hermana O'Barr

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Short and sweet

Okay, this will be short, I am so sorry!

We have had a wonderful week. I think that I have learned a LOT here in Aibonito and I am so grateful for the experiences I have had here so far. This is most likely my last week here, which is so weird! I have lived here for nearly half a year and this place and these people have come to mean so much to me. I will never be the same because of the experiences God has given me here.

Remember that God never EVER forgets about us! He loves us so much and is trying to teach us new things each day, if only we will pay attention. Have a great week!

Some pics from our zone activity in Guayama







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Exchanges with Energy Rush

Wow, so I have a million things to say but I am also lacking the energy to type them all haha. We will see how this email ends up.

As I reflect back on 2018, it’s clear that it was one of the most influential years of my life thus far. I have changed the most, learned the most, and had the most experiences. I have become a faithful and joyful disciple of Jesus Christ and I truly love life, as difficult as it sometimes may be. I am so grateful for the person I have become and for the potential I have to become even better. I remember a New Year’s Eve 8 years ago, right after I had moved to Ohio. I went outside and contemplated the stars at midnight, and made the resolution to study the Book of Mormon and write in my journal every day. I am grateful I made good decisions that have led me to the greater conversion I have today. The past 8 years have been full of some of the greatest joys and most profound and often unexpected sorrows, but they have led me to rely more on my Savior and trust more in His astounding and infinite love. I am humbled that I have the opportunity to start anew every year, week, day and even every moment. I may not know what lies ahead, especially as I go home and return to school this year, but I trust that it will be spectacular!

Alright, a quick miracle for this week! We thought Angel dropped us but we ended up running into him one night and it turns out that he no longer has a phone or a car, but he wants us back!!! I am so happy!

Love y’all, have a great week!
Hermana O’Barr

The pics are the three kings (big tradition in PR) and the gorgeous sunset!







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Saludos!

This week has been full of ups and downs but it was good overall! On Christmas we were well-loved my members. I ate plenty of rice, pasteles, lechon, etc. It was fantastic. And, it was so great getting to chat with my family! It wasn’t difficult to say goodbye because I know I’ll see them in less than 4 months. I just have to keep working hard until the end and then we will spend some well-earned time together!

We also had a wonderful branch service! We went to the nearby hospital and sang traditional PR carols and handed out presents and copies of The Living Christ and The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It was an incredible experience that brought the branch closer together and brought a lot of light and joy to the hospital. I was so glad we got to be a part of it!

We also had some amazing miracles after caroling on la Noche buena (Christmas Eve). We found a sweet lady named Jadhery and her two kids and they are loving the lessons! We are going over there on Friday with a member to put her on date for baptism and I can’t wait!

Also, some other fun facts about the week are that it has been POURING! I love it and it is so beautiful because we are up in the clouds here. It has been in the 70s and everyone except for me is freezing, including Hermana Nelson haha. I don’t think I will ever adjust to the heat! I am loving the weather this week! Also, yesterday I stepped in a giant fire ant hill right when I got out of the car! It was the worst! I was running around like crazy, trying to yank my shoes off. All the people down the street were just like, “Did you step in the ants?” In my head I was like, “no, I’m just trying some new dance moves.” Haha okay so I am making this dramatic and it really wasn’t that bad, but you can bet I am watching much more carefully where I put my feet!

Anyway, my last thing for you all is an invitation from our branch president that he gave in his talk yesterday. He invited all of us to ask ourselves, “What kind of a disciple of Jesus Christ have I been this year? How can I improve? I invite all of you as well to ask the same kind of self-evaluating questions and set goals and make plans to improve! Every day is a new chance to be better and get close to the Savior! Let the distance between who are you and who you want to be motivate you instead of discourage you! Heavenly Father is proud of all of our efforts to move forward and become more like the Savior!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr




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Noche de Luz, Noche de Paz

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas Eve!

This week has been wonderful but it has also had some rough spots. I was sad to be away from my family for my mom’s and Alyssa’s birthdays, but I am so excited to be able to talk to the whole family tomorrow!

I won’t dwell on the hard parts, but I will tell you a little more about the miracles of this week! We taught Maritza a few more times this week and now she is on date for baptism! I am so excited for her! We also were able to make it out to one of the other pueblos that we cover this week, Barranquitas. We spent a lot of time contacting there and we ended up finding so many amazing people! I am stoked to teach them again this week. We also had a wonderful sacrament meeting yesterday and my companion and I got to sing Silent Night with some other talented members of the branch. And Anangeli decided to come with her mom and her daughter!

And tomorrow is going to be fantastic! I am so happy that I am in Aibonito for my second Christmas on the mission. I am blessed, and I can’t wait to spend time with the members I love and celebrate the birth of our Savior! My invitation to you is simple this week–give of yourself! Help others around you feel the love of Christ through you!

Love you all, Feliz Navidad!
Hermana O’Barr

Pics are of me and Hna Nelson, the OG MTC group, and a barrio in the area, Caonillas.







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Iguanas are cool

Well, it’s been another wild week, as always. On Tuesday we found a good area to go tracting and had some cool experiences while we were there. The next day I had a prompting that we needed to go back. I didn’t know why, but after just a few minutes it became obvious! We found a couple who loved every word we said and readily accepted a Book of Mormon. They said they could feel the Spirit and recognize us as servants of God! What a huge miracle! We brought a member the next day to teach them the whole Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it turns out that he is the wife’s second cousin! They already had a great connection and he helped us teach and testify so well! 
 
This week we also did some displays for #iluminaelmundo in the pueblo and they went really well! We made a Christmas tree and asked people to help us decorate it by writing how they were going to serve and their info on the back of paper ornaments that we made. We also wrapped some copies of the Book of Mormon to give out and so I got to use my professional wrapping skills and have some fun.
 
Also this week, we got to eat dinner at Amarilie and Efrain’s new apartment! They are some of my favorite members and I am so happy for them because they were able to get their own place! Their new apartment is cute and they told us we could come over on Christmas to Skype our families!
 
Another thing we did this week as part of our service for Light the World was clean out the church’s library, which has NEVER been cleaned or organized! I will attach some pictures, it was bad haha. But we had a lot of fun putting everything back together and getting rid of old books from as far back as the 70s!
 
Another miracle came yesterday when we walked into the other end of the pueblo and were out finding. Out of nowhere, a couple that was walking in a hurry came up to us and pointed out their house, and said they would be delighted to have us over another night! They were so sweet and I don’t know why they were so eager to have us over, but we will definitely be going by this week!
 
Also to explain a few of the other photos, while we were out walking this week I finally got to see some iguanas up close and personal. They are so cool!
 
I’d like to invite you all to read Doctrine and Covenants 88: 81, 86. Those are some verses that stood out to me this week during my studies and I invite you to ponder them! Have a great week!
 
Love,
Hermana O’Barr
 
 









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Breaking Records

Well, I forgot my journal so I will try to tell all you what I can remember from this week. It’s hard because I can hardly remember what I ate for breakfast haha.
 
We had some good lessons with Vanessa and her family this week! She went from being unwilling to pray in front of us to being eager to say the prayer! It was so cool!
 
Also, Presidente and Hermana Smart came to our district meeting and then did interviews after, all of which was great. They gave me my flute because I am going to be allowed to play for the Christmas conference that we have on the 21st! I am so excited!
 
We also got transfer news, and Hermana Nelson and I are staying together in AIbonito!! We are the only unaffected companionship in the zone, so I am super happy that we’re staying together. Hermana Nelson is awesome and we get along really well! I know that we are going to see so many more miracles this transfer. We have been really blessed here and it’s been a great first transfer together. Also, I am finally breaking all my records and this will be the first time I stay anywhere for longer than 3 transfers! Yeah Aibonito!!! 
 
I love you all, don’t forget to #lighttheoworld and serve as many people in your community as possible!! Sorry for the short email!
 
Love,
Hermana O’Barr
 
The pictures are from when we got some cake for Fano, we helped the ward make pinatas for the stake Christmas party (they had to represent Mexico), and our last district meeting.




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Take your Book of Mormon back

This week has been wild haha. One lady we taught called us a few days later and tried to convince us to come get our Book of Mormon back because her daughter told her she doesn’t want her to have anything to do with our church. We politely told her to hold on to the book haha.

Also a huge miracle occurred this week–we finally had people in church! Aida and Angel both came and I was so happy! They are the cutest grandma and grandson pair I have ever seen and I love them so much!

Also, I got to watch the Christmas devotional last night and it was amazing! I was so uplifted! President Nelson’s message was so fantastic like always and I wanted to talk about it for just a moment because I read a scripture this morning that ties in perfectly.

He was talking about our greatest desires and asked us to consider honestly what our greatest desires really are. Then I read 3 Nephi 19:34 which says “for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire.” I know that if we pray honestly to God to help guide us, the Spirit can teach us what things should be our greatest desires and then we can pray and work for those things with all of our hearts. I took time to do this and it has been really cool! I feel like I have definitely seen a shift in some of my greatest desires during the mission. Gradually, I have become more and more focused on the things that God wants me to have as my greatest desires rather than what the world tells me should be my greatest desires, and it is a freeing and uplifting change! I encourage you all to focus on what your greatest desires are and ask God if they are what He would have you be spending all your time and energy on. I love all of you, have a great week!

Love,
Hermana O’Barr

Don’t forget to light the world! #iluminaelmundo