Dear Friends and Family,
It is amazing how much can change in just one week! I was not in the best spirits last week, as I am sure was evident in the tone of my email, but this week is a different story. SO MUCH has happened. Where do I begin?!
First, let me tell you about the MIRACLE of Ramon and the NIGHTMARE of Antonia.
Ramon was our golden investigator that we “lost” last week due to the interference of his semi-psychotic woman-friend Antonia. Antonia is very active in another local church, but despite this, at first she received us very well. She welcomed our visits, listened and participated and even went to church a few times with Ramon. However, to be honest, I doubted her sincerity from the very start and was not surprised to see her attitudes begin to change as Ramon got closer and closer to his baptismal date and to their wedding. We did everything we could to respect and strengthen her relationship with Ramon (for example: always invited her to lessons and to church, invited them to go to a couples dinner at the church, and helped get them the paperwork and everything they needed to get married). However, Ramon, from the very start was a little uncertain about whether he was ready to get married or whether he preferred to move out and separate from Antonia. In our very first lesson, before we ever met Antonia, he mentioned to us that things weren't going very well with his girlfriend and that he was thinking of moving out and going to live with his sister. We tried not to push him one way or the other, but told him that the important thing was to live the Law of Chastity and that he and Antonia needed to pray and ask God about what they should do and that we were only there to help them with their decision.
Anyways, Antonia began to say things like “the only reason I went to your church is because I was jealous.” She also insisted that the only reason Ramon ever went was to look for a new girlfriend. At this point she began to be very controlling and manipulative with Ramon, screening our calls, and saying awful, hurtful things and finally she told us that she didn´t want us to come back to her house. Seeing that it is her house and not Ramon's, we respected her wishes. We didn't want to cause any more problems, and no longer felt comfortable teaching Ramon or stopping by the house. So we just dropped him altogether, even though he was one week away from his baptism.
That was last week, Monday. Tuesday, we had a zone conference, and our zone leaders and district leaders were all very stressed out about the fact that we were not going to reach our goal of baptisms for November. A lot of the planned baptisms were falling through and our zone leaders started asking us what we could do to “save” Ramon's baptism.
Side note: I have to admit, all of the goals and numbers aspect of missionary work really stresses me out and sometimes irks me. I KNOW it is necessary to, with the guidance of the spirit, set goals and make plans. But sometimes I feel like the elders get a little distracted and carried away in the numbers game.
Anyways, at first I felt pretty annoyed that they were even asking us this. We had done EVERYTHING we could, but it was just a really complicated situation, especially considering that Ramon is a man and we are two young women and he had a crazy jealous (possibly dangerous) older girlfriend. So, they asked if they thought it would be any different if they tried talking with Ramon. We agreed and passed them his phone number so they could set up a lesson with him in the chapel and we “washed our hands” of the entire thing.
Well, the next thing we knew the AP´s and our Zone Leaders were doing his baptismal interview and filling out all the paperwork and they even brought the mission truck over to his house to help him move all of his stuff out and move IN to his sister´s house so he could get baptized three days later. We were not there for all of this, but we were told that Antonia came out and began to scream all sorts of obscenities and said she was going to call the police—so they had to stop moving stuff out of the house, and Ramon moved in with his sister with nothing more than a single change of clothes.
I am running out of time, so I will have to write part 2 of the story next week but, well, the miracle is, RAMON GOT BAPTIZED! When he moved in with his sister, he moved out of our branch and into the area of some other hermanas in our zone (hna Warnick and hna Hobbs). We had already taught him all the lessons, so all they had to do, basically, was make baptismal invitations and fill up the font.
Lots of other things happened this week. We celebrated Thanksgiving! I think there is nothing I love more than celebrating Thanksgiving with cute South Americans who have never ever celebrated this very North-American holiday.
We also organized a very successful branch activity Saturday—we played games and ate food and watched the movie 17 Miracles. It was a lot of fun and good way for Hna Medina to say goodbye to the branch.
Hermana Medina left yesterday morning for her mission in Colombia. It was bittersweet. I was very sad to see her go, but excited for her to finally get to her assigned mission.
And now, for these last two weeks of the transfer, I am serving with a “mini missionary” Hermana Luna! She is the very same member that threw me my surprise birthday party and gives us lunch every Thursday. Well, for the next two weeks, she is my companion full-time and I couldn´t be happier. She is amazing and in our ONE day together we have already had some great experiences. Specifically with a young woman named Julieta. Julieta is another mini miracle... but that is a story I will also have to save for next week.
So, next week you´ll have to tune in for the Ramon & Antonia Saga Part 2 and for the story of Julieta. And for PHOTOS.
Well, love you all tons and tons!
Happy Holidays!
Hermana Parker
27 November 2012
13 November 2012
Folklorico - November 12, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Another week has passed, and, as always, too much has happened to even begin to be able to recount it all.
I was reminded last night that the week isn´t over until it is really over. It was 9 PM, Sunday night (usually at around 9 PM on Sunday night we are arriving home exhausted from a week of work, ready to sleep) and somehow, at this hour, I found myself seated by the side of the road with a group of slightly drunken middle-aged men playing Argentine folk music. We were passing by on our way home, and Hermana Medina recognized some of the songs so we started up a little conversation, and the next thing we knew they had invited us to sit down and they were enthusiastically playing us love ballads. We gave them pass-along cards and invited them to church. One of the men kept talking to me in Portuguese for some reason, and I kept having to remind him that I speak Spanish.
Anyways, the best part of the week was our multi-zone conference with Elder Viñas. He is an area 70 and a very inspiring, spiritual man. He spoke to us for over 2 hours and I loved every second.
Before the conference he asked every missionary to come prepared with a 5-minute talk about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how it helps us in our missions. Everyone assumed he was going to select a few of us to give our talks in front of everyone, but in the end he just led a big discussion and had us all share what we had learned in preparing our talks. I love talking about the atonement...there is nothing else I would rather talk about. It is the root and the heart of my testimony and the reason why I am here. He invited us to make our lives and our missionary-work more centered in the atonement of Jesus Christ.
I left feeling inspired to be better and hopeful and determined to change, which proves that teaching true doctrine changes behavior much more effectively than talking about behavior changes behavior.
Well, it´s going to be a short one this week. I love you all very much,
Hermana Parker
Another week has passed, and, as always, too much has happened to even begin to be able to recount it all.
I was reminded last night that the week isn´t over until it is really over. It was 9 PM, Sunday night (usually at around 9 PM on Sunday night we are arriving home exhausted from a week of work, ready to sleep) and somehow, at this hour, I found myself seated by the side of the road with a group of slightly drunken middle-aged men playing Argentine folk music. We were passing by on our way home, and Hermana Medina recognized some of the songs so we started up a little conversation, and the next thing we knew they had invited us to sit down and they were enthusiastically playing us love ballads. We gave them pass-along cards and invited them to church. One of the men kept talking to me in Portuguese for some reason, and I kept having to remind him that I speak Spanish.
Anyways, the best part of the week was our multi-zone conference with Elder Viñas. He is an area 70 and a very inspiring, spiritual man. He spoke to us for over 2 hours and I loved every second.
Before the conference he asked every missionary to come prepared with a 5-minute talk about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how it helps us in our missions. Everyone assumed he was going to select a few of us to give our talks in front of everyone, but in the end he just led a big discussion and had us all share what we had learned in preparing our talks. I love talking about the atonement...there is nothing else I would rather talk about. It is the root and the heart of my testimony and the reason why I am here. He invited us to make our lives and our missionary-work more centered in the atonement of Jesus Christ.
I left feeling inspired to be better and hopeful and determined to change, which proves that teaching true doctrine changes behavior much more effectively than talking about behavior changes behavior.
Well, it´s going to be a short one this week. I love you all very much,
Hermana Parker
05 November 2012
From the Streets of Buenos Aires - November 5, 2012
Dear Friends and Family,
The biggest news from this week is that I WENT TO BUENOS AIRES!
The elder that was supposedly organizing the whole trip told us he was going to call us Monday to give us all the details. Monday came and went and we heard nothing. We figured he didn´t have everything set up yet and he would call Tuesday. Nope. We began to assume we had misunderstood and that we were going to go some other time. "Maybe it´s next week," we said to ourselves. I tried calling a few times but couldn´t get through. Finally, Wednesday morning, the day we were supposed to be leaving, I called again and finally got through. I explained that we were just a little confused because we thought we were going to be traveling to Buenos Aires, but we hadn´t heard anything, and asked if it was for next week. That is when Elder Flores said:
"NO, Hermanas! It is today! You are leaving today! Your bus leaves Resistencia at 7:30 tonight, you need to be here in the offices by 6:30."
Apparently he thought he had already called and told us all the details. Nope!
So, basically, we had to drop everything right then, go home, pack up our bags and hop on a bus to Resistencia. It is nearly 3 hours to Resistencia and then 13 more hours to Buenos Aires. To top it all off, right before we got on our first bus to Resistencia, Hna Medina fell and sprained her ankle pretty bad and scraped up her knee. Poor thing. Such awful luck! But the good part was that with looong bus rides ahead of her, she wouldn´t have to do her usual amount of walking.
We took a luxurious sleeper bus to Buenos Aires and they put us in the first class VIP seats. It was spectacular! The seats were soooo comfortable and folded back 180 degree to turn into beds. It was much more comfortable than my actual bed here in Formosa. There was lots of space: a personal curtain to draw around every seat for privacy, personal movie screens in front of every seat. They fed us a full hot dinner and breakfast, offered us free champagne and wine, played bingo, gave us toothpaste and toothbrushes, showed a movie (that I didn´t watch) , etc.etc.etc.
Okay, enough about the bus.... But I have never traveled in first class anything, so it was quite the experience for me.
When we got to the terminal we were greeted by Hermana Medina´s parents!
It was really cool to meet them. She lives right there in the city, about 15 minutes from the bus terminal. So she was freaking out the entire time about being so close to home. Her mom gave her a giant bag of clothes and gifts for the little kids here and hand cream and lots of other random stuff.
Then, we met up with the representative from the church offices and he took us all around the city in his car. Buenos Aires reminds me a lot of New York City. I had a
lot of fun even though it was basically all business all day. We went to the Colombian Consulate building, waited a whole lot, went to the bank, waited some more. Back to the Colombian consulate. Here's a photo of Hna Medina outside the Colombian state building with the Colombian flag.
Outside we met a Colombian woman selling "arepas" (a typical food there, it is like a round cheese cornmeal bread thing). We began to talk to her and a whole bunch of other Colombian people. It was fun. They have a very different accent and Hna Medina
was stoked to meet so many people from her future mission land.
At one point, when we were waiting outside the bank, I got my shoes shined. Later, our new friend from the church offices took us to a huge shopping mall and bought us McDonalds for lunch. It was wild. I felt like I was back in the states. There is no such thing as malls or Mcdonalds (or ANY fast food) here in Formosa.
We took a plane back to Resistencia Thursday night. It was much faster, but much less comfortable. I liked how they spelled my name on my ticket: "Broocke." I think I will consider adding an extra C to my name, just to give it more pizzaz. What do you all think?
Well, after our brief little adventure, we returned back to work here and things are going so well. We found a new investigator a few weeks ago named Ramon. He is amazing. He has come to church two weeks in a row and this week came in a white shirt and tie, passed out hymn books (without being assigned, he is just super helpful and attentive), paid his tithing (!!!, keep in mind that we only met him a couple weeks ago and he is not a member), and is already making all sorts of friends. The only problem is that he needs to get married to get baptized so we are working on that.
I spent so much time writing about Buenos Aires that I don´t have much time to write about anything else. To close I´ll add that this Sunday was the first Sunday in a while that it didn´t rain and, so, for the first time in a long time our chapel was full! So many people came. And many many people who have been inactive for some time, who we have been visiting, came back. All of a sudden my little "rama parque" was HUGE (comparatively), and everyone was greeting everyone, and we had a lively, active Sunday School lesson, and lots of people got up to share their testimonies, and I just was filled with the most immense joy for the whole 3 hours. I don´t think I have ever felt so happy at church before. It was an amazing feeling. I was just smiling and smiling the whole time. I think it’s because I love this branch so much, and feel so invested in its success that I feel like when it is thriving and happy, I am thriving and happy.
So, I guess that´s it. I´ll end here. I am happy. I hope all is well at home.
Love,
Hermana Parker
The biggest news from this week is that I WENT TO BUENOS AIRES!
The elder that was supposedly organizing the whole trip told us he was going to call us Monday to give us all the details. Monday came and went and we heard nothing. We figured he didn´t have everything set up yet and he would call Tuesday. Nope. We began to assume we had misunderstood and that we were going to go some other time. "Maybe it´s next week," we said to ourselves. I tried calling a few times but couldn´t get through. Finally, Wednesday morning, the day we were supposed to be leaving, I called again and finally got through. I explained that we were just a little confused because we thought we were going to be traveling to Buenos Aires, but we hadn´t heard anything, and asked if it was for next week. That is when Elder Flores said:
"NO, Hermanas! It is today! You are leaving today! Your bus leaves Resistencia at 7:30 tonight, you need to be here in the offices by 6:30."
Apparently he thought he had already called and told us all the details. Nope!
So, basically, we had to drop everything right then, go home, pack up our bags and hop on a bus to Resistencia. It is nearly 3 hours to Resistencia and then 13 more hours to Buenos Aires. To top it all off, right before we got on our first bus to Resistencia, Hna Medina fell and sprained her ankle pretty bad and scraped up her knee. Poor thing. Such awful luck! But the good part was that with looong bus rides ahead of her, she wouldn´t have to do her usual amount of walking.
We took a luxurious sleeper bus to Buenos Aires and they put us in the first class VIP seats. It was spectacular! The seats were soooo comfortable and folded back 180 degree to turn into beds. It was much more comfortable than my actual bed here in Formosa. There was lots of space: a personal curtain to draw around every seat for privacy, personal movie screens in front of every seat. They fed us a full hot dinner and breakfast, offered us free champagne and wine, played bingo, gave us toothpaste and toothbrushes, showed a movie (that I didn´t watch) , etc.etc.etc.
Okay, enough about the bus.... But I have never traveled in first class anything, so it was quite the experience for me.
When we got to the terminal we were greeted by Hermana Medina´s parents!
Then, we met up with the representative from the church offices and he took us all around the city in his car. Buenos Aires reminds me a lot of New York City. I had a
At one point, when we were waiting outside the bank, I got my shoes shined. Later, our new friend from the church offices took us to a huge shopping mall and bought us McDonalds for lunch. It was wild. I felt like I was back in the states. There is no such thing as malls or Mcdonalds (or ANY fast food) here in Formosa.
We took a plane back to Resistencia Thursday night. It was much faster, but much less comfortable. I liked how they spelled my name on my ticket: "Broocke." I think I will consider adding an extra C to my name, just to give it more pizzaz. What do you all think?
Well, after our brief little adventure, we returned back to work here and things are going so well. We found a new investigator a few weeks ago named Ramon. He is amazing. He has come to church two weeks in a row and this week came in a white shirt and tie, passed out hymn books (without being assigned, he is just super helpful and attentive), paid his tithing (!!!, keep in mind that we only met him a couple weeks ago and he is not a member), and is already making all sorts of friends. The only problem is that he needs to get married to get baptized so we are working on that.
I spent so much time writing about Buenos Aires that I don´t have much time to write about anything else. To close I´ll add that this Sunday was the first Sunday in a while that it didn´t rain and, so, for the first time in a long time our chapel was full! So many people came. And many many people who have been inactive for some time, who we have been visiting, came back. All of a sudden my little "rama parque" was HUGE (comparatively), and everyone was greeting everyone, and we had a lively, active Sunday School lesson, and lots of people got up to share their testimonies, and I just was filled with the most immense joy for the whole 3 hours. I don´t think I have ever felt so happy at church before. It was an amazing feeling. I was just smiling and smiling the whole time. I think it’s because I love this branch so much, and feel so invested in its success that I feel like when it is thriving and happy, I am thriving and happy.
So, I guess that´s it. I´ll end here. I am happy. I hope all is well at home.
Love,
Hermana Parker
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