January 28, 2013

Dear Family,

  So for transfers, I'm still in the same area, I'm still a district leader, I gained a new companionship, and a new companion!
  Oh and by the way, I am eating some apples and strawberries and turkey sandwiches so I'm mixing up the meals a little. We do fairly well for our dinner list. Every other week we're booked with the spanish branch. The english wards have been slacking. Kinda disappointing.
  I can't believe it's Bishop Anderson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's cool! I'll be coming home to a Bishop Anderson!
  So I reviewed my allowances that I've received in the past few months and decided that I don't need to ask y'all to buy me clothes! I won't get everything at once but over time. I'll let y'all know if I need anything special. I have 3 suits right now but I'm about to trash one. My shoes and boots are staying good and keeping me warm and dry. My socks are staying together as well.
  So this past Thursday was my first experience with black ice! It was fun to go skating for a little. We still had a zone meeting that day and everyone had to drive there haha. I thought half of us would've died.
  On saturday we began role playing during comp study to a stuffed elk in the basement with us! It was fun and added a change to our studies.
  Sunday we had a blizzard come through! Our cars got grounded and so our Branch President asked us if he could take us to an appointment who actually wasn't there. We tried to leave the apartment complex, but his car couldn't make it up the hill because of the snow and ice! So we proceeded to walk towards walmart to get picked up by a member in the ward.
  I love this work. It is so much fun serving the Lord, and meeting strange and fun people. The experience of changing the lives of families and individuals is amazing.
Love y'all!
Elder Parks

P.S
If you could send me Caleb and Paul's addresses again that would be great.

January 21, 2013

Dear Family,

  Well it's been super cold! Apparently it was -1 this morning. Ridiculous. However, I'm staying as warm as I can. I'm lucky to have a car.
  We got transfers coming up this week. I'm pretty sure I'm staying (President told me kinda) as a district leader here. He also told me that I'll be getting a new companionship in my district so I'll be up to 6 missionaries again rather than 4! My interview with him was interesting (we had interviews this past tuesday). He had me read 2 Nephi 2:25. He then told me that to be joyful/happy was a commandment! Haha he thinks that I came to this mission to change into an optimistic person! He's probably right. I'm starting to change. It's just been hard though this past transfer, with the area itself and also with others in the district. President challenged me to have my 2nd year of my mission to be happier than the first.
  I don't have a crock pot taylor but I think I should be fine without. I'll work on my cooking here in the mission. I'm gonna try some things and hopefully then turn out good!
  Also, with my year mark coming up, I'm gonna be replacing all my clothes. Should I keep a pair of garments forever to remember my mission? I have about 35 dollars for Target so I can get some shirts on my own. Garments, I don't have my sizes memorized so I'll get back to y'all next week on that. Suits and slacks, don't need to worry about. My suits are worn (one I've already trashed because of it always getting holes) but a service missionary in my branch gave me two free suits that fit me! Both jackets and slacks fit perfectly. So I'll get back to y'all next week on clothes that I need!
  We started Luke today! I think it's interesting that we have a book of the Gospel written in Mary's perspective. Matthews was in the eyes of Joseph and Luke is in Mary's perspective.
  Hope everyone is doing alright!
Love y'all
Elder Parks

January 14, 2013

Dear Family,

  The entire mission got flue shots this morning! Haha some missionaries were freaking out! President Miller said that he couldn't wait for the Tongans to get there a get scared to death. Sure enough, some of the Tongans and other islanders came in. One of them, who is the strongest and biggest missionary in the mission (he was a former gang member in Samoa and was involved in several fights) was scared to death of the needles!!!! It was so funny to see.
  My leg isn't being bothered or anything like that Dad. I don't have any pain anymore on my left leg.
  So with shopping, I usually go to Walmart. What I'm really talking about is after my mission. I really don't know how to make any unique meals or anything like that. I'm living off macn cheese and microwave meals and jello (which right now I am fine with since I don't have time to cook) but I don't want to be like that after my mission. I want to be a good cook! I'm managing my budget well so money isn't much of an issue. Just the fact of selecting things that I could make and have them be cheap but good-tasting meals.
  With the storm coming through this past weekend, our cars were grounded and we were told to walk! Once, they told us to ground our cars at 6:15, we had a lesson that was 8 miles away and I had an interview to do at the same time. So we had to cancel the lesson and I did the interview! It's a bummer that we didn't get the lesson in but we got it re-scheduled so its ok.
  Mom, tips for sharing the Gospel, I would first recommend praying for opportunities to share the gospel! Keeping the Church magazines on the table for the parents of your piano students is great! If they read it, talk to them about it. Invite them out to church. Invite them to mormon.org, or even a visit from the missionaries! Always carry a Book of Mormon with you so that you'll always be reminded to be looking for opportunities to share the Gospel. As we give effort, the Lord will recognize it and will reward us with opportunities to share it! Keeping that in my mind during my mission has helped me a lot. Although there is a number attached to how many souls I've led into the waters of baptism, I don't have a number concerning the number of seeds I have helped plant in many others. I hope that at judgement I'll get to learn how many others I helped.
  I also think you should try learning spanish! That would be fun! We could practice when I get home. You could get a simple grammar book, study it and get the basics down. Then you could buy a Spanish Book of Mormon and read it out loud right next to the English version. That has helped me immensely.
  I love y'all. Stay safe!

Elder Parks

January 7, 2013

Dear Family,

  Well Mom, I've come to the conclusion that I just need to practice grocery shopping with you when I get home. Plus, I got the watch y'all sent me. Got it sized up today and I'm wearing it right now! Thanks for the gift.
  Elder Christofferson was awesome. He was funny too. He encouraged us to not stop being missionaries even when we are released. He went on to say that his release date is set for him and that there is no way out hahaha! He told us to be patient with ourselves. He talked about prayer and our relationship with God. He let us know that God knows what we are asking for in our prayers and that He knows us better than we know ourselves. He also told us something really cool, the fact that he said that Jesus Christ is a very active leader in this Church. He said that He is not off visiting others all the time but that He is always mindful of the Church and its progress. He told us not to be consumed by our imperfections.
  Dad, the reason why we have differences in missions is because of the mission presidents. They determine the rules of the mission and can adapt other rules as they wish because they're the key holders of the mission area.  Also, dad I learned a good lesson my 3rd transfer of how numbers aren't everything so I don't feel pressured to bring in high numbers.
  I don't have my original missionary picture on me but you can select one of me that y'all have already if you want.
I don't have my new years resolutions on me but one that stands out is being 90% efficient in spanish by the end of the year and having finished the Book of Mormon in spanish twice this year.
  I'm so happy that y'all are reading the New Testament too!!! We were told that we were going to start reading the New Testament together as a mission at a training for District Leaders, and we all loved the idea.
  Taylor, I haven't slipped yet! I've gone slidding many times but I haven't fallen yet. I'm staying warm too and I shovel snow mainly for our landlords and for anyone else we can as well.
  Well I gotta go but I'll get some pictures in this one!  I'll add more next time when I get on a faster computer.
Love,
Elder Parks

December 31, 2012

Dear Family,

  So, where is the picture of the TV??? I figured you probably won't send one until I send some pictures home. I'm going to go buy a new cord since apparently I lost the original. I'll get the pictures next week.
  I forgot to mention this in the phone call home, but how much is one twinkie worth now? We were tracting one day and a member opened up. We talked for a little then asked if she knew any spanish speakers. She didn't so then she felt bad and wanted to give us something. She said, "Elders would you like some water, or a twinkie???" I accepted without hesitation of course. So now I got a twinkie in my freezer and don't know what to do with it!
  Also, please forgive me but I did not know of this information. I missed the announcement at the conference (I wasn't in the gym at the time when it was made) but we had unlimited time to talk to family on Christmas and we could also talk to other families at the same time while calling home, so yeah I apologize for that.
  Christmas was good. I visited my old landlord, and she was really happy to see me. She's been sad for the past few holidays because of the passing away of her husband and son so she said my visit really helped her. We spent the rest of the day visiting families.
  IT NEVER STOPS SNOWING!!!!!!! ALL I DO IS SHOVEL SNOW!!!!!!!
  So anyway, this past saturday we had A MARRIAGE AND A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was really stressful but it all worked out! In two hours, our branch president got them married and then the branch president and I baptized them! It turned out really good. They are going to be confirmed next sunday. So that makes two families now! In a year I can go to their sealings!!!
  So tonight we're getting a visit by Elder Christopherson!!!! Also, we get to watch a few selected movies and play sports and such for the conference. Tomorrow we just work like usual.
  Love y'all!

Elder Parks

December 24, 2012

Dear Family,

  Well, well, well. It only seems like yesterday that I called home for mothers day! This will be short since we'll talk tomorrow!
  Mom, we can go to Temple square as often as we want, as long as we're taking new investigators who are on date for baptism.
So today! We have P-Day! However we're teaching a family today that really like us coming over. It's so cool! He's recovering from drinking and wants to change! He told us that it's been easier to avoid drinking because of some 'unknown' internal promptings. We told him that it was nothing less than the SPIRIT! The cool thing is, when they get baptized this weekend, they can get married in a year, and by that point I'll be finishing my mission! So I'll go to a sealing, then go home! Trunky.
  Anyway, tomorrow we're gonna go visit lots of families. Then we have dinner with our landlords. It's gonna be a fun day.
Well, talk to y'all tomorrow!!!

Elder Parks

December 17, 2012

Dear Family,

  Well, forgive me for not sending pictures. The Zone leaders have my camera cord and I'll be getting it back today.
  A lot happened for transfers! I'm still in the same area, but I got a new companion. I'm still a District Leader and I still drive a 2012 ford fusion but they destroyed my district. I lost a companionship to another district, and the other campanionship got changed. So it's me and my companion and another companionship in english. The interesting thing is, all 3 of them are Elders that need correction, so this could be a long transfer. I hope President Miller knows what he is doing.
  Mom, missions have different transfers on different days. The Central mission which was made from our mission does transfers 3 weeks after ours. Dad, our mission blog is utahslcsouthmission.com.
  Thanks for the tree mom! I'll hang it up too and send you a picture. We also got another tree from a senior couple in our ward that we decorated. I'll send a picture of that too when I get my cord back.
  We took a family to temple square yesterday, and it was packed! They enjoyed seeing the Christus but there were a ton of people! Forget going on the weekends during December! It was a good experience for the family though. They said that they felt peaceful at the Christus. Hopefully that'll lead to places for them.
  It's getting cold! Plus the wind never seems to stop blowing here! This bowl shaped valley brings the current around time and time again! Another fun experience happened on saturday! We had to get all 4 tires replaced on the car, so we got that done in the morning. Then as we we're driving around, we pulled up to a house and I heard air coming out of the tire. We had a screw sticking out of the tire! So I drove the car back before the tire went flat! So in less that 6 hours I had 5 new tires! It was fun.
  I'm looking forward to Christmas! Thanks for all the support!
Love
Elder Parks

December 10, 2012

Dear Family,

  So we got transfers coming up! This wednesday is transfer day so next week who knows where I'll be.
  Thanks for the Christmas box! I grew the little tree that y'all sent! Thanks for the candy supply, mine was getting a little low. If y'all could find sour starbursts that would be awesome. The Christmas CD is great too! We listened to it like 5 times. Could I somehow get a copy of the Tab Choir CD that we have and listen to all the time during Christmas? That would be nice. I'm expecting my LOA chart today so thanks very much for sending that.
  It snowed again yesterday and is snowing right now. It's cold but I'm doing great! I'm staying warm.
So right now we're teaching 3 families! My district is doing awesome! They're such good elders and they've been doing so well in the work. It stinks because most of us may get moved this wednesday. In the past 2 months, we as a district have baptized about 21 people! It's awesome to see the work progress.
  So we've heard that China is going to open to missionary work. Is that true? They're going to be serving for 3 years for the missionaries that start those areas.
  I've enjoyed reading chapter 3 and 4 of 3 Nephi this week. It's neat to see the Nephite's courage in the face of almost total destruction. This mission is very new and the missionaries here are kinda scared of everything. They need help with that courage.
  Our mission just got bumped from 200 total missionaries to 250! We're going to be getting 50 sister missionaries here. Some elders may have a hard time, and being in leadership is making me nervous about that.
  So for us Christmas is a free day, so I can call anytime before 4 (we have a mission conference that night) so whenever is good for y'all will work. I'll call to confirm again the day before like I did last time.

  Hope everyone is staying safe!
Love,
Elder Parks

December 3, 2012

Dear Family,

  So I'm feeling a lot better now. It was just a stomach bug apparently
With your question mom, we stay with english members. The spanish families here sadly couldn't afford to have us. For the most part, the spanish members are very poor. Perhaps there are one or two houses here in the mission that are spanish speakers but I don't know.
   I received the box from the relief society last week. It was really awesome to get that. I think I've gotten addicted to the drink mixes they sent with it. Please thank the relief society for me for sending it.
  Alright, well I only thought about another Texas Highways Calender. So far that's all I can think of for Christmas.
  Taylor, I'm gonna tape it inside both my scripture sets. However, whatever size you send me, I can adjust it at an Officemax or something so just send whatever you feel like sending!
  So on monday I got really sick and didn't work that day. Tuesday, I was still sick but went out and worked in the evening. Wednesday, we saw a skateboarding dog! His name is Chief and he is a bulldog type. Look him up, he should be a youtube hit. It's funny because I was just climbing out of the car and I see a dog on a skateboard heading toward me! We're gonna go back to get a picture sometime. Thursday, we got dropped by an investigator which was sad. He told us that he was moving to Provo that day and didn't want to talk to missionaries anymore. Friday, I did an exchange with the zone leaders and we SPRINTED EVERYWHERE looking for a miracle! We found a few potentials but nothing special. Saturday we had a miracle for the english elders! We were tracting and ran into a guy who wanted to know how to be baptized! We happily told him that we knew some english guys that could help him so that was fun. Sunday, our investigators came to church and was surprised by the experience and told us that "Is this a mormon church? Because it's kinda like a Christain church because y'all talk about Christ" Of course we're Christian! We love Christ!
  Well that was my week. Hope y'all have a great week and I'll talk to y'all at Christmas!

Love,
Elder Parks