October 1, 2012

Dear Family,

  It's october!!!!!! I only have 1 year and 4 months left and I'm still not fluent in Spanish! I need to work harder.
Please forgive me for not sending pictures recently. I keep forgetting to bring it, but I am using it out in the field. The picture that I'm pointing in, I'm actually pointing at Moroni on top of the Draper Temple. Speaking of Moroni, did you know that only 5 temples in the world feature Moroni holding gold plates? There are also a few where Moroni is holding a scroll. Cool stuff.
  Thanks for the package! I actually went on an exchange with one of the zone leaders this past week, he ate a lot of my candy, the punk. I still have a lot of it though!
  This week in the Book of Mormon, I really liked chapter 21 of 1 Nephi. I remember that Nephi uses the words of Isaiah there because Isaiah is a great prophet for giving hope and encouragement. I think I need to use that one more with our investigators.
  This past week has been rough numbers wise but I'm keeping my hopes up. We don't have anyone that is progressing and we don't have anyone on date for baptism either. My greenie is struggling a bit, I need to actually focus on him more.
  I've really liked the colors recently. It's cool to see Fall creep down the mountains. Plus it's nice to drive around with the windows open during the day. I'm not looking forward to winter though, it's already cold in the mornings for work outs.
  Happy Birthday mom! Sorry we can't be there for it, but know that we'll be thinking of you! I always think of the mothers of the stripling warriors whenever I think of home. We we're raised up by a great mom.
  So this past week, we played tag in a place called the fun zone, we ran around on all these different inflatables and it was SO much fun. This past week I conducted my first district meeting. It was nice, the zone leaders helped me out a lot. The next day (wed) all the district leaders had an awesome training at the mission office from President Miller. He really does care for the leadership and well being of the missionaries. Thursday night we had an interesting conversation with some drunk guys. They asked us for beers in spanish, it was funny. On Friday, I helped out an Elder who was going home. He was a trial missionary who wasn't able to serve for the full 2 transfers he wanted to. We had some one on one time, and I talked to him a lot about how much of an example he is to everyone. He was bullied a lot, he almost committed suicide, his dad considers him a failure because he's not athletic due to a heart condition. I did everything that I could to help comfort him. I'm glad I did too because he really needed it. He told me that I'm the second person who has really ever cared for him in his life. I'm just glad that I could help him out. In church I accidently messed up primary!!! The teacher wanted me to stand behind a board so only my shoes and legs were visible. She then said that there was an important person behind the board. Well then I thought I heard her tell me that I could come out. Turns out, she said something else and I accidently spoiled the surprise. So much for my first sunday in the branch. Haha

The church is true!
Love,
Elder Parks