Episode 46: Met with President Gallego!

Hey everybody,

This week has been really great. We were finally able to meet President Gallego on Tuesday in a Zone Conference. It was really great and he is such a great mission president. We got to meet his entire family and they are awesome. He has a son who is 17 years old and is preparing to serve a mission and a daughter a little bit younger. But it has been really cool getting to know them.

Things are going great with my companion. We are a little sad for transfers next week but I'm excited for him because he is such a good missionary and the zone leaders are saying that he will probably train next transfer. But a little bit more information about my companion, his name is Elder Perez and he is from Mexico City. He is a convert of 5 years with his dad and only brother. His mom got baptized a little bit less than a year ago and they are anxious to get sealed when he gets home. 

Carlos and Yadiris are doing great. They are currently in the process of doing their papers for their marriage but everything is going well with that. They are super exctied and will probably be able to get baptized either the 6th or the 13th of August.

I hope everything is going well at home. I'm not having any problems with health and I still have about 60 dollars in Colombian pesos so I should be fine for a while. Sorry mom, the package has already been here for a while but I haven't been able to make the trip to the office yet to pick it up. I have to pay a customs fee of about 5 dollars but that's not bad. Thank you so much for everything and have a great week.

Elder Parker

Episode 45: 19 in Colombia!

Hey everybody,

How are you guys? Thank you so much for all of the messages for my birthday. It was so great hearing from all of you and I am so glad to have this great opportunity to be here in Colombia for my 19th birthday.

So this week has been really calm. We have been working a lot with Carlos and Yadiris to help them prepare for their baptisms the end of this month. I'm kinda sad because I'm not sure if everything will be ready with their marriage before the 30th so they might not get baptized until the next transfer. 

I'm sorry that I can't write that much today either. Our P-days are just so full of stuff to do and there just isn't enough time for everything. I will be sending the pictures from my birthday party next week so get ready.

Elder Parker

Episode 44: Fish soup and cow liver!

Hey everybody,

How is everybody doing?

So this past week has been a little bit crazy. We have a sister who has been giving us dinner this past week and two of the meals that we have eaten was a fish soup that literally tasted like the smell of Fisherman's Wharf, so that was super great. We also had a meal of cow liver with rice. I am starting to realize how different Colombia is from the United States.

Speaking of which, happy 4th of July!! I can't believe that it is already the month of July. The time has flown by since I got here and continues getting faster every day. I really couldn't find any way to celebrate today so we just went to the mall and ate a knock-off of Subway. It was a little sad, but Colombian Independence Day will be the 20th of this month so I'm sure that will be a special day here.

So about the work here, there isn't very much that has happened here lately. We have been working with Carlos and Yadiris getting them ready for baptism. They have been working hard to get married and are working for the 10th of this month if everything goes well. The date that we have planned for their baptism is the 23rd of July so they can get baptized just a few weeks before I will probably be leaving this area.

I hope everything is going well at home. Nothing really big has happened here but I'll try to take pictures this week. The only problem is that we are really restricted on when we can have our cameras but I'll do my best.

See you guys soon,

Elder Parker