Así es la vida

Our companion exchange with Hermana Canales and all she wanted was fries. That is an offer that I can´t refuse.

one of our investigators Elfi! 

Hermana activity at some historical museum and the lady yelled at me for eating cookies.

SUUUUUUNNNNNNN 

We got WAY excited about the salt water taffy and I tore the bag open without realizing it was a ziploc! haha 

from our special vip room we ate lunch in because Magui fed all the Taxi drivers and they decided to watch a movie! 

This week I learned that the Atonement covers disappointments. 

What a fun way to start an email! haha But Leonardo all of the sudden had to MOVE, then right after we got a message from our cute investigator Mariana telling us to never return for no reason. But one of my favorite phrases is Así es la vida, or that´s life! But what I also learned is that how can I testify or teach something that I have never experienced. After all of this, we got on a bus to go to an appointment and I decided to sit by a woman named Katharine. I started up the conversation and our small talk turned into how she has blamed God for some things that have happened lately. She cried and I was able to bear her my witness that He loves her because He put me on that bus in that moment. I was surprised that the words of comfort spilling out of my mouth! We both ended smiling and I committed her to trust in Christ and His Atonement. His Atonement is infinite and perfect. I´m thankful for all the things that led me here. :) Bolivia is a land full of hard working people that I love. 

Leonardo came to church again yesterday and his been telling everyone about his baptism this Saturday. I have no idea what´s going to happen but the ward mission leader Manuel is SET on baptizing him. If Heavenly Father wants it to happen, it will. We were able to teach the younger brother and cousin on Mariela and Valeria yesterday. They are both 9 and just mesmerized by the Book of Mormon. They love primary too! Sebastian and Jesús! 

We are also teaching other people. It´s not like there´s no one. haha but I´ll talk about them all next week! :)

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Hermana Park

Then we were excited for him! I´m talking boys basketball, we´re down by 2 in double overtime and we make a 3 excited.

We really, but I mean REALLY love empanadas con queso with powdered sugar on top

The sun came out, I took off my tights, yay for a sunny day in Santa Cruz! :)

Tuesday night at 9:30 we got a call that the next morning we would have our last conference with Presidente and Hermana Willard at 9 am! The conference turned into surprise final interviews with Presidente where he called us out of the conference by companionships. One part of what he said was, ¨You know, Hermana Park, little Emily Jr. is watching you right now and she is so proud of you.¨  

We were visiting a family and they said that they were happy about the outcome of the Bolivia vs Chile soccer game…because even though we lost, 2-1, we scored a goal! I love that outlook they have. Things might not work out the way we had hoped, but Heavenly Father does not cease to bless us. 

Yesterday in church, Betty, Leo, and Diana, Sofia, Beatriz, and Leonardo all came! We were a just a little happy to see them all there... In Gospel Principles, Manuel was teaching about the things we need to do to enter into the Celestial Kingdom, and Leonardo was answering every question and commenting like he had been a member his whole life. After the class, Manuel pulled us and him aside and told Leonardo, ¨You are really special Leonardo and I want to baptize you this month. Hermanas what day?¨ I said the 25th and Leonardo said he didn´t feel ready yet. Manuel reassured him by saying that he will keep receiving the lessons from us and keep learning, but will be ready by this day to enter into a convenant with God and Leonardo accepted by saying, ¨Okay! It´s a commitment!¨ We also gave him a Book of Mormon to read and he smiled and said, ¨Wow, really! It´s for me??¨ I have never seen someone so excited. Then we were excited for him! I´m talking boys basketball, we´re down by 2 in double overtime and we make a 3 excited. The Church is incredible. 

Everyone else is coming along as well! :) 

Happy birthday Adam, and happy Father´s Day to all this weekend! 

I love you all and hope with all my heart that everyone enjoys the sun as much as I am right now. The Church is true and I have never been more excited to be serving the Lord in Bolivia!!

Love, 

Hermana Park

PS Elder Owen from Marisa´s ward in Arkansas is now in my zone! 

Sorry there´s just one picture! We´ve been a little busy preaching the gospel ;)

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

Tango gozo en mi alma

Helllooo what an extremely quick week this was!

This week is the 6 de Agosto! Like the 4th of July here! They are having a huge stake festival and fingers crossed we get to go for at least lunch, because, well, our pentionista will be there. hahaha And she's from Paraguay so her food isn't Bolivian and it's good though! I just pretend my really creamy mashed potatoes were made with butter, not mayo! hahahahha Holy - is mayo a thing here. hahaha

Oh, so we found the band. Have yet to see them march. But I did march down the street to the beat because I'm just really a band geek at heart. But they're a bunch of elementary school kids!! And we figured out I heard her wrong when she said the band is with the "catolicos"... she said "collegio", or the school. hahahahahahahhaha hey! Its close! haha

Things here are really good! Getting better everyday! The hike was so fun and I hope that everyone looked up that Cristo Te Ama mountain in Tabladita in Tarija, Bolivia because the fact that we made it to the top is really impressive. hahaha It was really fun! The members are really nice! On the day of Steven's wedding I bought a big chocolate cake (40 Bolivianos or like 6 dollars!!) And we celebrated. We also made tacos one night, just for fun. hahahha Things are wonderful. I love it! I've never known that this gospel is more true.

I hope everyone remembers how loved they are and that they truly never are alone because Christ has felt everything and Heavenly Father knows and loves us perfectly. Don't forget to pray!!

Love,

Hermana Park!

http://www.boliviabella.com/independence-day.html



This is an excerpt from a letter to Aunt Peggy with a little bit of Hermana Park's daily schedule:

Wake up! Companion and personal prayer. Do exercise! We started running around the neighborhood this week! So that has been fun! Get ready for the day!
8 am Personal study!
9 am Companion study!
10 am We either go out to an appointment and come back and do language
study, or do "12 Weeks", which is a program where we watch videos and
read scriptures and practice teaching for the first 12 weeks of the
mission!
1pm Lunch at the pentionistas! She is a member from the ward and is
from Paraguay! so the food is a little different than other Bolivian
food, but its good!
2pm-9 pm Go to appointments, visit people, contact on the street!
Sometime in there we come back to the apartment and make a sandwich or
something if we have some free time! Then be back by 9 unless we are
in an appointment, then back by 9:30!
9-10:30 pm Plan for the next day, get ready for bed! Make another
sandwich! haha have companion and personal prayer, then in bed and
lights out by 10:30!!

Things here are good! We have a progressing investigator named
Vicente! He's around 50 I think and is loving going to church and
activities! So that's really special! Everything here is great! It's
basically the same as there! Same truth! We always have references,
but its hard to find them. "Maria Sanchez" is hard to find because
everyone here is Maria. hahahaha!

Emergency Transfers!

                                            Getting on the plane on the tarmac, woo hoo!

QUITE THE WEEK.

We had emergency transfers on Friday morning!! I was eating breakfast and we got the call that I was going to Tabladita and so I hurried and packed everything up and said goodbye to my Hermana Rivera and hello to my new companion, Hermana Holden, from Utah! She is almost done with her mission so very fluent in Spanish. So that is VERY HELPFUL. She is very sweet and patient with me, because she's been in my shoes! Also, my new area is beautiful! It's in the mountains and today we are actually hiking the Cristo montaña. which sounds like Christa Montaño. haha

Also, my new apartment has hot water, woohoo!, and I live with another companionship...HERMANA HIGHAM so what a party that is. hahahaha We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches last night and it was the best thing ever. The little things. 

There is a marching band we can hear at nights sometimes in Tabladita and she said she thinks it has something to do with the Catholic church! Sure is no Rachmaninov! haha

For pioneer day they had a big stake activity, that we couldn't go to, but we got to see a video! And every ward dressed up like cowboys, or pioneers, and danced around. It's bigger here than in Idaho!

haha

Everything here is great! It was sad to see my Senac ward on Sunday since we are in the same building! I miss them!! But excited to be here in Tabladita!! Life is great! It's warming up! I am perfecting my scrambled eggs. Really, things are too good to be true.

Thanks everyone for allll of the love and support! You all are the bomb.edu. Read your scriptures. Especially in Moroni 7 where there is a good part about deciding if something is from God or not. Very interesting! I love you all! Someone reading this go eat chic-fil-a!

hahaha

With all my love,

Hermana Park

Welcome to Bolivia, Welcome to Bolivia, We've Been Waiting For You!

 Her companion/trainer from Honduras 

 District with their teacher just before leaving the CCM

What a week! Let me start in chronological order to make you wait even longer to hear about Bolivia!

On my last Saturday at the CCM, I got hit in the face with a soccer ball. hahahaha Then while running I tripped out of bounds and fell into the net. So I stopped playing because I thought it was probably Heavenly Father telling me it was time to stop.  No major damage! Only a little scrape on my hand. 

We left Peru at 6 am and were in the airport waiting to get through for at least 3.5 hours.  Paid for our other bag (which we will be reimbursed for) then headed off JUST IN TIME to catch the bus to the plane. (weird) We arrived and it was raining! A nice welcome since there was never rain in Peru! there were SO MANY ELDERS there to greet us. And some spoke English! yay! haha They took our bags and then we got on a really nice bus to go to the mission office and Presidente's extremely nice apartment! On the way there they were explaining things in Spanish then English. The American Elder yelled "Gringos!  Try to understand this and said (in Spanish) that we were going to eat pizza. and the entire bus was screaming. hahahahha We had pizza at the Willard's apartment and took pictures. Then did some paperwork at the mission office and had interviews. Then we went to dinner! THEN we all went to stay in a hotel! Surprisingly nice! I was in a room with Hermana Q. and we had a fun time! :) 

The next morning we did immigration things and fingerprints. Then we went to the church, got our trainers, had lunch, had some training, then left! I am in Tarija! Hermanas can go to Santa Cruz or Tarija! And here I am! We flew from Santa Cruz to Cochabamba to Tarija and arrived around 11 pm. And I got a nice reminder of my motion sickness days. It was a lovely time of trying not to throw up. hahahaha

My trainer is Hermana R. from Honduras. She speaks little English so this is a fun time of miscommunication.  My Spanish is improving! The first day someone asked my name and I said Hermana Park and they said Oh sorry. I don't speak English. hahahahahahha! At least in my ward and district there is another North American elder! So I'm not the only one! 

Church was a whole new experience. There were stray dogs lying around. Just listening. hahaha Then they made me bear my testimony and it was so good that someone asked me after if I was from Ohio or Alaska... Idaho. I said Idaho. haha It was pretty easy to fast seeing that..THERE IS NO DINNER HERE. a light breakfast, then we go to our lady (I forgot the name for it..) and she makes us lunch, every day. She is the Bishop's wife. We eat lunch with their family. I don't do a whole lotta talking. haha when they talk to me its very loud and slow! Yesterday they pulled up that Mormon Message called "Reclaimed" because it talks about Idaho Falls. They asked if that's were I was from and I said yes! Thats Idaho! Then they showed the lovely Idaho Falls temple! Very fun! They give me SO MUCH RICE. I'm glad the in the health meeting at the CCM they said don't feel bad about not eating all the food because they are paid by the church to serve you. Whew! Because picture an entire plate full of white rice. Sorry Adam. I think you will forever beat me at our steak eating contest! haha! 

Oh and ya know, I've never been to a ward council, but I think this one here takes the cake. Lots of slurred, fast Spanish. A dog sleeping across 2 people's laps. The bishopric all drives motorcycles. hahah Glad the English speaking Elder was there because he translated 2 things for me. 1. The 1st counselor yelled "Let's go burn his house down!" haha the second "Lets have Hermana Park and the Elder hand out money next week because they're {Americans}," hahahahahahahahahaha where even am I? haha

It's been a good week! EXTREMELY cold though! It's probably only like 40 or 50 but just being outside all day makes it pretty chilly. They weren't kidding when they call this winter! haha I'm sure Ill miss this once summer comes! I love you all! 

Love, Hermana Park!

I Am His Daughter

Since this is the week without a p-day, here is the photo received from the mission home after her arrival in Bolivia on Tuesday, June 30 with President and Sister Willard.  

There is also a video below that was made by a missionary mom with lovely music, and lovely sister missionaries - including a photo of Hermana Park and her Peru CCM district outside the Lima Temple (at 6:35).