Hey, let`s go down a different road this time.

I`m going to tell you about the Familia "A".

We were walking one day and the Spirit led us down another route. As we walked, Hna Cayambe with her big sombrero and me in my sunglasses, a man and his daughter approached us. The dad was really happy to embarrass his 18 year old daughter Marìa. He said, ¨She wants to be your friend!¨ He gave us his address and we went the next day. He saw us from the window and came running out to let us in. His daughter Marìa and her sister Marina (17) were holding the door closed! The dad was shoving it open and yelling and well, Hermana Cayambe and I were a bit worried. He got it, told his daughters that we are the kind of friends he wants them to have, and shut the door. We started talking to them, and found out that they have a big family, 3 boys and 3 girls :) and that their oldest brother passed away 4 months ago. We instantly understood why we were there and who changed our route. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation, then returned Saturday and taught the entire family the message. They started to fight about their brother`s death and whose fault it was, so I hummed  ¨Love at Home¨ trying to keep the Spirit there. We then taught them about the Book of Mormon and they quieted down. They were so curious and we left them with the Book to read and they invited us to have lunch with them this week.

If we hadn`t followed the prompting to take a certain road, we wouldn`t have found them. I am completely sure that their brother has accepted the gospel in the Spirit World, they told us that he was very active in his Christian church, and he is just waiting for his family to accept so they can go to the temple. We found the 20 year old brother Alvaro last night, a wreck, because his mom had told him that it`s his fault that his brother died. We gave him his own copy of the Book of Mormon and again, we were led to him by the Spirit, or by his brother. 

I am so grateful to have the gift of the Holy Ghost - and to know how to use it!

Follow a prompting this week. This is just one of the many miracles we`ve seen this week by following the Spirit.

I love you all!!

Love, Hermana Park

Hola hola

A couple weeks ago after our interviews with President, we stopped by the distribution center and I felt the urge to buy a Portuguese Book of Mormon. We were teaching one of our investigators, Chachi, and Hermana Undurraga picked up her brazilian accent and she has been living in Brazil for most of her life! So we shared with her that I had followed the Spirit in buying her a Book of Mormon and she was so touched she almost cried.

We have been looking for a new place to live for 2 weeks now because apparently it`s a rule that there can`t be more than 4 missionaries living in the same apartment. So the  6 of us are rule breakers in this condo we live in! But all we have found are rooms for rent. Bolivia.

After taking our measurements for pants, we got the call from the mission president`s wife saying, ¨The pants are only for new missionaries. Hermana Park wont be receiving pants.¨ How sad is reality.

We had a conference with President Rodriguez all about the Atonement. I had never realized that Christ not only suffered for my sins, but for the sins of murderers. The sins of all who have lived and will yet live. He asked for the cup to be taken, and in this moment, Satan and his followers were saying, ¨Yes! We knew you couldn`t do it. We knew you`d fail.¨ But He finished what He had been sent here to do. He did that because He loves us. And I love Him for doing it.

My pictures aren`t working sorry! But Ana Maria cut about 6 inches off! haha but life goes on. Change is good!

Hermana Park

The world needs sister missionaries and you too!

 Here are all the sisters I live with! You`ll notice my former companion Hermana Petroff, Hermana Cabrera and Hermana Aquino who were in my zone in Tarija, and Hermana Canales who was in my zone in Trompillo (who some of you sweet folks sent letters to!) 

It`s actually surprising to see a tree or bush that is not cut in the shape of an animal.

This was from our sister activity last Monday where we got makeup demonstrated on us from some members in Guaracal as they taught us how to do our own makeup. I said ¨Oh, but I mean, just a little mascara maybe. I like my freckles. Something natural please.¨ Just to please the ladies. But they made me a little heavier on the eyes than I'm used to, my call is always for less makeup and enjoying the skin your in! 

After hearing a whole spiel yesterday in church about how the sisters in Los Olivos should focus on marriage and not have the goal to go on a mission, it came to my mind that the world needs more sister missionaries. We`re not going to downplay the Elders because they are wonderful tools in God's hands! But sisters know how to love. They cry with you. They comfort you. They understand your challenges. They pray for you. They pray with you. If Heavenly Father didn`t want sister missionaries, He wouldn`t have lowered the age. And He wouldn`t have told me I needed to be here.

Ana Maria is going to get baptized next week! (Said Hermana Park with all the faith she has.) So we`re finishing up her training to be completely converted. Artemio came to church yesterday and everyone was SO WELCOMING. They were fighting for who would be the one to go with him to class. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, but is still working to be able to get over his fear of failing God after knowing Him. And we met Hortencia yesterday and the member we were with said that we were here to share a message with her and because she so strongly felt that we needed to. Hortencia cried and told us she had gone to one of our churches and only entered in the doorway when she realized she confused it with another church and said she should`ve entered and we bore testimony that this is her second chance and she accepted to be baptized on September 4th.

The Secretary to Presidente called with what we thought we heard - that Hermana Undurraga had transfers. We almost cried and she yelled, ¨¿QUÈ?¨ But it was tramites, or immigrations! We were the only sister missionaries there at the immigration office, and we took advantage of the 4 hours to talk to 8 people ranging from people from Bolivia to Brazil to Chile to Missouri! Share our testimonies. Give them something to read, be it the Articles of Faith or a pamphlet to increase their faith. And note down their information because no one was from our area. That is something SO EASY that can be done in a plane, in the street, in Green Belt, I dont know where it will be, but God does :) And if you PRAY and then go for it, He will guide you. Because it`s a bit hard for God to use us as His hands if we don`t leave our room. Here`s my challenge, that if all you have to take is your smile and some kind words, GO and be what God wants you and has planned for you to be.

Hermana Park

Pretty sneaky Satan

 This week was national friendship day and Derly, the member of the ward who makes us lunch every day, made us a cake topped with a chocolate banana and sister missionary figurines that Hermana Higham sent her. 

Us with the chocolate bananas we helped her make! It`s like Disney Land!

 I dropped my pen and it fell into the paws of this angry puppy but Hermana Undurraga saved the day with her big stick to hit my pen back out!

Los Olivos is the best. I LOVE it here! So what I forgot to add is that Hermana Undurraga is my adorable companion from Ecuador and she has been here for almost 4 months and is wonderful! I am learning a lot fom her and am really grateful to be her companion. 

Ana Maria came to church yesterday and all of the members were so excited to see her! We have been having a daily contact with her every day, whether it be an actual lesson, reading the Book of Mormon for 10 minutes with her, or just an encouraging note, but we have seen that she is gaining a testimony of the church. She is still preparing for her baptism on August 6th, or the 4th of July here, and all the sisters in the ward want to have a big baptismal service for her! The ward is really great, but we are praying that her kids don`t influence her decision and make her doubt what she has felt.

We are visiting the Rivera Family and last night the mom sat in on the lesson, for the first time in a couple months! Her husband, Nelson, was so excited to tell us that he prayed, because it`s really hard for him to not only remember, but also to really understand the importance of praying. Also, we found a new family, David and Veronica, and they were so excited to hear our message...and then Veronica had to go inside and leave the lesson on their patio and we explained to them that since we didn`t have a member to accompany us, we couldn`t be left alone with David. We didnt make the guidelines. Aaaaand David got super offended, so we`re praying that everything blows over so they can find the truth they are looking for. The ways I have been able to see Satan interfere with the work are incredible. He REALLY doesn`t want these people to know the truth and receive these blessings. But the gospel has more power than Satan and the light always overpowers darkness.

I hope everyone can look for the blessings they receive every day! For example, waiting for Isabel to come out of her house for a lesson, we were looking at the stars and all of the sudden all the lights in the neighborhood went out! We heard everyone within the block scream, because losing power is bad, but we were happy to be able to see the more stars, even if it only lasted for 1 minute. There are tender mercies every day when one can literally hear ¨Now you can see even more stars because I love you.¨ Our Heavenly Father, our God, loves each and every one of us. Even when we don`t feel worthy of that love, it`s still there. Look for it and enjoy it. Like the brand Tommy Bajamas says, make life one long weekend.

The church is true.

Hermana Park

PS They passed out flyers in church yesterday and everyone is really excited that there`s a Spanish quad now.

https://www.lds.org/church/news/printed-version-of-spanish-scriptures-now-available?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_FR_15-7-2016_dCN_fCNWS_xLIDyC-3_

LOS OLIVOS!

I dont like packing

 Last night with the hnas in Trompillo with giant hamburgers that I could only eat 1/4 of! (featuring my overflowing suitcase)

Jesus' baptism (with Hermana Alvarez and her new companion, Hna. Quackenbush)

Hermana Undurraga!

The call came Tuesday and I packed up my 4 transfers of Trompillo, with a few tears, and came to Los Olivos! My companion is Hermana Undurraga from Ecuador. She is extremely adorable and never stops smiling. I already love her! We have been able to find a lot of new families to teach! We live here in a big condo, 6 of us hermanas! The Elders lived here before and so all the door handles are broken and I got locked in the bathroom twice.

Jesus got baptized in Trompillo!

A sweet older lady who is a hair dresser named Ana Maria is preparing to be baptized on August 6th! And a family where only the father from Korea isn't a member was very surprised to know my last name. So we`re hoping that "Park,"  a common name in Korea apparently, can get us in the door with him!

My companion helps me know Christ more just by knowing her.

We are working harder than ever before.

I really love these dirt roads of Los Olivos.

Hna Park