November 5, 2012

Dear Family,

  So the mission conference was awesome. Got to see a lot of old friends in the temple, and doing a huge session with everyone was awesome. Elder Hinckly spoke to us and gave us a few tips of how we could be better as missionaries. His tips came from his mission journal, his journal as a mission president, and from his father's journal. He also told us that his dad, President Hickley, after sealing his last grandchild in the temple to her spouse, he paused, looked around, and said that sealing all of his children and his grandchildren was perhaps the greatest achievement of his life. Kinda cool, something like that coming from a Prophet. Really gives the impression of just how special temple ordinances are.
  I'm glad y'all are keeping up in the Book of Mormon challenge. I think it's really neat to see so many to be on the same page and all of us learning together. I really enjoyed the section of Alma and Amulek contending with Zezrom. The Spirit of the Lord always has our backs when we are worthy of it. He really does empower us when we're in hostile areas.
  I did complete my voting ballot and got it in the mail.
  So I didn't do so hot on keeping tabs on one thing that happened each day, but here is what I wrote down. On tuesday, transfer day, I was hoping to be released as DL but they didn't change me at all. I'm a DL, with the same comp and in the same area. Hahaha the ZL's laughed at me because I answered the phone asking "Have I been released?!?" Haha it's not that I hate it, I'm just not a fan of having authority. I get prideful.
  Wednesday, was the mission conference which is what I already talked about.
  Thursday, our new member family dogged on my companion for drinking Dr. Pepper. It was funny, they just kept on making fun of him and saying they would go less active because they say he's breaking the word of wisdom.
And that's all I wrote. Haha! I keep on running into these ruts where I'll baptize someone and then have no work. We've been working hard on finding people to teach while I'm still trying to make it around to the other companionships (all of the missionaries in my district are training or being trained). It's rough but I know where my strength is so I'm relying on him.
  Is there anything that y'all want me to change about my letters? Too dull? Boring? Short? I'll do better this week to write down something each day to write about.
  Hasta ver!

Con amor,
Elder Parks