Episode 39: Colombian Holiday!

Hey everybody,

How is everybody doing? I can't believe that it is already Memorial Day. I still remember how awesome the carnival was. Today is also a holiday here, but unfortunately I have no idea what they are celebrating. And neither do the Colombians. But everybody likes the day off work.

This week has been really great. We have been working really hard with retention, or converts and less active members. 

We have a sister that we are working to reactiviate in the church named Melanie. Her mom and brother are active members so she has been really progressing. This week we werre able to talk with her about tithing and the blessings she would receive because she, like a lot of others here are living in difficult situations. But it was a super powerful lesson and she commited to pay tithing.

We were also able to find a new less active sister that we are working with. Her name is Andrea and we have taught her father-in-law, who is also less active, but never her. But when we talked to her she said she was completely ready to come back to church and that she had started to read the Book of Mormon just a few days earlier. Crazy, right? She was prepared so that when we came completely not expecting it we found a less active member ready to return to church. It was great!!

This week we have also been able to find various new investigators. We have the goal here to invite every investigator to baptism in the first lesson, which is kinda hard but when the people accept they get super excited. This week unfortunately we have been having a lot of opposition but we did have one brother that we were able to program in the first lesson. His name is Luis and he is the brother of the ward mission leader. He was totally committed to change if he received an answer to his prayer.

Well, that's a little bit of my week. I hope everything is going well. I took a few photos today of the city but I forgot my cord for my camera so I can't transfer them. Sorry, but I will definitely do it next week.

See you guys later,

Elder Parker

Episode 38: Dog Attack!

Hey everybody,

Things are going so great here. Literally this past week has gone by so fast that I can't believe that it is Monday again.

I'm so sad that I missed the party in Primary. It's still so hard to imagine how much the kids have grown since I left. But I'm very proud of Adelaide and her effort to give the prayer. I know how hard that is. 

This week has been super great. I seriously had no idea how great training would be before this week. We have been working so hard and have been having a lot of success, especially with our less actives. The big push in our mission is for reactivating less active members, especially because of the new temple here. But things are going really well.

I hope everything is going great back at home. Right now I have a tiny dog trying to eat the bottom of my shoe. It is seriously super cute. Just saying.

See you guys soon,

Elder Parker

Episode 37: "I'm a Dad!"

Hey everybody,

I am so sorry that I wasn't able to write last week. This past week was a little bit crazy. First we did have time to write last Monday so when we went to start writing the internet store lost power. So we talked with our leaders and they said that we could write on Tuesday.

But that brings me to the next piece of news. So, I didn't think I would be saying this so soon but, I'm a dad!! I am training a new missionary from Mexico, so I spent all day on Tuesday in a training for trainers and new missionaries. And after that I have just had a lot of inconveniences to be able to write you guys. 

Well, things have been going really great here. Like I said, I have a new companion. His name is Elder Pérez and he is from Mexico City. He is 19 years old and less than a month on his mission. It has been so great getting to know him and being able to teach him about being a missionary. He is a lot like me and people have even said that we could be twins. I can't say that would be accurate but he is a super fun guy and I really enjoy being his companion.

Well aside from that nothing really exciting has been going on. In the beginning of June Elder and Sister Rasband will be coming here to Barranquilla and we will be able to see them. And also President Gallego, our  new mission president, will be coming next transfer. I'm very excited but also sad to see President Searle go. I have learned a lot from him and have grown a lot.

Please tell Grandma and Granddaddy and everyone else back at home how grateful I am for their messages and their wellwishes. I am so happy to be considered part of their family and can't wait to see them in a few years. And please tell Grandma that I hope she will get better and that I am praying for her.

Well, I hope everything is going well for everybody. I'm so happy that Emma was able to find a job that she is more or less happy with. I hope that they can find a good place to live there. And also that everything goes well for Sarah and GusGus.

See you guys soon,

Elder Parker

Elder Perez and Elder Parker

Episode 36: "Clean the Glass From the Inside!"

Hey everybody,

I hope everyone is doing well. Things are going super well here. We just had our stake conference yesterday. The theme of the conference was ''clean the glass from the inside''. All of the leaders were talking about the importance of being the best members possible so that we can begin to help the less active members and converts. It was such a great conference and I learned so much.

I am so excited for this Sunday. I will try to call at about 5:45 because my companion is going to talk with his family right before me. I hope that works for you guys.

Well, I don't have many details right now but I will definitely be sharing more on Sunday.

See you soon,

Elder Parker