Dear Family and Friends,
Well, this is my last email home. It´s actually a lot harder to believe than I thought it would be. A big part of me is in denial and just feels like I will be here in this same cyber writing you another email next week, just like always--crappy keyboards, raggaeton, and the sound of gunshots (from teenagers playing first-person shooter games), blasting in the background.
Ending my mission is harder than I anticipated. It has only been 5 weeks since I got here to Reconquista, but it is possibly the area I have loved the most. I love it here. Which is interesting since it is not a favorite of most missionaries. Reconquista has a history of being a little dysfunctional and difficult for missionary work. There are lots of tragedies and scandals that mark the local church history here. This used to be a thriving district with many strong branches and now it is down to 3 struggling branches with only a handful of faithful families. But from the moment I stepped off our bus in the bus terminal I just felt something special for this place... And these 5 weeks have been filled with so many dear and sacred experiences.
It is amazing how things come full circle. I started my mission in Goya, which is another small city just a few hours down the Parana river from here. People often travel between Goya and Reconquista and they have a lot in common and are considered sister cities.
Yesterday before church we headed out early, just like always, to help get investigators and inactive members to sacrament meeting. Every house we passed by, there was some sort of problem or excuse (they were sick, they overslept, they were expecting company, etc).
We even spent 10 minutes clapping and knocking and calling and trying to wake up the kids in one inactive family who had promised they would come to church with us--but to no avail. Feeling pretty discouraged (especially considering that this was my last Sunday in the mission) we started walking quickly towards the chapel, afraid we´d be late. When we were just a few blocks away we saw Gino (one of the boys we had been trying to wake up) riding his bike with Rodrigo (one of our investigators) sitting on the handlebars. We were so happy!
Then, sitting in the chapel, sweaty and tired and worn out from a morning of work--we watched as one by one, several other members and investigators arrived all by themselves. One woman, a new investigator, had come with some neighbors to our branch activity this week on Friday and decided, all by herself, that she wanted to come to church. We haven´t even taught her a single lesson yet, but she stayed all 3 hours and loved it and we are meeting with her this Tuesday.
In sacrament meeting, I was asked to give my testimony and I was tearing up before I even got up to the pulpit. And then when i got up there and looked out at all these people I love so much, I started crying for real (we had the best attendance both in terms of investigators and in members that we´ve had my whole time here...which I consider a tender mercy and miracle for my last Sunday in the mission)... but anyways I managed to pull myself together. And I shared a few words, and a scripture that seemed particularly perfect in light of that morning´s experience and many of my other experiences in my mission. It is 2 Nephi 25:23 -- "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."
I believe in grace. I know that it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved (after all that we can do). Often "all that I can do" is so very little. But I know that God can take my weak and flawed strivings and with His grace it is somehow, incredibly, enough, and that He can even make miracles happen. Let me tell you, it is a VERY humbling experience being at the end of my mission. I still go to district meetings and conferences and hear the same things I have been hearing since I started my mission about how to be more obedient and how to teach and find and make commitments, etc, and I realize that I still need to improve and change so many things and that I literally have no time left. I feel humbled, but I do not feel any great regrets. I feel like I have given my best, and I have a whole lifetime to continue to learn and grow and apply the things I have learned here in Argentina about serving and helping in God´s kingdom in whatever small way I can. I know there is similar work to do at home and I am ready and excited to do it.
I am sad to leave, but please believe me when I say that I am also beyond excited to see all of you back home. I love you all so much and have missed you my whole mission, so it will be a wonderful reunion. I think in many ways I am the same Brooke I was when I left, and in many other ways, many of which I have yet to discover, I have grown and changed. You will have to see what you think when I get back.
Well, until Saturday,
Hermana Parker
25 February 2013
18 February 2013
El Fin Se Acerca – February 18, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
Last night as I gave our weekly numbers to our zone leaders they began to sing to me the hymn "El Fin Se Acerca" -- it is a lovely little hymn by Eliza R Snow (in english it is called "The Time is Far Spent") and all too fitting for this point in my mission...
The translation in Spanish is quite different from the english wording, although the sentiment is similar, I think I like it better in spanish. It says (to roughly translate) "The end is getting closer and there is little time, so you should proclaim what God has commanded. Go out then, brothers, and with faith proclaim that God has once again established his kingdom."
So, that is what I am trying to do this last week. There really is little time, but I am going to love and cherish and work hard for every second I have left.
This week was good. We had a wildly successful branch activity on Thursday night. We had maybe 50 people come, which is nearly triple what we get on Sundays. We played games with water balloons with all the kids (there were A LOT) and had a treasure hunt and a spiritual thought by the elders and some refreshments at the end. It was so fun to see some life and energy in the branch. Hermana Baker and I are seriously now best friends with tons of little kids here in Reconquista. They say hi to us in the streets. They adore us. Mainly because we gave them water balloons and played duck duck goose with them.
We are now going to start the tradition of a weekly "branch night," every Friday night.
On Saturday was our investigator Anahi´s baptism and Sunday was her confirmation. It was very low-key. She is a 15 year old girl that is sort of shy and a little anti-social and so she asked for it to just be her family and the missionaries. It was small, but nice, and will be the last baptism of my mission, so that alone makes it special.
Yesterday right after church there was a sudden HUGE thunderstorm, but Hermana Baker and I were hungry and needed to get back to our apartment for lunch and for our studies, so instead of waiting it out (like some branch members) we raided the cleaning closet for trash bags and made ourselves some make-shift ponchos and braved the rain and the 40 minute walk home. Hermana Baker even wore a stylish plastic grocery bag around her head like a bonnet. We looked awesome. And we still got pretty soaking wet.
Well that´s it. See you VERY soon. But not before I write you again next week.
Love,
Hermana Parker
Last night as I gave our weekly numbers to our zone leaders they began to sing to me the hymn "El Fin Se Acerca" -- it is a lovely little hymn by Eliza R Snow (in english it is called "The Time is Far Spent") and all too fitting for this point in my mission...
The translation in Spanish is quite different from the english wording, although the sentiment is similar, I think I like it better in spanish. It says (to roughly translate) "The end is getting closer and there is little time, so you should proclaim what God has commanded. Go out then, brothers, and with faith proclaim that God has once again established his kingdom."
So, that is what I am trying to do this last week. There really is little time, but I am going to love and cherish and work hard for every second I have left.
This week was good. We had a wildly successful branch activity on Thursday night. We had maybe 50 people come, which is nearly triple what we get on Sundays. We played games with water balloons with all the kids (there were A LOT) and had a treasure hunt and a spiritual thought by the elders and some refreshments at the end. It was so fun to see some life and energy in the branch. Hermana Baker and I are seriously now best friends with tons of little kids here in Reconquista. They say hi to us in the streets. They adore us. Mainly because we gave them water balloons and played duck duck goose with them.
We are now going to start the tradition of a weekly "branch night," every Friday night.
On Saturday was our investigator Anahi´s baptism and Sunday was her confirmation. It was very low-key. She is a 15 year old girl that is sort of shy and a little anti-social and so she asked for it to just be her family and the missionaries. It was small, but nice, and will be the last baptism of my mission, so that alone makes it special.
Yesterday right after church there was a sudden HUGE thunderstorm, but Hermana Baker and I were hungry and needed to get back to our apartment for lunch and for our studies, so instead of waiting it out (like some branch members) we raided the cleaning closet for trash bags and made ourselves some make-shift ponchos and braved the rain and the 40 minute walk home. Hermana Baker even wore a stylish plastic grocery bag around her head like a bonnet. We looked awesome. And we still got pretty soaking wet.
Well that´s it. See you VERY soon. But not before I write you again next week.
Love,
Hermana Parker
12 February 2013
Reconquista Part 2 – February 11, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
I think this has got to be the most surreal part of my mission. I feel completely caught between two worlds. I feel like I am working just as hard, if not harder and there is, as always, SO MUCH work to do. So many families to visit, and prayers to pray, and family home evenings to plan, and doors to knock, and stories to listen to. My mind is still very much absorbed in my work here and in this dear, little, struggling branch in Reconquista. But, I am not in denial, either...the end is near. Soon it will all be over and the feeling is bittersweet.
The other night I had this funny dream that was like a mix of the two worlds I am currently caught between. I was in a fancy mall-type place that was filled with stores and movie theaters and also classrooms and auditoriums like you would find on BYU campus. I haven't been in a place like that in 18 months, and it definitely felt like it represented "home" and the U.S,. -- the place I am going back to shortly.
But, representing Argentina and the "world" of my mission-- I was there with my companion (ever at my side), and in the theater they were playing the Joseph Smith movie, and throughout the dream we were running away from some of the dirty diseased vicious dogs that plague the streets here. It was kind of funny, but a pretty good representation of my psyche right now.
Anyways, I am sitting here a little dazed and battered, thinking about all the news from home and all that has happened here this week. Life sure does know how to throw us some pretty big blows and sometimes it can feel so overwhelming and terrifying, it is hard to know what to do...
On Thursday this week we went to visit one of our investigators, Betty. She is a wonderful woman, a mother of 7. Two of her younger sons were baptized last year and a few weeks ago she asked to talk to us because she wants to make some changes in her life. She wants desperately to repent and change and start new and find peace.
She was really torn up on this particular day because her husband had just left her the night before, all alone with the 7 kids (including one severely disabled daughter) to go work in the south of Argentina. Betty has no family members here in Reconquista and he was going to be gone for about a year, working and saving money. She was devastated that he was going to be so far away for so long, but the economic situation is not ideal and he has the possibility of earning a lot more at this new job, so he decided to leave the family and go, and Betty had this sort of sad resigned acceptance.
This Thursday we also met Hernan for the first time--her 9 year old son who was baptized in November. He is a beautiful child. Curious, full of life and energy.
The very next day after meeting him, and after comforting Betty in her moment of difficulty, we got some terrible news. When Betty was out doing some errands, Hernan and his brother Rodrigo started playing with fire in the backyard and things got out of control and somehow the fire exploded onto Hernan and his whole body lit on fire. The details are terrifying, like something from a horror movie... he ran screaming, skin burning, and threw himself into a neighbors portable pool. For a while there were questions about whether or not he would live. He is now in a children´s hospital in Santa Fe (Capital) and reported to be in stable condition, but with severe burns all over his entire body. He will never be the same again and a plastic surgeon will have to work on skin grafts and reconstructing his face.
The whole family is pretty shaken up. And the timing is so heart wrenching. I understand that God is in control and I really believe that. But sometimes you ask yourself---why now? How much can one heart take?
Please send Jade my love and a big hug. I am praying for her and I am so excited to see her in 2.5 weeks. And please pray for Betty and Hernan and the entire family.
The older brother, Rodrigo, is struggling with a terrible burden of guilt. He came to church on Sunday looking for a little peace. His grandma said he seemed to come home doing a little better.
Time´s up. That´s all I´ve got.
I love you,
Hermana Parker
I think this has got to be the most surreal part of my mission. I feel completely caught between two worlds. I feel like I am working just as hard, if not harder and there is, as always, SO MUCH work to do. So many families to visit, and prayers to pray, and family home evenings to plan, and doors to knock, and stories to listen to. My mind is still very much absorbed in my work here and in this dear, little, struggling branch in Reconquista. But, I am not in denial, either...the end is near. Soon it will all be over and the feeling is bittersweet.
The other night I had this funny dream that was like a mix of the two worlds I am currently caught between. I was in a fancy mall-type place that was filled with stores and movie theaters and also classrooms and auditoriums like you would find on BYU campus. I haven't been in a place like that in 18 months, and it definitely felt like it represented "home" and the U.S,. -- the place I am going back to shortly.
But, representing Argentina and the "world" of my mission-- I was there with my companion (ever at my side), and in the theater they were playing the Joseph Smith movie, and throughout the dream we were running away from some of the dirty diseased vicious dogs that plague the streets here. It was kind of funny, but a pretty good representation of my psyche right now.
Anyways, I am sitting here a little dazed and battered, thinking about all the news from home and all that has happened here this week. Life sure does know how to throw us some pretty big blows and sometimes it can feel so overwhelming and terrifying, it is hard to know what to do...
On Thursday this week we went to visit one of our investigators, Betty. She is a wonderful woman, a mother of 7. Two of her younger sons were baptized last year and a few weeks ago she asked to talk to us because she wants to make some changes in her life. She wants desperately to repent and change and start new and find peace.
She was really torn up on this particular day because her husband had just left her the night before, all alone with the 7 kids (including one severely disabled daughter) to go work in the south of Argentina. Betty has no family members here in Reconquista and he was going to be gone for about a year, working and saving money. She was devastated that he was going to be so far away for so long, but the economic situation is not ideal and he has the possibility of earning a lot more at this new job, so he decided to leave the family and go, and Betty had this sort of sad resigned acceptance.
This Thursday we also met Hernan for the first time--her 9 year old son who was baptized in November. He is a beautiful child. Curious, full of life and energy.
The very next day after meeting him, and after comforting Betty in her moment of difficulty, we got some terrible news. When Betty was out doing some errands, Hernan and his brother Rodrigo started playing with fire in the backyard and things got out of control and somehow the fire exploded onto Hernan and his whole body lit on fire. The details are terrifying, like something from a horror movie... he ran screaming, skin burning, and threw himself into a neighbors portable pool. For a while there were questions about whether or not he would live. He is now in a children´s hospital in Santa Fe (Capital) and reported to be in stable condition, but with severe burns all over his entire body. He will never be the same again and a plastic surgeon will have to work on skin grafts and reconstructing his face.
The whole family is pretty shaken up. And the timing is so heart wrenching. I understand that God is in control and I really believe that. But sometimes you ask yourself---why now? How much can one heart take?
Please send Jade my love and a big hug. I am praying for her and I am so excited to see her in 2.5 weeks. And please pray for Betty and Hernan and the entire family.
The older brother, Rodrigo, is struggling with a terrible burden of guilt. He came to church on Sunday looking for a little peace. His grandma said he seemed to come home doing a little better.
Time´s up. That´s all I´ve got.
I love you,
Hermana Parker
Prayer – February 4, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
It is strange to think I am writing my last few emails from Argentina. We are SO busy here in Reconquista it is hard to get too distracted about coming home. We are still learning our area and the bus routes and good shortcuts to get to one neighborhood to another and meeting members and buying maps and setting up lunches with members and organizing branch activities and baptisms and baby blessings and all sorts of things.
I want to write about EVERYTHING, but time is short and I have to register for spring classes, so this might be random but I want to just write about one of our lunch appointments this week,
We had lunch last Wednesday with hermana Nelly, an older widowed woman, mother of 9, in the branch. About noon we were wandering around looking for her house, a little lost. We finally made it onto her street and we saw her right away, standing barefoot outside of her house, tall and alert, glancing up and down her street, obviously looking for us, worried we might not find it. We waved to her and she breathed a visible sigh of relief and welcomed us warmly. We followed her as she walked, with her dusty bare feet, down a dirt path to her humble little brick house.
When we got inside the food was already served and blessed and it was delicious, but it was also SO hot outside, that without a fan or any type of air circulating, her little kitchen was more like a brick oven, and sweat collected on our brows and dripped down our faces as we ate. We had to use a little dish towel to dab ourselves off every minute or so.
The best moment, though, came after we had eaten and shared a scripture and we asked if we could end with a prayer. She said yes and offered to give it, and then we bowed our heads and she uttered one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard. It was a simple moment, but I feel like I learned more about prayer sitting there, sweating in this humble woman´s kitchen, listening to her pray, than I have in months (or even years) of study. When she prayed I felt that she really knew and loved who she was talking to.
She started by saying "Father in heaven, we, a group of thy daughters, bow our heads before thee this afternoon to give thee thanks..." I felt power in the words "we, a group of thy daughters." She then began to thank God for many many things. She thanked him for "this beautiful hot day" and then thanked him for our bodies and that we can feel heat and feel cold. She thanked him for giving us strength and endurance even on days when it is very hot. She thanked him for our health, our families and for many other things I am now forgetting. Then, she asked for a few simple blessings. She blessed our legs and our feet that they would have the strength to keep walking and continue on our way that afternoon. She blessed us to be able to continue to endure the heat well. And I remember that she pleaded with God that his "mantle of mercy" ("manto de misericordia") would cover us and that we would be guarded and protected from all harm and danger.
I remember she finished by saying "Lord, we ask for these things, but we also thank thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
There was just something so powerful and beautiful in the way she prayed, focusing primarily on giving thanks and then gently, lovingly, invoking the blessings of heaven upon us. I will never forget that small, sacred moment, when I learned so much about prayer, bowing my head and sweating in Hermana Nelly´s kitchen.
That´s it until next week,
Hermana Parker
It is strange to think I am writing my last few emails from Argentina. We are SO busy here in Reconquista it is hard to get too distracted about coming home. We are still learning our area and the bus routes and good shortcuts to get to one neighborhood to another and meeting members and buying maps and setting up lunches with members and organizing branch activities and baptisms and baby blessings and all sorts of things.
I want to write about EVERYTHING, but time is short and I have to register for spring classes, so this might be random but I want to just write about one of our lunch appointments this week,
We had lunch last Wednesday with hermana Nelly, an older widowed woman, mother of 9, in the branch. About noon we were wandering around looking for her house, a little lost. We finally made it onto her street and we saw her right away, standing barefoot outside of her house, tall and alert, glancing up and down her street, obviously looking for us, worried we might not find it. We waved to her and she breathed a visible sigh of relief and welcomed us warmly. We followed her as she walked, with her dusty bare feet, down a dirt path to her humble little brick house.
When we got inside the food was already served and blessed and it was delicious, but it was also SO hot outside, that without a fan or any type of air circulating, her little kitchen was more like a brick oven, and sweat collected on our brows and dripped down our faces as we ate. We had to use a little dish towel to dab ourselves off every minute or so.
The best moment, though, came after we had eaten and shared a scripture and we asked if we could end with a prayer. She said yes and offered to give it, and then we bowed our heads and she uttered one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard. It was a simple moment, but I feel like I learned more about prayer sitting there, sweating in this humble woman´s kitchen, listening to her pray, than I have in months (or even years) of study. When she prayed I felt that she really knew and loved who she was talking to.
She started by saying "Father in heaven, we, a group of thy daughters, bow our heads before thee this afternoon to give thee thanks..." I felt power in the words "we, a group of thy daughters." She then began to thank God for many many things. She thanked him for "this beautiful hot day" and then thanked him for our bodies and that we can feel heat and feel cold. She thanked him for giving us strength and endurance even on days when it is very hot. She thanked him for our health, our families and for many other things I am now forgetting. Then, she asked for a few simple blessings. She blessed our legs and our feet that they would have the strength to keep walking and continue on our way that afternoon. She blessed us to be able to continue to endure the heat well. And I remember that she pleaded with God that his "mantle of mercy" ("manto de misericordia") would cover us and that we would be guarded and protected from all harm and danger.
I remember she finished by saying "Lord, we ask for these things, but we also thank thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
There was just something so powerful and beautiful in the way she prayed, focusing primarily on giving thanks and then gently, lovingly, invoking the blessings of heaven upon us. I will never forget that small, sacred moment, when I learned so much about prayer, bowing my head and sweating in Hermana Nelly´s kitchen.
That´s it until next week,
Hermana Parker
28 January 2013
Santa Fe, are you there? Do you swear you won't forget me? -- January 28, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
I was transferred, I´m training, we´re opening a new area, AND we have a special assignment in our new area.
I am serving in Reconquista in the province of Santa Fe. They haven´t had sister missionaries in Santa Fe for almost 10 years. They sent us here, along with a new senior couple, with a special focus on reactivating inactive members and strengthening the branches here. They want us to bring some new energy and excitement and to focus primarily on getting inactive families back to church. The mission president literally said "If baptisms come, they come, but I want you to focus on reactivating. Breathe some life into the branches there!"
This district has really been struggling the last couple years, in fact it was on the verge of being closed entirely--but now they are seeing what we can do with 4 more missionaries and a lot of hard work. My companion and I have an assigned area for proselyting and teaching investigators, but we have permission to visit members of the church in the whole city of Reconquista (both branches) and the rest of the district too (which includes several outlying towns). We have no limits! No boundaries! No phone calls to the president to ask for permission to "leave our area." It´s amazing! I love it.
I love my new assignment. I also love my awesome new companion Hermana Baker--fresh from the Provo MTC. I love escaping the sort of corrupted, over-zealous, number-monster culture I was experiencing in Formosa. I love focusing on rescuing "lost sheep" and strengthening the church, rather than just getting people to baptism. And the cool thing is, at the same time, we find people who are ready to be baptized. In our 5 short days here we started working with a less-active woman whose 15 year old daughter wants to be baptized.
I also just love Santa Fe and our area in general. If I thought my area in Formosa was rural, I was wrong. Our area here has lots of long dirt roads that literally pass through giant fields with hay bales and horses. And it is OH SO BEAUTIFUL to watch the sun setting over those country roads and fields when we are out walking from one appointment to the next. Our apartment is lovely and has all new furniture and has air conditioning and a balcony and the view from our balcony is a big grassy field bordered by a forest.
It is also fun to open an area because every day is a big adventure. We are learning to read maps and take buses. Our first night here it was pouring rain and thunderstorming, and we were completely lost, and the lights went out all over the whole city, and we made our way home by the light of the lightning that streaked across the sky about every 20 seconds.
Several times a day I spontaneously burst into the Newsies song "Santa Fe" because I am just so enchanted by this place and because it fits so well my sentiments -- "dreams come true, yes they do, in Santa Fe." It´s just a shame I´ll only be here for 4 more weeks...
One fun thing is seeing people’s reactions to having sister missionaries again after almost 10 years. The little kids and newer converts have never even seen sister missionaries. And most of the adults and older members are thrilled. Several times we have shown up on people’s doorsteps and when they saw us they exclaimed: "I can´t believe what I am seeing! Sister missionaries in Reconquista!!" and then they warmly welcomed us.
Anyways, that´s about it for this week. I´ll send pictures next week and tell you more about our grand adventures.
Love,
Hna Parker
I was transferred, I´m training, we´re opening a new area, AND we have a special assignment in our new area.
I am serving in Reconquista in the province of Santa Fe. They haven´t had sister missionaries in Santa Fe for almost 10 years. They sent us here, along with a new senior couple, with a special focus on reactivating inactive members and strengthening the branches here. They want us to bring some new energy and excitement and to focus primarily on getting inactive families back to church. The mission president literally said "If baptisms come, they come, but I want you to focus on reactivating. Breathe some life into the branches there!"
This district has really been struggling the last couple years, in fact it was on the verge of being closed entirely--but now they are seeing what we can do with 4 more missionaries and a lot of hard work. My companion and I have an assigned area for proselyting and teaching investigators, but we have permission to visit members of the church in the whole city of Reconquista (both branches) and the rest of the district too (which includes several outlying towns). We have no limits! No boundaries! No phone calls to the president to ask for permission to "leave our area." It´s amazing! I love it.
I love my new assignment. I also love my awesome new companion Hermana Baker--fresh from the Provo MTC. I love escaping the sort of corrupted, over-zealous, number-monster culture I was experiencing in Formosa. I love focusing on rescuing "lost sheep" and strengthening the church, rather than just getting people to baptism. And the cool thing is, at the same time, we find people who are ready to be baptized. In our 5 short days here we started working with a less-active woman whose 15 year old daughter wants to be baptized.
I also just love Santa Fe and our area in general. If I thought my area in Formosa was rural, I was wrong. Our area here has lots of long dirt roads that literally pass through giant fields with hay bales and horses. And it is OH SO BEAUTIFUL to watch the sun setting over those country roads and fields when we are out walking from one appointment to the next. Our apartment is lovely and has all new furniture and has air conditioning and a balcony and the view from our balcony is a big grassy field bordered by a forest.
It is also fun to open an area because every day is a big adventure. We are learning to read maps and take buses. Our first night here it was pouring rain and thunderstorming, and we were completely lost, and the lights went out all over the whole city, and we made our way home by the light of the lightning that streaked across the sky about every 20 seconds.
Several times a day I spontaneously burst into the Newsies song "Santa Fe" because I am just so enchanted by this place and because it fits so well my sentiments -- "dreams come true, yes they do, in Santa Fe." It´s just a shame I´ll only be here for 4 more weeks...
One fun thing is seeing people’s reactions to having sister missionaries again after almost 10 years. The little kids and newer converts have never even seen sister missionaries. And most of the adults and older members are thrilled. Several times we have shown up on people’s doorsteps and when they saw us they exclaimed: "I can´t believe what I am seeing! Sister missionaries in Reconquista!!" and then they warmly welcomed us.
Anyways, that´s about it for this week. I´ll send pictures next week and tell you more about our grand adventures.
Love,
Hna Parker
Barrero y J.J. Paso – January 21, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
This week was nice.
Starting off this week it was a little like starting new in the area. Most of our progressing investigators were either baptized or had moved to other areas and seeing as we were homebound for most of the two previous weeks caring for my sick companion, we were not able to look for many new investigators or keep the work moving here.
So, we started out asking for and looking up references from members, talking to everyone we met, knocking doors, tracking down inactive members and old investigators, and everything else we could think of to try to find new people to teach.
I think looking for new investigators is still the most challenging and daunting part of missionary work for me. Although I have learned how to be more outgoing on my mission, talking to new people is still a little terrifying. But I am always surprised and grateful to see that as I try my best to get over my fears and shyness and do my little part, God does His. We had some wonderful experiences this week talking to new people and visiting new neighborhoods.
This week we were talking to some people and one man said that he lived in the neighborhood behind Divino Niño (a huge and very popular Catholic church here in my area). I had no idea there was a neighborhood back there and I have been in my area almost 6 months, so we decided to check it out. It is BEAUTIFUL, in a quaint, humble, rural sort of way. There are all this little houses scrapped together from cardboard and wood, and they are all situated along the shore of a tiny river.
There in that neighborhood tucked away behind Divino Niño, we found several amazing new investigators and a handful of inactive members who all received us well. One young man, Pedro, lives in a tiny house with his mom and several adult siblings and nieces and nephews. They have a little wooden boat and often cross to the other side of the river where there is a tiny forest and where they also have planted a large garden with watermelons, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, etc.
We are going to go back tomorrow and I am going to take pictures because Wednesday we have transfers and....
It looks like I will be leaving Parque! My mission president was in town for a conference this week and he called me for an interview. We talked a little about how I´m doing, and everything that happened with Hna Espinoza, and my thoughts as I finish my mission and then he told me he was thinking about giving me a special assignment in my last transfer. Nothing is set in stone, but next week I MIGHT be writing to you from a new area in the province of Santa Fe (an area where previously there were never sister missionaries). I will be sad to leave, but I am also excited to work hard, with a renewed energy, in a fresh new area.
Thank you all for your emails and pictures and love. I am so excited to get back to you all in just a little over a month. Today I received my re-acceptance to BYU and I am registering for classes here in Argentina. Weird.
Love,
Hna Parker
This week was nice.
Starting off this week it was a little like starting new in the area. Most of our progressing investigators were either baptized or had moved to other areas and seeing as we were homebound for most of the two previous weeks caring for my sick companion, we were not able to look for many new investigators or keep the work moving here.
So, we started out asking for and looking up references from members, talking to everyone we met, knocking doors, tracking down inactive members and old investigators, and everything else we could think of to try to find new people to teach.
I think looking for new investigators is still the most challenging and daunting part of missionary work for me. Although I have learned how to be more outgoing on my mission, talking to new people is still a little terrifying. But I am always surprised and grateful to see that as I try my best to get over my fears and shyness and do my little part, God does His. We had some wonderful experiences this week talking to new people and visiting new neighborhoods.
This week we were talking to some people and one man said that he lived in the neighborhood behind Divino Niño (a huge and very popular Catholic church here in my area). I had no idea there was a neighborhood back there and I have been in my area almost 6 months, so we decided to check it out. It is BEAUTIFUL, in a quaint, humble, rural sort of way. There are all this little houses scrapped together from cardboard and wood, and they are all situated along the shore of a tiny river.
There in that neighborhood tucked away behind Divino Niño, we found several amazing new investigators and a handful of inactive members who all received us well. One young man, Pedro, lives in a tiny house with his mom and several adult siblings and nieces and nephews. They have a little wooden boat and often cross to the other side of the river where there is a tiny forest and where they also have planted a large garden with watermelons, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, etc.
We are going to go back tomorrow and I am going to take pictures because Wednesday we have transfers and....
It looks like I will be leaving Parque! My mission president was in town for a conference this week and he called me for an interview. We talked a little about how I´m doing, and everything that happened with Hna Espinoza, and my thoughts as I finish my mission and then he told me he was thinking about giving me a special assignment in my last transfer. Nothing is set in stone, but next week I MIGHT be writing to you from a new area in the province of Santa Fe (an area where previously there were never sister missionaries). I will be sad to leave, but I am also excited to work hard, with a renewed energy, in a fresh new area.
Thank you all for your emails and pictures and love. I am so excited to get back to you all in just a little over a month. Today I received my re-acceptance to BYU and I am registering for classes here in Argentina. Weird.
Love,
Hna Parker
Mexico -- January 14, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
It was another crazy week, but thankfully now things have settled down and are basically back to normal.
After the first time in the hospital, we took it very easy, only going to a few appointments every day and mostly resting and recuperating in our lovely air conditioned bedroom. A couple days I went out and worked with Hermana Luna, while Hermana Luna´s mom came and stayed with and cared for Hermana Espinoza. Still, my poor little Hermana ended up in the hospital THREE more times last week, once in the middle of the night. She had a bunch of different things going on at once (inflammation in her whole body, back pain, knee pain, etc) but the worst was that on Tuesday morning she woke up with a head-splitting, excruciating migraine that not even the strongest drugs seemed to kick for long and that went on for days. We created what I called "the cave," covering our window with three blankets so that not even a tiny beam of light could come inside. Any tiny bit of light was excruciating to her, as well as all sounds and movements. It was quite dark and cool and cozy in the cave, and the rest of the house is SO HOT--so I would usually just chill in the cave in the pitch darkness, with my sheet thrown over my head and a flashlight and my scriptures.
In the end Hermana Espinoza was just too sick to be here, so far from home, in hot hot Formosa, with the stress of a missionary schedule and lifestyle. Late on Thursday night she was in such pain that she was crying and moaning and I was just so scared and didn´t know what to do to help her. Our neighbors are these two young gals about our age that are both nurses. I called them over and they took a look at her, took her blood pressure, and injected her with some of the pain meds that they had given her a few days before in the clinic (the last time these meds seemed to work for a few hours, so it was a good temporary solution). But then they told me she really urgently needed to go be seen by a doctor. The public hospital here had traumatized us quite a bit (we took photos the last time, and when I get home I will show them to you. it is awful) and we felt it would be pointless to go back to the same place, with the same symptoms, just to recieve the same attention by the same incompetent staff and later to be given the same results (inconclusive). However, we felt trapped because we had been given instructions by our leaders not to go to a private clinic because they would charge a lot of money. Our neighbors agreed that she should not go to the public hospital, because it is usually crowded and hectic and poorly staffed. They referred us to a place called Sanatorio Formosa where one of them works and told us more or less how much a basic checkup and a few of the tests she might need would cost. We decided that in the end, if the mission couldn’t pay, that we would find some other way to pay and that we just needed to go right then. These girls were so helpful and good to us--they called some friends who were working at that hour and asked them to please help us, and wait for us, and give us the best attention.
Our experience was much better this time. The private clinic was a lot cleaner and safer and we were very well attended by the nurses and doctors. Still, there was not much they could do without admitting her or doing some expensive studies--so they gave her an IV with some more pain meds, the doctor gave her a prescription for a different sort of migraine medicine, and he recommended two months more of rest and that she go home to Mexico.
We talked with our leaders and mission doctors in the morning and everyone agreed. She needed to go home. She left Saturday morning. And now I am back full time with Hna Luna for another couples weeks.
I am attaching here some photos of my first and last day with Hna Espinoza. We took a picture with one of our neighbors, Yesica, that was so good to us (the other was working) and her kitten Valentino (I love this kitten).
I am also attaching photos from our baptisms this Saturday. That is a whole other story, perhaps I will explain next week, but Franco and Belen were both baptized on Saturday.
I love you all and I am SO grateful for your love and kind words and encouragement.
Love,
Hna Parker
It was another crazy week, but thankfully now things have settled down and are basically back to normal.
After the first time in the hospital, we took it very easy, only going to a few appointments every day and mostly resting and recuperating in our lovely air conditioned bedroom. A couple days I went out and worked with Hermana Luna, while Hermana Luna´s mom came and stayed with and cared for Hermana Espinoza. Still, my poor little Hermana ended up in the hospital THREE more times last week, once in the middle of the night. She had a bunch of different things going on at once (inflammation in her whole body, back pain, knee pain, etc) but the worst was that on Tuesday morning she woke up with a head-splitting, excruciating migraine that not even the strongest drugs seemed to kick for long and that went on for days. We created what I called "the cave," covering our window with three blankets so that not even a tiny beam of light could come inside. Any tiny bit of light was excruciating to her, as well as all sounds and movements. It was quite dark and cool and cozy in the cave, and the rest of the house is SO HOT--so I would usually just chill in the cave in the pitch darkness, with my sheet thrown over my head and a flashlight and my scriptures.
In the end Hermana Espinoza was just too sick to be here, so far from home, in hot hot Formosa, with the stress of a missionary schedule and lifestyle. Late on Thursday night she was in such pain that she was crying and moaning and I was just so scared and didn´t know what to do to help her. Our neighbors are these two young gals about our age that are both nurses. I called them over and they took a look at her, took her blood pressure, and injected her with some of the pain meds that they had given her a few days before in the clinic (the last time these meds seemed to work for a few hours, so it was a good temporary solution). But then they told me she really urgently needed to go be seen by a doctor. The public hospital here had traumatized us quite a bit (we took photos the last time, and when I get home I will show them to you. it is awful) and we felt it would be pointless to go back to the same place, with the same symptoms, just to recieve the same attention by the same incompetent staff and later to be given the same results (inconclusive). However, we felt trapped because we had been given instructions by our leaders not to go to a private clinic because they would charge a lot of money. Our neighbors agreed that she should not go to the public hospital, because it is usually crowded and hectic and poorly staffed. They referred us to a place called Sanatorio Formosa where one of them works and told us more or less how much a basic checkup and a few of the tests she might need would cost. We decided that in the end, if the mission couldn’t pay, that we would find some other way to pay and that we just needed to go right then. These girls were so helpful and good to us--they called some friends who were working at that hour and asked them to please help us, and wait for us, and give us the best attention.
Our experience was much better this time. The private clinic was a lot cleaner and safer and we were very well attended by the nurses and doctors. Still, there was not much they could do without admitting her or doing some expensive studies--so they gave her an IV with some more pain meds, the doctor gave her a prescription for a different sort of migraine medicine, and he recommended two months more of rest and that she go home to Mexico.
We talked with our leaders and mission doctors in the morning and everyone agreed. She needed to go home. She left Saturday morning. And now I am back full time with Hna Luna for another couples weeks.
I am attaching here some photos of my first and last day with Hna Espinoza. We took a picture with one of our neighbors, Yesica, that was so good to us (the other was working) and her kitten Valentino (I love this kitten).
I am also attaching photos from our baptisms this Saturday. That is a whole other story, perhaps I will explain next week, but Franco and Belen were both baptized on Saturday.
I love you all and I am SO grateful for your love and kind words and encouragement.
Love,
Hna Parker
05 January 2013
2013! -- December 31, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
My companion went to a salon to dye her hair today and it took a little longer than expected and so I am left with very little time to write you.
I am alive and well. I LOVED talking to you last week. Sorry if it seemed I had little to say. The truth is, I have tons to say, but it felt too overwhelming to fit it all into a single 40 minute phone call. I am sure we will have long, meaningful, detailed conversations in two months when I get home.
News: They finally installed our air conditioning! Our quality of life has greatly increased.
We are working hard and have lots of baptisms for this January. Tonight we are going to celebrate New Years with one of our favorite families--Sandra and her kids...but in true missionary-fashion our fun will end at 10 PM sharp when we must be in our apartment.
I want to hear all about your New Years celebrations.
And Jared and Scott! I want to hear all about your trip with pictures please! I have been praying these last few nights for your safety in your cross-country wanderings.
I love you all too much.
Brooke
My companion went to a salon to dye her hair today and it took a little longer than expected and so I am left with very little time to write you.
I am alive and well. I LOVED talking to you last week. Sorry if it seemed I had little to say. The truth is, I have tons to say, but it felt too overwhelming to fit it all into a single 40 minute phone call. I am sure we will have long, meaningful, detailed conversations in two months when I get home.
News: They finally installed our air conditioning! Our quality of life has greatly increased.
We are working hard and have lots of baptisms for this January. Tonight we are going to celebrate New Years with one of our favorite families--Sandra and her kids...but in true missionary-fashion our fun will end at 10 PM sharp when we must be in our apartment.
I want to hear all about your New Years celebrations.
And Jared and Scott! I want to hear all about your trip with pictures please! I have been praying these last few nights for your safety in your cross-country wanderings.
I love you all too much.
Brooke
19 December 2012
Alma Fuerte – December 17, 2012
Hello Christmas Family,
Just a short one again this week. Things are great here in Argentina. Hot and great.
I am sending a few photos and some explanations:
One of the biggest perks about having a companion whose family lives just a few blocks away, is that we get to visit them all the time and all of a sudden I feel like I have all these new aunts and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews. Last Monday we spent the afternoon with her family and her adorable 6 month old twin nephews were in town and I am now best friends with baby Alejandro. He and his mom and brother live in a tiny town far away, but they come to Formosa a few times a months for treatments for little Ale´s club feet.
Yesterday was the best day for two reasons. Reason 1: We had TONS of investigators in church (6). We went to go get a couple of them and then we took the bus and it just kept stopping and MORE members and investigators would get on and by the time we all got off at the plaza a few blocks away from the chapel there were over 10 of us.
Reason 2: We found an adorable abandoned puppy on the side of the road and we SAVED her. Hna. Luna named her Alma and we carried her around with us in Hna. Luna´s sombrero all afternoon. We wanted so bad to keep her, but we did the second best thing... we gave her to one of the families in the branch that we visit often so we can see her almost every day. They loved her right away and we know they will take good care of her.
The last photo is very recent, taken just one hour ago in a store down the street. SAXOPHONE SANTA!
Merry Christmas! I don´t know exactly when I´ll be calling but you should send me all the phone numbers you have (home phone, all of the family cell phones, etc.) I will probably have more details when I write on the 24th, but I am sure we will communicate.
Love,
Hna Parker
Just a short one again this week. Things are great here in Argentina. Hot and great.
I am sending a few photos and some explanations:
One of the biggest perks about having a companion whose family lives just a few blocks away, is that we get to visit them all the time and all of a sudden I feel like I have all these new aunts and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews. Last Monday we spent the afternoon with her family and her adorable 6 month old twin nephews were in town and I am now best friends with baby Alejandro. He and his mom and brother live in a tiny town far away, but they come to Formosa a few times a months for treatments for little Ale´s club feet.
Yesterday was the best day for two reasons. Reason 1: We had TONS of investigators in church (6). We went to go get a couple of them and then we took the bus and it just kept stopping and MORE members and investigators would get on and by the time we all got off at the plaza a few blocks away from the chapel there were over 10 of us.
Reason 2: We found an adorable abandoned puppy on the side of the road and we SAVED her. Hna. Luna named her Alma and we carried her around with us in Hna. Luna´s sombrero all afternoon. We wanted so bad to keep her, but we did the second best thing... we gave her to one of the families in the branch that we visit often so we can see her almost every day. They loved her right away and we know they will take good care of her.
The last photo is very recent, taken just one hour ago in a store down the street. SAXOPHONE SANTA!
Merry Christmas! I don´t know exactly when I´ll be calling but you should send me all the phone numbers you have (home phone, all of the family cell phones, etc.) I will probably have more details when I write on the 24th, but I am sure we will communicate.
Love,
Hna Parker
AC AC AC! – December 10, 2012
Just a short email this week--we don´t have a lot of time. ...But I will make up for the length by sending pictures!
If all goes well, today we will have a new air conditioner for our bedroom! We have to go see if they sent the money though, and then go and buy it. I am so happy! After taking a quick poll of ALL the sister missionaries in the province of Formosa (there are like 10 companionships) I found out we were the only ones without AC. Anyways, this will be remedied soon. It has been soooo hot, and our one fan is so pathetic that I literally have not been able to sleep many nights and instead just lie in agony all night tossing and turning in my own sweat. Okay, haha. That was dramatic. It is not that bad. But AC will be a welcome improvement.
Besides the extreme heat, everything is going well here in Formosa with Hermana Luna. She was originally supposed to stay with me until this Wednesday, when we have transfers. But it looks like we are short on sisters and she will likely stay with me for my entire next transfer. It is weird serving with someone who lives here in Formosa (just a few blocks from our apartment) and is not a set-apart missionary. She lives so close by that we are always stopping by her house to drop off dirty clothes for her mom to wash, or to eat lunch or dinner (whenever we don´t have anyone in the branch to feed us). It is sort of like having a second home and a second mom. It is definitely a different feeling.
We have had several investigators disappear or drop out on us this week. We had been teaching one woman, Olga, and her two daughters and they were preparing to be baptized this month. However, we have a requirement in our mission that investigators must attend church at least 3 times to be baptized. This week was CRUCIAL if they wanted to be baptized on the 22nd. Well, this Friday they just flat-out disappeared on us and we still aren´t sure where they went. And they have no cell phone for us to call to see what´s up.
A few notes to accompany the photos I am sending.
1. The miracle of the umbrella! We found a perfectly good big blue umbrella in the trash just before a surprise mid-day storm hit. 2. These days ice cream and sun hats are a MUST. 3. Meeting a sheep.
A few notes to close:
Birthday: Mom! I received my birthday package several weeks ago, I am not sure if I told you. THANK YOU. The clothes are perfect. Also I got my birthday card from Ashley this week and it is the best card I have ever received. I loved it. :)
Mail: I sent out a package of letters over a month ago but for some reason it was returned to me and I am just now sending them out again. So if some of you get letters that say "happy thanksgiving!" in January, that is why.
Christmas: I still don´t know how Christmas phone calling will go. Everything is crazy and confusing with the sudden change of mission president. But I will let you know as soon as I know something.
That´s it!
Ciao,
Hermana Parker
If all goes well, today we will have a new air conditioner for our bedroom! We have to go see if they sent the money though, and then go and buy it. I am so happy! After taking a quick poll of ALL the sister missionaries in the province of Formosa (there are like 10 companionships) I found out we were the only ones without AC. Anyways, this will be remedied soon. It has been soooo hot, and our one fan is so pathetic that I literally have not been able to sleep many nights and instead just lie in agony all night tossing and turning in my own sweat. Okay, haha. That was dramatic. It is not that bad. But AC will be a welcome improvement.
Besides the extreme heat, everything is going well here in Formosa with Hermana Luna. She was originally supposed to stay with me until this Wednesday, when we have transfers. But it looks like we are short on sisters and she will likely stay with me for my entire next transfer. It is weird serving with someone who lives here in Formosa (just a few blocks from our apartment) and is not a set-apart missionary. She lives so close by that we are always stopping by her house to drop off dirty clothes for her mom to wash, or to eat lunch or dinner (whenever we don´t have anyone in the branch to feed us). It is sort of like having a second home and a second mom. It is definitely a different feeling.
We have had several investigators disappear or drop out on us this week. We had been teaching one woman, Olga, and her two daughters and they were preparing to be baptized this month. However, we have a requirement in our mission that investigators must attend church at least 3 times to be baptized. This week was CRUCIAL if they wanted to be baptized on the 22nd. Well, this Friday they just flat-out disappeared on us and we still aren´t sure where they went. And they have no cell phone for us to call to see what´s up.
A few notes to accompany the photos I am sending.
1. The miracle of the umbrella! We found a perfectly good big blue umbrella in the trash just before a surprise mid-day storm hit. 2. These days ice cream and sun hats are a MUST. 3. Meeting a sheep.
A few notes to close:
Birthday: Mom! I received my birthday package several weeks ago, I am not sure if I told you. THANK YOU. The clothes are perfect. Also I got my birthday card from Ashley this week and it is the best card I have ever received. I loved it. :)
Mail: I sent out a package of letters over a month ago but for some reason it was returned to me and I am just now sending them out again. So if some of you get letters that say "happy thanksgiving!" in January, that is why.
Christmas: I still don´t know how Christmas phone calling will go. Everything is crazy and confusing with the sudden change of mission president. But I will let you know as soon as I know something.
That´s it!
Ciao,
Hermana Parker
27 November 2012
A Miracle and a Nightmare – November 27, 2012
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
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
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
16 October 2012
Guaycolec - October 15, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
My letter today is coming directly from my personal journal. I am just typing up some excerpts from one of my entries... I do not usually write this much in a day (I wish!). I just happened to have a lot of time and thoughts this particular day...
Tuesday, Otober 9, 2012
Today we paid a grand total of 8 pesos to hop onto a colectivo and travel about 40 minutes out of the city to the Guaycolec wild animal reserve. Sol came with us and she prepared a delicous picnic lunch of swiss chard empanadas and ham sandwiches. We also brought an ice cold thermos of pear-mango tang (they have every flavor of tang imaginable here in Argentina!) that kept us going all afternoon.
Driving out into the countryside I was able to enjoy a little more of the natural landscape of Formosa. This land really is beautiful and greener than I imagined. Lots of lowlying scrubbish brushland dotted with tall slender palm trunks that explode into a firework of fronds and leaves. Every once in a while the vegetation became thicker and greener and a smill windy riacho cut through it. The weather was pretty perfect—hot but breezy. The sky a brilliant blue with tall white puffy clouds.
The reserve itself was a little empty and unkempt. Entrance is free and as we walked in we crossed paths with the hermanas from another district who were on their way out. Other than that, the whole place felt rather abandoned, and we were the only ones there.
A friendly guide smelling heavily of beer and cigarettes showed us around to some of the nearby cages—big scarlet parrots, a lovely happy little toucan, a funny rodentlike animal called a carpincho (they eat them here!), a little deer-like animal—then the guide gestured off in the distance to the path we´d have to take to see the monkies and jaguars and he returned back to his station (and presumably to his beer and cigarettes).
The monkies were my favorite. We could walk right up to their cage and stare at them nose to nose. They fascinate me. I think it´s because with their perfect little hands and facial expressions they seem so much like little furry humans. We spent almost 40 minutes staring at them and watching as they ate orange slices and climbed and jabbered and screeched.
On two separate occasions as we walked around the park a GIANT black and white iguana-like lizard creature darted across our path. I am not exactly sure what it was, but it was not caged in and it moved FAST, unlike what I usually expect from giant lizards.
On the way over, the colectivo dropped us off right in front of the reserve, but on the way back we had to walk back along the highway about a mile or so, crossing a bridge to a tiny busstop near the entrance to what seemed to be a rural farming village.
The walk was pleasant (we still had plenty of pear-mango tang) and when we reached our little out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere bus stop (seriously, there was just a little shelter with benches and then endless highway streching out for miles and miles cutting through wildnerness), we sat down and waited patiently for our bus to pass.
We ended up waiting for HOURS and getting back to our area an hour late, which was a stressful experience, but the bus never passed when it was supposed to. Still, as we waited I was overcome by the beauty of the landscape, the sky and the changing light, and I felt peaceful and happy. At one point a cow escaped from the pasture lands and several older fully-decked out Argentine “gauchos” (aka cowboys) came to corral it back in.
Sitting there, I had a lot of time to reflect and I began to think a lot about my mission and my short time here in Argentina which, wow, before I know it, will come to a close. When I first got here I thought all the time about home. For almost the first time in my life I struggled with feelings of being legitimatelyand painfully homesick. I didn´t write much about it here but I longed to be home, probably because it was familiar, beloved and much more comfortable, secure and altogether a lot easier than being a missionary. Now that home is closer in sight, I can feel my attitudes shifting. It is not any easier to be a missionary but I love being here, right where I am. I love this land, these people. I lately am struck by feelings of extreme tenderness and appreciation even for small moments—a child calling out “hermana!”, directing hymns in this tiny branch, drawing pictures of the plan of salvation. So many little things.
And lately I am starting to realize that “real life” and coming home to make very real, life-changing decisions about life and the future isn´t easy either. They are just hard in different ways. One thing at a time I suppose. I will cherish this while I still can and then move on to what´s next.
My letter today is coming directly from my personal journal. I am just typing up some excerpts from one of my entries... I do not usually write this much in a day (I wish!). I just happened to have a lot of time and thoughts this particular day...
Tuesday, Otober 9, 2012
Today we paid a grand total of 8 pesos to hop onto a colectivo and travel about 40 minutes out of the city to the Guaycolec wild animal reserve. Sol came with us and she prepared a delicous picnic lunch of swiss chard empanadas and ham sandwiches. We also brought an ice cold thermos of pear-mango tang (they have every flavor of tang imaginable here in Argentina!) that kept us going all afternoon.
Driving out into the countryside I was able to enjoy a little more of the natural landscape of Formosa. This land really is beautiful and greener than I imagined. Lots of lowlying scrubbish brushland dotted with tall slender palm trunks that explode into a firework of fronds and leaves. Every once in a while the vegetation became thicker and greener and a smill windy riacho cut through it. The weather was pretty perfect—hot but breezy. The sky a brilliant blue with tall white puffy clouds.
The reserve itself was a little empty and unkempt. Entrance is free and as we walked in we crossed paths with the hermanas from another district who were on their way out. Other than that, the whole place felt rather abandoned, and we were the only ones there.
A friendly guide smelling heavily of beer and cigarettes showed us around to some of the nearby cages—big scarlet parrots, a lovely happy little toucan, a funny rodentlike animal called a carpincho (they eat them here!), a little deer-like animal—then the guide gestured off in the distance to the path we´d have to take to see the monkies and jaguars and he returned back to his station (and presumably to his beer and cigarettes).
The monkies were my favorite. We could walk right up to their cage and stare at them nose to nose. They fascinate me. I think it´s because with their perfect little hands and facial expressions they seem so much like little furry humans. We spent almost 40 minutes staring at them and watching as they ate orange slices and climbed and jabbered and screeched.
On two separate occasions as we walked around the park a GIANT black and white iguana-like lizard creature darted across our path. I am not exactly sure what it was, but it was not caged in and it moved FAST, unlike what I usually expect from giant lizards.
On the way over, the colectivo dropped us off right in front of the reserve, but on the way back we had to walk back along the highway about a mile or so, crossing a bridge to a tiny busstop near the entrance to what seemed to be a rural farming village.
The walk was pleasant (we still had plenty of pear-mango tang) and when we reached our little out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere bus stop (seriously, there was just a little shelter with benches and then endless highway streching out for miles and miles cutting through wildnerness), we sat down and waited patiently for our bus to pass.
We ended up waiting for HOURS and getting back to our area an hour late, which was a stressful experience, but the bus never passed when it was supposed to. Still, as we waited I was overcome by the beauty of the landscape, the sky and the changing light, and I felt peaceful and happy. At one point a cow escaped from the pasture lands and several older fully-decked out Argentine “gauchos” (aka cowboys) came to corral it back in.
Sitting there, I had a lot of time to reflect and I began to think a lot about my mission and my short time here in Argentina which, wow, before I know it, will come to a close. When I first got here I thought all the time about home. For almost the first time in my life I struggled with feelings of being legitimatelyand painfully homesick. I didn´t write much about it here but I longed to be home, probably because it was familiar, beloved and much more comfortable, secure and altogether a lot easier than being a missionary. Now that home is closer in sight, I can feel my attitudes shifting. It is not any easier to be a missionary but I love being here, right where I am. I love this land, these people. I lately am struck by feelings of extreme tenderness and appreciation even for small moments—a child calling out “hermana!”, directing hymns in this tiny branch, drawing pictures of the plan of salvation. So many little things.
And lately I am starting to realize that “real life” and coming home to make very real, life-changing decisions about life and the future isn´t easy either. They are just hard in different ways. One thing at a time I suppose. I will cherish this while I still can and then move on to what´s next.
09 October 2012
My Birthday/Conference Weekend - October 9, 2012
Family and Friends,
I don´t have too much time to write because we are going to a local Zoo/Animal Reserve! I have no idea what kinds of animals we will see, but it should be fun (although traditional zoos tend to depress me a little....but I think this place is more open and jungly).
This week was fantastic and my birthday was very unexpectedly remembered by many and very thoroughly celebrated. I received THREE cakes and many little gifts and phone calls. Celebrations started on Tuesday when my old companion Hna. Pack who recently was transferred to my zone, organized a little post-district meeting party. On Friday I received phone calls all day starting with my district leader and his companion in the morning calling and singing happy birthday. Around lunch Hna Hobbs and her new companion called and sang. Mid-afternoon the mission office called and a sweet Argentine Elder made his best attempt to sing me happy birthday in English and then, right before bed the other sisters in our district called to give me birthday greetings and sing.
Friday night, about an hour before we had to be back in the apartment, my companion managed to organize a little surprise birthday dinner for me at Sol´s house. Sol is one of my favorite people here in Formosa. She is actually in a different ward but she lives just a few blocks away from us and is basically best friends with all the sister missionaries in all of Formosa. She has me and my companion over for lunch every Thursday. She is about our age and is preparing to go on a mission herself.
Anyways, I suspected something was up, as sometimes my companion had rather random, cryptic phone conversations with Sol earlier in the week. But I chose not to pay too much attention -- and they really ended up surprising me! I walked into a room decorated with a birthday sign, and balloons and home-made pizza and cake. It was soooo sweet!
THEN, Saturday night, one of my favorite families in our branch told us that we HAD to stop by their house after the last session of conference. So we stopped by and they surprised me with a GIANT delicious creamy vanilla-y cake. The husband is a baker, and you could tell. It was delicious!
I loved General Conference. It was a little bittersweet to think that it was my last conference in my mission... I have a lot more stamina for listening to conference as a missionary. I was BLOWN AWAY by the announcement about lowering the mission ages. I think it´s pretty exciting! I think a lot more girls will go now that they don´t have to wait so long.
Aaron is right, I loved the Saturday sessions more than the Sunday sessions for some reason. There was just one great talk after another. I especially loved Elder Cook´s talk, Elder Uchtdorf´s talk, Elder Ballard´s talk about bees and honey and I was very interested to hear Elder Oaks’ talk about protecting children. There are a lot of children who need a lot of protection here in Argentina.
More thoughts and pictures from my birthday (and the zoo) next week!
Love,
Hermana Parker
I don´t have too much time to write because we are going to a local Zoo/Animal Reserve! I have no idea what kinds of animals we will see, but it should be fun (although traditional zoos tend to depress me a little....but I think this place is more open and jungly).
This week was fantastic and my birthday was very unexpectedly remembered by many and very thoroughly celebrated. I received THREE cakes and many little gifts and phone calls. Celebrations started on Tuesday when my old companion Hna. Pack who recently was transferred to my zone, organized a little post-district meeting party. On Friday I received phone calls all day starting with my district leader and his companion in the morning calling and singing happy birthday. Around lunch Hna Hobbs and her new companion called and sang. Mid-afternoon the mission office called and a sweet Argentine Elder made his best attempt to sing me happy birthday in English and then, right before bed the other sisters in our district called to give me birthday greetings and sing.
Friday night, about an hour before we had to be back in the apartment, my companion managed to organize a little surprise birthday dinner for me at Sol´s house. Sol is one of my favorite people here in Formosa. She is actually in a different ward but she lives just a few blocks away from us and is basically best friends with all the sister missionaries in all of Formosa. She has me and my companion over for lunch every Thursday. She is about our age and is preparing to go on a mission herself.
Anyways, I suspected something was up, as sometimes my companion had rather random, cryptic phone conversations with Sol earlier in the week. But I chose not to pay too much attention -- and they really ended up surprising me! I walked into a room decorated with a birthday sign, and balloons and home-made pizza and cake. It was soooo sweet!
THEN, Saturday night, one of my favorite families in our branch told us that we HAD to stop by their house after the last session of conference. So we stopped by and they surprised me with a GIANT delicious creamy vanilla-y cake. The husband is a baker, and you could tell. It was delicious!
I loved General Conference. It was a little bittersweet to think that it was my last conference in my mission... I have a lot more stamina for listening to conference as a missionary. I was BLOWN AWAY by the announcement about lowering the mission ages. I think it´s pretty exciting! I think a lot more girls will go now that they don´t have to wait so long.
Aaron is right, I loved the Saturday sessions more than the Sunday sessions for some reason. There was just one great talk after another. I especially loved Elder Cook´s talk, Elder Uchtdorf´s talk, Elder Ballard´s talk about bees and honey and I was very interested to hear Elder Oaks’ talk about protecting children. There are a lot of children who need a lot of protection here in Argentina.
More thoughts and pictures from my birthday (and the zoo) next week!
Love,
Hermana Parker
My Week in Audio - October 1, 2012
Dear Friends and Family,
I am not writing a traditional letter this week. Instead I am sending a series of voice recordings. This was an experiment. I carried my recorder around with me all week, but in the end, listening through it all, I realized a lot of it might not make sense for you or might be a little boring or random so I am only sending a few (even then, they might be boring or pointless to you, but for me they bring back good memories and capture some of the sounds of my life here). I also am still learning how to control the audi levels on my zoom recorder so sometimes the recordings are realy soft, other times loud, other times there is lots of wind sounds. Still, I enjoyed recording things this week and I think with practice I will improve and be able to create higher quality, more interesting, more organized audio-journal type things! Also, Hna Medina and I have plans to interview people and ask them to tell about local folklore, family stories, conversion stories, etc. So this might not be the end of my sending audio files...
I love you and hope all is well back home! Happy Birthday to me on Friday!
Love,
Hermana Parker
Ooops! Some of the files didnt attach because I accidentally recorded them in the WAV format. this will make my recordings even more disconjointed. oh well!
Audio files coming soon...
I am not writing a traditional letter this week. Instead I am sending a series of voice recordings. This was an experiment. I carried my recorder around with me all week, but in the end, listening through it all, I realized a lot of it might not make sense for you or might be a little boring or random so I am only sending a few (even then, they might be boring or pointless to you, but for me they bring back good memories and capture some of the sounds of my life here). I also am still learning how to control the audi levels on my zoom recorder so sometimes the recordings are realy soft, other times loud, other times there is lots of wind sounds. Still, I enjoyed recording things this week and I think with practice I will improve and be able to create higher quality, more interesting, more organized audio-journal type things! Also, Hna Medina and I have plans to interview people and ask them to tell about local folklore, family stories, conversion stories, etc. So this might not be the end of my sending audio files...
I love you and hope all is well back home! Happy Birthday to me on Friday!
Love,
Hermana Parker
Ooops! Some of the files didnt attach because I accidentally recorded them in the WAV format. this will make my recordings even more disconjointed. oh well!
Audio files coming soon...
24 September 2012
Newspaper Hat & Roberto Oviedo - September 24, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been a good, interesting week. Wednesday we had transfers, so Tuesday night we went around and said a whole bunch of just-in-case goodbyes. It was really heart wrenching.
We have actually started to work with Ezequiel's entire family so we went to have a little Family Home Evening with them and take pictures and say our goodbyes. We even got Ezequiel to smile for us (he is much cuter when he smiles)! In our lesson we were also able to set baptismal dates with his mom (Raquel), his sister (Belen) and his little brother (Eduardo)! So we are working hard with them so that they can prepare for their baptisms.
Then we went to visit Lucas and his family. And then we went to our investigator Sandra´s house and ALL of her kids and all of the neighbor’s kids (her nieces/nephews/relatives) came over and we took pictures and made a video of all of them saying goodbye and they all started crying and then we all started crying and it was just a whole HUGE bittersweet mess of feelings!
We were pretty positive that Hermana Medina was going to be transferred to Colombia because, according to her contacts in Buenos Aires, everything is ready for her to go. But then we found out that she is NOT going to Colombia. At least, not yet. And we are together again for another transfer. So the rest of this week as we have passed by to visit people, we have heard lots of great sighs of relief and lots of exclamations of "you´re still together!"
I am excited to be here at least a few more weeks with Hermana Medina (it is possible she will be called to Colombia mid-transfer. NOOOO!). She is hilarious and we have a lot of fun joking together, learning English, inventing raps, making newspaper hats (do not worry family! I have top quality sun protection!), and dreaming of one day being on a popular radio/television show here: "The Roberto Oviedo Show" (well, actually it’s called, "El SHOW de ROBERTO OVIEDO!") The other day we passed by the radio station and decided to try to talk to someone to see if we could visit one P-Day and see how the radio works--and who should come out to talk to us but Roberto Oviedo himself!!! He showed us inside and showed us all his posters and trophies and all the old VHS copies of his show (30 years running) and we invited him to our baptism. It was an amazing moment. Now we joke all the time about one day making it onto his show (as far as we can tell it mainly features brassy, latin-y bands and exotic-ish dancers. but we are thinking we can change it up a little!)
This week we taught seminary one night and, oh boy, it was a DISASTER. We love them, but these youth from our branch are really hard to handle. We were teaching about the book of Proverbs and we only made it through 1/10 of the lesson.
Hna Medina takes a lot of short little videos and I thought I´d try sending one this week. The video I am attaching is from when we were waiting at the bus stop on our way to teach seminary. we had NO IDEA what was in store for us. It is half in Spanish and half in English--so for those of you who speak both you will understand it ALL. For those of you who speak only English, sorry! You´ll understand the first part. There is also ONE word in Guaraní--a word used commonly here in Formosa--"mitaii!" it means "kids."
Sorry, this week my email is all over the place. I am going to send a whole bunch of random pictures too from these last couple weeks to match the random tone of my email. Sometimes we make giant fires and sometimes I like to hold guitars. I love you all!
Keep keeping on.
Hermana Parker
It has been a good, interesting week. Wednesday we had transfers, so Tuesday night we went around and said a whole bunch of just-in-case goodbyes. It was really heart wrenching.
We have actually started to work with Ezequiel's entire family so we went to have a little Family Home Evening with them and take pictures and say our goodbyes. We even got Ezequiel to smile for us (he is much cuter when he smiles)! In our lesson we were also able to set baptismal dates with his mom (Raquel), his sister (Belen) and his little brother (Eduardo)! So we are working hard with them so that they can prepare for their baptisms.
Then we went to visit Lucas and his family. And then we went to our investigator Sandra´s house and ALL of her kids and all of the neighbor’s kids (her nieces/nephews/relatives) came over and we took pictures and made a video of all of them saying goodbye and they all started crying and then we all started crying and it was just a whole HUGE bittersweet mess of feelings!
We were pretty positive that Hermana Medina was going to be transferred to Colombia because, according to her contacts in Buenos Aires, everything is ready for her to go. But then we found out that she is NOT going to Colombia. At least, not yet. And we are together again for another transfer. So the rest of this week as we have passed by to visit people, we have heard lots of great sighs of relief and lots of exclamations of "you´re still together!"
I am excited to be here at least a few more weeks with Hermana Medina (it is possible she will be called to Colombia mid-transfer. NOOOO!). She is hilarious and we have a lot of fun joking together, learning English, inventing raps, making newspaper hats (do not worry family! I have top quality sun protection!), and dreaming of one day being on a popular radio/television show here: "The Roberto Oviedo Show" (well, actually it’s called, "El SHOW de ROBERTO OVIEDO!") The other day we passed by the radio station and decided to try to talk to someone to see if we could visit one P-Day and see how the radio works--and who should come out to talk to us but Roberto Oviedo himself!!! He showed us inside and showed us all his posters and trophies and all the old VHS copies of his show (30 years running) and we invited him to our baptism. It was an amazing moment. Now we joke all the time about one day making it onto his show (as far as we can tell it mainly features brassy, latin-y bands and exotic-ish dancers. but we are thinking we can change it up a little!)
This week we taught seminary one night and, oh boy, it was a DISASTER. We love them, but these youth from our branch are really hard to handle. We were teaching about the book of Proverbs and we only made it through 1/10 of the lesson.
Hna Medina takes a lot of short little videos and I thought I´d try sending one this week. The video I am attaching is from when we were waiting at the bus stop on our way to teach seminary. we had NO IDEA what was in store for us. It is half in Spanish and half in English--so for those of you who speak both you will understand it ALL. For those of you who speak only English, sorry! You´ll understand the first part. There is also ONE word in Guaraní--a word used commonly here in Formosa--"mitaii!" it means "kids."
Sorry, this week my email is all over the place. I am going to send a whole bunch of random pictures too from these last couple weeks to match the random tone of my email. Sometimes we make giant fires and sometimes I like to hold guitars. I love you all!
Keep keeping on.
Hermana Parker
17 September 2012
Hope & Despair – September 17, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
I want to write a little bit about hope and despair and how I have experienced both of these feelings on my mission, and specifically, this week.
I will start with despair. In Preach My Gospel it talks about a cycle that starts with losing hope and becoming discouraged. Discouragement leads to weakened faith. Weakened faith leads to lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desires and more difficulty in feeling and following the spirit. This cycle, as described in Preach My Gospel, has really impacted me on my mission. Sometimes it seems easiest to just give in to discouragement, but I always try to remember that doing so will weaken my faith. And, if I make an effort, and pray to avoid discouragement, that I can hopefully begin to put into action an opposite cycle--one that starts with hope, leads to a strengthened faith, optimism, greater desires and so on. There is a quote from a talk by Chieko Okazaki that I just love: "Sisters, I testify that the forces of life are always stronger than the forces of death. If we choose, if we even desire to choose, if we even hope for the desire to choose, we set in motion powerful forces for life that are led by Jesus Christ himself. He responds to those tender tendrils of crippled life with the force and energy that will bring them to flowering. Listen to these promises of love and yearning desire for us. Feel the hope they bring that with Him we can overcome the world."
I have to admit, that sometimes on my mission I encounter such tragic situations that I start to despair. A lot of it has to do with extreme poverty, but the greatest tragedies of all that I have seen have to do with sin--hatred, anger, violence, abuse, rape, addiction, neglect. I have seen these things all throughout my mission, and of course I saw them before my mission too, but for some reason they really have been weighing on me here in my new area in Formosa. Often we go to visit people and we hear such awful, heartwrenching stories, that it is hard to leave these lessons with a brightness of hope and an optimistic spirit. Often I feel a little helpless or powerless when the powers of darkness seem to be so strong and so deeply rooted in homes, families and even communities around me. How can I possibly make a difference when these things have become so widespread and accepted that they begin to seem inevitable? This week my companion and I have walked out of houses and felt to weep for the things we saw and heard. We have poured out our hearts in prayer for some of the people here in our branch. But sometimes, sometimes, they feel a little bit like the prayers of the prophet Mormon at the end of the Book of Mormon for his people that are "without faith" (see Mormon 3).
Still, now I want to write a little about hope. Even in the face of such tragedy, not always, but often, I do feel hope. I pray for hope and there are moments when feelings of hope come even when it should be impossible. My thoughts and impressions from the rededication of the Buenos Aires Temple were erased last week, but I wanted to share that there in the rededication I felt an incredible brightness of hope. I felt the certainty that light could overpower darkness and as sister Okazaki says that "the forces of life are always stronger than the forces of death." I know that purity and goodness are possible even in a world of darkness and corruption. This is my testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I felt an incredible peace in the temple last weekend.
I also felt hope as I watched Lucas and Ezequiel enter the waters of baptism this weekend. It was a beautiful occasion even though the preparations (as usual) were a little stressful. I feel hope that, although each of them face very challenging circumstances in their respective families and homes, that maybe, just maybe, they will be the ones to make a difference in their families and communities. I have a perfect faith that if they persevere in applying the gospel principles we have taught, they will be able to have happy, successful lives, regardless of material circumstances. This I know, because I have seen it in the lives of wonderful, humble, faithful members here.
I am attaching a few photos. It was pretty much a miracle that Lucas´s dad showed up! And please excuse the grim expression of Ezequiel´s face. He really is a nice, happy, person--he just needs to learn how to smile in photos.
Well, that is all I have time to write for now. Transfers are tomorrow. It is getting harder to get Argentine visas and so they are not sending as many North Americans to our mission lately. Rumor is that this transfer there will be LOTS of changes, so I would like to say I will stay in the branch here in Parque, but I am not sure.
I love you all.
Hermana Parker
I want to write a little bit about hope and despair and how I have experienced both of these feelings on my mission, and specifically, this week.
I will start with despair. In Preach My Gospel it talks about a cycle that starts with losing hope and becoming discouraged. Discouragement leads to weakened faith. Weakened faith leads to lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desires and more difficulty in feeling and following the spirit. This cycle, as described in Preach My Gospel, has really impacted me on my mission. Sometimes it seems easiest to just give in to discouragement, but I always try to remember that doing so will weaken my faith. And, if I make an effort, and pray to avoid discouragement, that I can hopefully begin to put into action an opposite cycle--one that starts with hope, leads to a strengthened faith, optimism, greater desires and so on. There is a quote from a talk by Chieko Okazaki that I just love: "Sisters, I testify that the forces of life are always stronger than the forces of death. If we choose, if we even desire to choose, if we even hope for the desire to choose, we set in motion powerful forces for life that are led by Jesus Christ himself. He responds to those tender tendrils of crippled life with the force and energy that will bring them to flowering. Listen to these promises of love and yearning desire for us. Feel the hope they bring that with Him we can overcome the world."
I have to admit, that sometimes on my mission I encounter such tragic situations that I start to despair. A lot of it has to do with extreme poverty, but the greatest tragedies of all that I have seen have to do with sin--hatred, anger, violence, abuse, rape, addiction, neglect. I have seen these things all throughout my mission, and of course I saw them before my mission too, but for some reason they really have been weighing on me here in my new area in Formosa. Often we go to visit people and we hear such awful, heartwrenching stories, that it is hard to leave these lessons with a brightness of hope and an optimistic spirit. Often I feel a little helpless or powerless when the powers of darkness seem to be so strong and so deeply rooted in homes, families and even communities around me. How can I possibly make a difference when these things have become so widespread and accepted that they begin to seem inevitable? This week my companion and I have walked out of houses and felt to weep for the things we saw and heard. We have poured out our hearts in prayer for some of the people here in our branch. But sometimes, sometimes, they feel a little bit like the prayers of the prophet Mormon at the end of the Book of Mormon for his people that are "without faith" (see Mormon 3).
Still, now I want to write a little about hope. Even in the face of such tragedy, not always, but often, I do feel hope. I pray for hope and there are moments when feelings of hope come even when it should be impossible. My thoughts and impressions from the rededication of the Buenos Aires Temple were erased last week, but I wanted to share that there in the rededication I felt an incredible brightness of hope. I felt the certainty that light could overpower darkness and as sister Okazaki says that "the forces of life are always stronger than the forces of death." I know that purity and goodness are possible even in a world of darkness and corruption. This is my testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I felt an incredible peace in the temple last weekend.
I also felt hope as I watched Lucas and Ezequiel enter the waters of baptism this weekend. It was a beautiful occasion even though the preparations (as usual) were a little stressful. I feel hope that, although each of them face very challenging circumstances in their respective families and homes, that maybe, just maybe, they will be the ones to make a difference in their families and communities. I have a perfect faith that if they persevere in applying the gospel principles we have taught, they will be able to have happy, successful lives, regardless of material circumstances. This I know, because I have seen it in the lives of wonderful, humble, faithful members here.
I am attaching a few photos. It was pretty much a miracle that Lucas´s dad showed up! And please excuse the grim expression of Ezequiel´s face. He really is a nice, happy, person--he just needs to learn how to smile in photos.
Well, that is all I have time to write for now. Transfers are tomorrow. It is getting harder to get Argentine visas and so they are not sending as many North Americans to our mission lately. Rumor is that this transfer there will be LOTS of changes, so I would like to say I will stay in the branch here in Parque, but I am not sure.
I love you all.
Hermana Parker
11 September 2012
Lost - September 11, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
What a week! I can´t even remember what we did most days, so I´m not sure what to tell you about them...one day just sort of blurred into the next. We are pretty busy working with two investigators who have a baptismal date for the 15th (i.e. this coming Saturday, i.e. Jared´s birthday! Happy birthday Jared!)
One is Ezequiel, he is 16, we found him because he has lots of friends in the church and has been attending seminary (a little background: they don´t have early morning seminary here in this stake. Instead they have it 3 nights a week from 7:30-8:30 PM. Lots of kids go that aren´t members, but, from my perspective it´s more as a social thing than anything else, because afterwards they play ping pong and soccer and hang out. We have tried visiting a lot of the non-member youth that go to seminary, but have only really seen progress with Ezequiel). He is pretty shy, and at first it was difficult for me to gauge how much he was learning or if he was really feeling anything when we had lessons with him, but these last few weeks we have had some great experiences. He has been reading everything we leave him, and will even sometimes read more on his own, he has the desire to be baptized and it has been tender and rewarding to strain to listen to his soft, whispered, but very sincere prayers.
Our other investigator is a 9 year old boy named Lucas. He is a riot! He is pure chaos! Every lesson with him is like a whirlwind. But he sure is a lot of fun, too. He was supposed to be baptized with his mom about a month ago but his dad (who is separated from the family) wasn´t fully on board and the previous sisters also felt that he lacked a little preparation and understanding. Still, he comes to church each week and he loves it and we continued visiting his family often because his mom and older brother are recent converts.
I wrote about 5 more paragraphs but then the window randomly shut down and I lost it all and now I have an angry, annoyed, devastated feeling in my stomach and I think I might cry. grrrr.
Basically, Lucas is funny. Our apartment almost caught on fire and we had the re-dedication of the Buenos Aires temple this weekend. It was great.
Sorry. I will write more next week.
Blah.
Hermana Parker
What a week! I can´t even remember what we did most days, so I´m not sure what to tell you about them...one day just sort of blurred into the next. We are pretty busy working with two investigators who have a baptismal date for the 15th (i.e. this coming Saturday, i.e. Jared´s birthday! Happy birthday Jared!)
One is Ezequiel, he is 16, we found him because he has lots of friends in the church and has been attending seminary (a little background: they don´t have early morning seminary here in this stake. Instead they have it 3 nights a week from 7:30-8:30 PM. Lots of kids go that aren´t members, but, from my perspective it´s more as a social thing than anything else, because afterwards they play ping pong and soccer and hang out. We have tried visiting a lot of the non-member youth that go to seminary, but have only really seen progress with Ezequiel). He is pretty shy, and at first it was difficult for me to gauge how much he was learning or if he was really feeling anything when we had lessons with him, but these last few weeks we have had some great experiences. He has been reading everything we leave him, and will even sometimes read more on his own, he has the desire to be baptized and it has been tender and rewarding to strain to listen to his soft, whispered, but very sincere prayers.
Our other investigator is a 9 year old boy named Lucas. He is a riot! He is pure chaos! Every lesson with him is like a whirlwind. But he sure is a lot of fun, too. He was supposed to be baptized with his mom about a month ago but his dad (who is separated from the family) wasn´t fully on board and the previous sisters also felt that he lacked a little preparation and understanding. Still, he comes to church each week and he loves it and we continued visiting his family often because his mom and older brother are recent converts.
I wrote about 5 more paragraphs but then the window randomly shut down and I lost it all and now I have an angry, annoyed, devastated feeling in my stomach and I think I might cry. grrrr.
Basically, Lucas is funny. Our apartment almost caught on fire and we had the re-dedication of the Buenos Aires temple this weekend. It was great.
Sorry. I will write more next week.
Blah.
Hermana Parker
27 August 2012
Rain & Miracles -- August 27, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Northern Argentina is bipolar and decides every other day that it wants to be a different season. Blazing summer heat one day, and bone-chilling winter cold the next.
On Thursday my companion and I went to help Sandra, an investigator, break up pieces of bricks and rocks with mallets and hammers so that she can create some sort of flooring in her dirt-floor house. I think we were working for 15 minutes and I already felt my neck and shoulders burning and sweat beading up on my forehead. Sandra loaned me her son´s Argentine cowboy hat to shade me from the sun, and a pair of gloves because after 15 minutes I also already had several nasty blisters (I felt so weak and self-conscious about my delicate hands...I so wanted to be strong and helpful and work for hours without tiring and with no signs of wear. Instead I hammered for 15 minutes and already had broken stinging skin. Pathetic. Oh well.) Sandra was amazing and kept on bringing out cups of cold juice and we would rotate, taking turns hammering.
Anyways, the point is, 2 days later I was bundled up in three layers of clothes trying not to freeze. The weather here never ceases to amaze me.
Anyways the cold rain proved to be a challenge in getting investigators to commit to come to church once again. For some reason it seems that it is lovely and sunny all week and then the rain hits on the weekend, right when we are running around like crazy trying to get everyone ready to come to church. The truth is that the cold rain and thick deep mud really does make it complicated for most people to come and so it is understandable, but it doesn´t make it any less frustrating.
Still, we had a little miracle I wanted to share. On Saturday night the elders and hermanas in the neighboring ward had a giant double baptism. Two older couples were getting married and then baptized. We were really excited to invite investigators because it´s always good for them to see what a baptism is like and there was even going to be a fun little party afterwards to celebrate. The elders only told us the night before, though, so we spent the morning visiting people and inviting them to come. One of our investigators, a teenage boy named Ezequiel, told us he wanted to come and his younger sister also excitedly asked if she could come too. We said "Yes!" (of course) and made plans to come get them at 6:30 PM. We got there at 6:30. No one was there. The house appeared empty. Finally, after much knocking, a little boy (I think the youngest brother) came out and told us that everyone left.
We were pretty sad. We can only go to baptisms if we bring investigators with us. We hadn´t made many back-up plans and the night was cold, wet, windy, dark. What would have been an enjoyable, spiritual night, turned into a 3-hour romp around in the mud knocking on doors and being rejected. At the very last hour, before turning in for the night I suggested that we pass by one last time for Ezequiel´s house so we could at least confirm with him about church the next morning and offer to come pick him up. When we got there he still wasn´t home but we talked to his younger sister and she said that they were already planning on coming to church and that they would be ready at 8:30 when we came by in a taxi. It was nice to hear, but I still didn´t feel very assured just because people often say one thing and do another (as our experiences that day had proved).
Well, we passed by yesterday morning and the mom (Raquel) came out, ready to go to church at 8:30 and Ezequiel (our investigator) and his younger brother too! Ezequiel´s mom loved church! It was beautiful to see her there. Ezequiel has already been to church several times but we had been trying to talk to his mom for WEEKS and then, all of a sudden, she just CAME. We had been feeling for weeks that Raquel would be the key in helping Ezequiel to progress towards baptism because she kept telling him that he should wait, that he shouldn´t do it, that he needed to learn so much more, that he shouldn´t go. Then at church, Raquel came to us, with tears in her eyes after the classes and told us that she wants Ezequiel to be baptized, and she wants to get baptized too, and she wants to help her family and make more time for God in her life, and she knows this will help her family. After all the meetings, one of the counselors in the branch presidency gave her a blessing, because she has been struggling with big health issues recently. It was simple. We went to an empty classroom, and the brother anointed her with consecrated oil and then put his hands on her head offered a short, simple prayer asking god to heal her according to her faith. Simple, but powerful. Raquel sat weeping. She stood up afterwards and touched my arm and whispered, voice-trembling "I felt the presence of God, I felt the presence of God."
These are the beautiful moments I cherish and hope to never forget.
I hope all is well back home.
All my love,
Hna Parker
Northern Argentina is bipolar and decides every other day that it wants to be a different season. Blazing summer heat one day, and bone-chilling winter cold the next.
On Thursday my companion and I went to help Sandra, an investigator, break up pieces of bricks and rocks with mallets and hammers so that she can create some sort of flooring in her dirt-floor house. I think we were working for 15 minutes and I already felt my neck and shoulders burning and sweat beading up on my forehead. Sandra loaned me her son´s Argentine cowboy hat to shade me from the sun, and a pair of gloves because after 15 minutes I also already had several nasty blisters (I felt so weak and self-conscious about my delicate hands...I so wanted to be strong and helpful and work for hours without tiring and with no signs of wear. Instead I hammered for 15 minutes and already had broken stinging skin. Pathetic. Oh well.) Sandra was amazing and kept on bringing out cups of cold juice and we would rotate, taking turns hammering.
Anyways, the point is, 2 days later I was bundled up in three layers of clothes trying not to freeze. The weather here never ceases to amaze me.
Anyways the cold rain proved to be a challenge in getting investigators to commit to come to church once again. For some reason it seems that it is lovely and sunny all week and then the rain hits on the weekend, right when we are running around like crazy trying to get everyone ready to come to church. The truth is that the cold rain and thick deep mud really does make it complicated for most people to come and so it is understandable, but it doesn´t make it any less frustrating.
Still, we had a little miracle I wanted to share. On Saturday night the elders and hermanas in the neighboring ward had a giant double baptism. Two older couples were getting married and then baptized. We were really excited to invite investigators because it´s always good for them to see what a baptism is like and there was even going to be a fun little party afterwards to celebrate. The elders only told us the night before, though, so we spent the morning visiting people and inviting them to come. One of our investigators, a teenage boy named Ezequiel, told us he wanted to come and his younger sister also excitedly asked if she could come too. We said "Yes!" (of course) and made plans to come get them at 6:30 PM. We got there at 6:30. No one was there. The house appeared empty. Finally, after much knocking, a little boy (I think the youngest brother) came out and told us that everyone left.
We were pretty sad. We can only go to baptisms if we bring investigators with us. We hadn´t made many back-up plans and the night was cold, wet, windy, dark. What would have been an enjoyable, spiritual night, turned into a 3-hour romp around in the mud knocking on doors and being rejected. At the very last hour, before turning in for the night I suggested that we pass by one last time for Ezequiel´s house so we could at least confirm with him about church the next morning and offer to come pick him up. When we got there he still wasn´t home but we talked to his younger sister and she said that they were already planning on coming to church and that they would be ready at 8:30 when we came by in a taxi. It was nice to hear, but I still didn´t feel very assured just because people often say one thing and do another (as our experiences that day had proved).
Well, we passed by yesterday morning and the mom (Raquel) came out, ready to go to church at 8:30 and Ezequiel (our investigator) and his younger brother too! Ezequiel´s mom loved church! It was beautiful to see her there. Ezequiel has already been to church several times but we had been trying to talk to his mom for WEEKS and then, all of a sudden, she just CAME. We had been feeling for weeks that Raquel would be the key in helping Ezequiel to progress towards baptism because she kept telling him that he should wait, that he shouldn´t do it, that he needed to learn so much more, that he shouldn´t go. Then at church, Raquel came to us, with tears in her eyes after the classes and told us that she wants Ezequiel to be baptized, and she wants to get baptized too, and she wants to help her family and make more time for God in her life, and she knows this will help her family. After all the meetings, one of the counselors in the branch presidency gave her a blessing, because she has been struggling with big health issues recently. It was simple. We went to an empty classroom, and the brother anointed her with consecrated oil and then put his hands on her head offered a short, simple prayer asking god to heal her according to her faith. Simple, but powerful. Raquel sat weeping. She stood up afterwards and touched my arm and whispered, voice-trembling "I felt the presence of God, I felt the presence of God."
These are the beautiful moments I cherish and hope to never forget.
I hope all is well back home.
All my love,
Hna Parker
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