Mexico Pachuca - Week 85 - June 29, 2015

(Excerpts from his email)

hey mom sounds like a crazy week. this week was a rough week. we have been working hard but haven’t seen a whole lot of progress but we keep on going haha. pretty much the only thing we can do. this weekend was stake conference and so that was cool but guess what the theme was? marriage and family haha. i will try to think of a story but like i said kinda a slow week here. 

M: So a story does not have to be about people you are teaching but can be about your learning or anything really.

EP: um well i am reading the book of Mormon again but this time in English. i have read it more in Spanish than in English so i am trying to read it in English. i am just starting 2 Nephi and i really like the first couple chapters when Lehi is talking to his family. he really focuses on a few things. the atonement and our free agency which is pretty much the whole plan of salvation. I really love 2 Nephi 2 where it talks about the creations of God. there are two types of things in the world. things that act and things that are acted upon. we as children of God have the greatest power of all things, our agency, so that we are always agents. so that we always act and are not just acted upon. I really like this because we have everything within our grasp. we can achieve and do everything. we can be happy. we can be peaceful. we can be successful. we can have eternal life and an eternal family if we choose to do so. but everything depends on our choices and how we choose to use our agency. i think like you said the overall thought is give your heart, give your soul, give it all that you got though it seems like a lot, give like the Savior gave and you will be blessed. when we use our agency to follow the plan we are blessed and things go well. when we give ourselves to the Lord that is when all the blessings come. like another scripture, i think in doctrine and covenants and the book of Mormon and probably in a bunch of places haha what you sow is what you reap. when we do all we can the Lord will bless us even in ways we don’t expect. like in the mission. if we talk to everyone in the street knock doors and do everything even if they don’t accept, things will happen and we will find people to teach, through members or other contacts or something and it always happens. maybe not how we expect or in the time we want but when we do what we have to do, trust in the atonement and use our agency, the Lord always blesses us. 

M: That is some very good learning.  Something  Aunty Summer shared may be of some help in your situation, it was about patience. I think we talked about it before, but she said, (excerpts from Pres Uchtdorf May 10th address): "Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something...even when desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring it is enduring well. Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace and faith. It means being willing to submit to all the things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon us, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19) Ultimately, patience means being firm and steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord (1 Nephi 2:10) every hour of every day even when it is hard to do so."

We do what we can, all we can, have patience, enduring with faith and we will be blessed. 

EP: haha ya i just read a talk by elder Wirthlin from like the 90s that’s called patience is the key to happiness. like we talked a lot about before, patience and faith. keep doing everything with patience and faith even when its hard or when we don’t see the results. 

M: You know son, you have the tools that you need to be successful, not just in the mission, but in life. The key in the end is keeping our selves close to the Lord to be able to remember the things that we learned and use them daily.  He will inspire and guide us when we need help if we continue in faith, obedience and endure well, not just endure, but endure well.   Seems simple and yet we get caught up in life and all that we want to do and try to do and it is not so simple.  But, for you, keep your head up, give all you got and you will be blessed.

EP: haha i hope so. nah i know,  its so easy i don’t know why its so hard. like when you think about everything its easy. everything is easy you just need to do it. you just need to decide to do it and not let anything stop you from doing it but i have learned a lot in the mission. a lot about me. my weaknesses and what i need to do to be better. i feel like i can do anything, like you said i have the tools. and its not to be proud or like talk big about myself but i can do a lot of things but i let myself get distracted easily i think more so with others. sometimes i am so weak in that aspect instead of doing everything like i want to or know i should, to avoid problems i take the easy way out and follow and sometimes its good and sometimes no. i mean i need to be able to learn from others, to recognize when they are right and improve, but i also need to recognize when its not right or its not the best thing we can do and maybe sacrifice the peace for a little bit to do things the best way possible. its something i need to work on and am trying to improve on. Like it says in Ether, when you come to the Lord he will show you your weaknesses. i think that may be one of my biggest weaknesses but now that i can recognize it better i need to fix it. its hard but possible.

M: When we know our weaknesses, we can work on them. The hardest part is accepting that we have weaknesses, but when we do, we can make them strengthsI think for me it is a lack of patience for sure. I also know that I am not so tolerant of others. Really the list can go on and on, so know that you are not alone in your weaknesses.  The Lord can help us to become better. Good for you, you are heading in the right direction. As long as you are moving forward, you are moving in the right direction. I believe our efforts also count! The Lord knows when we are really trying and he will bless you for that. I'm so proud of you.

So you good son?

EP: ya I’m good. its hard to believe, pretty crazy that i got less than two cycles left. less than 3 months. it went by so fast but that’s life. I’m good. got a lot to do and i want to and just need to make the decision to do it better and the best i possibly can. serve with everything for these last 3 months. 

M: Yes, the time has flown and you have grown so much. I know that you will do all you can in these last three months, I believe you have done this your entire mission.  You should be very proud of yourself and it's not boasting, it's knowing you did your part.  Some days better than others I am sure, but overall, you have done well.  Serve with all your might, mind, strength and heart and you will come home knowing you were a good and faithful servant.

EP: ya i kinda wana just get back to how i was in Huicholes. i think that’s where i really found who i was and did things really well, my way, not like any one else wanted me to but how i know i could and should and i think it really paid off for me there. i just gotta get back to that. thank you for all that you do for me. all the love and support i couldn’t have done it, couldn’t have gotten here with out you guys. love you guys so much. i gotta go but have a great week love you

M: Be strong, be confident in yourself and your abilities and you will be blessed. Love you son! Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Park

Mexico Pachuca - Week 84 - June 22, 2015

(Excerpts from his email)

wow that sounds cool. let me know about the training thing. the sacrament is something we have been talking about a lot too here. President actually taught us something about it a couple weeks ago but i will talk to you guys more about that later. the big news right now is there aren’t changes. me and my companion are gonna be here another 6 weeks. thank you for the letter. i think its kinda what i needed. There’s never time to rest in the vineyard of the Lord. Wasn’t planning on it but always good to hear it again. 

M: So I am guessing you are happy that there are no changes? Is it a good thing, it seems you are starting to move things along in this area, any more prospects? 

EP: ya i'm pretty happy. things are starting to move along and the ward is starting to help us out a lot more. I’m excited hopefully things get better and better 

M: So, a story for me?

EP: I don’t know it was a pretty normal week. nothing super crazy. i think one of the really cool things was we found a super cool investigator. her name is Lizbet. her husband well almost husband haha is a member but has been inactive for like 17 years. we talked to them and she was like awesome. her husbands family gave her a book of Mormon and she’s been reading it and she was like i feel really good when i read it. i just feel closer to God and just happy. she accepted everything super fast and they came to church this Sunday so that was awesome. everything should go great and fast with her as long as they can get married without problems.

M: So how did you find her? It seems marriage is an issue in Mexico, is it because it cost too much money?

EP: she came to church once and we thought she was a member then after they told us no she’s not a member and then we were like looking for her for like 2 weeks and we finally found her. ya um in part and i think its just like normal now to just live together without getting married. like everyone here just like gets together and ya. its weird.

M: Like you said, it's the times. I think that is a big reason for the emphasis on the reverence and the importance of the sacrament. Things in the world are changing and we need to be reminded about what the standards are and what is expected of us regardless of what the world says. Marriage is one of those things.  Very cool, I hope that things will work out for them and you.  How is your zone doing? I know things were starting to get better.

EP: things are going ok. i think we have gotten a lot better in a bunch of things but it was a pretty down month in baptisms. we only had 4 in the whole zone. this weekend is stake conference so we aren’t gonna have any more this month so that kinda sucks but its ok. thank you for everything. i love you guys. have a great week i gotta go.

Love,
Elder Park

Mexico Pachuca - Week 83 - June 15, 2015

(Excerpts from his email)

hey well this week was super crazy for us too. Monday we had the activity. Tuesday we had the leadership council. Wednesday the zone training. Thursday 2 baptismal interviews. Friday a baptism and Saturday a baptism. Sunday 2 confirmations haha. it was a super crazy full week but it was great. time is flying by the cycle is already like done and it feels like it just started. i only have like 3 months left and its crazy to think. I will be on later and get a story mom but i like what you said about affecting people positively. haha there’s a Bob Marley quote i am gonna put on my agenda this cycle it says, “the greatness of a man is not measured in how much wealth he acquires but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” we always affect those around us and it can be for good or for bad so we just need to make sure more often than not its for good. but i will talk to you guys later today. love you guys thank you so much for everything. 

ok well i think the story for the week is that it was super full haha and just crazy. we had our zone training on Wednesday and president came so that was a little weird. i was pretty nervous but after he said it was a really good training and we did it really good so that was cool. and then we had so many problems with the baptisms. we didn’t have water in the chapel since Thursday so we were kinda freaking out. we get there Friday and there was water so we were like ok cool. everythings good. but the water ran out so the water only got to the girls knees. so the baptism was a little more difficult. the brother that baptized her had to do like a super squat to get her under haha but everything was good. then we had to leave the water overnight just in case there wasn’t water Saturday and suprise!!! there wasn’t water. so finally like an hour before the baptism we had water and started filling up the font a little more but it wasn’t enough time to warm up the water so it was super cold haha. it was a lot of stress a lot of dude what are we gonna do but in the end everything worked out and the two people that got baptized zoe and toño were super happy after and their families too. that was the best part they were just super happy. then Sunday me and my companion spoke but before us another hermano spoke and he destroyed everyone. haha he spoke about the Utchdorf talk about sleeping through the restoration and let everyone have it. he was like are you sleeping through the restoration? i think so because you’re not doing anything right now. and if you say everything is ok that’s the devil talking. everything is not ok in Zion. and if things are going good in the church its cause its the Lords church and its not thanks to you. it was brutal. my companion was like all that he didn’t do was get off the stage and slap like everyone in the front row cause he spoke with fire. but it was a good week after all is said and done. 

  

M: Wow, you gatta love the fire and brimstone speakers.  I hope you and your companion were able to bring the spirit back.  Well son, crazy we know how to do. it's crazy now here. I love that your families and baptisms were just happy.  That tells you that it is the right thing.  I know that when you feel the spirit and choose the right there is always happiness and peace. Happy for you.

EP: ya it was a good week and definitely something i needed in this area haha.

D: Can you explain more about your zone training?  What did you guys do?

EP: um every month we have a zone training. That’s why we have leadership council. we go to presidents house and the assistants like give us the training and then the next day we have to give the training to all the missionaries in our zone. so every month its like a little conference. so like this month we talked about teaching more effectively and doing all the things that elder Arnold taught us in the zone conferences. but i gotta go. love you guys. have a great week. talk to you guys next Monday. 

Love, Elder Park

Pictures from the Mission

              

 
 

Mexico Pachuca - Week 82 - June 8, 2015

(Excerpts from his email)

ok well this week was pretty normal i don’t think anything crazy happened. but if all goes well we will have 2 baptisms this weekend. 2 niños magicos. haha magic children. they are the kids that are 9 years or older that haven’t been baptized but their parents or family are members. were hoping everything goes good. the activity was pretty sick i will try to send some pictures we played a bunch of different games. it was like an obstacle course? like a bunch of different games and we tried to see which district could do it the fastest. it was super cool. they said they liked it and it was something different so it was cool. 

M: Why do you call them magic children, just because they are members kids? So what kind of games did you play?  Who won? 

EP: ya cause they are members kids who haven’t been baptized so it counts as a baptism for us but they are usually a little easier to baptize. cause when they are 8 its the wards job and the baptism counts for the ward but once they turn 9 they become ¨investigators.

 we played like 3 legged race. spin in circles and run. run with a balloon in between your legs and sit on it and pop it. stuff like that it was cool. and then of course we played soccer haha.

 

 

M: and what is the purpose of the games? Bonding? Just to have fun? What did you eat?  Do you guys also do a spiritual message?

EP: ya bonding having fun everything. we ate pizza. we had a spiritual message to start and we had like scripture games. like they had to put all the books in the book of Mormon and the bible in order. also the apostles and all the prophets since joseph smith. 

M: That's cool.  I am glad that you are finding success as a leader. So I need a story for the blog please. 

EP: ok i kinda do. so we got an investigator and her name is zoe. She’s 12 and maybe she’s gonna get baptized this Friday but anyways. she finally went to church like the whole 3 hours. she got up early she got ready and went to church with her grandparents. it was super cool and after we talked to her and she was just super happy and excited about church and baptism and everything. she even said she was gonna wake up early every Sunday to come to church the change was huge and super cool. we went to see her today and she said she loved it and she’s excited for her baptism. she just is really different happier and she just has like a glow in her. It’s something i have noticed recently the gospel makes us so happy and you can literally see it. you can see a change in peoples faces when the gospel touches their hearts they literally have like a glow in them like it says in the scriptures its super cool.

M: What was she like before?

Yes, I think that is the biggest thing we learned in this conference, but it is something that we have been noticing for a while now, the gospel makes you happy.  If you live the gospel, open your heart to it and all that it has to offer, you find that you are happier.  Families are happier, homes are better, you tend to love more freely.  Yes, the gospel can do that for you. I am glad that you are seeing it first hand, because I have seen the reverse where the lack of the gospel can cause disharmony and yuck.

EP: she just was kinda like whatever. like a normal teenager haha like ya whatever i don’t know if i can go to church its early and i don’t know and stuff like that. ya i have definitely seen that  a lot in the mission and you remember everything at home and your like i never really noticed it but ya.  but i gotta go i will talk to you guys next week. love you guys have a great week 

Love,
Elder Park