I have a testimony in Jesus Christ and in Heavenly Father. I know that they love me so much they established a plan that allows me to return to live with them. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith, I know Heavenly Father restored the gospel through him. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and his love for me. I have a testimony of Thomas S. Monson. I know he is a living prophet and through him we receive guidance from our Father in Heaven. I know going on my mission is the right thing to do, I want to become a tool in the hands of the Lord. I know that Fort Lauderdale is the place I am supposed to go and the Lord will help me on my path. I know families can be together forever, that I will be able to see my grandmother and other relatives that have passed on when I too leave this world and return to Him.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Park

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Week 39 In Fort Lauderdale....


I had the most amazing experience at the temple, the entire mission went through in the first 5 sessions and it was packed and beautiful! And it was different to go through the temple this time. Not only because I had a different perspective but the presentation was new again. And we were in a new temple. I can say that it was an incredible experience. I definitely know more about the gospel now that I did before and a lot of things struck me and really boosted my testimony. The spiritual high that came from it was amazing! And really was a great way to end our time with President Anderson who leaves this Friday. After the Temple session we had a devotional IN THE BAPTISTERY OF THE TEMPLE! It was amazing to be in such a spiritual and beautiful place and to talk about the importance of the Gospel, the Temple and The Mission. President and Sister Anderson are incredible and will be sorely missed but I know that President Richardson will be an amazing Mission President as well.

This week was a great week. We had an impression to stop by one of the ETERNAgators that were left here in the area, who is very sweet but has been difficult to teach for various reasons. One that she lives VERY far north of where our other investigators live, two she speaks CUBAN not Spanish (Same language, different way of talking) and is VERY hard for me to understand, and three her progress has been slow. But while I was talking with her (my companion doesn't speak Spanish) I had the impression that I needed to remind her of why the missionaries started coming over, I asked her "What did the first missionaries invite you to do the FIRST time they met you?" She said, "Pray and go to church." me again, "and be baptized as Christ was" her "they did, but what is baptism?" they had never actually explained it to her and she comes from Cuba, where Religion is HEAVILY frowned upon and most Cubans have little to no knowledge of who God is. So I explained what baptism is and re-invited her, and she accepted for yesterday! It was a miracle and totally unexpected, I couldn't believe it, to good to be true... it was. She got MEGA-UBER-NASTY sick from her grand kid and could not go to church. We prayed so hard, tried to rebuke the devil, but it wasn't so. She didn't get baptized yesterday BUT she said even if she is sick Sunday that she will go so that she can be baptized. So still a great miracle.

This week in my studies I was studying Alma 34 another chapter that I could spend 2 or 3 weeks on but specifically verse 27 caught my eye it reads:
             "27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you."
And that part drawn out in prayer unto him continually stuck me and I realized that, right there we are given the answer, of SO MANY QUESTIONS. How can I be happier? More focused? Dedicated? Overcome temptation? and so on. Because the DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE result of prayer is a God focused mind, because you are communicating with him. As you communicate with someone you are focused on them and therefore draw closer to them. So it is with prayer if we can change our thought process less of thinking about what "I" have to do and more to "help me do this" we will find choosing the correct path easier. I am not sure if this train of thought makes sense to everybody but it truly changed the way I think and the way I feel about so many situations. Now I am not saying that I am perfect in doing this, it's hard, but I am trying my best and I know that it is a good seed and I will try to continue to develop it.

Well I am excited for this week! A lot of new things will be happening and it will create a spring board for success.

Stay Strong, Push On!

Elder Park!

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