Invierno - June 12, 2012

Dear family and friends,

Winter has arrived! I remember before I left on my mission I asked my friend Rachel about the weather here, because she served her mission here as well, and she told me she had never been hotter in her life. Then she said that she had also never been colder in her life. Now I believe it. We almost froze to death this week. The temperatures got down to -2 C (which is like 28 F) and there is humidity and wind which makes it feel a lot colder. The houses here are not really built for winter. and we do not have heating or even a space heater in our apartment...SO, we were literally sleeping with 4 blankets each and LAYERS of clothes.



After a few nights of that we mentioned at lunch with the 2nd Counselor in the bishopric that we were very excited to get our space heater from the mission this Tuesday. He couldn’t believe we had been living without one, and insisted on loaning us one from the chapel. We went to pick it up on Saturday night and found it waiting for us with this loving drawing (picture coming next week, camera died. basically it was a snowman-missionary). It is pretty accurate.

I am trying to think of some experiences from this week...the work continues to move along slowly but surely. We are teaching a great little girl named Victoria! She is really a joy to teach. She is 8 and her mom is an inactive member of the church who is not very interested in coming back but who doesn’t mind letting her daughter come to church every week with her grandmother (also a member). Victoria is VERY excited about the things she is learning with us and VERY bright. She is reading her Book of Mormon and can repeat back what we taught her days later. This impresses me because often we teach adults who cannot repeat back to us what we teach them even a few minutes later.

We also found 2 really great young couples that we are working with. They actually have a lot in common. In both cases the boyfriend is a member (inactive) and the girlfriend is not. They are both expecting a baby in a few months. Ismael is trying to come back to church and his girlfriend Florencia loves the gospel and wants to be baptized but they have to get married first. That complicates things just because even though they want to get married, Florencia is from Buenos Aires and her whole family would want to come up for the wedding. We are going to try to see if they can plan something simple and basic first (just get the legal paperwork signed) and then maybe in a few months have the big party!

The other couple needs to get married as well. They are a little more hesitant about everything, but we have been having good lessons anyway.

Anyways, I am not sure what else to write. As usual, only time will tell what will happen with all these people. Pray that I won´t freeze to death this winter.

Love,

Hna Parker

Ninety Three! - June 4, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

It´s June! Where does time go?

On Wednesday we had zone conference. At every zone conference we watch a video with mission pictures. I am not in any of the photos (I didnt send any in) but it gives you a good idea of what my mission’s like (including lots of sweet photos of Iguazu Falls and baptisms in rivers and stuff). So check it out if you want. Search on youtube: "La Mision Argentina Resistencia May 2012" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCo8Y7lNEN4).

Anyways, conference was good. Our mission president had some very profound insights about relying on the Holy Ghost in our missionary work. He also spoke on Mark 8:22-25. I don´t think I had ever paid much attention to the story before. We talked about how there are three types of vision in the story: blind, partial vision and full sight. We discussed that as missionaries we can have one of those 3 types of vision. It also relates to how we see the people we encounter on a day-to-day basis. Do we see them clearly, as real people of great worth and potential? Children of God? Or do we see them only partially, as objects or obstacles--like "trees that walk."

I am still loving Posadas and my area. I am feeling all at once challenged and filled by this work. When I was struggling in Resistencia Jared sent me an email once and it said something simple like "just remember you´re not there not to make a difference in the lives of people." and I have been trying to take that to heart and this last week we have been focusing more than ever on filling every moment with meaningful work. It is not the easiest just to walk around and find new investigators here like it was in past areas. But there are pages and pages and pages of names and addresses of people who once belonged to the church and who we have been working on finding and getting back. Through these efforts we have found people who have been long estranged and just needed a visit or a word of encouragement. We have also found spouses and children and cousins and neighbors that are not members of the church but who are interested in listening. As I have found and worked with these people I have tried to remember what Jared told me and remind myself that even though, right now, I don´t have scores of amazing progressing investigators (right now)--that doesn't mean I am here just to sit around and not make any difference in the lives of these people and in this ward. Every night my prayers have filled up with the names of these people and with concerns for the ward and I find myself thinking about them and worrying about them and trying to find ways to help them all the time. I have felt great meaning and happiness as I have done so.

One short anecdote: Last night we came to the house of an inactive member. We stood hovering outside the open door for a moment because we were uncertain if it was the right place, but then, all of a sudden this old toothless woman wearing a skirt and a red beanie came out to greet us. We said hello and she grabbed us and slobbered all over our cheeks in greeting (two kisses are traditional, but with no teeth it got a little wet). She cried "hermanas! hermanas!" with tears and invited us in. Then she sat down with us and babbled and babbled and babbled mostly incomprehensibly for 10 minutes straight as we tried our hardest to understand her. I did catch several enthusiastic "I am NINETY THREE!"s Finally her granddaughter, whom we had come to visit, came home and we had a great lesson with her. We are going to start teaching her daughter because she is almost 9 and not baptized.

That’s all for this week. I love you all and you are in my prayers.

Love,

Hna Parker

Dirt! - May 28, 2012

Dear family and friends,

This week I... 1.broke my fourth umbrella of my mission 2. made french-toasted pancakes (the perfect solution if you can't decide between french toast and pancakes!) 3. talked to an entire drum-circle of shirtless teens on the costanera and gave them For The Strength of Youth pamphlets

So everything is pretty normal here in Posadas.

I am still getting to know the area. It is HUGE compared to my last area and we often take buses from one sector to another. It is a fun adventure, though, getting to know a new city and finding hidden streets and neighborhoods and meeting all kinds of people.

Did I mention that they have red dirt here? This dirt is seriously RED! They are doing construction out by the coast and they have huge fields cleared off and right now it's nothing but red red red red dirt stretching out endlessly before you. We took some pictures so all of you back home can be impressed by the dirt.

This week we celebrated Hna Griffeth's one year mark. We wanted to get pizza at this really great place in centro to celebrate, but the problem is that 25 de Mayo is not only Hna Griffeth's one year mark on her mission but it is also a big national holiday here in Argentina. Everything was closed. Except for this little hotdog shop. So we brought back Hot Dog Fridays! and just ate there. But, sadly, the hotdogs were disgusting and spongy and cold and reminded me why it is always better to go vegetarian.

Missionary work here is tough and a little slow going. We havent taught very many lessons yet. Still, I am very impressed with the church here in Posadas. They have a strong institute program, complete with an awesome institutue building right in the middle of downtown. They also have lots of good stake activites and an up and running family history center with local family history missionaries and employment specialists and other great resources. So, anyways, we are doing what we can. Working a lot with inactive familes and families with unbaptized children and trying to just follow the spirit and help where we´re needed.

I am continuing to make my way through the New Testament and spent a few days in Romans 9 this week. I am a little confused and perplexed by some parts so I read it 4 times to try to understand better. Someone should send me some thoughts on Romans 9 because my weighed-down spanish-speaking missionary brain cant handle it right now.

Well, I love you all! I hope you are well!

Love,

Hermana Parker

Posadas - May 21, 2012

Dear friends and family,

Transfers! I was moved just when I least expected it. I am not sure why, but I really felt like I was going to stay in Barrio 4 for at least one more transfer with Hna. Pack. I actually hoped to stay because I was excited to keep working with Marcelo and helping him prepare for his baptism. I also had really grown to love the area and the members. It is strange how you don´t realize how much you love something until it is gone, but this last week I have been remembering fondly and sometimes missing my cute little ward there in Resistencia.

However, I am in a great new area! And my new assignment is a bit of curveball from the mission president. I got a call from the APs early Tuesday (usually they call Tuesday night) to explain to me that they were doing something a little different this transfer and that I had a special assignment. I am now in the city of Posadas in the province of Misiones and they put me as companions with...Sister Griffeth! Again! This almost NEVER happens. But it happened! And we couldn´t be happier. What this means for me is a lot of good food, origami and cool french braids. Hermana Griffeth is a champion chef, origami-er and french braider. So I am looking forward to one (or two!) more transfers with her.

Misiones is beautiful. Much more beautiful than Resistencia (in terms of physical landscape, at least). I am thrilled to be here. It was a 5 hour bus ride from Resistencia and as I was riding in I watched the landscape change from flat brown shrubbery to hilly and green. It actually reminds me quite a bit of Hawaii because there are lots of trees, including palm trees, it is more humid, they have all RED DIRT, and the city is built along the Parana river (which is as close as you can get to ocean in my mission). Posadas is an even BIGGER city than Resistencia and our area is the most urban part of it. We have el centro (i.e. downtown) and all of the surrounding neighborhoods. Including a few very very wealthy neighborhoods. So, so far on my mission each area I move to is more urban and more wealthy than the last. In the ward here they have had several convert baptisms of friends and spouses of members in the last year, but it, like barrio 4, is also generally a pretty tough area. There are lots of HUGE apartment buildings here (in Barrio 4 there were like 4 story buildings. Here, we are talking downtown skyscrapers with 50 stories).

A few other observations:

-There are lots of people that juggle knives and bowling pins and stuff in front of cars waiting at stoplights to get money.

-There are also people that sell chipas (delicious cheesy bread) on every street corner.

-Posadas is for lovers. Apparently. People are always making out on street corners and in the back of buses. It seems like there is a lot more PDA here than in my other areas.

-Posadas seems like a pretty artsy hip modern city. Or at least more so than Resistencia. There are lots of cools plazas and murals and statues and museums and theaters. I have also seen DOG WALKERS here. As in, people paid to walk other people’s dogs. Lots of dog walkers! So, I feel like you can´t get much more city than that.

My apartment here is really nice. My apartments just keep getting nicer and nicer. We live above a morgue which is both funny and strange, but we have a beautiful view of the city from our 3rd floor balcony and we are lulled to sleep every night by the sounds of car horns and squeaky bus breaks and dogs barking. Good thing I am a deep and easy sleeper because I honestly can fall asleep in seconds even with all the noise. Our balcony is nice and big so my plan today is to buy a few planters and plant some lettuce and herbs that will do well in chilly weather.

A couple missionary experiences from this week:

We went to contact a guy named Osvaldo who lives in one of the huge apartment buildings. It is still a new experience for me, standing in front of a block of hundreds of doorbells and finding one and then talking to someone over a speaker. But, I am excited for new experiences! Anyways he answered and then came down to meet us. He was an interesting fellow. Very very bright. Early 30s with a four year old son. He is going through a divorce. He seems to have a more intellectual interest in the church but we are still going to try teaching him a few lessons. He is a freemason. And talked for a long time about masonry.

We also ate lunch at the house of a member who is one of the richest people I have ever met, let alone dined with. The wife is a new convert (she is actually super amazing and inspiring) and the husband is an older man who has been a member for over 30 years but who just recently started coming back to church after marrying his new wife. He owns one of the biggest most popular brands of Yerba Mate (a very popular herbal drink) in Argentina and he, apparently, owns many houses in many countries and a lot of lands and factories and stuff. His house here in Posadas where we ate is 5 stories tall and has an elevator and a built in fish tank in the floor and a beautiful view of the coast and the river and a microwave (you dont see them much here!) and a jacuzzi on the roof and full-time hired help. I felt very out of my element eating with them (and their hired help) but they are great people and very strong in the church.

In other news, we went with an investigator to a stake "Standards Night" yesterday in the church, where they went over the new For the Strength of Youth pamphlets with the youth and their parents and leaders. At one point the speaker showed a 5 minute clip from The Lion King and Hermana Griffeth and I almost exploded with excitement. It was strange, but movies seem to be a lot funnier, more exciting, more engaging and absorbing when you have been deprived of them for MONTHS. Movies are going to feel so great in another 9 months when I get home! Seriously, it was just the Lion King and I felt like I was watching the best movie ever made. IS the Lion King the best movie ever made?! Someone please tell me.

Last, but not least, I hit 9 months in the mission this past Wednesday and apparently it is a tradition for sister missionaries to take a picture with a fake pregnant belly when they hit their halfway point (symbolizing the 9 months, you know...). I had never heard of this so-called tradition but I thought "what the heck!" and Hna Griffeth took some pictures of me in my Argentina jersey with my big belly. I thought the Argentina jersey would be especially appropriate because if I were to have a baby here it would be PURO ARGENTINO! Hna Griffeth also taught me an Argentine soccer song that she learned from her last companion who is from Buenos Aires. I will be singing it when I watch Argentina play in the next world cup.

Anyways, here´s to Argentina! And 9 months in the mission! Ole! Ole! Ole!

Hna Parker

Photos!

Photos!

There are lots of Hermana Pack. Two P Days Ago we flew kites and had a picnic. Last week we also had a barbecue with the ward.

Hermana Pack got her hair cut in this junkyardy place (i.e. the front yard of one of our members here who cuts hair. i like the cute little french bulldog chilling under her chair.)

Love,

Brooke

Dog Sweaters - May 7, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

All is well here in Resistencia! All the dogs are wearing sweaters. Cute knitted sweaters.

The work is still pretty slow here. However, I wrote a great email detailing some of our little tender mercy experiences this week and then....the darn window closed randomly on me! and this old browser is so ancient it doesn’t know how to auto-save emails. So all was lost!

Best news: We have FINALLY began to actually work with Marcelo, by far our most promising investigator. He is just inches away from baptism. He is married to Emy, a girl in our ward. They have a baby together and Emy has been getting her life in order and they got married just two weeks ago and moved into their own cute little house and are basically starting off their life together. He already comes to church every week in a white shirt and tie. We just need to help him get a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. We have a FHE with him and his wife planned tonight, so I will keep you updated on how it all goes.

Besides that, next week is mothers day! I will be calling at 8 PM Argentina time which would make it 1 PM Hawaii time (and 4 PM Utah time). Hna Pack says 3-way calling shouldn’t be a problem. She did it last time with her family without any complications and I would really love to talk to the boys in Utah for a moment at least (Scott and Jared, get together at 4!). Also, seeing as Aaron will be skyping and I will be calling normally our calls could even overlap some and there will be no problems. And then i could say hi to him! That would be wonderful.

Well that´s it for now. Sorry about my email being lost. I´ll have a better email with pictures and everything for you next week.

Love you all!

Hermana Brooke

Escuchado - April 23, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a good week. The grapefruits are ripening and the sun is setting earlier and it really is starting to feel like some sort of autumn. I love living in new places and seeing what marks the months and the seasons here on the opposite side of the world.

This week we have had some very good lessons. People I found just a few weeks ago with Hermana Pack are progressing. One man, a single middle-aged lawyer, has been an unlikely investigator. From the moment we knocked on his front door he has been very kind and open and interested in what we have to say. He has been very willing to meet with us and has been learning to pray with us and at the end of our last lesson with him we asked him how he was feeling about everything and he paused to think and then said: "escuchado" which means "heard."

He explained that several years ago he was going through a huge trial in his life. Basically, he had watched as his best friend was murdered right next to him. I guess the whole story got a lot of press and he had turned into "that guy from the newspaper" and although everyone knew of his troubles and his trauma and it was all very open and public, he felt extremely alone. He said he didn´t know what to do or who to talk to, and after many years of never going to church, in desperation, he decided to go in and talk to a Catholic priest. He said that this day he just so happened to be paired with an old priest from Italy. This priest´s Spanish was not the best and as he poured out his soul to him, he said the priest listened quietly and tried, to the best of his ability, to respond, but he left the experience feeling a little empty. He didn´t feel "heard." He didn´t fault the priest. He said he was a good and an honorable man who did his best to fulfill his calling. But, on that day, he just hadn´t found what he was looking for. I felt incredibly touched when we ended our lesson with him and he told us that story and then said, simply, he had felt "heard."

I count that experience as sacred. We are going to continue working with him and pray that as he listens to our message with a sincere heart and real intent he will feel of its truthfulness.

That´s it for this week. Next week Monday we are going to spend the afternoon with one of our members here and I am not sure if we´ll make it to a cyber to write emails. So if you don´t hear from me next week that is why.

I thank you all for your love, support, letters and prayers. I feel them.

Love,

Hermana Parker