Elder Joel Preston Barker ~Columbia, South Carolina Mission~: Caesar's Head & Table Rock

Hey Y'all!

After the effects of the hurricane left the upstate, we were no longer on lockdown, which was very nice. Sitting at home all day is no fun on a mission, and it makes you feel very unproductive.

Playing Munchkin!

Power was off, then it came right back on and ruined my fun..haha

I got bored, so I decided to take some Joseph Smith style studying pictures. :P

South Carolina got hit pretty hard, and there was a whole lot of flooding here in the upstate, and still is down in Columbia, but all we got here in Union was some good rain and a little bit of wind, nothing that bad at all.

Our front Yard.

We have been sending up some mighty prayers for those in the flooded areas though, I have seen and heard a lot of things about the situations down in Columbia. Roads are gone, people are without water, houses are flooded, it's all a big mess. It is an awful thing, but I can already see the hidden blessings coming from it. Everyone is uniting together to help each other, people are donating food, water and time in order to assist in any way possible. I am hoping that they'll send us down to Columbia to go help clean up, but I don't know if that is going to happen. One can only hope!

This is right next to the church bldg in Joel's first area in Columbia ~sent by a member

I did find out that I'll get to climb under someone’s house on Saturday so I can pump a pool of water out from under it! I am excited for some good manual labor! :P

We have a couple people that we've been working with, and things were going so well for a while, but Satan is good at what he does and he has thrown a couple curve-balls into the work. It is so hard sometimes to see how easy it really would be for these people to progress, but to have them allow the slightest things to get in their own way. It's almost like they're throwing hurtles in front of themselves. We had a lesson with a couple we are working with, and we just had to be bold with them. We had to teach them that they need to put their own desires aside and do what Christ wants them to do, that's the only way to true happiness. We haven't been able to see them much this week though, and that makes me worry that they're running from the spirit rather than listening to what it's saying, pray for them!

We went on exchanges this week, I was in Duncan with our District Leader, Elder Crapo, and his companion, Elder Evans, came down to Union. We had a blast! We stopped at this boxing gym where they have been teaching this retired boxer, and he was just stoked to see us! He got all excited, stopped the match and had us give them a prayer so he could finish, and when he was done we got to teach him a little about the Plan of Salvation. He's an awesome guy and he loves the Elders, I hope that he'll be able to feel the spirit and accept the invitation to be baptized. Elder Crapo and I finished our night with Hot Chocolate, and some piping hot shmoes (Buzz Lightyear for Smores) that we made in the oven. Haha they were really hot and we burned our mouths while eating them.

My scripture for this week is D&C 84:88.

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

It's been a tough week. The work hasn't been as fast as it has been, and we've had some challenges come up that were difficult to push past, but with that scripture being in our minds, we know that we are being lifted. We are being protected and strengthened, 2 things that we couldn't do missionary work without. We have to be patient, and really understand God's timing and know that when He is ready for it, the work will pick up again. In the meantime, we'll just work, work, work!