PRAY

HERMANA HOLDEN, my trainer, came to visit!! 

district

Our group hna activity for all the May birthdays

bad elevator pic after

Foto de la Conferencia con Élder Montoya

We had a Mother´s Day ward activity and it was beautiful! We had 2 of our families of investigators come! We are working with the Familia Dávalos and Familia Suárez so that Betty, Eduardo, Leo, and Diana .... and Maria Lenny, Laura, and Pablo can get baptized in June! I'll write more next week, pray for these people!! 

salteñas from the zone for my birthday! 

felicidad

the cake our pensionista Magui made for me!

with Magui! 

the special creamy chicken Magui made me

with hna Alvarez

cake from the Cesari family that they made me! 

After they shoved my face in it!

With them all after! 

with the Cañoto hnas

hahahaha with the cake.

They tried to shove my face in the cake, but it didnt have frosting, backfired! 

the Hermanas from Cañoto we live with came with us! They´re so fun! 

It got cold, so I was finally able to drink my mate. Buen Día is the best brand of weird herbs that you put water and sugar in. 

Valeria´s mom Sofia is one of our investigators. So we ate her delicious lomitos, or beef on french bread!

The Elders showed up at the pensionista´s house, they usually can't eat inside because there aren't men present, but she was feeding all the taxi drivers inside! So they went in and had lessons and ate with them all!...while we waited outside.


with Hna Huber!

I had the best birthday EVER. I was so spoiled. Everyone was incredibly sweet. After emailing, we walked down the road to the store and before we entered, we remembered that we needed to print off pictures to give our recent converts, and put my camera in and the man told me ¨hey, I cant see anything. I dont think your camera works.¨ Aaaannnd the joys of the mission, all 1500 of my videos and pictures are locked in my sandisk...but nothing could get me down on my birthday! 

Then we found 4 stranded kittens and took them to our pensionista, because not only is Magui a world renowned chef, but she takes in animals, feeds them, and gets them up to date with all their shots and gives them out for free. She made me a cake and a special lunch. Then later, The Cesari Family, who got baptized in November, had a special family home evening for me and then after brought out a beautiful cake they had made me! They sang me the special Santa Cruz birthday song ¨Hoy queremos que seas feliz..¨ then shoved my face in the cake (see pics) 

It was the best birthday I have had and I was happier than I have ever been :) (PRAY HARD that these videos of this wont get a virus in the next 6 months so I can show you all!) 

But anyways, enough about me. 

We had a COLD week. Everyone was locked up in their houses. BUT we had so many miracles yesterday! We waited for a micro (bus) FOR 45 MINUTES and it never came. haha But God has a plan, and we had a nice little lesson about the Plan of Salvation with a woman also waiting. Her parents died when she was 9 and her husband died too. I am so lucky to have my family. I know that my family is eternal. I have been carrying around the picture of Steven and Shelby´s wedding everywhere I go to show people my beautiful family that I will have forever.

Love, Hermana Park

¨You are awesome, Hermana Park¨

After the conference with Elder Montoya! (I took a sneak peak in my birthday package and picked out a dress to wear early! Thanks!) 

I tried to pretend I got my ears pierced by putting earrings on and my ear almost fell off from pain haha my body is a temple

The pensionista´s cat named Eldera. She was Elder but then they found out she´s a girl and added an a on the end! Eldera!

An hour ago with my sash that says ¨it´s my birthday!¨

This is a fun birthday message that says ¨happy birthday, eat trash, monkey.¨ 

This is my friend Pedro Leon from Tabladita!! 

an investigator gave us cute lizard key chains!! 

Valeria accompanied us on our visits. Who would´ve thought a 13 year old recent convert of 6 months would have the strongest testimony ever? 

THANKS so much to everyone who made my birthday happier! I am really happy today, and I want to make a goal to make every day like my birthday and have this much happiness and excitement :) 

This morning I got sung to, Hna Alvarez made me crepes, I found out that Tarija was split into 2 stakes now, Stake Tarija and Stake Tabladita, and my inebriated friend Pedro from Tabladita, who always yelled at us from across the street that we are his queens and he loves us, cut his hair and stopped drinking! Could this day get any better? 

Friday, we had a conference with Elder Hugo Montoya! He wanted everyone to participate, and when they did, they had to stand, say their name, and an attribute of their mom. 

He spoke about priesthood keys for a few minutes. He asked a few questions about who holds what keys, and all of us sisters on the front row kept quiet. Then he told us about an experience in Sacrament Meeting where the Bishop told the congregation that during the Sacrament prayers, the whole congregation would kneel. He asked us what we would do. SILENCE. So I shot up and awkwardly said ¨how´s everybody doing?¨ (in Spanish of course) Because it´s nervewracking to talk in front of 12 sister missionaries, 100 Elders, a member of the Seventy, and the mission president and his wife! Then I said, ¨I´m Hermana Park! My mom does everything to help someone else and...I would follow the Bishop because he has the keys to preside over the meeting.¨ Then sat down, out of breath, and a little red. I looked over and President Willard looked at me, smiled, gave me a thumbs up, and whispered, ¨You are awesome Hermana Park!¨

Then Elder Montoya talked about a phrase in Preach My Gospel that says ¨no one else can do this¨ No other church has ALL of the truth and restored priesthood to open the doors to the Celestial Kingdom! And no one else could pay the price for our sins so we could return and live with Heavenly Father, except for Jesus Christ! I may only be 20 years old (and 11 hours) but I KNOW that He is real. He lives. He loves us. He suffered for us. Through Him we can find an undescribable joy that is even better than the birthday joy. Please study your scriptures EVERY DAY and today, as a special birthday present for me, find someone who is having a hard time, and help them! That´s all I could wish for..that you could all make someone smile today! 

I love you all! I can feel your love here in Bolivia! You´re all awesome!

Love, 

the new and improved 20 year old Hermana Park :)

don't stop

Mid Skyping

Another Skype

The sisters and mom of Skype

Hermana Newbold came from Tarija for leadership conference and we had a fun lil 3 hour intercambio! 

in the park this morning on the way here!!

It was so fun to see you all last night! I love my family and am so grateful for temples. We are all sealed together. What greater security and comfort could there be?

¨When was the last time I decided to be happy, rather than demanding to be right?¨ by Linda K Burton has become one of my favorite quotes that I am trying to write upon my heart! This week, we were invited by a family to teach their neighbor who has been less active for years in their house. The less active man came, and his granddaughter tagged along. She´s in her 20´s. But it turned into the granddaughter, from another religion, interrogating us with questions she had printed out. It was like I was in an episode of Criminal Minds in the court room. ¨Hermana, could you show me where in the Bible it says that we will be gods after this life?¨ And I thought, this is a test!! God is testing us! Are we going to freak out, flip through the Bible and have a little bash contest with her? Or not... So I just smiled at her, which made her even madder, and just bore my testimony of the church, the Book of Mormon, etc. Nothing good comes from raising your voice or your temper!

Our investigators are being a bit floja, which means, LAZY. haha Colder weather means more people want to stay in their cozy beds, drinking mate. I mean, I would love to do that too every once in a while, but this life is a time for preparation, not for relaxation. :) 

The Familia Arredondo didnt come to church yesterday because their brother-in-law is sick and came to stay with them, but they are reading their Books of Mormon! One of our investigators hid from us yesterday, ¨But hermana I just saw her and heard her.¨ ¨Why would I lie? She´s not home!¨ haha and the rest are just floating in limbo! But we are working hard and Elder Hugo Montoya is coming to the mission this week! 

Read your Book of Mormon EVERY DAY! 

I love you all!!

Hermana Park

The cold never bothered me anyway

This picture with the hermanas I live with was taken Tuesday morning, the coldest day of the week, when we were all wrapped up in blankets during our morning studies, my lips turned blue, and Hermana Huber took my oxygen levels just to make sure I wasn't going into hypothermia. 

What are the ODDS that I`d get to spend another day with Hermana Petroff in our companion exchange this week! Trompillo was her first area before she came to Tarija and was my companion! I love her!

Our hermana activity last week of eating ice cream! 

Thanks to the cold front sent from Argentina, I drank my first hot chocolate in a while (thanks mom for sending me some in December!!) It got a little chilly, and no one was out and about, but it`s okay! The sun came out yesterday!

A family we are teaching came to church yesterday! We picked up Nicolas, Maria del Carmen, and Carla and hopped in a taxi! For the first time in forever, WE MISSED taking the Sacrament! haha But at least they were there, in church, to hear the testimonies of good people like them just trying to follow Christ. Then I played an awful rendition of We are All Enlisted for the closing song with icicle hands.

Thanks to the cold weather though, we have been getting back into the mate groove. You put a bunch of herbs in a cup, pour some hot water in, and drink it through a filtered straw! I like it better this winter than the last. But things are looking up! And by looking up I mean that my bed is right next to a giant window and I could finally see stars last night! 

I hope all the mothers and mother`s mothers have a happy day and all of those who aren`t mothers but who have helped me grow! And happy birthday dad! I love you all have a great week!! See ya Sunday!!! 

Love, Hermana Park

PS. 

Our apartment is set up so that I am next to a window behind me, and the door is about 10 feet in front of me, but we must have been cleaning with windex because a bird flew in the door this morning, 6 inches away from my head and smacked into the window. Then it flapped its wings on me as I screamed and then it flew back out the door. Thankfully, that is the most scared I have been in the mission.