Elder Parker Saves the World!: Episode 6: ¡Adiós CCM!

Hey mom,

This is my last message from the CCM. I will be leaving next Tuesday for the field. I'm not entirely sure, but I will be flying to Barranquilla at about 6 am so we get to wake up at 2ish. YAY!

It is really weird to think that I have already been here for a month, it seems like it has been much longer and much shorter than that. I'm sure the feeling only gets stronger out in the field.

That´s too bad about Brother Rowe. I never really knew him but Nan Rowe is so nice. Please tell her I said hi. We had the opportunity to watch the funeral services for Elder Scott and they were super good.

I did hear that Alex Pratt got engaged before I left. That´s so cool that they are getting married so soon. The CCM president is really big into marriage so he´s pretty big on preaching about gettiing married as soon as we get home. I'm getting super nervious about coming home now.

So I guess Lydia is turning into a little Suarez. That must be so fun for Tyler and Sarah. I hope James is doing okay. That must be really painful! Hearing about that kinda makes me think of CCM soccer. No one has gotten bit yet, thankfully, but quite a few missionaries have battle scars from playing soccer.

So here´s something funny. Every time new missionaries have come to the CCM, there has always been a new Parker, first an hermana, and then a new Elder this past week so there are three Parkers and two Elder Parkers. We've been having a lot of fun with it and we even took a family photo at the temple today.

I have learned so much about teaching here. We currently are teaching one investigator and one menos activo. Our lessons are going so great. Just a few days ago we had a lesson with the investigadora and she was super sad because she had just lost her job and was having trouble with her boyfriend, but we helped her to understand that even though lots of bad things go on in our lives, the Lord still cares about us and he is always there when we need him. It was such a powerful moment for me and the Spirit was so strong.

This past Sunday was our Fast and Testimony Meeting, so we had the opportunity to bear our testimonies if we wanted to. I had already done it the month before, but this time I got my entire district to stand up and bear their testimonies. It was really cool to see how much their Spanish has improved in only four weeks. The gift of tongues sure is an amazing thing.

I hope everything is going good at home. How is the Priest´s quorum doing without me? I'm sure combined mutual activities must not be nearly as much fun any more. Please let all of the youth know that I love them and that even though the world is a nasty place, the church is the best thing to keep yourselves safe.

I'm not sure when I will write next so don't get your hopes up about it being anytime soon. Hopefully next time I will have a lot more interesting experiences to share.

Elder Daniel Parker