Episode 43: "I can't believe I have lived here for a year and you haven't invited me to church!"

Hey everybody,

How is everyone doing? I am so sorry to hear about Brother Green. He was such a great leader and I am so grateful for everything he did for me.

Well, this week has been very interesting. After transfers we were really busy with a few errands but these last few days we have been working hard and have had a lot of success. Carlos and Yadiris are still doing great. This past week we were able to program them for baptism and they are super excited for it. And the date is like the week before transfers so I will still be here for it.

We were also able to find a great new investigator named Kevin. He is the neighbor of the family where we eat lunch. We started talking about what we do in the church and then he said "I can't believe that I have lived here a year and you have never invited me to church!" He has been very excited but unfortunately his mom doesn't like the church very much so that has been a little difficult.

So my new mission president officialy comes tomorrow and President Searle leaves tomorrow too. It's been a little sad seeing him go but it will be great getting to know President Gallegos. 

I hope everything is well at home. I still haven't taken many pictures but I will try to get better at that. I really need a little bit of advice because I don't know what to take pictures of. 

Talk to you guys later

Elder Parker

Episode 42: No power!

Hey everybody,

How is everybody doing? Things are going super great here!! 

Sorry that I did not get to write yesterday. We lost power in the internet shop but we found time to be able to write today. Transfers were a little crazy for my district but fortunately I am still with Elder Perez. Things are going great and he has been progressing so much these past few weeks.

The kids are looking so big. Even Felicity doesn't look like a newborn. I feel like all of them are going to be completely grown up when I get home. I can't believe how fast the time has gone since I left really but things are going to be very interesting next year when I get home.

So this week we have been doing a ton of changes and are basically starting new with all of the people we are working with, except for Carlos and Yadiris. This past week they had a really long talk about temples with a family in the ward and are super excited about going to the temple and being sealed. They are working on their papers to get married right now so we are really excited and hoping to have a baptism very soon.

I hope everything is going great at home. I'll try to take lots of pictures this week to make up for these past few weeks.

See you guys soon,

Elder Parker

Episode 41: Investigators Progressing!

Hey everybody,

How is everyone doing! I seriously can't believe that Gus finally came! Congrats Tyler and Sarah!! I am so excited for you guys.

This week has been very interesting. It was so great being able to hear from Elder Rasband. We didn't get to shake hands with him unfortunately because we entered the room right before he did, but his wife took a photo of us so maybe I will end up on the Facebook account of Sister Rasband. That would be pretty exciting.

He and Elder Uceda (The former area president) talked a lot about the temple. Their talks were focused on preparing the people for the temple when it gets here in a few years . I loved the meeting and we have been talking with a lot of members since then to prepare for the temple.

Things have been going great with the work. The only problem that we had this week is that literally all of our appointments fell through Friday and Saturday. And even when we tried to contact people in the street they didn't want to talk to us no matter how much we fought. So I've been a little stressed out but things have been getting better. 

We have a few great investigators that are progressing. They are named Carlos and Yadiris and they are neighbors of a family of members who invited them to church. They are doing really well and are excited about the church,but their problem is that they are living together and are not married. We are working with them about that because I would really like to be able to have a baptism before I leave this ward.

I hope everyone is doing well. I am so happy to hear about everyone and hope that things are going well.

See you guys soon,

Elder Parker

Episode 40: Meeting with Elder Rasband!

Hey everybody,

How is everyone doing? The jubilee sounds like it was a blast. I'm glad that everyone got to enjoy it. Thank you so much for the pictures. I can't believe that there was a picture of me from so many years ago. And how crazy to see the missionaries from our stake. There are a few that I had no idea had already left for their missions. 

So I am getting really excited because tomorrow. Elder Rasband is coming here to Barranquilla to talk with all of the members and all of the missionaries currently serving in Barranquilla were also invited. So tomorrow I will get to see an apostle!!! Unfortunately there won't be a special meeting for the missionaries but I'm still very excited.

So this last Friday me and Elder Perez were able to work with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Conti from Paraguay. He is a super great guy and we focused a lot on diligence and just tried to have as many lessons as possible while still sharing something significant in every lesson. It was really great because I felt a lot more motivated and that we didn't lose like any time because we were also able to contact a lot of people in the street so I felt really calm and relaxed even though there are times when it is just so hard to talk to people, I just do it anyway. 

I hope everything is going well back at home. I can seriously hardly believe how fast the time has gone here. It's crazy thinking that it is already June and that I will be 19 next month. But I am loving this great oportunity in my life.

And now my testimony in Spanish

Sé que la iglesia es verdadera. Sé que por medio de nuestra obediencia a los mandamientos de Dios y el evangelio de Jesucristo podemos vivir para siempre con nuestras familias. 

Thanks for everything and see you guys soon,

Elder Parker

From Family Home Evening