Thursday, October 20, 2011


Monday, October 3, 2011



One of the elders thought John looked like "Mr. Incredible"











Elder Barker and Elder Riguelme



Elder Barker with President and Sister Rappleye





Companions pointing to the Island of Chiloe







This is a letter John wrote just after he arrived in Chile (August 9) but we just received it) Hey, I've arrived in Chile! It is absolutely beautiful here. The flight was incredibly long, but I survived. We flew from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile. On the way we stopped in Lima, Peru. We weren't going to switch planes, but we did, so I can say I stepped foot in Peru. That flight was 8 and 1/2 hours long. Then we had a 3 and 1/2 hour flight to Santiago. We got through customs fine and got through immigration okay. The flight to Osorno was amazing. We ran into about 10 other missionaries going to Osorno who were in the Santiago MTC. They are from Mexico, Honduras, Chile, etc. I'm so excited. The flight in was absolutely amazing! So beautiful. I love it here. We got to the airport and it is so small. Only one dock for the airplane. So small. We took a bus with President Rappleye and his wife to the mission home. We ate completos (hot dogs, chile style). My trainer is Elder Raquelme. He is a native from Santiago. He is trying to learn English. I'm suppose to teach him English while he teaches me Spanish. I am so excited. My first area is Chiloe. It is an island that I will be having to take a ferry to. It's awesome!
Touching down in Osorno, Chile





Elder Barker at one of the airports, in route to Osorno, Chile. (Mom will need to learn more about adding pictures:))