José y Esmerita

Buenas Dias family and friends!
I am so happy to report that we helped another family into the waters of
baptism yesterday! Their names are José and Esmerita! Their daughter Rosa
got baptized as well. Man, they were such a challenge! They live really
far away from us, deep in the mountains of Nicaragua. They live in a little
village called Aran Juez. It is an hour away from Jinotega in bus, and then
an hour more on foot because there isnt a bus that passes their house. (It
was a reference) Her sister lives in Matagalpa, and was baptized by Elder
Smith yesterday as well. It was so good to see them take this step as a
family. One step towards eternity. It was such an honor to be apart of it!
This week, I just really wanted to say thank you. Thank you for your
support and examples to me. I really wanted to say thank you to Alex Wernli
and His family. I am praying for you guys. I wanted to tell you how Alex
touched my life. Did you know that he emailed me everyweek? He sent me a
joke every single week. Though he had the most reason to be sad and talk
about problems, He always made me laugh. I will miss him. But i will not
forget him. Whitney told me that one of his goals in his life was to serve
a full time mission. Thinking of him makes me want to be a better
missionary-To not miss one person in the street, and not be timid with the
people. Alex has taught me to cherish every moment I have in the field. He
always wanted to come, and Here i am, whining about how hard it is? How
selfish am I. If He had the opportunity to come, I know he would have been
an amazing missionary. I think it is so so cool that he had the chance to
serve there. I know the Lord is so proud of Him. And I will be a better
missionary because of His example to me. I read a quote in an Ensign I
found from March 1991- and I immedietly thought of Alex--"“Even when we can
no longer do something for our fellowmen, we can still be something for
them; … no man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle,
and good without the world’s being better for that goodness.”
(*Ensign,*March 1991, p. 75.) Alex was something for me. I will
forever be grateful
that he was a part of my life.
Today for P-Day we Hiked to the Cruz--It is stinking high and I will
never be doing that again! I hope you enjoy the pics though! I love you
all-The Church is true. I know we can be families forever, and that Christ
broke the bonds of death for us. "He lives, and while He lives i´ll sing!"
Thanks for everything--Hermana Barrett
p.s. the little girl, Rosa, decided last minute to get baptized-so we didnt
have clothes for her--in this picture she is wearing the shirt i came in!
haha Jarron Azul!