Week 26 In Fort Lauderdale....

What a great week!Nelsa was confirmed! Ricardo got baptized! An eterna-gator just told us he has decided to get baptized and wants our help to prepare! ( he has a slight problem with tithing but we can work with that) We ran into a former investigator that asked us to come by again! And a young man named Tyreek has been wanting to get baptized for weeks (his grandmother just wants to be there and she never comes we are planning to baptized him on Wednesday). So the work is definitely progressing and we have A LOT to work on. (I love when Tyler gets SO excited!)

We were able to help Ricardo get baptized. He is an incredibly humble man that has really turned to the Lord. He used to have a serious drinking problem. He realized that was wrong and that he needed help, so he found it in AA. Through AA, he found a member that also attended and through her, he found the Church. He wanted to meet with us but the people that he lived with wouldn't allow it. He decided that it was important enough that he would take time out of his work to meet with us. So we would meet him at the corner where he sold oranges and flowers and teach him, while it wasn't the ideal location, they were some of the most spiritual lessons. He had such a desire to learn and know more about how he could grow closer to God.

We did have some struggles finding new people to teach and that means that we have to really focus on finding this week if we want to continue being as busy as we are right now. At church yesterday we were slightly disappointed because the only investigator to show up was the man that was getting baptized. But one of the awesome things that happened was that Nelsa, the sweet old Cuban lady, that we baptized last week, made some of the most amazing comments in class about following the prophets and how having prophets here today helps her know that God still loves his children. That was really amazing.

This week we also spent a lot of time "above the canal". There is a canal that runs at a diagonal across our area that has only 2 crossings and they are very hard to get to. The canal divides the HIGH income area from the LOW income area it is an EXTREMELY drastic line. While it is harder to find people above the canal they tend to be way more solid and they understand a little more about what we are talking about and can get themselves to church.

This week was an interesting week, I learned a lot about how I am just a tool that the Lord uses, and for more difficult situations he uses a better tool. And that has become my goal to become a tool that he can use in more situations.

In my studies I have been focusing on the facets of the Doctrine of Christ that Elder Scott left us in a Stake Conference Broadcast that we had a little while ago mixed with love like Elder Kopishke talked about. As I did. I realized that my desires to share what I was learning grew. It was amazing to see that these simple parts of the Doctrine could help people so much! 

STAY STRONG, PUSH ON!!

ELDER PARK

Letter From The President, March 23, 2014....

Dear Missionaries,

I am enclosing the music “Faith in Every Footstep” for you to download (MP3 file) and learn if this will help you do so for the “Cultural Event”. This will be the second to the last song and we will remain standing in our places to sing “High on the Mountain Top” Hymn # 5 which is the finale. Please learn this Hymn as well. We will descend along the sides of the mezzanine instead of in front of the General Authorities. We will talk about other details later, but please learn these songs.

With the Temple dedication at our doorstep, there is much to do and prepare for as missionaries. The power that has and will come because of this Temple influence will bring about a tremendous Spirit and many miracles. It will bless us with not only power, but also knowledge and understanding of the “mysteries of the kingdom”:

“And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the odinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest... For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.” (D&C 84:19-20,22)

When Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland Temple, he certainly saw our day:

“ And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.” ( D&C 109:22-23)

This scripture helps us understand why we need to receive the ordinances of the Temple before we are set apart and sent out as missionaries, full time “Representatives of Jesus Christ”. We go forth “armed with power”, with His name upon us, bearing “great and glorious tidings” to the world. What a wonderful opportunity and blessing as the Temple ordinances aid us is in this responsibility.

Part of that power comes from obedience, which are important instructions and covenants that we learn and make in the Temple. When I was a Stake President, we had a beautiful Temple built in Juarez, Mexico in the year 2000 that was only about 22 minutes from our home. What a Great blessing it was not to have to travel 7 hours or 400 miles before this Temple was built. Several years later, the drug cartels in Mexico began to declare war on the government and on each other and Juarez quickly became the most dangerous city in the world with an average of 15 murders a day. Our city, El Paso, Texas still maintained its status of the second safest city in the United States, so we felt safe and protected. Many of the Saints refused to go to this city across the border in fear of their safety and the intimidation of military soldiers with their machine guns, and tanks lined along the roads. I felt inspired to tell our members that if they went straight to the Temple and back, (no shopping, eating, stopping) that The Lord would protect them. Gradually the volume of Saints going to the Temple began to grow and we never had any incidence even to this day. I know the Lord protected us as we remained obedient to His promise, and the blessings of the Temple gave the entire area a surge of power.

I know as we utilize this influence that each of us have access to from the Temple, and remain obedient in all that God and his leaders have asked of us, we will be “armed” with God’s power. Obedience will help steer us through “unchartered seas” as President Monson has taught:

“There is no need for you or me in this enlightened age, when the fulness of the gospel has been restored, to sail uncharted seas or travel unmarked roads in search of a ‘fountain of truth’... For a living Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing map — obedience” (Strength through obedience, Ensign, July 1996).

President Hinckley teaches us the importance to stay obedient, even when it “may not be to our liking or fit in with our ideas”:

“I give you my witness that the leaders of this Church will never ask us to do anything that we cannot perform with the help of the Lord... We may feel inadequate. That which we are asked to do may not be to our liking or fit in with our ideas. But if we will try with faith and prayer and resolution, we can accomplish it... I give you my testimony that the happiness of the Latter-day Saints, the peace of the Latter-day Saints, the progress of the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity of the Latter-day Saints, and the eternal salvation and exaltation of this people lie in walking in obedience to the counsels of the priesthood of God” (“If Ye Be Willing and Obedient,” Ensign, December 1971).
Armed with the Power of God and obedience to Him in inviting everyone:
“The guy who was taking our orders [at Taco Bell] asked us who we were and we told him that we were missionaries and we share messages about Jesus...  I felt like I might as well give that guy a chapel card and invite him to church so I grabbed one in the car... walked inside and gave the him a chapel card and invited him to be baptized and he accepted...  My thoughts the rest of the week turned to our investigators and the people we were preparing to be baptized for us that weekend. Come Sunday I walk into sacrament about 10 minutes early right after getting people up for church and driving 30 minutes to the chapel and guess who is there? The Taco Bell guy!  He only had $2.50 to catch the bus to church from where he lived to the church and said he was going to just walk home after, which was a 2 and a half hour walk! Now that is showing major FAITH! We got him a ride home and he is preparing to be baptized next Sunday.”
Armed with the Power of God and obedience to Him in helping everyone keep commitments:
 “We taught our investigator Fred the word of wisdom. As we focused on the doctrine linking that to his desire of receiving the Holy Ghost he was motivated into change, thanks to the Spirit. We came back the next day and a note was on the door. ‘Sisters don't leave me. Please come back tomorrow. I will be at my uncles house,’ was plastered on it. When we were in the parking lot Fred was on his way out telling us that he has not had a single cigarette or coffee. Fred went the extra mile and went on Mormon.org watching tons of videos (in which we never even mentioned), and read scriptures we did not ask him to read. In his own words, he wanted to feel the "feeling" that he felt when we first prayed with him. He was baptized yesterday by our Bishop. As the opportunity was given Fred bore his testimony and told everyone that since we have shared the gospel, he feels like he could breathe. The tightness in his heart is now relieved. From the ashtray in the dumpster after the 2nd lesson, to kicking his friend (bad influence) out after the 1st lesson ETC... all on his own. He was able to change through the Atonement that he now fully has access to. The Lord went before us and fulfilled His promise as we prayed that night we found him, asking the Lord to place someone who is prepared to receive us.”
Armed with the Power of God and obedience to Him to know God will compensate for our diligence:
“Obviously, God is greater than us. For us to be like Him, we must also pass through our own trials and tribulations. If you picture it, when we walk/run/sprint uphill, it is not easy. There is a lot of resistance, but by the time you get to the top of the hill, you are stronger than you were at the bottom. Our trials lead us to the Lord and if we are not going the Lords way we are going downhill. This week as I was on an exchange ... we were able to experience the law of compensation. We had not really found anyone off of our own finding this week, but we were extremely diligent and we received a call from the Assistants (who were also on an exchange...exchange miracles!). We couldn't answer so they left a voice mail that said this, ‘We have our friend Tom who wants to talk to you.’ (and then Tom got on) ‘Hi, I just can't wait to tell you about how good God is. Come and see me anytime. I want to be baptized.’ It was such an amazing miracle! God is good!”
President Monson taught that obedience in a challenging and complex world will simplify our lives and give us additional knowledge and answers to our questions:
"We learn obedience throughout our lives. Beginning when we are very young, those responsible for our care set forth guidelines and rules to ensure our safety. Life would be simpler for all of us if we would obey such rules completely. …The knowledge which we seek, the answers for which we yearn, and the strength which we desire today to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world can be ours when we willingly obey the Lord’s commandments.”

He then added that obedience is what has given prophets their knowledge and power:

"Obedience is a hallmark of prophets; it has provided strength and knowledge to them throughout the ages... It is essential for us to realize that we, as well, are entitled to this source of strength and knowledge.” (President Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, April 2013)

Joseph Smith simply said:
"I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, p. 160).

 Missionaries, Let's Do It!!!

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! March can be our miracle month!!! We need to keep the increase in Dates and I@S! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S this week. All must contribute!

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, Elders and Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “Armed with the Power of God, Let’s Do It!!!”

President Don E. Anderson

Week 25 In Fort Lauderdale....

Woah, that is so very sad to hear about, I remember both John and Bryan and I can't believe it. My prayers and love do go out to their little families. It brings joy that they were such amazing men in the church. While their kids might be missing a father, I know that John and Bryan set a good example for them to follow and it is amazing that the Gospel allows us to have knowledge of the life to come.

Yesterday, that wonderful and sweet Old Cuban Lady, Nelsa, was baptized. Manuel the Old Cuban Man we baptized in February, performed the baptism. It was amazing to see that it is never too late to make those changes in your life the both of them lived long full lives, had habits of drinking coffee, smoking, and other things, but the both of them made those changes because they realized they had found the truth. And that is a miracle and wonderful. And I like what Dad said, "Now is the time to repent, do not procrastinate, you don't know when you are leaving this world" the fact that in 2 weeks they went from not knowing anything about the gospel to becoming members and committing to live the commandments is amazing. They BOTH volunteered to work at the temple open house on Sunday as well is truly amazing.

This week we had a specialized training with President Anderson. It was a much needed call to repentance for the misision. Nothing big had been happening in the mission or anything like that, but there was beginning to be pride in the mission. We have been having so much success that we weren't relying on the Lord enough and we didn't have the sense of urgency that we needed and  therefore were not seeing the success we were used to and then getting discouraged and therefore not qualifying for the success that we wanted. And as you can see there becomes a cycle and we needed to break out of it. A quote from when Elder Kopishke came has really struck me in the last were days. He applied it to missionary work specifically but it applies to all things in life. "Don't take the credit for success, or the blame for failure" now when he said this he was referring to the nothingness of man and the greatness of God. He doesn't mean that we shouldn't be excited for our successes or the effort we put in that was rewarded nor that we should be un-confident that we can do it, but that we need to look at where all the success comes from. It is a gift from God, everything in our life, our Talents, the opportunities that fall into our lap and the situations that align just right. We should always give thanks to God for those things and the difference that it makes in our lives. And so that has been the basis of my personal study lately how I can avoid pride. It's an on going battle I have found because as soon as you start to study it you find out there was a lot of pride in obscure places deep inside yourself and as you begin to work on that, you begin to feel pride that you are trying to be un prideful. So that's funny, try not to become prideful and then it happens.

It is amazing to hear that Grandma and Grandpa finally got their actual Mission call this week. The email I got from them went a little like this:

DO NOT EAT THE PACKAGES OF FREEZE-DRIED APPLE SLICES AND BANANA AND STRAWBERRY SLICES.

And that was the first email I read... haha I just thought it was funny how bold and urgent (and caring) they are! (There was a recall on the fruit slices.) But they didn't say anything about the call. I am excited to hear what all is involved in the mission! A whole week at the MTC will change a person, let me tell ya! It's like a spiritual blender, helps you see that the mission is REALLY bigger that you thought.

It's great to hear Garret and Leah are doing great, Leah's got to send me a pic of her painted glass, and that Grandpa's doing good, I hear radioactive Iodine causes tails, not glowing. (Mr. Smarty Pants! hahaha!)

Elder T***** and I had been trying very hard to get referrals from members and help them become more involved in missionary work, like we know that we are supposed to do. But, little success had been seen, we knew it was what God wanted us to do and that we would be blessed for our efforts.On Friday, we received a referral for a man named Ricardo. We showed up to teach him at the street corner that he asked us to meet him at and he was a man we had OYM'ed (Open Your Mouth, talk to someone on the street) a week or so earlier. We taught him the simple doctrine of prayer and that God wants to hear him pray and will answer his prayers, then when the spirit was highest we invited him to be baptized and he excepted! He was so excited to get baptized he didn't want to wait until next Sunday, at church he told us that he wanted to get baptized right then! As we put forth our effort to be obedient and continue doing what we had been asked to do even though it was difficult the Lord blessed us with an amazing referral.

Anyway this was a good week!

STAYIN' SCRONG n' PUSHININ ON  (spent alotta time in da hood dis week)

ELDER PARK

Letter From The President, March 16, 2014....

Dear Missionaries,

What a wonderful opportunity to gather this last week. We have so much to do in preparing for the Prophets and preparing for the Temple. This past week has been miraculous and revelatory as we have come together more united as a mission. The power that amplifies this work is the unity we have in obedience, faith and diligence. Many have heard me say “all of us are better than one of us”. The great philosopher

Aristotle said:

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The scriptures are a great example of that. The world has only the Bible, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ has four sources of scriptures; the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. These Holy books of scriptures, combined, help us know and understand so much clearer the will of God. Doctrine becomes more understood, principles become more defined, and applications become specific in implementation. All of these volumes of God's word, combined, create a greater power than they do individually. When we reference the Atonement for example, the Bible is great in teaching us the what, but the Book of Mormon teaches us the why and how in a way that magnifies its’ meaning, understanding, and application to our lives.

We as companionships are greater than two individual missionaries. Our District is greater than the sum of the District members. The Zone is greater than the sum of the Zone members. We as a Mission are so much greater than the sum of almost 200 Missionaries. With this unified power, we have been taught that God is just around the corner to give us the additional strength we need to succeed and receive the miracle. Unity and Perseverance are attributes we must embrace in order to realize the power and miracle God will give us. The reward is usually just beyond the perception of our limits. Elder Wirthlin taught:

“Perseverance is a positive, active characteristic... It is not idly, passively waiting and hoping for some good thing to happen. It gives us hope by helping us realize that the righteous suffer no failure except in giving up and no longer trying.”  (Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, General Conference, October 1987)

Elder Wirthlin said the need to persevere is expressed in the following lines:

“Genius is only the power of making continuous efforts. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it; so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success? A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed a hopeless failure may turn into a glorious success. … There is no defeat except within, no really insurmountable barrier save one’s own inherent weakness of purpose” (author unknown, Second Encyclopedia, ed. Jacob M. Brand, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1957, p. 152).

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

 “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do — not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased.”

Being united and persevering brings miracles as we talk to everyone:

"We were walking yesterday, knocking doors and talking to everyone on the streets.  We walked past this trailer and out of the corner of my eye, something caught my attention.  I don't know what it was, but I said, 'I think there are people there.  We need to turn around!'So [my brand new trainee companion] said, 'Okay!'  And we walked back and sure enough, there were two people sitting outside.  My companion said, 'Can we give you a card about Jesus Christ?'  And one of them said, 'YES!  Give it to me!  You're my angels.  I told you man, they're my angels!' And we stopped kind of confused and offered him a prayer.  He said, 'YES.' And thrust his hand out to hold our hands.  We start talking to him to get to know him a little before the prayer and he says, 'I was literally just talking to my friend here when I saw you two walking by and I told him, Those are my angels.  They're here to help me. And then you kept walking past and I thought, "Oh.  Maybe not."  But then you turned around and walked right up to me and I knew YOU'RE MY ANGELS!' We were shocked!  We said a prayer with him, and when we invited him to baptism, he literally shouted, 'YES!'  He told us all about the struggles he was going through and told us how he knew we were the answer to his prayer and he needed this more than anyone.  I know that this happened because we listened to the promptings of the spirit."

Being united and persevering will bring miracles as we use all techniques in finding:

"When we came back from transfers we knew we needed to find.  So we blocked the day out for finding in a few different ways.  First we went to see a former investigator from the area book, having decided that wherever we went we would speak to everyone we saw.   The first person we saw that afternoon was a young man with his headphones in, looking down, who sneaked beside us as we entered the complex.  We stopped him and practically thrust a Faith in Christ card in front of him and he said we could pray with him, so he took us to his house and we blessed him, his home and his grandma.  He was full of doubts and questions about religion, but we gave him a Book of Mormon and selected a few verses for him to read and the next night we would come back when his mom and sister would be there so we could bless the family and see what he learned from his reading. We came back.  That following night his mom ushered us in the door and cleaned off the table so we could sit down with all of them.  We taught them all and they were excited to be baptized and everything in-between.  His mom and sister showed no hesitation as he had, and were ready to dive in head-first.  The next time we came by the glass table was already wiped clean and three copies of the Book of Mormon lay perfectly and neatly in front of three chairs, waiting for us all to sit down together and learn of Christ.  Since Wednesday that young man's faith has grown substantially and his questions are being answered as he learns with his mom and his sister, all three of whom are preparing to be baptized on the 22nd.”  

Being unified and persevering will bring miracles as we prepare to teach in any circumstance:

"... we received a call from a man named Jorge who needed someone to speak at his brother's funeral.  The whole week he had been asking for people from other churches to speak and they each denied him because he was not a member of their congregations.  The Lord put his two local representatives in his path that day and they gave him our number.  On Saturday morning, we rode to the local cemetery and shared at the graveside service that death is a part of God's plan, that all men ‘must die’ (Alma 12:27) due to the Fall of Adam, but that ‘in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1 Corinthians 15:22) through the resurrection.  They were all so prepared to receive the message and were touched.  Almost all those who attended accepted Plan of Salvation pamphlets and we received referrals for 6 different households who wanted to hear more of the Restored Gospel.  Jorge, who called us, took us aside, thanked us so much, and told us that the family desperately needs to come closer together through coming closer to God.  He said that the family needed to join a church, and he knew that God had showed him which church he was to join.  He accepted  baptism for March 16.” 

President Faust taught that successful perseverance will deter discouragement: 

“Success is usually earned by persevering and not becoming discouraged when we encounter challenges…. The Lord has blessed the Church and its members in remarkable ways because of their faithfulness and perseverance,” (President James E. Faust, General Conference, April 2005)

President Monson teaches us our responsibility:

“We are success-oriented, striving to become ‘wonder women’ and ‘super men.’ Any hint of failure can cause panic, even despair. Who among us cannot remember moments of failure? Our responsibility is to rise from mediocrity to competence, from failure to achievement. Our task is to become our best selves. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final.” (President Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, April 1987)

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! March can be our miracle month!!! We need to keep the increase in Dates and I@S! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S this week. All must contribute!

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, Elders and Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “All of us are better than one of us”!!!

President Don E. Anderson

Week 24 in Fort Lauderdale....

Elder Park has not been very good at answering questions in his past emails, so we had to get at bit specific again.

 

A few questions...

1. You said you wanted more jam, but you didn't say what kind. Pear, peach, strawberry/peach and raspberry/peach. Tell me what would put a smile on your face! :)

2. Are you doing ok? You have been sounding a bit down in your last few emails.

3. Did you get the thumb drive?

4. Have you tried the refried beans recipe?

5. Do you know that your Mama loves you?

6. Are you going to be able to go through the Ft. Lauderdale Temple Open House? Will they have you kids working at it or just those who's area includes the temple?

7. You have been spending $$ out of your own accnt. Are you getting enough food?

Ok so you are right I had used my personal account way too much last month because of the adjustments to the food situation, but luckily that is improving because 1. The members found out that we are the least fed missionaries in the mission and yet the missionaries in this ward are the highest baptizing missionaries in the mission too... so they have decided to step that up. 2. We found a new store called Aldi's it is ALL generic, off-brand, knock-off brands and its really funny but its the same if not better quality and ridiculously cheap like $0.75 for a box on mini-wheats, I spent $22 last week and have a TON left over, so I will be doing better on that. (At the rate he was going, his savings was going to be drained before he even gets to Hump Day!)

I am doing well physically and mentally. I have lost a lot of weight this transfer, not because I am not eating, I have NEVER been hungry and with my companion he makes sure we always eat very balanced meals so I am getting everything that I need. (We have been worried that he isn't getting enough food. So we were questioning whether we should be sending groceries!) It's mostly because of the biking. We bike on average 25 miles a day, average speed of 13.4 mph and the highest last week being 23.7 mph. I finally got the bike computer hooked up, it came with a bad battery and I found a good one in a drawer in the house. Most of the reason I brought up the bike was because my companion knows alot about bikes, and I have learned a lot from him. I was starting to realize that I should have talked to someone like him before the mission, I would have chose a slightly different bike. BUT my bike is hands down FAR better that most bikes in the mission mine is a Hybrid so its in between a mountain bike and a road bike which is perfect for most missionaries serving in most places and it does great here. The Road bike would have been only slightly better here because it is all flat there are no hills and we ride on the roads in traffic a lot. So it is like I have a tool that works great, but someone showed me a super tool and I got jealous. I am buying a rack to put things on the bike today and so if you guys found a box that would fit on a bike rack good or somthing like that let me know because I am looking for something like that.

The rain jacket is perfect and came right on time I have used it twice already, it fits PERFECT and its super light weight and breathable I had been borrowing a yellow rubber one from the apartment and I would get more wet from sweating inside of it than I would from the rain.

Yes, I also got the thumb drive. I also got this week a package from Aunt Em and the Leishmans! That was great as well!

I got the refried beans recipe, I am going to try to collect the spices and make it work. We do a lot of beans from dried in the apartment they are cheap healthier and super easy, they just take forever.

Yes, I know YOU ALL LOVE ME AND I LOVE YOU!

Yes, we will all get to go through the Ft. Laud Temple. President has promised that. He wants us to take investigators and recent converts through and be special guides for them. Most of us will not be working too close to the Temple, but those that are close, will be helping and we will all have an opportunity to participate in the dedication. President gave us white handkerchiefs for it with the temple embroidered on it. (How cool is that?!?!?)

This week after transfers has been good. We have been working with and progressing a lot of people, we were able to get 5 investigators to come to church.  A young family and their baptismal age son, an amazing old cuban lady and a sweet (slightly odd) Jamaican lady. 4 of them are excited to get baptised next week. The Old Cuban lady is almost jumping in the water, she remembered a church helping her when she first came to America and she recognized it as us. She remembered 2 elders, and she knows all of it is true. She is an amazing woman!

I haven't really been down lately and I aplogize if thats how it has come across. I have just been struggling to understand what we could have been doing better to get people to church and with the vision of getting baptized. I was getting a lot of emails, so that made it difficult to write back a ton! ;) but I do love your concern. DO NOT WORRY I AM ON THE LORD'S ERRAND, I WILL NOT FAIL. HIS PLAN IS FOR US TO BE HAPPY AND I AM A FOLLOWER OF THAT PLAN. I AM ALWAYS HAPPY. I want you to know that this is the happiest I have EVER been in my life!

I can't believe that the house was egged, any idea why? Garret I told you not to mess with people! Leah! Were you too mean in lacrosse? haha

This week we did great getting "member present lessons" and really involving the ward. Unfortunately, we weren't very good at harnessing their awesome testimony/life-story telling and we were late getting home a lot. Once this week was even past 2130 super dis-O (disobedient) and that was NOT good! So we are making plans this week to be back at a better time and to reign in the members more, so that will be good! 

And speaking of the rain, I told you about the rain in Mexico but, did I tell you about here in Florida? It comes as a WALL. I am serious, you can see it for miles and miles and sometimes we can out run it. But there is no slow transition between not raining and raining, it just is like and on and off switch! Man almighty, this week it did that to us twice and the second time I got a flat tire in it. We were about 5 miles from the house and so we had to patch it in the rain (patches are a great thing to send too, "Vulcanizing" are the best). People in Florida just throw glass bottles out their windows and unfortunately, we can't always avoid the shards on the road or sidewalk. My tube has 4 patches in the back and 3 in the front! It took forever to patch it in the rain because it needed to dry... We were in a down pour... at a park... with no covering... :(

 

As I have been studying I continue to come accross passages such as 2 nephi 11: 6, where Nephi says that his soul delighteth in the gospel and how excited he is to share it. I realize that is what the Gospel is supposed to do! Bring excitment and joy, I have realized that is what it is in my life and I am just ecstatic to go out and share it each day! It's like one of the missionaries said at transfer meeting not 6 weeks ago, "I get to hang out with my best friend for 2 years, the Holy Ghost, and I get to share him with EVERYONE." I am truly grateful for that!

Anyway that was the week! Love you!

STAY STRONG, PUSH ON!!

ELDER PARK

Letter From The President, March 9, 2014....

 

In the Scriptures, unity is defined:

To become one in thought, desire, and purpose first with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, and then with other Saints. (Guide to the Scriptures, Unity)

 Jesus Christ is the perfect example in teaching this unity because of His priority to unify with His Father, then to unify with others. Just before the Savior carried out the Atonement, He prayed for His disciples, whom He had sent into the world to teach the gospel. He also prayed for those who would believe in Him because of His disciples’ words. He pled for unity: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21). From this prayer we learn how the gospel unites us with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and with each other. When we live the gospel, receiving the saving ordinances and keeping our covenants, our natures are changed. The Savior’s Atonement sanctifies us, and we can live in unity, enjoying peace in this life and preparing to dwell with the Father and His Son forever.

Paul taught that we should unify with each other in the Gospel so that we will increase in knowledge and not be deceived:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Ephesians 4:13-15)

Lehi’s final words to his sons included to unify themselves so that “ye may not come down into captivity”:

 “And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;” (2 Nephi 1:21)

President Eyring taught why God wants unity and why Satan does not:  

“Our Heavenly Father wants our hearts to be knit together. That union in love is not simply an ideal. It is a necessity... With skill, hatred, and cunning, Satan pursues his goal. It is the opposite of the purpose of our Heavenly Father and the Savior. They would give us perfect union and eternal happiness. Satan, their enemy and ours..., would tear us from loved ones and make us miserable. And it is he who plants the seeds of discord in human hearts in the hope that we might be divided and separate... The Savior of the world spoke of that unity and how we will have our natures changed to make it possible. He taught it clearly in the prayer He gave in His last meeting with His Apostles before His death (John 17:18-21)... He was about to face the terrible sacrifice for all of us that would make eternal life possible. He was about to leave the Apostles whom He had ordained, whom He loved, and with whom He would leave the keys to lead His Church. And so He prayed to His Father, the perfect Son to the perfect Parent...: ‘That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me’ (John 17: 21)... In those few words He made clear how the gospel of Jesus Christ can allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants, their natures would be changed. The Savior’s Atonement in that way makes it possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity.” (President Henry B. Eyring, General Conference April 1998)

When we unify together to be obedient, God will show his hand:

“We had to drop [a couple] because they were not progressing. It broke my heart because I love them so much. Since we dropped them, they have moved and we no longer had their address. On Sunday we were torn between being obedient and harvesting for an hour or being obedient to go and set people with dates. Both alternatives were good but obviously one was best. We chose to harvest for an hour knowing that God would consecrate our efforts. We felt very prompted to go and harvest on a particular street. The first few houses we knocked we found some pretty grumpy people. However imagine our surprise when the 3rd door we knocked on [the girl of the couple that dropped us] answered! We harvested into them AGAIN! She was so happy to see us! The first words out of her mouth were, ‘I don't believe it. God sent you to us again because he knows that we are ready now. We want to be baptized’. MIRACLE! God knows his sheep! He knows where they are! He always does his part. It is up to us to do ours. To have faith and act on any and all promptings that we have! Not only that, but because we chose to be obedient and harvest for an hour God consecrated our efforts and blessed us with 2 additional dates!”

When we unify to talk to everyone, God will guide us to those searching:

“We noticed a man across the street so we went and contacted him. After blessing him we were running a little bit late for our next appointment. Prior to getting in the car we noticed some more people just down the street and headed down to contact them even though we were already late. We gave them a pass along card and set a return appointment for the next day. No surprise that we were running late the next day as well as we headed to meet the family. On our way to their apartment we spotted another family. We were already steps ahead of them but I remembered that we promised God that we would literally contact everyone in our path. We turned around and headed back to contact them. Here came the miracle. The people were so excited that we came back and talked to them! They recognized us immediately. She was baptized in 1994 but none of her kids have been baptized. She has been less active for a long time. We set up a return appointment. When we went back the next day we walked in to see all 5 kids and the mother eagerly awaiting our arrival. They were so excited to talk about church and all are now preparing for baptism. I have never seen a more prepared family. OYM miracles! We had to OYM multiple people to be led to the elect.” 

When we unify with our investigators to help them with their commitments, God amplifies our efforts:

“We went over on Monday and we weren't really sure how to help her to quit smoking-because we had given her a priesthood blessing, we had tried to help her by taking her cigarettes-we weren't really sure what we were going to do to start helping her to quit. We got into the lesson, said amen, and then followed the spirit. We opened our mouths and they were filled. We said ‘Okay, we have tried many things to help you to quit smoking, but what we would like to do to help you is fast.’ When we said this, the whole family had the funniest looks on their faces. They looked at us and said ‘WHAT??’ We started telling them about the blessings of fasting and they finally decided they would at least try it, so we made plans to start a fast with them the next day. We called them Tuesday morning at 9:00 and said our mighty prayer with them over the phone to start our fast, and we fasted until dinner that night. When we showed up at the house that night, they all looked exhausted from the effort it had taken them to not eat or drink anything the entire day. We ended the fast and had dinner with them. As we talked to her, she told us that it was the first day in a very long time that she had gone without a cigarette. We were very happy to hear this. As we followed up with her every day, she continued to tell us that she no longer had the desire to smoke, and that she had not touched a cigarette since we fasted with them. It was amazing! She has been trying to quit smoking for 27 years, and finally, through the power of God, she was able to give it up. She was baptized with her daughter this past Sunday.”

The Lord has said, “If ye are not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:27). We can seek and promote this standard of unity in our calling as missionaries as we “represent Jesus Christ”. We can also be unified with our companions and with members of Districts and Zones by serving each other, teaching one another, and encouraging one another. We can become one with the President of the Church and other Church leaders as we study their words and follow their counsel.

Elder Widtsoe taught the dangers of only being “partially united”:

“A perfect oneness will save a people, because intelligent beings [can only] become perfectly one, … by acting upon principles that pertain to eternal life. Wicked men may be partially united in evil; but, … the very principle upon which they are partially united will itself breed contention … to destroy the temporary compact. Only … truth and righteousness can secure … an eternal continuation of perfect union; for only truth and those who are sanctified by it can dwell in celestial glory” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1961], 282).

Our hearts can be “knit together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:21). We can unify together in obedience, in faith, in testimony, and in Spirit. When we do, then the power will more than double. Unity is a catalyst that increases the volume of two (or more) faithful missionaries. Just like Elder Holland tells us, when we unite the strength of missionaries (companionships, districts, zones, mission), we can move mountains.

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! March can be our miracle month!!! We need to keep the increase in Dates and I@S! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S this week. All must contribute!

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, Elders and Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “If ye are not one, ye are not mine”!!!

 

 

President Don E. Anderson

Week 23 In Fort Lauderdale....

I first want to thank everybody for the lengths you went to to make my birthday a big deal. It was nice and different! The cake was funny (The lady at the bakery didn't speak much English. I kept spelling ELDER to her and she got it as Elbert Park! Too Funny) and I wasn't so apprehensive about the lady, more that she was being at our house.  It was proselyting time and we were luckily home to meet her because we were preparing for service! I think it's funny and amazing that she was willing to drive an hour to deliver a cake, MOM this means when her son's (in Idaho) birthday comes around you need to make arrangements to get him a cake... don't know how or who you could contact but you gotta make it happen! (I told cute Maritza that I would make that happen) It was also nice that Sister Story got lunch, you told her I like BBQ, so that's what she got! And that's a funny story my companion is a vegitarian and so for the last little while I have been trying that out with him, just because he has some good arguments and scriptural backing in the Word of Wisdom and what not. So I had eaten no meat in about 2 weeks and she brought ribs and wings and fry's, that was amazing! and a TON of meat because my companion ate 0, he ate only vegetarian chili! 

Then we went out to harvest in an area that we found out has not been touched since 1998 and we went to the first people we saw and she invited us in to say a prayer, but said that it would need to be quick because they were about to eat, then her husband said "Quiren comer?" and they sat us down to a HUGE Chilean dinner! They had 3 simple but amazing salads and a HUGE pot of ribs, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and goodness all roasted up inside.  It was amazing and they just kept throwing HUGE shrimp on our plates and giving us more and more! It was a ton and when they found out it was my birthday he said that's probably why he made so much extra food! It was a blast! Then we taught them, they loved it and told us to come back.  Then they took us to their friends and their friends wanted to hear more it was amazing!

This past week though has been rough, no one came to church again, 3 weeks in a row. The ride we found for a less active bailed last minute and the devil caused problems in our investigators lives again. It's been difficult but we just have to keep reminding ourselves that we can't do it all some of it comes down to their personal agency.

Thank you for the Gifts as well, they are all perfect! It's funny to know that it took y'all so long to get it figured out, and I do appreciate the grab'n go type stuff! I realized that I was being kinda rude with how I was telling you to stop! It really is appreciated I just don't want you going out of the way to get me things but I do appreciate it when I get them.

This was the 5 week transfer and it doesn't effect anything any more. This next transfer will be a 6-week one and both my companion and I are staying in the area. The reason for it was to align with the MTC's teaching program for the Haitian-Creole language program. By the way the Church is really cool about they pamphlets in different languages, in Spanish all the pictures are of Latin families and what not and in the creole ones there's Haitians and in English they have white and black people it's really funny.

When I send a letter to the Mexico MTC or Mexico in general do I need to use special stamps? an extra one? I just want to get these letters to Elder Backus and Hermana Wiilson.

Also I would like you to send some more jam! and if when ever you're at Costco, you see a large bag of nuts or trail mix or dried fruit or granola bars on sale think of me!  I also am planning on buying a cargo rack for my bike so I would like you to look for a cheap plastic tool box I could strap to it to put things in to. Garret had one from Home Depot when he was younger that I think would be perfect maybe something smaller than that one but about that size and type. our recent convert that rides his bike has a set up that uses a crate that's meant for 8 2 liter soda bottles 2x4, so something around that size would be great. (Does anyone understand what he means?)

Just remember I love y'all!

Oh! and I did get to finally eat a REAL FLORIDA ORANGE and it was really good but that orange juice we had in Belize was better. I have a whole ton at the house I have been eating 1 or 2 a day

Congats Garret! (He made the High School Baseball Team!) and Keep up the good work Sissy!

Stay strong, Push on

ELDER PARK