Episode 70: Two Investigators!

Hey everybody,

Things are going great here in La Castellana. I am still getting to know the people here but have already been able to know some great people. We actually have two investigators that are getting very close to baptism. The first is named Romario. He is 11 years old and his grandma is a member of the church. He is set to have his interview this Saturday so hopefully everything goes well with that.

Our house here is great. We are living in an apartment above the bishop's dad, and the bishop lives in the apartment right next to us. The people here are really great, and we have a great family that prepares our meals. I am really enjoying this new area and so all is well.

Have a great week and I will talk to you later.

Elder Parker

Episode 69: Transferred to La Castellana!

Hey everybody,

Things seem to be going great there at home. I honestly can't believe that the Green Belt flooded so much. I really do hope that the house doesn't flood.

Well, things are going great here. I did get transferred. I am now in an area called La Castellana here in Cartagena. I only moved about 40 minutes from Arjona, but it really is a whole new world here compared with the small town life.

My new companion is named Elder Da Silva. He is from Sao Paulo, Brazil and has about 8 months in the mission. He is really fun so we've been having a blast this week. 

This mission does have one senior couple serving here, but they are in charge of the self-sufficiency of the members. They usually travel to different parts of the mission, but usually stay in Barranquilla.

Well, I'll try to include a few more details next week. Have a great week!!

Elder Parker

With Elder Da Silva

Episode 68: Things are great in Arjona!

Hey everybody,

Well everything is going great here in Arjona. I am not sure yet but am about 99% positive that I will be leaving Arjona because my companion was assigned to be the new district leader here. It will be interesting to only pass 3 months in an area and I am a little sad but we'll see what happens.

So this week everything has been going great. On Thursday we had to go to Cartagena for a medical appt. for my companion and I was able to take out the money that day so everything is good there. I still haven't bought anything yet but will have to buy some new running shoes because the ones I brought from home broke while playing soccer.

Everything is going great with the piano too. I have been playing every week in sacrament meeting and the bishop even asked me to help arrange a choir for ward conference next month. It sure will be difficult if next month I am not here in Arjona, but I still don't know anything for sure.

About the new schedule, I really do appreciate the added time on Monday, especially because we are really far away from any type of malls or shops here in Arjona. Today we lost about 2 hours in bus going to and from Cartagena to eat lunch in McDonalds, so you can only imagine how little time there would have been with 3 hours of studying too. But things are going great and I am very excited for this next transfer.

Have a great week and I'll talk to you later.

Elder Parker

Episode 67: Finally got his Christmas package!

Hey everybody,

I'm glad to hear that everything is going well back at home. This week has been great, especially because I finally received the package!! Thank you so much for all of the food, I'm about half-way done with it. 

So this week has been very interesting because we received the new mission schedule. There is a lot that has been changed. I'm not sure if you have already heard, but now the missionaries do their daily planning first thing in the morning, and after that personal study. At 10 we leave to start working and are responsible to find 20 minutes for companionship study and 30 minutes for language study during the day. It's really interesting because now there isn't as strict of a schedule and we can choose exactly how we are going to work. And on p-days now we only have to do personal study and the rest of the day is free. 

And well, as for my companion, he is a great missionary. His name is Elder Alpiri de Bolivia. He is the second- to-last brother in a family of 12 brothers and sisters. He and his younger sister are the only members in his family, but his sister is less active. He is in the same group as Elder Perez, the missionary that I trained.

 

Right now we don't have very many investigators that we are working with. Yesterday we found a woman that is super excited to hear about the church and she is married with her husband, something that is very hard to find here in Arjona. But she is willing to attend church on Sunday and wants to invite her husband too!

Well, that's a little bit of how our week has been. I'll try to send a few pictures next week.

Have a great week,

Elder Parker

Episode 66: Happy New Year from Colombia!

Hey everybody,

Unfortunately today I did not have a chance to write a handwritten letter but I have time to be able to write an email today so all is well.

This week sure has been hectic. Here the only rule that we had for New Year's is that we had to be in the house before 9:00, so there was nothing really different for us. It was a lot of hard work though because no one was very receptive, especially later in the evening so our efforts didn't have very much success.

Well this transfer I am not with Elder Torres, my companion is Elder Alpiri from Bolivia. We were able to baptize Greisy Babilonia, her mom Tarcila Simancas and her son Arjemiro Garcia.

Thank you so much for all of your support. I know that this church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ can improve lives more than anything else.

Have a great week

Elder Parker

Merry Christmas from Elder Parker and Elder Alpiri