Hi

Emily's "ponderize" scripture for the week and a picture of somewhere in Bolivia

Dear people who haven't forgotten about me,

We're starting into the rainy season here! Luckily it doesn't start until exactly 9 pm, so if we're exactly obedient, we're not in the rain! :) But there has been a TON of lightning. I really thought the world would end last night, but looks like we're still here!

Last week we had a stake activity for only missionaries and investigators and watched Meet the Mormons! It was fun to actually hear the story from Costa Rica in Spanish! I finally know what her voice sounds like! haha Then yesterday there was a conference broadcast from SLC only for Bolivia and Peru! It was really good! Neil A. Andersen spoke and others from the Seventy. It was a great day! :)

We also had a ward party Friday! We all brought salads, and from Hermana Petroff and me was a pretty sad looking fruit salad. Sadly, the chicken and half of the ward didn't get there until 9 pm, and we missed getting to watch the whole ward dance, but next time :) It's really fun how dancing is such a big thing here. I cannot picture having a 7th ward party with everyone dancing to a mariachi band. We'll have to start that up when I get back :)

My ponderize scripture is 1 Thessalonians 5:22, "Abstain from all appearance of evil" I really like this scripture and like to be recognized as a representative of Jesus Christ! I love Bolivia and am so grateful for this opportunity to bring others unto Christ. I really had no clue what the mission would be before I came, but I'm so grateful I am experiencing it! :) Have a great week and take up your cross and follow Christ!

Love,

Hermana Park

5 Months!!

(2 emails from Emily today, the one from last week that didn't quite send before she timed out is also included in this email!)

The girl in Senac who is leaving on a mission today for Columbia 

The Greek pizza they always get

Their micro broke

They played volleyball with the zone last week for P-day, some of the sisters from her CCM group are or were there too.

Week Late Whoops! (10/12/15)

Sometimes you get so caught up in life that times goes by faster than you thought possible! Like when you only have an hour and a half to email and are writing the email address when the computer times out! Whoops! Sorry! Here's the email from last week! :)

Things here are wonderful! Bolivia is the bomb, even though it got REALLY cold again this week. The folks here said the cold came from Argentina. So, thanks Aleesha! And shout out to Aleesha on getting her mission call and Justina for getting her call to basically the prettiest place in the world! The mission really is the most fulfilling thing there is. Its like eating a baconator and getting to the middle with bacon and more bacon. And wow bacon. Maybe its because its before lunch right now or that in my mission we cant eat bacon, but someone eat some bacon for me!

Things are GREAT with Hermana Petroff from Utah! She is so fun and we work really well together! I love her and am grateful for her!

Last night we were walking home and we saw an old man with a stick waving it in the air and hissing. hahaha What can ya do. But thanks mom for sending me mashed potatoes because on a cold night in Tabladita, mashed potatoes are great! :)

I got to have my first exchanges this week with the one and only Hermana McDonald from the mtc. It was so fun and we were able to learn so much from each other! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to learn from the other hermanas in the zone. :)

Update on Diego, his contract ended. He told us he found one in our area. Then found a better price in Senac, not realizing that we can't teach him there anymore. So, that's life. What can you do. Sometimes things don't work out as your planned, but God knows. He has a plan. So everything is okay :)

The mission is beautiful and there are miracles every day! We found a family and the husband has a problem with drinking. He did sooo good then last night he drank. He was so upset than he failed us so we explained the Atonement, and that we are NEVER too far gone. Our Savior will never abandon us. He loves us and will be there to catch us when we fall and help us back up and get us back on the path! Never lose the faith.

 My ponderize scripture this week is Alma 29:14. :) Joy in the successes of others!

I love you all so much!

Love Hermana Park

5 Months!  (10/19/15)

Yesterday in lunch, the members were all talking about this show that they all love here in Bolivia, and we figured it out. Turns out it's Little House on the Prarie. hahaha Who would've thought! haha

We have been trying really hard to get more less active members and just really members back at church. Last week we had 109 people at church because it was cold. It was raining on Saturday night and our investigators said that they didnt know if they could go and take their kids out of it was raining the next day again. So we prayed! Sunday morning brought SUNSHINE. And there were 156 people there. This Sunday the stake president said was the biggest Sunday to know if we would be able to make another stake in Tarija! I'll keep yall updated, but the odds are looking good and the family came. The first time for the mom, and the dad's 7th week at church. :)

Today is 5 months here in the mission, otherwise known as the best place there is to be. So here are 5 fun things that happened this week:

1. a girl was wearing a shirt that said "Be the person your dog thinks you are"

2. our investigator was wearing a jersey that said "Idaho Falls Parks and Rec."

3. Page 31 of the October Liahona has a family home evening in Bolivia! :)

4. I have been working really hard on my Spanish and have seen that Spirit filled my mouth with words to say about the Atonement to our investigator who drank again this weekend.

5. I got to hold a baby black kitten. (Hi Scout)

Things are WONDERFUL. Truly amazing here in Bolivia. I am so grateful every day for this time that I have to be here doing the best thing there is to do for me right now :) I am learning so much and learning more about the life of the Savior. I really thought about the saying What would Jesus do? and really thought about it. Whenever I get upset, discouraged, tired, I think, really, if this was the life of Jesus Christ, what would He do? We can all choose to follow the Savior and His example for us :) For those who have some free time, I'd suggest reading Jesus the Christ. You won't regret it. OH and read your Book of Mormon too. :)

I love you all and so does Jesus Christ!

Love, Hermana Park

Photo: On the roof this very morning with new companion Hermana Petroff

I love roller coasters!

Foto del Consejo de Hermanas!! Zona Guasalquivir

Well ladies and gentlemen, the time came early this transfer and the angel of emergency transfers fell upon me.

Here's a little history of my mission. The hermanas can only go to Santa Cruz or Tarija. There are many other areas that are small that only Elders go to. In the past these areas have been open to hermanas, but have been closed for about a year. Also, my ward in Tabladita is the only one in my zone with 2 sets of hermanas and 1 set of Elders. All others are 1 and 1. So I knew that they'd be bound to close up an  area, but I thought it would've been in the last transfer. So, they re-opened an area for hermanas in Bermejo, and this morning my companion, Hermana Padilla, went to Bermejo! Along with another sister from Santa Cruz, my first trainer Hermana Rivera (who only has a transfer and a half left of her mission!), and another hermana from our zone. And they closed the other zone of the hermanas, and Hermana Paz is in Senac now. Confusing enough? haha So my new companion is Hermana Petroff from Layton, Utah. She has 7 months in the mission and has been in Tabladita for 2 weeks. So we're going to split her area with the Elders and see a whole lot more miracles! :)So if that wasn't enough for you, Hermana Petroff and Hermana Paz were the sister leaders for the zone. Which means they go to Santa Cruz for meetings with Presidente and the zone leaders and have day long transfers with the other hermanas of the zone. But since Hermana Paz is going to be finishing up the training for Hermana Rivera, Hermana Petroff is still the hermana leader. And since I am her companion,  that makes me the other.

I remember when Meghan Hintze emailed me and told me I would love my mission but to hold on because it's a roller coaster! And was that not the truest thing I have ever heard! HahaI really enjoyed conference yesterday with the new Apostles who talked about how the Lord qualifies whom He calls. I am not at all qualified to be in charge of the hermanas in my zone, but I know that my calling is from the Lord Jesus Christ and I am ready and willing to do it! It's going to be crazy, but I found a scripture I really like in Doctrine and Covenants 122:7,9 "Know thou, my (daughter), that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. Therefore, hold on."We also had a GREAT lesson this week with our investigator Diego. The hermanas in my area have been teaching him for a long time, and so I was persistent to keep him. So we've been working hard. But things were getting hard. So I asked a friend on a mission in Chile for suggestions and he told me that we should have the lessons in the church. So we did. We went to the church instead of his room, and we went into the area with the font and opened the doors. When we opened the doors to the font that was the strongest I have ever felt the Spirit in my life! We left the room to get the TV and came back and Diego was just looking at himself in the mirror of the font. We watched the Restoration video with an Hermana from the ward and the Bishop. We have watched this video with him before, he has seen it over 5 times already, but this time was different. The Spirit was so strong that there was no way to deny it. During his closing prayer we kneeled, like always, and had him pray specifically, like always. But this was the first time he didn't ask to know if this was the correct church but he prayed and asked to help him be baptized in this church one day. This is why I'm here. This makes everything worth it.

I LOVE my mission. There are hard times, but I'm holding on. I am keeping my arms and legs securely fastened inside of the vehicle and experiencing a lot of loops, but it's actually really fun and I wouldn't trade this for anything! Hurrah for Israel.
Love, Hermana Park

P.S. We went to get ice cream last Monday and there were giant (tall) guys and that's just really rare to see here in Tarija! And being who I am, I decided to leave middle school and asked one of the guys where they were from. They were the basketball team for Bolivia!  There was one from the Virgin Islands, one from Serbia, and one named Howard from Charlotte, North Carolina! Who would've thought I would meet the Bolivian basketball team. haha Who even knew they had one!

For General conference..we actually weren't able to watch the Saturday sessionin English, and only saw the last few talks in the morning session because the connection wasn't working on lds.org, but luckily byutv.org worked! But we watched Sunday in English in the kitchen with 17 missionaries! haha it was SO GOOD. I love the new apostles already. And SHOUT OUT BYUI KIM B! hahaha Hermana Quackenbush and I were SO HAPPY to see our old President in conference!