Week 9 In Fort Lauderdale....

Ok, man almighty, has it been an amazing and interesting week!

This week started off slow, we hadn't been having much success and I was slightly disappointed, but it got amazing on Tuesday when we met Justo! Our zone leaders Elders A** y S******** and Elder L*** and I were having an exchange, but just before that we were harvesting until the Zone Leaders could get there and we could switch, while we were harvesting we weren't having much success. I had the distinct feeling that we were in the area for a reason and we decided we needed to go talk to this guy working on his van. We approached and everything felt right, everything. He welcomed us warmly and said that we had come at the best moment, he said he had been asking God for someone to come that he could trust that could show him the way and we showed up. We left the most powerful blessing I had ever felt and it was amazing! He excitedly asked us back and repeatedly said how perfect this was! That moment really solidified to me how important it is to be persistent not only to the people you are talking to but also in what you are doing I need to work work work and continually strive for that next door that next baptism. Just like Alma the Younger, even after he has done so much good, he still wants to do more, it amazes me and that's the type of missionary I am going to become, someone who constantly pushes to do more!

 Because Elder Lamb is District leader he does the Baptisimal Interveiws for the district and that means that we end up running around most Friday and Saturdays giving interviews! So we have been all over the zone the last little while! It's been AMAZING there were TONS on baptisms this week unfortunately. We as a companionship did not have any but, we have a TON for the next two weeks! They kept telling me the last little while that you'll be amazed at what happens around the holidays, AND I have been AMAZED! This week there was no unfortunate events this week and nothing out of the missionary ordinary. I'm sending a letter about one of my investigators he's hilarious!

I feel terrible I ran out of time on p-day last week to write a letter to sis but I have a gift and a letter for her already done for this week! 

Its so cool that you guys were able to get a goose! We haven't been able to get out in years! and I can't believe that grandma and grandpa would like it! They are like two of the three pickiest people I know Leah being the first! HAHA (wink, wink smirk at Leah) and I totally forgot that I would be missing out on BEYOND GLAZED DONUTS for birthday's until I saw that picture! haha! I love those! 

We actually have 2 dinner appointments with 2 different member families on Thanksgiving! We have been given special permission for that! so that's SUPER exciting! We don't know much about Christmas yet though! So I will try and ask around and see how it worked last year! and on the Christmas ideas, all I can think of is MoTab CDs and refills on zebra pens (haha just joking) really there's not a whole lot I would like. If it is possible, you could send me a hair clippers set... long story it will be in the letter... we cut each others hair... I look like B**** R******... its ridiculous, I need Kim to send some pointers... I will try to think of some things I might need and let you know. 

Stay Strong, Push On

Elder Park

Letter From The President November 25, 2013....

We had a wonderful experience this last week being with you missionaries. To feel your Spirits and testimony of our purpose was a tremendous experience for us. My prayer is that you will internalize the things we taught and trained on and use that to “be better” and “do better” as Representatives of Christ. A quick review of those things we discussed:

·         “I Will” commitments from Sister Anderson and to “Walk in all ordinances of the Lord”; to be “Keeper of the Covenants”
·         Drive more cautiously and “Drive as a Companionship”
·         All referrals current in the system (877-700-777) by 11-30-2013
·         Use the opportunity of Baptismal Services to invite and teach non-members, child of record baptisms too
·         Baptism doesn’t count without Confirmation and receiving the Holy Ghost, (Baptism of Fire)
·         Better understanding of “Baptism unto Repentance”
·         “Open our Mouths!!!” Cast off fear, be effective “Hunters”, and “Fishers” (Jeremiah 16:14-16)
·         “Our Commission to Baptize” (Matthew 28:18-20)
·         Find and reflect often on your personal “Sacred Grove”
·         We must come together as a Mission if we want to have a “White Christmas” and baptize “175”!!!

As a follow up from our discussion concerning the different stages of obedience last week, I reflected on some of the examples of the most obedient prophets in the scriptures. Job in the Old Testament was a great example of obedience. The blessings he received were tremendous and after he lost his family, livelihood, and possessions, many tried to tell him to give up and “curse God and die”, but Job remained obedient, even during the most trying time of his life. He maintained his love, obligation and loyalty to the Lord by declaring:

“...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:21-22)

Job knew that being obedient wasn’t just an act of love, doing something right, and pleasing God, but it was what God wanted him to become. He knew that God was defining him as he maintained obedience even through the most severe trials:

“But he knowith the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold... his way have I kept, and not declined”. (Job 23:10-11)

Nephi of course was another great example of this. He was beaten, persecuted, chastised, threatened, bound and tortured, yet he never doubted his love of God or slackened his diligence in being obedient to Him.  Following the death of his father, Nephi and other family members had to separate themselves from his older brothers because they sought his life. Out of his despair, he declared:

“My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep” (2 Ne. 4:20).

A mighty nation transpired from his diligence that lasted almost a thousand years. The New Testament records the life of one Paul of Tarsus. From the day of his dramatic conversion, he experienced great trial and personal affliction. He was imprisoned for his faith, beaten, stoned, and in his own words, buffeted by Satan. Yet he wrote: “Most gladly … will I … glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (  2 Cor. 12:9  ). Comparing his own adversity to that of Paul, the Prophet Joseph once wrote, “I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me” (  D&C 127:2  ).

Even our modern-day Prophet Joseph Smith was a pillar of obedience as he was inundated with persecution, heart ache, betrayal, and out of that myriad of persecution and heartache, the Lord answered his soul-cry in these words:

“Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;...And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high...If thou art called to pass through tribulation, … know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 121:7-8; 122:5, 7).

A mighty Church, 15 million strong, has been the evidence of his obedience in his calling as a Prophet of God.

Your obedience because you love the Lord, and your diligence to find the “Elect” defines you as “representatives of Christ”:

“We were out harvesting the other night and it was almost time to head home but we decided to knock one last door. This girl comes out and she was acting like she had known us for years! We ask to share a prayer with her and she happily accepts it. I said the harvest blessing ... I can't even explain it to you in words but when I was praying for her I could feel how much love Heavenly Father had for her to the point where I almost started crying during the prayer. After the prayer she asks us if we could come back the next day! We go by the next day and when we go inside we see a Book of Mormon sitting on the coffee table. We pick it up and ask where she got that from and she goes to tell us that her brother was taught by missionaries about 6 months ago and that he read the whole Book of Mormon! We were shocked! We had a powerful lesson with her and she said she wanted to prepare to be baptized! We had talked to her brother on the phone and we were asking about the missionaries that used to come teach him he said he enjoyed it but he was pretty set in his church, he was kind of cold to us and didn't really seem like he wanted to talk to us. Last night he called us and said he wanted us to come by tomorrow night to see them! We were so taken back! It was such a blessing to meet them! We are excited to see the progress they make.”

We invite others to repent and be obedient, they commit and we immediately see the evidences of repentance:

“One of my favorite experiences of the week was while teaching the Word of Wisdom.  We taught one of our investigators, who loves quite a few of the prohibited substances, but her faithful response struck my heart!  She said, ‘That's really hard, but I'll do anything for God.’  That was it.  So simple.  End of discussion, and she's now living the Word of Wisdom. She loved church on Sunday, and is set for this upcoming Sunday!”

Trials and tribulations will come, but as we remain obedient, God will bless us with a miracle and we become His representative:

“We had prayed before and knew that the lord told us to harvest here, however as we were struggling to find the elect who would receive us and we became discouraged. We prayed for those miracles and started to harvest again in the same area. We saw a young couple and introduced ourselves, they walked us to their house so that we could bless them, but before we could ask them what they wanted they began to feed us! We went along with it, and the conversation soon changed to the subject of the Book of Mormon! We proceeded to teach the Restoration to them and they were accepting everything! After dinner we invited them to pray, they said they would do it right then and there with us. We knelt on the ground, and the head of the home began to offer up his desires and to ask if the church was true. After the prayer there was a long pause and he said ‘I feel like it is, When and where is your church?’”

Obedience, missionaries, will determine who we become and increase our character as Elder Scott teaches:

“Your faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments will strengthen your character. Your character is a measure of what you are becoming. It is the evidence of how well you are using your time on earth in this period of mortal probation. An axiom we all understand is that you get what you pay for. That is true for spiritual matters as well. You get what you pay for in obedience, in faith in Jesus Christ, in diligent application of the truths you learn. What you get is the molding of character, the growth in capacity, and the successful completion of your mortal purpose to be proven and to have joy. If you have determined to live righteously, don’t become discouraged. Life may seem difficult now, but hold on tightly to that iron rod of truth. You are making better progress than you realize. Your struggles are defining character, discipline, and confidence in the promises of your Father in Heaven and the Savior as you consistently obey Their commandments. May the Holy Ghost prompt you to always make decisions that fortify your character and yield much joy and happiness.”  (Richard G. Scott, General Conference October 2010)

Let’s have a wonderful week, let’s have an “Attitude of Gratitude” and be thankful for all of God’s blessings.

Let us get 175 Baptisms !!! December will be our miracle month!!!

You are Amazing!!! You are Incredible!!! You are Wonderful!!! And you are in the “Exciting Mission”!!! Remember our promise and that our names will be sealed in the Temple!!!

We Love you, We Pray For You, We can do this, We have work to do!!! Obedience will define us and help us become Christ’s Representatives!!!

President Don E. Anderson

Week 8 In Fort Lauderdale....

Como le va haceri?

This has been a difficult week for me, because Elder L*** is district leader we now also do exchanges with the zone leaders every week. So that means there are two days a week that we don't work together, and this week both exchanges I stayed in our area. 2 days in a row I had to be in charge of the area, planning appointments and lessons and what not! and I couldn't really get to much help because neither of the other Elders knew my area or my gators. And it meant I had to really evaluate the Electness of the gators I found. It was a definite struggle. I have also been having difficulties getting along with others and their unusual habits, but I realized the other night after an unusally hard day as I was just venting in my journal that the reason I was having the difficulties was because I was focusing on those negative and since thats what I was focused on I was finding more. So now I am focusiing on the positives (or trying my best).

Elder M***** is the new Elder in the house and he's from Brigham City, and he is the youngest boy of 8 kids he only has a younger sister. He likes singing, eating like a cow and talking in funny voices. He has 6 months left and then death! It's so weird to hear about dying missionaries and what not. I am just meeting all these wonderful guys and they are leaving! Its just started we all have 2 years! BAH!

I think it's awesome that Leah's still good enough at math to compete in it and can't believe that she's going to be a young woman! < BAH NO MAKE - UP! make up is to attract boys. FSY says no dating til 16. That means there's no need to attract boys until then!> Also the rain has pretty much stopped and that's good. Being in the car is nice. I don't get to drive because 1. I don't have a TiWi card yet and 2. because I'm the junior comp. Its SUPER WEIRD I can't beleive how much I miss driving. AND how TERRIBLE other people are at driving! (Like he isn't?) I have finger inprints in the "o cheese handle"! Speaking of cheese, these people offered us a cheese cake... I didn't get to bring it home... because Elder L*** said he doesn't like cheese... (How can anyone turn down CHEESECAKE!?!??!) so they gave us an apple... I cried. (I totally feel his pain.)

Otherwise, this was it and just talking about the week I feel a little better. It wasn't as bad as I remembered. We met a TON of new people and stole a TON of JW matirial off investigators doors. Saturday mornings, thats when they go out, saturday mornings until noon like clock work. They're EVERYWHERE then... they're nowhere... I don't know if they've figured out teleportation or what, its incredible.

But I love hearing from you and will send some small gifts soon form my little part of Cuba.

les quiero. Tengan un buenos dias.

STAY STRONG, PUSH ON

Tu Hijo,

   ELDER PARK

Week 7 in Ft. Lauderdale....

This was a good week.

Alrighty! First off, I am fine and everything is alright. I will see if I can get a new bike seat but there's only this fancy bike shop in our area and its a bit expensive, so I might just deal with it, plus we got a car at transfers because Elder L*** is now a district leader, which means that I will also be doing exchanges with zone leaders every now and then, which is awesome because those guys are just awesome. So we aren't biking nearly as much. Also the pants are fine and the binder will be great! And I'm sorry that I forget the packages, I tend to get them at the beginning of the week and forget about them by the end, but I love them I got Grandmas last one on a Tuesday and yours as well I think.

I'm SO excited that you all have had such amazing weeks! And its great to hear all about it. I think that I will be emailing Bishop this week as well because the ward I am serving in has a great idea, they make all of the parents of the kids on missions, ward missionaries! (Bishop, I am telling you now, NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. Apostasy may start sounding like a great idea!) I think that would be a GREAT calling!! HAHA

That family that we were teaching was AMAZING but... the wife that we never got to really teach because she was always out didn't want them to give up parts of Sunday because it was their only day off. We still stay in contact with them and what not, but they just aren't a focus at the moment. We are teaching a whole lot of other really great people but we are trying really hard to get everybody to church.

Today was really interesting, one of the ward members, Bro. L***** took us shopping at first we thought he was offering his car because we had mentioned awhile ago how difficult it was to shop on our bikes, but when we got a car we told him never mind. BUT NO. he wanted to take us SHOPPING!!! he bought us EVERYTHING, stuff we normally don't even buy because its difficult or something you just forget about! like chips! I forgot about those! haha he was REALLY nice and really cool.

I don't know what it was. Maybe it was that I'm no longer one of the newest missionaries in the mission, maybe I'm just finally adjusting to the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida missionary lifestyle, maybe its just the weather, or a combination of all three and the Spirit. But this week I felt like a real missionary, I felt like my attitude was in the right place and that I actually knew what was happening and how I could really contribute. And I think all of that came from what I read about Ammon at the beginning of the week. I read about how he converted King Lamoni. Which I had been wanting to restudy again for awhile because I felt like maybe I could pull some secret of being a powerful missionary from. But as I read it I was beginning to feel disappointed because I couldn't find any extraordinary thing that he had done. Cutting off a whole lot of arms is extraordinary, but I didn't think that was the secret to missionary work. And that's when I realized that that is exactly the point, Ammon did exactly what he was supposed to. He served the King and as he did the Lord blessed him and as he continued to serve not only the King, but also the servants of the King he was blessed and their hearts were softened. And so that's what I think I really tried to focus on this week was my service to my companion and the people I serve. Like this week one of our MANY miracles was meeting Yosly. We had been praying really hard for a family because the family that we had been previously working with and basically dropped us and we REALLY wanted to find a family that we could bring to be baptized. And we found 1 we found Yosly out in front of her house as we were walking back from an appointment that didn't go so well, in fact we had been dropped again because we couldn't give her money, but we saw Yosly and there was a pull towards her, so we decided to go talk to her. She was outside sharpening a pencil with a razor blade so that her son could do his home work, we talked about leaving a blessing with her and she said she would love it and went and grabbed her son. And we started talking about what we could pray for but the sun kept getting in her eyes and so she invited us in. We said we couldn't unless there was a man inside with us, and she said there was! Her husband! He was on the couch watching a soccer game, and we invited him and he gladly accepted. We had a wonderful prayer with them and they really felt the spirit but were hesitant to make a return appointment because they have such crazy schedules, but we made one for the next day anyway. But as we were leaving Elder Lamb and I got the same distinct impression that we ought to bring her a pencil sharpener. So the next day we picked one up at lunch. when we gave it to her you could see her eyes light up! it was something small and funny but to her it showed that we cared and that's the type of missionary I want to be.

 

AND DID YOU READ ABOUT THE TEMPLE?????? go read the churches official statement!!! we are uber excited!!!

 

anyway I love you and there's another letter in the mail

 STAY STRONG, PUSH ON

ELDER PARK!!!

Letter From The President, November 11, 2013....

Dear Missionaries,

Zone Conference will be November 19^th through 22^nd from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. They will be Tuesday November 19^th- Homestead and Miami Zones- Killian Chapel; Wednesday November 20^th – Hialeah and Miami Beach Zones – Miami Lakes Chapel; Thursday November 21^st – Fort Lauderdale and Coral Springs Zones- Ft. Laud. Chapel; Friday November 22^nd – Palm Beach and Stuart Zones – Stuart Chapel.

In the Book of Mormon, Ammon was a great example of inviting and committing. Ammon was well prepared to teach King Lamoni, and first and foremost he had the Spirit to discern the King’s needs and desires:

“And it came to pass that Ammon, being filled with the Spirit of God, therefore he perceived the thoughts of the king.” (Alma 18:16)

Because of that Spirit, it caused the King to trust in Ammon’s words and to be able to believe:

“Now Ammon being wise, yet harmless, he said unto Lamoni: Wilt thou hearken unto my words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things? And this is the thing that I desire of thee. And the king answered him, and said: Yea, I will believe all thy words...” (Alma 18:22-23)

Then Ammon was able to increase his ability to commit and testify of important doctrines and scriptures:

“And Ammon began to speak unto him with boldness...he began at the creation of the world, and also the creation of Adam, and told him all the things concerning the fall of man, and rehearsed and laid before him the records and the holy scriptures of the people...But this is not all; for he expounded unto them the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world; and he also made known unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and all the works of the Lord did he make known unto them.” (Alma 18:24,36,39)

Ammon then could invite and commit the King to anything because of the Spirit and preparation he possessed to teach and testify of the truth. The natural result was the King’s strong desire to repent:

“And it came to pass that after he had said all these things, and expounded them to the king, that the king believed all his words... And he began to cry unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people.” (Alma 18:40-41)

As we invite and commit our investigators to keep any commandment, we are actually inviting them to repent. As we witness their keeping the commitments, we are also witnessing the evidence of repentance in their lives:

“Commitment is an essential part of repentance. It is the act of obligating oneself to a course of action and then diligently following through on that decision. When people are genuinely committed, they have real intent, meaning that they fully intend to do what they have committed to do. They make an unwavering and earnest decision to change. They become devoted to Christ and dedicate themselves to His gospel. Keeping their commitment is how they “truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins” (D&C 20:37). When you ask for commitments as part of your teaching, you are inviting the investigator to repent.” (PMG p.195)

We invite them to commit so that they can feel the Power of the Holy Ghost, which in turn will lead them to Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. President Joseph Fielding Smith teaches the importance of obeying commitments so that the Holy Spirit would be revealed:

“The world will not listen to the testimony of men who tell them that the Lord lives and that he is able to reveal his will to man today. Those of the world cannot advance nor learn the ways of the Lord nor walk in his paths because they do not have the gift of the Holy Ghost. This was the path pointed out by Peter and the apostles when the Spirit of the Lord rested upon them with great power to the convincing of the hearts of the people who cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:37-38). This was the counsel given them, and inasmuch as they obeyed it, they were entitled to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which would bring peace and happiness, reveal to them their duties, and enable them to understand their relationship to the Lord. (President Joseph Fielding Smith, General Conference, October 1968)

Our culture of commitment will bring others to Christ immediately:

“We weren't able to get any of our investigators to come to church, but there was this one guy who came we hadn’t met before. We talked to him for a little while and found out that missionaries from Utah had been calling him and teaching him over the phone for the past two months because he moves around so much. So after a little while we invited him to be baptized and he paused for a minute then said, Yeah, I want to be baptized. So we baptized him right then and there! The really funny thing about it is that we received a referral for him 2 hours AFTER he was baptized.”

 As our investigators commit, they see the amazing blessings immediately:

“We were harvesting on Wednesday, we walk up to a building and we both instantly feel like we need to go to the top floor first. So we start off by meeting this woman. We say a prayer with her and she said how it was a miracle; that we were sent by God because she had just been happening to read a book about God when we knocked. In the prayer she had asked for a job because she was practically homeless living in a friend's house.  She accepted a baptismal date right there and that was it. But the biggest miracle was as we followed up the next day, she filled us in on more details. She told us that God had given her a financial blessing, also for the first time in 2 years she had a job interview, and also she told us of how much she had been struggling. She hardly believed there was a God anymore, and had been contemplating ways that she could take her life. But all in that 24 hour time period, all of her problems were solved. Even her suicidal thoughts had diminished. God had shown her His love. It was so amazing to see the tears and gratitude in her eyes, not because of us, but because of what she saw from God. That she now knew God was watching her.”

We invite our investigators to commit, we follow up with testimony and doctrine:

“My companion and I were riding our bikes and we had 20 minutes to meet our next appointment. We decided that we had no time, and biked home to meet our member ride. Right as we crossed the street, we see a man biking towards us. We stopped him to give him a card, as he accepted the card he told us that he was just saying a prayer to God asking if He was there and to give him a miracle. We offered to return and bless his home, he accepted excitedly! The next day we met him, blessed him, and invited him to be baptized. He accepted without hesitation! We taught him a lesson and gave him the Book of Mormon. On Saturday, after teaching him for a bit, we came to follow up on the Word of Wisdom and teach about the Sabbath Day. As we invited him to stop drinking coffee completely, he got a little defensive, ‘I know I need to stop drinking coffee, I am slowing down day by day, because I don't want the headaches and I will stop completely in five days’. We gave him 3 Nephi 18 to read and left. We were blessed to have him at church, and during the sacrament, he was flipping through the Book of Mormon and he said ‘this scripture stood out to me’. He showed me 3 Nephi 18:31 (repent and be numbered my people) He then said, ‘If  I want to be numbered, I have to stop the coffee now!’ He wants to be baptized next week!!!”

 I know that teaching the incredible blessings that come to those that commit, the peace that will come to their lives, and the increased relationship with God, will bring our nonmember friends to the waters of baptism in an accelerated way. Elder Scott teaches:

“Changing a profoundly embedded pattern of life can be very difficult. Former friends can ridicule, criticize, and even persecute. Persistent faith in the Savior and obedience will see you through such hardships to greater blessings. The scriptures illustrate how conviction and faith can overcome traditions in conflict with God’s plan, bringing blessings to individuals, and even generations of people. ... [a] dramatic example of discarding long-established traditions is the change of warlike Lamanites into humble followers of Christ willing to die before violating covenants made as members of His kingdom. I encourage you who have already made correct cultural choices to help others to do likewise. Teach them to recognize the long-term blessings of peace and happiness that come from a decision to place Father in Heaven, His plan, and His Son at the center of their priorities.” (Elder Richard G. Scott, General Conference, April 1998)

Missionaries, let us invite, so they will commit, and then follow up all the way to their baptism:

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments [commitments] of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” (Mosiah 2:41)

President Don E. Anderson

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

Snail Mail November 6....

Hello!

BAH! This has been a rough week! But, I truly do enjoy it. I never realized how when you're with someone 24/7 you start to realize flaws. But I am trying my hardest not to! I was wondering because both of you have to deal with people and manage them, how do you not let people get on your nerves? Because I'm realizing that it's my fault that I get annoyed and that I need to be less sensitive to the noises people make when they eat, or their incredible slow motion when all you need to do is put a letter in the mail box, but it takes 10 minutes to check that the stamps are good. I've been struggling a little with stuff like that. HAHAHA, welcome to marriage, my sweet son!

But for the most part, this has been a good week. I feel that I have learned a lot about Spanish and how to teach. My faith has really grown this week.. I feel that I am really learning how to teach in fact, when we teach in English, I feel very comfortable, but in Spanish, I still have difficulties.I still have found it amazing how much the Spanish changes depending on the people you talk to it ranges from easy to understand (Mexican) to SUPER HARD to understand (Chilean) to the IMPOSSIBLE (Cuban)!!! So, basically when I am done, I will be able to speak ALL the Spanishes because there is definitely not 1 Spanish.

I still can't get over Dioscorides, he is such an amazing person! He has a SUPER interesting life! He's from Cuba and had a wife and 2 kids there but worked for a travel agency as an interpreter of German. When the job wanted him to go to France, his wife divorced him and the split happily. In France, he helped translate and direct tours in French, German and Spanish. He then got married to another lade in France asd started some sort of business with her. Then because of some legal reason, she had to go back to Czechoslovakia and he couldn't, so he is still married to her, but they live in different countries and yet they are still faithful to each other. Now here he is in Miami and not knowing English, trying to find work as a handy man. Now he's baptized and is really close friends with this old lady Mirta who lives in an old folks home and doesn't speak, but listens and he clips her toenail and loves her. He's just REALLY AWESOME!

It's also been exciting in that I have met a Pirate! His name is Eugenio and he is Cuban, but lived in Spain for a long time so not only does he have the Cuban roughness, but he also has the Spaniard lisp. So he is impossible to understand. He wears an eye patch and if you ask him "why?" it's because he is a Pirate! He wears it to church and the supermarket, everywhere. I thought maybe he was missing an eye.... NO! When we ate at his house he did not have it on and he has a normal eye. He wears it because he. is. a. PIRATE! A Cuban Pirate a Spanish Cuban Pirate.... AND HE HAS A PARROT!!!! I am pretty sure he is the strangest man I have ever met in my entire life! I see nothing wrong with pirates!

Anyway, things are moving just smoothly here and I love the Ward and the people. It's great, because there are so many different cultures and countries represented here. Uruguay, Mexico (only a little), Puerto Rico, Cuba, Honduras, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile, Ecuador, Republica Dominica, Guatemala, Venezuela and Peru! All represented in this little area. Saturday night is Heritage Night and all the families that are from these areas bring food and a presentation on their countries and it's great! I am SO excited to try all of the foods!

What's also interesting is the amount of Creole that is in this mission. It's about 50% Spanish Missionaries, 30% Creole Missionaries only 20ish% English Missionaries, with a handful of Portuguese. And most of the Spanish Missionaries by their year mark can teach in a little bit of Creole. So, that will be interesting to learn. In my apartment they keep trying  to teach me some, but I tell them I'm focusing on Spanish First! Then I will try some Creole.

Anyway, I love you all so much and I LOVED the Halloween package and the letters and the emails! The work is hastening and I am SO HAPPY TO BE A PART OF IT!

I still want some printed pictures (Thank goodness we sent them in the package he got the day before we received this letter in the mail!) and I LOVE YOU ALL!

STAY STRONG, PUSH ON!
Elder Park

PS- btw, P-Day will be Tuesday next week because of transfers. Gee, nice to know, NOW! We didn't get this letter until Wednesday!

Week 6 In Ft. Lauderdale.....

HELLO!!

   I am sorry! I forgot to tell you last week that I wouldn't be able to email until today! Yes, I got the Halloween package and it was great! Tell Leah thanks! I got the next package Friday or Saturday, I am SOOO glad to have all of those things, Thank you, Thank you! 

  I got in another crash, this time, Totally not my fault. The car came whipping into the cross walk not looking, I slammed the breaks but it was rainy and slid funny and my bike went tumbling and I was some how on my knee... (I hope he is ok, he didn't give any more information. I figure, no new is good news, right?) Any way we were able to tune the tire, but my seats a little broken now, so I was wondering if you could check the CTR stuff and see if that was covered? Also read the warranty info on theft I think I might need to get another ubolt lock or have to take my front tire off every time in order for it to be safe by their standards. There is no rush at all, the seat works. I might even just pick up a super comfy one at Walmart next time we go to FLL.

  This week Elder L*** and I have really focused on working with only the elect. that means that we had to do a lot more harvesting and a little less teaching. We realized that we had been wasting the Lord's time trying to get people we wanted to baptize ready instead of letting the Lord guide us to those he had already prepared. It was a definite his will over mine kind of decision. We had to drop a lot of investigators and focus on just a few. It has been rewarding, we now have a greater excitement for the appointments that we have, a faster pace and a "more willing to be guided" attitude. It reminds me of what I read in Alma this week. He had gone into Aminihah and is treated terrible and kicked out. As he is leaving, he's really down trodden and that's where we were this week. We had gotten A LOT of people telling us "no" to blessings and we weren't really getting that many for the amount of time that we spent out Harvesting. It wasn't as drastic as Alma's experience, but like it in that we didn't know what to do. We felt that we were doing what was right, but it wasn't doing any good. Then like Alma we got a prompting to go back to the area, but on a different side, we were able to give more blessings in an hour than we were normally able to give in 3 days! Its was miraculous! And it really solidified that we need to pay attention to the spirit and where the Lord wants us to go.

  We have met and sown a TON of seeds this week, unfortunately none of them were ready to be taught. They need just a little more time. But it was definitely exciting to confirm Dioscorides this week! He is already preparing family names to take to the temple to do baptisms in Orlando in a couple of weeks! He is going to be a SOLID member! We got transfer info this week, in fact yesterday. All of the Elders in my apartment except Elder W****** are staying which means tomorrow there will be another missionary living with us, which is going to be a little weird because Elder W******is one of the 6 missionaries that I know really well in this mission! But it will be exciting to meet another!

  I thought I would teach you a little Cuban/Spanish... see in Spanish you add -ita or -ito to the end of a word and it means little or small. In Mexico I learned that horita (hora -ita) meant "right now". Like I will do it in this short minute, kind of like when we say give me a moment, but every time a Cuban ( or a Puerto Rican) says it, we NEVER get an answer or it never gets done! Because to them it means in a short bit like a little while later! BAH! and that's not the only little mix up there is. SOOO many things that mean different things to different countries! It's ridiculous! Any way that was my little vent on the language. I feel like I have come a long way, it still takes me a long time to say what I want to say, but I understand most of what is said and I can read in the language pretty good. Not quite at Grandpa's level yet! (He was told that he would have to learn several different countries types of Spanish in the Ft. Lauderdale Mission.)

  The other step I took this week was that I decided I am of Latin decent. Dad you are Mexican, and Mom you are a Venezuelan. Every one asks if I am Latin for some reason so I decided not to fight it. When they ask where I'm from I say Estados Unidos and then the say "no tu padres?" and I say "no se",they say some country I say probablamente and boom we move on if I try to explain it takes FOREVER. So, I thought I would let ya know where you are from! (A missionary not telling the truth? SHAME! Not that I would not be proud of being Venezuelan, Igrid!).

    

YOU GUYS ARE GREAT, Elder L*** says "thanks for lunch"! We are still playing with those sticky spiders! It's amazing how well they stick!

Stay strong, push on

ELDER PARK!!