Elder Park Is Home!!!!

July 23, 2015

It's Even Better Than We Imagined!

Week 93 In Ft. Lauderdale..

July 13, 2015

I think I need to start by telling everyone, that I am scared... I am scared to go home... more scared than I was to leave. The closer it gets and the more I think about what I will have to do the less important and exciting it looks. I want to see you all  but I don't want to live a normal life. The life of a missionary is the best! These 2 years have been the Happiest 2 years of my life, nothing compares. This transfer I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of the conversion process of E**** O****, this man's life has been changed, but so has mine, it was a great way to end. I realized through the whole time that while I was focused on creating spiritual experiences with him that I wasn't focused on any thing else, that while I was preaching the Gospel I was happy I was so darn happy. And I am going to miss that feeling, I am going to miss swimming this deeply in the Spirit. 

I recognize that all good things must come to an end in this life, that is part of the law of opposition that allows us to truly appreciate the good things in life, but I refuse to let this end. I will do all that I can to retain this feeling and this change in me, I resolve to be found in the service of my fellow men. Because 

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. (Mosiah​ 2:17)

​

​And I have learned here that that is where Joy is Joy is in God; it is in The Lord Jesus Christ; it is in repentance , and service; in Preaching the Gospel. I have learned to really love this work. I have learned that there really is nothing else. I have seen the many blessings in the lives of those that truly and completely submit to the Lord and allow him to guide their every decision and I am going to do the same.

This week was great most of our time was spent working with the O****'sto make sure that all was going well and then! Boom it did!! It was an incredible service with a ton of people there, and everyone feeling the spirit so strong! Brother Ochoa the got up to speak and share his testimony, he had kept his himno open the whole time

​,​

and then when

​ he did he shared the chorus from "I am a Child of God" (in Spanish of course)​ and spoke of how he was feeling those same feelings. Then that was followed but a BEAUTIFUL dinner which you can see pictures of on the face book page of "Rama Camino Gardens". The following day we had the confirmation in sacrament meeting and even though the room was hot (the AC broke) it was a very spiritual service as well. I also spoke, I had prepared a lot more material than I had time (the previous time I spoke I didn't have enough) so I just had to share the gist of the talk, I will send it home this week. But really that was an incredible part of this week and my mission. I love this family so much and I love all the people that I have been blessed to work with here in Florida.

This week President Richardson interviewed me, he calls this the Final or Exit interview, it happens in most missions, its an opportunity for him to review my mission and also give me some final advice, and some instruction on going home. He asked me to do three things in prayer: 

1. Give thanks for my mission and the miracles and blessings I have seen and been apart of 

2. Ask for guidance towards a career that will let me do 2 things:

-provide for my families needs. ( he said "you can't have a nice house if you work part-time and the 7/11')

-allow me time to serve in the church. (he said "you also can't serve as a EQ president if you work every night at the 7/11 from 11pm to 6 in the morning'')

3. Pray for a vision of my future spouse.

-Let me say, I haven't done that yet I have just been praying that God will prepare me for that.

I have been giving thanks for my mission it has been great to review and see the many miracles and the many things I have learned and seen on my mission! President Richardson, of his own also brought up being involved in high school education, of his own and I thought that pretty interesting, it has been coming up more and more. I am still praying about that.

I found out this week that I don't handle the stress of the unknown very well. Because of the interviews and all that thinking of the unknown, I got a little sick to my stomach, at first it was butterflies and nervousness, and then it became nausea and dread. But as I thought about all of that I remembered that those kinds of feelings don't come from the Lord and that Christ has there and that he has done that, it was a lot harder for him to leave his ministry than it will be and as I thought about how I will be able to come back and visit all the people again! And now I feel better I don't really know why I got so stressed out but its all good.

Well that's most of what happened this week if you have questions please let my secretary know and I will get back to you!!

Stay Strong, and Push On!!

ELDER PARQUE

Week 92 In Ft. Lauderdale....

July 6, 2015

So O**** family development! We have a baptism coming up here on the 11th a confirmation on the 12th followed but an ordination and a baptism of a child of record, on the 18th! So keep that in your prayers! We are very excited for this and they are already planning a sealing in the next year!!!

As for other things this week we were trying our darnedest to find people this week, we found some potentials, but their plans to make it to church fell through, and they missed this week but will becoming this week!

I learned this week that MEMBERS ARE CRAZY!!! I am at the end of my mission so they all ask the SAME QUESTIONS so I give them the same answers, NO I am not planning to marry any one very soon, NO I don't know what of where I want to go to school, No I do not want to go to BYU. NO I already told you I don't have a girlfriend waiting. And I am a missionary still please don't be setting me up with your "lamanita granddaughter". Yes I want to keep speaking Spanish. Yes I will miss "comida lantina". Yes I love this weather. Yes I will freeze up there.

Anyway not to much left to report! But I love you!!!

Stay Strong, Push on! All Gas, No Brake

Elder Parque

Week 91 In Ft. Lauderdale....

June 29, 2015

This week was a hard one not much happened until the end, but we were doing our best being obedient and what not. Then BOOM miracle Hno. Ochoa accepted a date!! That was definitely a milagro!

As for learning, I have been doing some serious studying of JOY and how we can obtain it. I was reading in Alma 27 when Ammon faints of joy and I was thinking that I really want to faint with joy. So I have been studying that and I will pull it all together and let you know what I learned about it in a few. 

I am super excited for these next couple weeks we have some really powerful things in the works that we are really excited for and I know that this very well could be the whole reason that I was sent here. To make a difference in this families life!!

Anyway  I wish there was more I could tell you about the week but that really is the most of it!!!

Stay strong, Push on!!

Elder Parque

Week 90 In Ft. Lauderdale....

June 22, 2015

Hey, there!

I would like to start by expressing my gratitude for some people right now, these guys have taught me some of the most important lessons in my life and I never knew it. I realize now, that when ever I was around them I had an urge to be better, and they always pushed my to be better. They are some of the best examples of Men that I could ask for. From them I learned Hard-Work, Dedication, Honesty, Love, how to listen to the Spirit, Charity, and so much more. And I have been so ungrateful of them. Here I have seen families that are missing examples like them, I've seen the advantage that I had, and how much harder it is for families that don't have such examples. I know that I could have been more grateful for my blessings. So I want to say thank you to the 3 strongest men in the world, the 3 coolest, the 3 best examples I have, My Dad, and My Grandpas. I love them and hope I can become even half of any one of them. Happy Father's Day!!

In light of Father's day I did some studying on the Priesthood! You I learned that Fatherhood is a form of stewardship, that is why the bishop is the "father of the congregation" and so forth until the Prophet. The Priesthood it the right to be an authorized father, or leader in Christ's Church. The Aaronic Priesthood is like the learners Permit, it prepares you to receive God's authority to guide his work, then comes your probationary period, or your mission or other callings in the priesthood when you receive the Melchizedek, these help you understand more about the Authority and responsibilities that you have. Then if you would like you can submit for a commercials driving license (aka family) I will wait on that one. This also lead to a study of the patriarchs. And the lead to me getting lost in the old testament and learning that Ephraim will crown the others and that there will be a temple built in  Jersualem where the son's of Aaron will worship. And learning that a Patriarchal Blessing is way cooler that I imagined, and that the whole lineage things really awesome and that its personal scripture and all that! So pray about getting your Patriarchal Blessings or read them again!!

Anyway this week we met some funny people, not cool just funny one guy told me I need to buy an apartment to rent out because I knew how to do the basic plumbing and electric... I just helped him switch out a broken light switch and tighten a faucet... He thinks I am a genius...but he is adamant that he is agnostic, which is kinda an oxymoron... Adamant that you can't be adamant that there is a God... But as we walked away he shouted out to us "but I am not atheist!" So that was pretty funny. We also met a dude with a tattoo 1 only 1 but it was on his face, and it was a cat nose and mouth on his nose and mouth... weird.

Hmm. That's all that I can think about talking about, we had a ward party yesterday, and the branch has unanimously decided that I must marry a Lamanita, they say if I don't it will waste my Spanish and I will never get good food again! There are a little less unanimous about which country she should be from but so far it looks like Peru, Ecuador, or Colombia. We will see what happens!! haha. 

Any way stay strong and push on!!!

Elder Parque!!

Week 89 In Ft. Lauderdale....

June 15, 2015

Well we were supposed to have a wedding and a baptism this week but as of right now the whole thing is off. they may or may not have gotten married on Saturday, but we were neither invited nor told. You see the branch made a big deal about having the wedding at the chapel and having a little party so that is what we planned then Tuesday night... the branch president calls them in and cancels the whole show... they had already invited people and already made a big deal about it. So that was a big problem and they kind of got offendido... We are currently trying to repair the whole situation. 

And because of that this week had a kind of bitter taste... 

BUT we got a new Elder in the house form Montana, Elder THORderson, and I gained a companionship of sisters into my district... yay?! I am not too excited about the latter. I have never had sisters in my district, and it adds a level of difficulty, I have to do a comp. study weekly because I can't do exchanges. And there's the fact that I have to now be more sensitive in my comments about improvements that are necessary. GIRLS CAUSE PROBLEMS.

We found a lot of people for other areas, but nobody for ourselves this week, but that just means that we will see some great milagros in our area. 

Leah and I  sent a sneakie
Greenie package to Elder Brown.

For the learning I learned the value of communication, it is better to tell all of the details, than just what you want some one to hear. It causes more problems in the long run, than if it is all brought up and worked out in the very beginning. 

Well Stay Strong, Push ON!!

Elder Parque.

Week 88 In Ft. Lauderdale....

June 9, 2015

Well here in the little world of Camino Gardens we had a week of hard work, things weren't happening as easily as they normally have but towards the end of the week things were getting better.

M**** and W***** have a solid date AND a wedding on this SATURDAY!!!! WAHHHAHAHAHA!!! SO excited!!!

As well we found some cool people this week that we are excited about.

This is short because I don't know what to say I didn't really prepare anything to tell you about but I will do better next week!!!

I love you,

Elder Parque.

Week 87 In Ft Lauderdale....

Translating

June 1, 2015

This week was... weird... we had a Tuesday p-day, then a 2-day exchange into deep side Ft. Laud with our APs... 2-days not in our area... it was unusual but it was a good learning experience. So I don't have a lot to report this week save that at a Hurricane Training they didn't have Spanish translation so I had to do it... But while we were there!!! 3 people had pity on me and decided that they love the church and want to be baptized in our branch and one is a native English speaker but he loves Spanish and was once a Jew... so that'll be awesome!!!

Teaching

I promise that even though this letter is short its not that I am un-happy or whatnot, this was just a weird week! I am very excited for June here! we have some AWESOME potential and we are stoked for all the fun! We have some really cool people we are teaching!! 

We have some cool unity plans this month too that I am excited for and we can't wait to get started.

Elder B**** and I have been getting along great, he is a super chill guy he just goes with what's best and doesn't fight it I love him!!

Anywho, stay strong, push on!!

ELDER PARQUE

Sleeping

Week 86 In Ft. Lauderdale....

May 26, 2015

The weeks are going by way to quickly, I feel like last week just begun and here we are in this week! I remember the weeks lasting ages, the weekend NEVER came! and yet here we are a week later and its over! HECK! Another month come and gone, practically! This really isn't fair. I really would like things to slow down a little. 

This week we really were able distinguish who was elect and who wasn't we had a TON of investigators that were open to us coming back but weren't really interested in making changes or acting, and the sad thing is that we really can't help them unless they are willing to make the appropriate changes. So that meant that we had some people to drop. But the great thing about having a ton of people that means you have some great ones in the bunch too!! And we have some awesome families; a part member family, the O**** family de Colombia, their friends the A** family de Romania and el Dominican, M**** and W***** a soon to be married couple de Argentina, and the O***** family de Colombia as well. And we are having a ton of fun with these guys!

As we have been teaching these people I have been able to reflect on how important the "Big 3" are in our lives, I think about the difference I have seen in my life as I have begun to really apply this too my life, I have seen growth in more areas than I had imagined. And so I want to talk about the 3 things that I have learned will change any one's life for the better.  This things are not new they aren't extraordinary, but they will make all the difference:

1. Prayer is the first and it is the simplest. One of the first and most important things that we need is Faith, faith is grown as we begin to strengthen our relationship with God and rely on Him. We do not trust those that we have never spoken too, and therefore we can safely assume that if we don't talk to God we will never trust him. I have found that through prayer I am able to clear my own thoughts and understand more clearly the things that are on my mind. It allows me a time to work out my errors and flaws and find ways to correct incorrect principles on my "belief window" (google that talk). The phrase "ask and ye shall receive" is repeated more than any other phrase in the Standard Works, maybe there is a reason for that. I BET IT'S BECAUSE HE MEANS IT!!!
2. Scripture Study is second, it goes right along with prayer because you ought to do it everyday! If you start reading you see what I mean by repetition of "ask and ye shall receive" he repeats it so much because often you have to ask before you realize THAT YOUR ANSWERS IN THE NEXT VERSE! This one flabbergasted me at how BIG a difference it can make in your life. I have seen people start reading 1 verse a day and they receive answer after answer to their prayers, and receive blessing after blessing. (notice that prayer comes first) The scriptures are the Word of God! That have been preserved to today for you. Hundreds if not thousands of men and women have died so that you can have those words. Read them
3. Church Attendance (bet you didn't see that coming) JUST GO TO CHUURRCH!!! At church we are given the wonderful gift of the Sacrament to recharge us and refresh us. Without it we build up errors and mistakes that makes it harder and harder to stay focused and in tune. I think of it like the dogs old water buckets, usually you can just dump out the water and refill it every day, but soon you have to spray it out because green gunk starts growing. Through out the week we can just dump our buckets and start again but once a week we get to receive a full deep cleaning to really help us tune in on the spirit. 

I know this was basic but I have put a lot of thought in to this lately and I want all of you to know how important these things are to me. I really want each one of you to think about how you can apply these principles to your life more fully. Pray every day. Read every day. Go to church every week. I know you are all busy, I know you all have things going on but PLEASE. I promise this will change your life and help you more fully utilize the gospel and its blessings!

Stay Strong, Push On.

Elder Parque

Week 85 In Ft. Lauderdale....

May 20, 2015

We got permission to send out an email to you today, because the Internet wasn't working on Monday.

Hey there first to clarify some things... I am stressed but the good kind. I have been stressed since the day I left and it has made me feel more alive than I ever have. That stress is precious to me, I think that was what I was missing before my mission, stress, there was never any need to get it done there wasn't any sense of urgency or responsibility. But now I realize that the stress and the urgency is necessary to get life moving and get things done.

This week we were very blessed and we were able to find a ton of people this week and we are very excited to work with them this week, we aren't exactly sure how we are going to do it because like I said we lost half of our miles due to a new re-evaluation. But I know that the Lord will help us achieve it.

Yesterday we had a Zone Conferences and one of the training's that we received was talking about how we can make the gospel sound more exciting and interesting and new! And it mad me get to thinking, and I realized that that was one thing I was excited about for a mission to learn how to excite people about the gospel. And that is going to be a focus that I am going to have for the remainder of my mission. And so I would like to hear from as many people as possible what BLESSINGS you have received from the Gospel. Why is the gospel so important to you? Why is it cool? What makes it different? What have you given up because of how important it is, and how did the sacrifice bless you?

I will end with a testimony that I know that the Gospel is the MOST important thing in our lives, we may not always recognize it but it is. And we must share it and we MUST make others realize its importance, because it is the ONLY way we can receive exaltation it is the only way families can be together forever!! I know it is true, and I know Christ lives, because the Spirit has confirmed it to my soul.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen

I love you all, Stay Strong, Push ON!!

Elder Parque!!

How do you spend your money?

The 6 Elders that live in the house together were given some money. How would you expect 6 young adults to wisely spend that money???

 FIRST: By going to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

 SECOND: Eating so much that they get sick.

Is this too much?

I think so...

THIRD: Coming to your senses and going grocery shopping.

Week 84 In Ft. Lauderdale....

May 11, 2015

We had a baptism!! I would send you the picture but I don't have it... I am waiting for it! But that's ok! You'll get it soon. 

That would definitely be a highlight to this week, other great thing happened as well this week we met W***** and M****! They are a young couple that was getting ready to get married, he is form Argentina and she is from Paraguay so they both speak with some sick accents! their double "L" or "ll" is more of a "ja" than a "ya". M**** and W***** also have really good questions as well that are real "Questions of the Soul" and they are easy to find answers in the Book of Mormon. 

But besides that we are spending most of our time searching for more new people we can teach, we had 3 investigators and then we baptized a third of them... so we need to find more!! In fact that's a problem amongst the whole district that we are working on!

Other fun things this week we did a lot of "blitzing" where we meet up at a spot swap companions for a bit and then go out and hit the same area hard, we have seen some miracles doing this (both in English) One was M***, we had a very spiritual prayer with her and then when we invited her to be baptized she said that she already had been, then we asked "Have you been baptized by fire?" and she was like "No but I need that how do I do it?" and we said, "by the laying on of hands Acts chapter 8" then she was SO down!! So boom.

Then we had the same experience with another man named M******, but with that one we asked him so go get his bible and while he was in the house we joked "what if he brings out a New World Translation and it ruins everything." AND AS SOON AS WE SAID THAT. He walks out and places in Elder C. T*****'s have a nice grey leather bound... New World Translation.... I ALMOST laughed but I contained my self and then proof read the story before I let him read it. It worked but I am bringing him a new bible that is easier to understand.

Any way that was our week!! I hope it was fun to read...

STAY STRONG!! PUSH ON!!!
Elder Parque!!

Week 83 In Ft. Lauderdale....

April 28, 2015

Well there you'll never guess what other wishes of mine were finally granted this transfer!!! I am in a Spanish BRANCH!!! Brand new it just got created 2 weeks ago, we don't even have all the records moved over yet the list shows 20 people but about 52 showed up for church, and apparently there are a ton of less actives that are only less active because there was never a Spanish Branch! SO EVERYBODY IS STOKED OUT OF THEIR MENTES!!! And so am I!

My companions name is... Elder Brown... That's the 2nd Elder Brown that has been my companion and the 3rd I have lived with. He is originally from Massachusetts, but moved to Idaho a few years ago, where he met the church. He started to do some reading and the church made more sense to him than any other church and more than that he says he felt the spirit. He has been a member for just a few months under a year now. He is a very smart individual and he knows a lot more Spanish that I did when I left the MTC. 

The area is huge!! so (unfortunately) we have a car, currently with no mile limit (that IS fortunate). When we got here we decided that we needed to meet all the current leaders of the Branch so naturally we started with the Branch President, We go over and he had invited his 1st counselor and his non-member Mother, we ate with them and... invited the mother (Yolanda) to be baptized... and she accepted... for Mothers Day!!! BAUTISMO!!! MILAGRO!!! Then we invited another Part-Member family to come to church and... THEY DID!!! Her Husband (the non-member) got super confused in priesthood (we have a bunch of High Priests) so he asked a ton of questions and then found out about foot notes and whatnot and BOOM now he is interested!! Boom meal and a lesson today!! 

Since the area is super spread out, and there aren't large complexes (complexi?) of Latins we are going to have to go hard on getting referencias from the members its really going to be the only effective way to make it happen, but we are trying our best to find on our own as well! 

Another thing... una hermana in the branch heard that we were coming so she started a meal calendar... planning on the members feeding us lunch AND dinner EVERYDAY... I will get fat... and its not a bike area... PERO esta bien porque, it tastes really good!! We also have a Brazilian Branch in our building so there's a chance we can get some of that too!!

So YEAH super stoked!!

Stay Strong Push on!!!

Elder Parque!!!

Week 82 In Ft. Lauderdale....

April 28, 2015

So this information overshadows all other information, slightly just because of how excited I am to TRAIN, that means I am going someplace I know nothing about to train! BAH!!! Anyway back to the week.
  

Hey! What is that in the road up ahead?

Well Monday started off real good with a call from Jupiter North telling us Jupiter South was going to kill one another. Emergency exchange! What a great way to start the week. The difficulty of the Ft. Meyers stake entering the mission is still causing some contention. So we had to put that fire out.

Then we tried to proselyte the rest of the week we got plenty done up in Pahokee, but no one from that area was able to come to church but we were able to get Eddie and Henderson to church so that was good.

Saturday was a busy day we had a ward service project cleaning a soup kitchen in Belle Glade... lets say that they hadn't done a deep cleaning in a long time when you would wring a rag out it looked like soy sauce... And there were so many people cleaning different things at different times that we got in each others way! And there were way to many people that thought that they needed to be in charge. I came out of there looking like I took the mess with me on my clothes, my blue jeans looked black!

Yup.... It's a dead alligator...

Then after the Project at the church we had a catfish fry... These southern bred folks know how to have a fry party! We had Fried Fish, Fried Pickles, Hush-Puppies (they were the bomb), Fried onion, Funnel cake, fried potatoes, and fried green tomatoes... everything was golden brown and delicious!

When it comes to my studies this week I learned about the importance of Listening, and the importance of Catching the Vision. Look at Laman and Lemuel they did everything that their father told them but they did not catch his vision of the blessings, of eternal life and the promised land. Therefore they learned little and grew little on their journey. It is the same with us, we may not like where things are going but if we stop and look at the bigger picture then we can catch the blessings that come by following inspired guidance.

LOVE YOU ALL

Stay Strong, Push On!!

Elder Parque!

Week 81 In Ft. Lauderdale....

April 20, 2015

Well this week was just as busy as last, in fact I think every week is very busy, and you know I think that I like being busy. Life is easier when you have things to do, you don't have time to worry! This week I went on 2 exchanges where I stayed in the area... do you know how hard it is to plan a day in Belle Glade with out Creole? Its like trying to push water back in the faucet. But it made the day fun I used some good old sign language.

We have been working a lot in a town a little North of Belle Glade named Pahokee, if anyone can tell me that means in some Indian language that would be nice. Pahokee is a pretty sketchy place, its a weird cross of backwoods hick and ghetto thug (we don't walk around with much money in our pockets) but so far the people have been really nice and have been really accepting. Our biggest problem is convincing them to drive to Belle Glade. 

On our way to Pahokee one day we decided to take a different route through the fields and we came across a hidden trailer-park filled with... MEXICAN FAMILIES!!! And really good families! The kind that go on walks! And the Dads play soccer with the kids!!! We knocked 6 doors and found 5 families! And the families all knew each other and when we went back to teach one family with plans to see the others after, the others saw us and came over! We were teaching a class! There were 12 of them. So I had some fun!

But as for other details I went on an exchange with the assistants and learned a lot about Administering and Ministering, they are different. We did a service project repairing a deck... the other three missionaries are not so handy, but they learned. I sure am thankful for the things I learned around the house and the fact that Dad taught us how to solve problems and work.

I don't really know what else but I love ya'll!!

Stay Strong, Push On

Elder Parque

Week 80 In Ft. Lauderdale....

April 13, 2015

Yes, My Companion  is "That Guy"

Well this was a week... A LOT... and I mean a whole freaking ton of crap happened...

Just so that I can give you a quick overview, Monday- Zone activity P-day, Tuesday-Interviews with President, Wednesday- Zone Training exchange, Thursday un-exchange a find out we are going to the temple, Friday-TEMPLE, Saturday- get home from temple late... Sunday- Church and Stake Presidency meetings... EVERY DAY was filled with adventure!!

First off, I got some letters saying that I sounded "down" last week... I was not... I had had a very exhausting week and was trying to email with 10 other missionaries in the same room... I was a little distracted. Last week was incredible! Last month our mission had the most baptisms that we have had since President Richardson got here and it was exhausting (and rewarding) work to push as hard as we all did! SO NO I AM NOT DISCOURAGED NOR SAD!!! I am ELDERPARK!

We will put that a side for now and I will tell you that this week was the happiest and the saddest week of my mission. It was a freaking roller coaster. I felt like a 12 year old girl... My emotions were so freaking high!

We had interviews with President Richardson on Tuesday, we were also expected to had a District Leadership Training the same day. Which meant that we needed to be in Wellington at 4:30pm and leave Belle Glade at 3:00pm (that's 1500 hrs mom). Does anyone know how effective the hours from noon to 3 are in Belle Glade? 90% of the population is out in the fields at that time pickin' corn! NO ONE IS HOME. Anyway we tried our best and then left for Wellington, we had a great DLT (ending at 5:00pm or 1700) We then proceeded to wait for our turn... Interviews are supposed to be 15 minutes... President NEVER only takes 15 minutes! Our interviews were scheduled to be at 630pm and 645pm with me going first I didn't start my interview until 745pm... Now the whole scheduling thing and time crunch were not the stressful parts of the day. President decided that these interviews would be us interviewing or asking him questions... But gosh dang it he sure pushed towards his own direction! Man I had a specific agenda I wanted to talk about, but no he had to talk about completely other things that I hadn't intended. I swear his purpose was to make me tear up! But it was a very spiritual experience and I learned a lot.

Well with that over we started out on Wednesday with Zone Training, that went really well, we shared everything that we had been given in MLC the week prior. But after when everyone came back to the church for lunch, we found out that one of the Sisters in our zones back problems had been worsening, but we didn't think much about that. After lunch I headed to Jupiter North on exchange with my new bike I bought a helmet when we got there but they didn't have a good lock so I borrowed another Elders. On the exchange we had some very spiritual experiences, and we were definitely in the right place at the right time.

Thursday was a pretty normal day, other than we found out that we were going to go to the Temple Friday night with one of Elder F******' converts in Ft. Laud.

Friday we prepared to the temple and right as we are about to leave we get a text from the sister's stating that the sister with back problems will be going home... YOU DON'T JUST TEXT THAT!! So we called them and had a big chat and found out that she will be going home for surgery and that she will be leaving Tuesday (tomorrow). That was not a happy moment right before we go to the temple, but luckily we had a missionary in our zone who had gone home for surgery and returned so we had him call her and calm her fears. And the we were off to the temple, since it was a 730 session we would not have been able to make it back to Belle Glade at a reasonable hour, so we spent the night with some missionaries in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a great experience to go back again and I learned a lot!

Saturday was just flat busy trying to get home and round people up for church.

Sunday right after church we had to head to a stake meeting in Jupiter (hour drive) with the Stake President and President Richardson... That was an interesting meeting... Basically it is us telling the stake president what the wards need to do better... Its a great learning experience and it is full of opportunities that help you understand how the church works.

But let me tell you that basically everything that happened this week taught me about to things that I thought were the same but are not, Ministering and Administering, a good leader understands that both are key to creating growth and improvement. They are different but essential and necessary. And just these meetings this week I know have helped me prepare better to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He needs of me. I don't know why I had these experiences but I know they were all important.

Anyway I love you and miss y'all

Stay Strong, Push ON!!

ELDER PARQUE

Week 79 In Ft. Lauderdale....

April 6, 2015

Got the bike its the same model but a year or two newer and it looks sick! But I now need to get a new lock and helmet. but that's ok

We baptized on Tuesday this week. We had set a goal for 5 baptisms this month and on the 31st we achieved our goal with 2 incredible young men! A*** and J****** J***. stellar Haitian youth. Did you hear about the temple in Haiti.

Easter we just watched conference! that was BOSS

Well this week started off big! We had the baptism of Andy and Johnson Jean on Tuesday and they were baptized by their neighbor and recent convert L******* A*****. It was really good and it gave a huge boost to the Young Men's program! And their mother (the lady in the picture) now wants to be baptized as well and we are working with her!

Yeah, just our new ride....

Then we went to a 7-hour missionary leadership meeting in Ft. Lauderdale with the Global Director of Proselyting. And receive a TRUCK load of information teaching us how to really be missionaries. 

We also have been instructed on how to plan better, its worth taking more time to plan than to go out unprepared!

Then of course on Saturday and Sunday we spent the combined 10 hours in the branch building watching conference!

But for the most part that was our week, VERY busy but not very exciting!

LOVE YOU 

STAY STRONG and PUSH ON!!
Elder Parque!

Food...

Elder: 

More of Belle Glade... 

Fire everywhere!

I am not sending that pic to tell you that I like Haitian food... its so you can see my pain... MAKE LEAH SEE THIS!!!

Me: Is it a "controlled" farm fire burn?

O My..... I don't even know what too say about that food..... Cow Pie?

Elder: ... yeah to both...

Me: What is in it?

Elder: EVERYTHING... its just boiled all together.

Me: Is that how ALL Haitian food is?

Elder: ... alot of it... 

Me: Leah is gagging over here...

Elder: yeah... I was too...

Me: Does it taste ok though?

Elder: no.

Thats no.(period)

Week 78 In Ft. Lauderdale....

March 30, 2015

Baptism

Ugh… Boo doo da doo boo … ugh… Boo doo da doo boo… ugh 6:30 already… ugh… rustle, rustle… thud. Silence as the apartment prays. Then mid-prayer I am reminded that it is Saturday… Why is Saturday so important? S******* baptism! I remember! This is going to be a special day.

Erg…phew … erg… phew… 60 Yeah! That was easy! And there are 2 eggs for breakfast. GAINS! This is going to be a special day.

Shlertit… ah… hmmm… Shlertit… ah… hmmm… man King Benjamin is killing it in this address… “only in t he service of your God”… “Wo, Wo unto him that knoweth that he rebelleth against God!”… This is going to be a special day.

Ring… huh… ring… phone call? This early? Hello, S******? <m**** foo…BLAH…BLAC…RWAR… she’s yelling> Ok… Ok… we are coming… What the heck? M**** is going nuts! This is going to be a special day.

Vroom… crunch… splash… Haitian lady screaming… baptismal candidate crying…. And there goes our day! This is going to be a special day.

Elder Park is in the middle row 6th from the left.

Runing… walking… driving… all day trying to end conflict and increase faith… yeah… Finally baptism! YES she goes down. VIKTWA!!

and yeah that was the majority of the week... I did meet some Spanish people but they were kinda flaky.

but all around it was a great week!

Hey everybody should check this Easter Video out! Its awesome and after you watch it share it!\

Love you all

Stay Strong, Push on!!!

Elder Park!

Week 77 In Ft. Lauderdale....

March 23. 2015

Well it was another great week, We were able to participate in the Baptism and confirmation of the son of our most recent convert, adding another individual to the ward and beginning the process for unifying this family for eternity. Both are now preparing to go to the temple to the the baptism for their late son, J***, the father will stand in for baptism and the other son will stand in for the confirmation. They are also excited to get the missionaries to visit their family that is still in Haiti. The whole family is excited about the gospel. This week we have already set plans to take them out to teach with us.

We still have plans to baptize a potential of 4 more this month, we have a very solid lady "Serette" who is preparing to be baptized this Saturday and a potential of 3 on the 31st. And we are going to do everything possible to make that happen. We are also actively looking to find people for April as well.

When it comes to my studies I have learned a lot about the importance of commitment to your own goals and dedication towards achieving them. There's a talk that I read called "The word is Commitment" and it talks about how we can do anything, that is given, Christ's Atonement affords that for us, but it is up to us to make the thing we desire our main priority and do everything that we can to achieve it. IF you want to baptized THEN you will do all that is possible to make it happen. The thing to remember is that it doesn't happen always on your time frame. You have to keep enduring and doing all that is possible and it will come.

I think that's a thorough update... But just so you know, time move very regularly mother. Just because you got a letter, does not mean that time will move more quickly there is still a LONG time ahead of you...

This week was AFROarts festival on Saturday night... lets just say the Hood came out to play. We were stuck in a traffic jam for 15 minutes right next to a G-whip bumpin music louder than imaginable with ghetto girls in booty shorts blockin our way. They couldn't hear my horn over the music! It was a so funny. But sad. Anyway that's

a little glimpse of Belle Glade.

Stay Strong, Push On

Elder Parque