Monday, April 16, 2012
YooHoo! - March 26, 2012
Well kids. It's been another great week.
So Brandy - the LEGIT woman who cancelled her baptism date (thankfully it was like over a month in advance) - is meeting with us twice a week now. We met her husband who has been less active for like half his life and thinks he knows it all but just isn't committed to 3 hours of church (LOL). Anyway but we're meeting with Brandy tomorrow, and she's aware that we're planning a date for her to be baptized in May. She expressed to us that she thought April was too soon. Which we can understand, and it's great that she sees the importance of this commitment. They have two daughters - one is seven and one is just a few months old - so both of them will be blessed the same weekend Brandy's baptized so all their family can be there. It's super exciting! She's really intense and really pretty and really awesome.
Well we met with a family in one of our wards (so a member family) just to get to know them better and honestly I couldn't stop staring at one of their girls and couldn't figure out why. Okay fine that sounds creepy - I just kept looking at her because she looked so familiar and I couldn't figure out why. And then I got it! Morph Morty's and Shea's faces together and that's exactly what she looked like (in a child form - like 8 or 9)!!!!!!!!!! It was super freaky. And THEN I learned that she's a FRATERNAL TWIN JUST LIKE TRACIE. It was honestly pretty ridiculous. I felt obliged to warn her that her brother will leave on a mission before her and therefore without her. But she didn't seem too concerned, and her mother said it's that time in life where having a twin is not cool (is that true?! is that possible?!) so she seemed okay. Anyway. Roommate connections everywhere I guess!
Have been getting maybe 40 billion compliments on that red shirt with the roses you got me, Hannah, and was very sad when it ripped again this week. I'll have to figure out how to get it fixed.
We FINALLY had our first ward councils yesterday. I went to one of them because they were right in the middle of our 3 wards, so we were all split up pretty much all day (we're at church from like 7:30 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon). It was super intense and super cool! It's so great to see the leadership of the ward come together and try to address the needs of every single member of the congregation - even those that don't come but are in our records! We're super excited for the ward mission plans to be enacted, and hopefully that should start happening this week as our coordination meetings are picking up too. Our goals for April are BIG, and we can't do it without the ward behind us and basically dragging us along when necessary.
Our goals for the district are really big too! Want to hear them? Okay. So this is between 3 companionships and 7 wards: We are hoping to have 11 people baptized and confirmed in the month of May. 50 people with a date (they count for each week they have a date), 57 at sacrament meeting, 89 lessons with a member present, and 38 new investigators. WOW RIGHT?! April is going to be a great month; this really is the work of the Lord and my goodness it is moving along.
Wow I just realized that there are a lot capitals in this email. I guess I'm just super full of IMPORTANT THINGS. :)
Oh my gosh we got one of the new For Strength of Youth pamphlets. They are maybe the coolest things ever. I really like them.
We had some appointments fall through this week which was hard because you love these people so much and just want to meet with them! Not to mention a week feels like a month in missionary time, so when they say they can't meet for the next week and a half we start hyperventilating. Hahaha. But really.
This past week we met with some older ladies in the wards who are so good about being nice and just meeting their neighbors! We got a lot more referrals this week than we normally do since we went to them. It was so funny - they'd be like, "Well I just feel so bad since I don't know very many of my neighbors... oh but you should go see so-and-so! They're great!.... but yeah I should go meet more of my neighbors... Oh but you should go see this person! They're so sweet." For this one sister, Sister Lamb, we were there for like half and hour as she talked about how wonderful all her neighbors were. Hilarious. They're really good at being examples of how the gospel helps us lead better and fuller lives.
Have been trying more with the "tracting" by offering house blessings. We think our vernacular may be hindering us, but it's also completely necessary for all 3 of us to be completely obedient and completely excited about this work. We're trying to work on ways in which we can be better about this. One zone in our mission blessed 40 of 90 homes and got like 20 return appointments. Our numbers are not nearly that great, so we know we have work to do. We were really grateful for the time this week that we had to practice and really increase in our faith. And help people figure out that blessing a home is saying a prayer for them right there in their home addressed to their specific needs... I think people have said no out of pure confusion more than anything else haha.
A bird flew into our home this morning... That was pretty great. I think it pooped on Sister Falke's suitcase though and we forgot to clean it up...
The weather is pretty perfect here! It's crazy to think that a week ago there was like 8 inches of snow outside. Random. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a house here in Prescott... Just in case the Austin area doesn't work out! So now I'm debating between Prescott, Colorado, and Kyle. I suppose some of this would depend on where my husband and I get jobs, but it's mostly up to me, right? Right :)
Okay I think that's pretty much it. Can I get Aunt Tara's email address please? AND THANKS FOR THE GREENIE PACKAGE IT WAS SO ADORABLE. So cute.
Am excited to see the Hunger Games one day! I think I want to research the sociology of films and theaters. For some reason it sounds more appealing than environmental sociology. Thoughts?
Hey I love all of you so much. Miss you bunches and oats. Really though. Hope everyone's doing well. Talk to you next week!
Love,
Sister Parks
P.S. Isn't it totally weird that Trenton is Elder Parks? Random. But awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a winter wonderland - March 19, 2012
So. It snowed. A lot. Saturday night we were expecting 3 inches when we woke up Sunday morning. We had like 8 inches of snow. And it snowed a little more last night.
We had Sisters Training down in Phoenix last Wednesday and were the only companionship there with a truck. And all the sisters were jealous and confused as to why we had a truck, so when we woke up and dug ourselves out of the snow and drove down the hills and valleys with 4-wheel drive, we all exclaimed, "THAT'S why we have a truck with 4-wheel drive!" So there. I am very blessed to be in Prescott. The temperature is only in the 20s so it's not that bad at all. A lot like Utah. I'm wearing my red flats that Taylor gave me because they stay on really well as I go through the snow and they're super waterproof. The elders think we're crazy, but we obviously don't have anything else to wear. Ironically the only reason I have sweaters and my purple coat is because I was going to be in Provo in February, so I'm glad I brought all that stuff and have it with me.
We FINALLY have our last Ward Mission Leader and are super excited to get the work going. We have a ward mission plan in which each auxillary comes up with 5 names and then they take us to appointments with them. It's a way to reactivate people, meet new people, and just let the ward really tell us what they want so we can help them strengthen.
One of our investigators who had a baptismal date called us and said that she didn't want to be baptized anymore. We are really sad but are meeting with her tomorrow to see what her hangup is.
We spent quite a bit of time going through our 3 area books and finally figuring out who is in what ward and making copies of everything for our ward mission leaders which was pretty exciting but kind of annoying. So hopefully we never have to do that again.
We just started teaching a new family with 5 kids and they are positively amazing. We're taking them on a church tour this week but I'll be in Deer Valley that day so I'm kind of sad! But they're super amazing and we love talking with them and teaching them the restored gospel. But yeah I go on my first exchange this week! I'm going down to Deer Valley for 24 hours (8 pm to 8 pm) with Sister Chord and then Sister Swallow is coming up here to be with Sister Bruckman and Sister Falke. So thankfully I don't have to know where I'm going and everything. I'll just go by the Spirit and let Sister Chord drive me everywhere!
Sisters Specialized Training Meeting was pretty cool! It was so AWESOME to see Sister Murdock and Sister Bailey again. I probably spent too much time with them but that's okay. And oh my gosh the food was incredible. Wow. So we went on a little hike just down the street from where the Phoenix Temple is being built (wow it's going to be beautiful) and along the hike talked about how the gospel of Jesus Christ leads us to make more covenants in the temple which leads us to the celestial kingdom! Awesome, right? Right. And then we learned this new thing where we weave Lesson 3 into Lesson 1 as we teach it (get out your Preach My Gospel and look this up) which is amazing because it's all amazing how it all goes together. When we teach Lesson 1 correctly, people understand that something is missing, it has now been restored, and that priesthood authority makes it possible for there to be one baptism and one church and one Lord and such (see Ephesians 4).
We met another new family through an older couple in the ward who have been connected with the family for years, and want the younger generation (so it's a couple and their two [almost 3!] children) to know about the gospel and feel it enrich their lives. So they're pretty awesome and we just started teaching them this week too.
Had an amazing experience last night where our one investigator with a baptismal date received a blessing from our zone leaders. I LOVE BLESSINGS SO MUCH. I love that through the restored priesthood authority to know God's will and act in His name. The blessing was beautiful and addressed those things that Ashleigh was concerned about - some things we knew and some things that only God knew - which was evident as she talked to us a little bit about it later. We hope that she realizes that she's such a beloved daughter of our Father in heaven and that He WANTS to hear from her all the time.
Anyway nothing much else to report for this week! Ha I never really know what to say. Keep praying that the Phoenix Temple will be finished BEFORE I LEAVE so that I can spend the last part of my mission being a tour guide. I literally cannot think of a better way to finish my mission (other than like 50 baptisms or at new investigators).
The hiking pictures are from Sister Training. We took the snow pictures this morning. I dropped my CTR ring in the toilet and had to fish it out. Do you like my new Arizona shirt? I spent like 45 minutes at Walgreens picking it out. There was a lizard (gecko?) on my window. Our truck bed is completely full of snow.
I love all of you so much. On to individual emails! It was really nice to get an email from Fisher as she finally alerted me that she's engaged. Do they have a date yet? I'm so excited. Her ring looks legit, but it was hard to tell in the pictures. And Tracie = failblog hahahahaha. So Hannah be sure to send her that file so that she remembers who I am. That would be nice. Also, we only have zone conferences like once a month, so for you family and such go ahead and send things to my real address - the Country Park Drive address - so I can get mail in a timely manner.
I think that's it. Wow I spent a long time. It's fun and sometimes distracting to be here in the Family History Center with half the zone because the elders are super distracting.
LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU
Sister Parks
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Letter from March 12, 2012
Okay
so I didn't take like any in the MTC, but the ones I have are when I
got special permission to see Trenton our last night in the MTC and
we broke the rule and ran over to the giant map and took pictures
really fast. So if we look hurried it's because we were breaking
rules and we were saying bye haha. And then let's see there are
pictures of all 3 baptisms hopefully. The lady with the walker is
Linda - she's super golden and is OUR baptism - not one passed off by
the elders Hannah. Haha thanks for the support. The young girl where
none of us are looking at the camera is Alle. She's 13 and amazing.
She's a great influence and example to her parents. And the boy with
the elders is Kyle. He's 12 and was passed off to us from the elders
kind of like Alle except Alle has been passed off twice from moving
and ward changes. Kyle's pretty cool. His whole family are all recent
converts within like the last two years or something.
there's a picture of me with my bike. Do you think I should wrap it up with duck tape to protect it and love it? But it's so beautiful! But I don't want it to be stolen. Anyway. Let me know what you think.
Also, there's a picture of us in blue jumpsuits which were probably the coolest things I've ever worn in my life. We painted a bathroom for someone which was nice. Haha it was really bad but we came back and fixed all of it.
So let's see. This week we had two baptisms and a zone conference so I was pretty much out of jacket outfits. Thankfully cardigans count as jackets.
Shealyn Moon sent me one of those awesome candy notes that was literally longer than my bed. I took a picture of it. We are gleefully enjoying the candy.
And one night we were talking about how I don't like eggs and all the cool things you can do with eggs and Sister Falke managed to trick Sister Bruckman into being trapped holding an egg in the door for like 15 minutes. Upon further reflection and trying to apologize for it, Sister Falke said, "Well. The training book says I'm not allowed to prank my trainee. So you were the only other companion I had!" Funny.
I think that's all the pictures that needed explaining.
So with the singing thing. It was pretty terrible. I have the vocal range of a man. Actually not even. I doubt that I can hit an D or an E. And then we get there to zone conference with all the elders in our zone and President and Sister Taylor and you know I'm not supposed to practice so I was able to fit in like 30 minutes of trying to learn the piano to "He Sent His Son" before Alle's baptism (it takes 2 hours to fill the font and we didn't have a Ward Mission Leader) but yeah so I get there and I'm freaking out a little bit and the piano is weird and electric and I knew I was going to make a bajillion errors. Anyway. So I just decided to go acapella and immediately messed up the words and started again. But it was fine. Embarrassing and hopefully the zone leaders know never to ask me to sing again, but Sister Taylor thought it was fine because she's asked me to sing at the Sister Specialized Training this Wednesday... but she said she'd find someone to play the piano for me so I guess that's good. And Sister Falke felt to bad about volunteering me for church that following Sunday (zone conference was Friday) that she took my place and borrowed a violin and played a couple hymns. So yeah. It's been fun. A real joy.
We are experimenting on a new door approach that helps us really get right to the point of who we are and what we want for people (to bless them and their homes and their families). So we're literally doing that. When we approach doors we say something like, "Hi. We're representatives of Jesus Christ and are in your neighborhood and wondered if we could come in briefly and bless your home." So obviously it changes with each person because every person is different and not everyone wants us to come in or is welcoming at all. So far we've been able to bless 2 houses, and it's a really great blessing. We meet all the family, ask them what their specific needs are, and kneel down with them and offer a prayer. I got to give the first blessing for a couple named Wayne and Beverly (we have a return appointment with them next Sunday) and it was amazing. Because that's exactly why we're here! We want to share happiness and bless people. Which is why I think it's so funny when people say, "No - we already pray and are good Christians" or "I don't think we need you to bless our house" or "Well we've lived here for 12 years and have been fine" because yeah. I don't think prayer ever doesn't help people. It's fascinating.
But one woman was very unreceptive and didn't trust our authority (which is probably part of why thus far the elders are having better success) and it really made me think about what right I had to bless people's homes. At first I was like, well I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I graduated from seminary and have learned about the church my whole life. And then I thought - wait. I have been set apart by the restored priesthood of God to be a representative of Jesus Christ - to say and do exactly what He would say and do if He were here ministering and blessing and teaching the people of Prescott, Arizona. My calling is to do exactly that. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. I may not have the priesthood myself, but my calling is through the priesthood which is the power of God. I have a right to receive revelation for those I am called to teach and find. I am a missionary for the one true church on the earth today.
It's been my extreme blessing to be here. I'm excited for Trenton to come out into the field and feel this for himself. It's amazing. So hard sometimes! But amazing. It's hard to be completely obedient all the time and trust the Spirit to speak through us rather than relying on those things that we already know. But I know that I've been extremely blessed when it does happen - when I'm completely obedient to my covenants and the mission rules and know why I'm here. There have been moments where the Spirit is so strong that I'm overwhelmed with joy and don't remember the things that I say to people because they're not from me. And then there are other times where I get confused or frustrated and I lose the Spirit. It's been one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. I feel like I've been out here for months haha. It reminds me a lot of the scripture the whole mission is memorizing this month: 2 Nephi 1: 27
I know how extremely blessed I am to be out here. To be speaking English in the United States in a place that is almost a perfect mix of Provo and Austin geographically. To have 2 companions and a truck and beautiful weather right now. I am here now for a purpose.
Sorry that so much of my letters seem to be bearing my testimony, but right now my life is my testimony haha! But really.
I love all of you so much. At zone conference I got a whole bunch of letters and a package from Shea from the last four weeks. It's nice to not be forgotten (um the Andersons are amazing!) and to know how much support I have. I know not all missionaries have the same support system I have.
Okay I'm going to do some personal letters now (including one to my mission president haha) so yeah. I love you. Talk to you next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love, Sister Parks
there's a picture of me with my bike. Do you think I should wrap it up with duck tape to protect it and love it? But it's so beautiful! But I don't want it to be stolen. Anyway. Let me know what you think.
Also, there's a picture of us in blue jumpsuits which were probably the coolest things I've ever worn in my life. We painted a bathroom for someone which was nice. Haha it was really bad but we came back and fixed all of it.
So let's see. This week we had two baptisms and a zone conference so I was pretty much out of jacket outfits. Thankfully cardigans count as jackets.
Shealyn Moon sent me one of those awesome candy notes that was literally longer than my bed. I took a picture of it. We are gleefully enjoying the candy.
And one night we were talking about how I don't like eggs and all the cool things you can do with eggs and Sister Falke managed to trick Sister Bruckman into being trapped holding an egg in the door for like 15 minutes. Upon further reflection and trying to apologize for it, Sister Falke said, "Well. The training book says I'm not allowed to prank my trainee. So you were the only other companion I had!" Funny.
I think that's all the pictures that needed explaining.
So with the singing thing. It was pretty terrible. I have the vocal range of a man. Actually not even. I doubt that I can hit an D or an E. And then we get there to zone conference with all the elders in our zone and President and Sister Taylor and you know I'm not supposed to practice so I was able to fit in like 30 minutes of trying to learn the piano to "He Sent His Son" before Alle's baptism (it takes 2 hours to fill the font and we didn't have a Ward Mission Leader) but yeah so I get there and I'm freaking out a little bit and the piano is weird and electric and I knew I was going to make a bajillion errors. Anyway. So I just decided to go acapella and immediately messed up the words and started again. But it was fine. Embarrassing and hopefully the zone leaders know never to ask me to sing again, but Sister Taylor thought it was fine because she's asked me to sing at the Sister Specialized Training this Wednesday... but she said she'd find someone to play the piano for me so I guess that's good. And Sister Falke felt to bad about volunteering me for church that following Sunday (zone conference was Friday) that she took my place and borrowed a violin and played a couple hymns. So yeah. It's been fun. A real joy.
We are experimenting on a new door approach that helps us really get right to the point of who we are and what we want for people (to bless them and their homes and their families). So we're literally doing that. When we approach doors we say something like, "Hi. We're representatives of Jesus Christ and are in your neighborhood and wondered if we could come in briefly and bless your home." So obviously it changes with each person because every person is different and not everyone wants us to come in or is welcoming at all. So far we've been able to bless 2 houses, and it's a really great blessing. We meet all the family, ask them what their specific needs are, and kneel down with them and offer a prayer. I got to give the first blessing for a couple named Wayne and Beverly (we have a return appointment with them next Sunday) and it was amazing. Because that's exactly why we're here! We want to share happiness and bless people. Which is why I think it's so funny when people say, "No - we already pray and are good Christians" or "I don't think we need you to bless our house" or "Well we've lived here for 12 years and have been fine" because yeah. I don't think prayer ever doesn't help people. It's fascinating.
But one woman was very unreceptive and didn't trust our authority (which is probably part of why thus far the elders are having better success) and it really made me think about what right I had to bless people's homes. At first I was like, well I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I graduated from seminary and have learned about the church my whole life. And then I thought - wait. I have been set apart by the restored priesthood of God to be a representative of Jesus Christ - to say and do exactly what He would say and do if He were here ministering and blessing and teaching the people of Prescott, Arizona. My calling is to do exactly that. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. I may not have the priesthood myself, but my calling is through the priesthood which is the power of God. I have a right to receive revelation for those I am called to teach and find. I am a missionary for the one true church on the earth today.
It's been my extreme blessing to be here. I'm excited for Trenton to come out into the field and feel this for himself. It's amazing. So hard sometimes! But amazing. It's hard to be completely obedient all the time and trust the Spirit to speak through us rather than relying on those things that we already know. But I know that I've been extremely blessed when it does happen - when I'm completely obedient to my covenants and the mission rules and know why I'm here. There have been moments where the Spirit is so strong that I'm overwhelmed with joy and don't remember the things that I say to people because they're not from me. And then there are other times where I get confused or frustrated and I lose the Spirit. It's been one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. I feel like I've been out here for months haha. It reminds me a lot of the scripture the whole mission is memorizing this month: 2 Nephi 1: 27
I know how extremely blessed I am to be out here. To be speaking English in the United States in a place that is almost a perfect mix of Provo and Austin geographically. To have 2 companions and a truck and beautiful weather right now. I am here now for a purpose.
Sorry that so much of my letters seem to be bearing my testimony, but right now my life is my testimony haha! But really.
I love all of you so much. At zone conference I got a whole bunch of letters and a package from Shea from the last four weeks. It's nice to not be forgotten (um the Andersons are amazing!) and to know how much support I have. I know not all missionaries have the same support system I have.
Okay I'm going to do some personal letters now (including one to my mission president haha) so yeah. I love you. Talk to you next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love, Sister Parks
Monday, March 12, 2012
Hilary's Address
Hilary has figuered out the address to her actual apartment so here it is:
Sister Hilary Parks
910 Country Park Drive
Prescott, AZ 86301
You can send your snail mail to this address and she will get it immediatley or to her mission home and that address is on the right side bar (she'll get those later). Packages are probably best sent to the mission home.
-Hannah
Sister Hilary Parks
910 Country Park Drive
Prescott, AZ 86301
You can send your snail mail to this address and she will get it immediatley or to her mission home and that address is on the right side bar (she'll get those later). Packages are probably best sent to the mission home.
-Hannah
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Brittany Fisher
Hilary is very angry at you. Not really, don't worry!
Last week after I sent her my usual email, then I forgot something so I sent her another quick one which said this,
Oh yeah! Fisher is getting married!!!!!!!!! In case she doesn't tell you or you haven't heard already ;) engaged to Brian clay. Know of him?
Which she then responded with,
AHHHHHH WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME I AM SO UPSET WITH MY FRIENDS JUST KIDDING I'M NOT BUT WOW WHEN IS SHE GETTING MARRIED TELL ME EVERYTHING.
Yes I know Brian Clay. I knew they were probably getting engaged like a month ago in California, but no one wrote me to actually tell me!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Hannah for being my saving grace. I love you. And am super excited for Fisher. She's awesome. I love her.
So tell her all your plans in an email tonight so she can read them tomorrow, Fisher!! She's dying to know :)
-Hannah
Last week after I sent her my usual email, then I forgot something so I sent her another quick one which said this,
Oh yeah! Fisher is getting married!!!!!!!!! In case she doesn't tell you or you haven't heard already ;) engaged to Brian clay. Know of him?
Which she then responded with,
AHHHHHH WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME I AM SO UPSET WITH MY FRIENDS JUST KIDDING I'M NOT BUT WOW WHEN IS SHE GETTING MARRIED TELL ME EVERYTHING.
Yes I know Brian Clay. I knew they were probably getting engaged like a month ago in California, but no one wrote me to actually tell me!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Hannah for being my saving grace. I love you. And am super excited for Fisher. She's awesome. I love her.
So tell her all your plans in an email tonight so she can read them tomorrow, Fisher!! She's dying to know :)
-Hannah
Monday, March 5, 2012
Out in the desert they wander! - Hilary's email from March 5, 2012
So.
I'll respond to all your individual emails soon. If I can. Mom I was
so happy to finally hear from
you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALSO shout out to my favorite Tracie Farrell because today is the anniversary of when she was born and had some quality time with her parents before Adam really took over hahaha. Happy birthday to Elder Farrell as well. Miss those kids!
And Devin Sabin's birthday was the 2nd (Texas Independence Day), but I forgot in my last email. I'll be better promise!
Soooooooo thanks for all the emails! I'll try and respond to all of them. Trenton is so cute - he sent me the lyrics to "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" in Spanish because he didn't sing it to me in the MTC like he said he would because we were both going to cry because you know how I am with change and music and such. It's not a good combination.
Oh and on Texas Independence Day, we had our first baptism. It was super duper awesome. We have another one this Wednesday and another on Saturday and then it stops until April 1st when we have another one. Our problem right now is finding people to teach. It's so sweet - our wards pray for us a lot in sacrament meeting that we'll be able to find people who are ready to receive the gospel, but I want to say, "No! YOU find the people so we can TEACH. But thanks anyway." I know they have great intentions, and I know how hard it is to share the gospel with people.
So calling everyone to repentance haha - HELP THE MISSIONARIES. And religion is so much more casual then I made it out to be before. If anything, being a missionary has taught me how bad of a member missionary I was haha. Maybe not a bad member missionary, but I think I just didn't realize how much I LOVED (LOVE) the Gospel and how much happiness it brings my family and me. Something that helps me understand life and gives me purpose I should have shared with everyone! Or at least answered people's questions. I don't know. The gospel is for everyone, and it helps everyone. I missed a lot of opportunities to share truth with people that would have helped them in certain trials of their lives. The gospel helps people because it's truth! I love it.
So with the baptisms - with all the ward changes we actually "stole" some investigators with baptismal dates from our zone leaders. So that's why we have so many right now because two are ones the elders had planned and one is an investigator with a date that my companions already had.
The first one was Kyle - he's 12 and they've had a lot of changes in their family but they're finally all together and his dad got to baptize him and confer the gift of the Holy Ghost on him which was great. Their family is really being blessed from the unity they've found in living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Alle is a 14-year-old getting baptized this Wednesday for the mutual activity (adorable, right?!). She is super awesome and a real example to her parents who see the how this decision is already blessing her life.
On Saturday an older woman named Linda is being baptized. She moved here like 5 months ago and just walked into the stake center one day knowing that someone there would help her. It's awesome. She's super strong.
This week definitely had its ups and downs. Missionary work is hard! But oh so rewarding when we have a really good lesson or when we have a great chat with a stranger on the street or we go into a member's home and challenge them to shine the light! We love being able to add on to the truths that so many people already know about God or about why we're here on this earth. In fact, sometimes we get so excited on having so many answers that we have to back off and let them digest. The gospel is so beautiful in its fulness. My testimony has grown so much as people who profess to know "the Mormon doctrine" ask me questions that I think, "Wow. That's something I took for granted - maybe I should look into that more" and then I get to the next morning in my two hours of study by myself and with my companions. It's awesome. My knowledge of what is true grows so much as I really reaffirm and experiment on the gospel.
Our three wards are really great, but yeah haha we're in church all day Sunday - from 7:45 in the morning to 3:00 at least. Having church at 8:00 should be illegal. But at least I can stay awake! HAHAHAHAHA.
Also, there are 3 companionships in my district (so 2 sets of elders [including the zone leaders] and the 3 of us) and for some reason none of them sing really loud or anything and thus think that I am a gift from God because I have a good alto voice. As such I've been volunteered to sing at church this week in one of our wards and at zone meeting this Friday. I have 0 access to music and the vocal range of a man, so I'm fascinated to see how this will turn out. Any ideas Mom? I might just call someone in the ward who plays the piano and say, "Go to Sally DeFord's website, find a hymn arrangement for an alto that you can sing, and I'll sing it". I honestly don't have time to practice and I don't have the facilities to find music myself. So that's life. Ha but Mom I hope you're happy in that I haven't said no even though sometimes I really want to haha. My range is so sad. I'm joining ANY choir as soon as I get home. I miss being able to sing anything I want and loving it always.
Wow. Okay well this is taking a really long time so I might just go and finish other emails. BUT WOW I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH. I hope my blog is adorable hahahahahahahaha. Also, I heard a terrible song on the radio this morning by Miley Cyrus about shining the light or something (we walk past a radio as we leave our apartment which is always awkward) and yeah the song was terrible. I gagged. Yuck.
I should be getting letters from the zone leaders from the mission office this Friday at zone meeting (so it's like 4 weeks worth of letters haha), so maybe I'll find out what my real address is and give that to you instead because we're in the family history library at a church building using their computers and thus I don't have it with me.
Okay this is way too long. I LOVE Y'ALL. Hahahahahahahahahaha LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
Sister Parks
ALSO shout out to my favorite Tracie Farrell because today is the anniversary of when she was born and had some quality time with her parents before Adam really took over hahaha. Happy birthday to Elder Farrell as well. Miss those kids!
And Devin Sabin's birthday was the 2nd (Texas Independence Day), but I forgot in my last email. I'll be better promise!
Soooooooo thanks for all the emails! I'll try and respond to all of them. Trenton is so cute - he sent me the lyrics to "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" in Spanish because he didn't sing it to me in the MTC like he said he would because we were both going to cry because you know how I am with change and music and such. It's not a good combination.
Oh and on Texas Independence Day, we had our first baptism. It was super duper awesome. We have another one this Wednesday and another on Saturday and then it stops until April 1st when we have another one. Our problem right now is finding people to teach. It's so sweet - our wards pray for us a lot in sacrament meeting that we'll be able to find people who are ready to receive the gospel, but I want to say, "No! YOU find the people so we can TEACH. But thanks anyway." I know they have great intentions, and I know how hard it is to share the gospel with people.
So calling everyone to repentance haha - HELP THE MISSIONARIES. And religion is so much more casual then I made it out to be before. If anything, being a missionary has taught me how bad of a member missionary I was haha. Maybe not a bad member missionary, but I think I just didn't realize how much I LOVED (LOVE) the Gospel and how much happiness it brings my family and me. Something that helps me understand life and gives me purpose I should have shared with everyone! Or at least answered people's questions. I don't know. The gospel is for everyone, and it helps everyone. I missed a lot of opportunities to share truth with people that would have helped them in certain trials of their lives. The gospel helps people because it's truth! I love it.
So with the baptisms - with all the ward changes we actually "stole" some investigators with baptismal dates from our zone leaders. So that's why we have so many right now because two are ones the elders had planned and one is an investigator with a date that my companions already had.
The first one was Kyle - he's 12 and they've had a lot of changes in their family but they're finally all together and his dad got to baptize him and confer the gift of the Holy Ghost on him which was great. Their family is really being blessed from the unity they've found in living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Alle is a 14-year-old getting baptized this Wednesday for the mutual activity (adorable, right?!). She is super awesome and a real example to her parents who see the how this decision is already blessing her life.
On Saturday an older woman named Linda is being baptized. She moved here like 5 months ago and just walked into the stake center one day knowing that someone there would help her. It's awesome. She's super strong.
This week definitely had its ups and downs. Missionary work is hard! But oh so rewarding when we have a really good lesson or when we have a great chat with a stranger on the street or we go into a member's home and challenge them to shine the light! We love being able to add on to the truths that so many people already know about God or about why we're here on this earth. In fact, sometimes we get so excited on having so many answers that we have to back off and let them digest. The gospel is so beautiful in its fulness. My testimony has grown so much as people who profess to know "the Mormon doctrine" ask me questions that I think, "Wow. That's something I took for granted - maybe I should look into that more" and then I get to the next morning in my two hours of study by myself and with my companions. It's awesome. My knowledge of what is true grows so much as I really reaffirm and experiment on the gospel.
Our three wards are really great, but yeah haha we're in church all day Sunday - from 7:45 in the morning to 3:00 at least. Having church at 8:00 should be illegal. But at least I can stay awake! HAHAHAHAHA.
Also, there are 3 companionships in my district (so 2 sets of elders [including the zone leaders] and the 3 of us) and for some reason none of them sing really loud or anything and thus think that I am a gift from God because I have a good alto voice. As such I've been volunteered to sing at church this week in one of our wards and at zone meeting this Friday. I have 0 access to music and the vocal range of a man, so I'm fascinated to see how this will turn out. Any ideas Mom? I might just call someone in the ward who plays the piano and say, "Go to Sally DeFord's website, find a hymn arrangement for an alto that you can sing, and I'll sing it". I honestly don't have time to practice and I don't have the facilities to find music myself. So that's life. Ha but Mom I hope you're happy in that I haven't said no even though sometimes I really want to haha. My range is so sad. I'm joining ANY choir as soon as I get home. I miss being able to sing anything I want and loving it always.
Wow. Okay well this is taking a really long time so I might just go and finish other emails. BUT WOW I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH. I hope my blog is adorable hahahahahahahaha. Also, I heard a terrible song on the radio this morning by Miley Cyrus about shining the light or something (we walk past a radio as we leave our apartment which is always awkward) and yeah the song was terrible. I gagged. Yuck.
I should be getting letters from the zone leaders from the mission office this Friday at zone meeting (so it's like 4 weeks worth of letters haha), so maybe I'll find out what my real address is and give that to you instead because we're in the family history library at a church building using their computers and thus I don't have it with me.
Okay this is way too long. I LOVE Y'ALL. Hahahahahahahahahaha LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
Sister Parks
The Field - Email from Feb. 27, 2012
Hi.
How's it going?
Great.
Let's talk about me now.
So
I'm here. In Prescott. It's north of Sedona I think. I don't really
know though. It's like Austin hill country meets Utah. Dry with
larger hills than the hill country and like NO GRASS. Which is cool -
they have like the coolest gravel and rocks I've ever seen. It's
awesome.
So
sad but focused news: I am 99% sure I'm not allowed to email friends.
Family only. So... yeah... Guess we'll see if Tracie can really stand
the trial of friendship here hahaha. I know I've already failed on my
end, but I have a lot more faith in her.
So
news. Well we got to the mission home safe and sound as I'm sure you
know. They picked us up from the airport in this megavan with a
trailer in the back for all our luggage. We drove into our actual
mission to the mission office first where we filled out a bunch of
paperwork and met all the senior missionaries working there. There's
something weird about getting mail at our actual address here - you
need to put your name on the mailbox or something, so I'll have to
figure that out and until then will have to make you write and send
everything to the mission home. It will get to me soon enough.
So
yeah after the mission office and all the paperwork and such we went
to the mission home where we took pictures and ate some food and
wrote a letter to our family and had a 2 and 1/2 hour
nap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The amazing thing was that
almost all of us slept the whole time. So yeah there were 8 of us the
whole time (6 from my distric and then another 2 elders that were
speaking Spanish). We all got really close (some of us already were
:) ) and yeah blah blah blah. I'm glad you kept Hannah home from
school so she could hear my beautiful voice when I called from the
airport haha. I thought that was so funny. It was a Tuesday right? I
don't even remember anymore.
Okay
and then we had dinner and met individually with President Taylor and
the APs and had driving orientation and picked grapefruit from their
grapefruit tree (super tall and yellow grapefruit - weird). And
then the 8 of us all slept there and the next morning worked out and
went to the transfer meeting where we met a lot of our mission, our
companions, and found out what areas we were going to. Splitting up
after that meeting was really hard - I kept crying and had a really
difficult time keeping it together. So yeah that was not fun. I'm
almost 99% positive I'll be companions with Sister Bailey at some
point, maybe Sister Murdock too. And I just hope the elders are in my
zone at some point!
So
they don't think the Phoenix temple will be done by the time we leave
(like literally a month or two short!) so PRAY SO HARD THAT THEY WORK
REALLY HARD AND FINISH IT BEFORE I LEAVE BECAUSE I REALLY WANT TO BE
A TOUR GUIDE. Okay thanks. Love you all. We get to go to the temple
once a quarter and at Christmas. Cute right? That's the Mesa temple
btw.
My
companions are pretty cool. Sister Bruckman and I have the same
birthday and she's from Layton, Utah (she does not know Elder Fisher
though). Sister Falke is my trainer and our senior companion. She is
always very happy. We get along really well.
It
took us about an hour and a half to drive to Prescott, and we
unloaded my stuff and almost immediately went out and taught an
investigator and went tracting. Scary. But I'm learning to not be
afraid because I'm not advertising a religion; I'm sharing the
happiest news ever!
So
yeah we've met a lot of people. President Taylor called last night
and asked me how I was doing. We're over 3 different wards starting
at 8 in the morning. I know how is that legal. But it was cool. It's
fun sustaining and meeting people in 3 different wards. The building
is nice. We've met a lot of people.
Prescott
is beautiful. I love the truck we drive. I love the cell phone. I
love the hills and all the beautiful dells and rocks and gravel. It's
wonderful. A little cold sometimes, but I'm sure I'll miss it in the
summer. Hopefully I stay here because it's like on average 20 degrees
cooler here in Prescott than it is in hot Phoenix. Everyone's telling
me how blessed I am to be out here for my first area.
Okay
well I'm gonna go and make sure I have time to email my mission
president. Sorry I know this was completely inadequate. I
honestly don't know what to say though! There's so much.
LOVE
YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU.
SISTER
PARKS THE GREENIE.
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