Patience

I love Santa Cruz.

Wednesday we all got in a little bus to go to the zoo, I was chosen to sit at the front facing everyone because there werent enough seats (seat belts dont really exist here) Our drivers, 2 members from Jardìn del Sur ward, started playing reggueton (worldly pop south american music) and we asked if anyone had a usb with music. The Elders told the hna with her usb to hide it so they could keep listening to worldly music. We have been studying Alma 41:10 and Hna Cayambe and I made a plan to put in the music, because I was closest. And it came to pass that the Elders had to put up with EFY and motab all the way to the North Mission. Until we got a flat tire, luckily right as we got there at 1. It was raining pretty hard and they were going to close at 2. Elder Lozano who had already been to the zoo was our guide as we ran through every site trying to coax the animals to come out in the rain. We saw a tiger.

Out of nowhere Hna Cayambe got a migraine Thursday during the district meeting. Hna Monar was sick too, so the 2 of them went off to the hospital together. So I was able to go on a few companion exchanges with my Trompillo companion I live with Hna Alvarez. One of the great miracles we saw was with Monica! She has found so much peace in reading the Book of Mormon and wants to get baptized! She accepted a baptismal date! (in the pics she is with her aunt who`s in a wheelchair) Later in the week, we were in the house because Hna Cayambe`s medicine makes her really tired and a little dillusional, and Hortencia called at 8:15 pm. She said, ¨Hermanas! Where are you? Im waiting for you!¨ I told her we wouldnt be able to go, it was late, we were far, etc and she said, ¨No! Please come right now!¨ Hna Aspiazu (another hna I live with) was there with me because her companion went out to visit with Hna Alvarez. We looked at eachother and said, ¨WE`RE ON OUR WAY!¨ We took a bus and made it there to find that she had made us a big dinner! She was so excited because it was the first time she could invite us something to eat. We talked to her about the blessings she received from going to church last week, and she said that she`ll keep coming. She came yesterday and stayed the whoe 3 hours even though she has visitors waiting for her. The Lord is so happy with her!

I learned a great lesson on patience this week. Hna Cayambe couldnt leave her light-blocked-out room because the light makes her migraines worse. Last night about 8 pm she kept coming out and eating things that do not mix well with her medicine so I tag-teamed with Hna Alvarez to coax her back into her room to sleep and drink more water! All of the sudden she came running out laughing and said that she found her broken glasses in her bed. Shout out to every mom who has ever been in this position where you want to be upset but has had to breathe and say that everything will be okay. Christ strengthens us.

I love you all!

Hna Park

Bienvenida dìa santo!

The Relief Society Pres. from Guaracal, the neighboring ward, who made me a card because I had companion exchanges with Hna Alvarez and she accompanied us.

Group activity!

 the "Z" family made us fried chicken and we taught them about the Plan of Salvation.

17 months

Do you know who wrote the 10 commandments and how they were written?

The "Z" family told us they couldn`t come to church because they decided to sell food Sunday morning.Que va a hacer. So we passed by last night and Jorge told us that they lost money and decided that it`s a really bad idea to work on Sundays. His reasoning was because everyone goes to the countryside and no one is in town, but overlooked the reasoning that it`s a commandment from God. This week I came to realize that God wrote the 10 commandments with his finger. The longest commandment is to keep the Sabbath Day holy. He took the time to write 4 verses specifically on this commandment. If He took that time, it`s a pretty important commandment.

Yesterday during Sacrament meeting the Elders called me over and said, ¨Hermana Park. Did you know you are giving a talk?¨ ¨No.¨ ¨Well you`re giving a talk.¨ I had the short time of the youth speaker to ponder on what to say and it came back to my mind what we learned in January in the worldwide missionary transmission: if you don`t know what to say, talk about the Savior. I was able to bear my proud testimony on the Savior and His infinite love as He took everything voluntarily upon Himself, so we don`t have to suffer as much. We can receive His help. As we do our part, try our hardest, humble ourselves, and accept His loving invitation to go to Him, He helps us.

We do our part by keeping the commandments. :)

And more miracles and blessings and things I seriously never have time to write.

I love you all! Keep the Sabbath Day holy and send God a sign of your love by your actions this Sunday!!

Hermana Park

Random things:

This week has been really special! In our zone meeting they surprised us by calling up the other 2 sisters, Hna Monar and Hna Aspiazu who are both leaving with my group, and me to bear our testimonies. Then the wicked zone leaders made us all sing God Be With You Til We Meet Again!

We got the news that we can now eat fish - if it`s fresh!, lettuce - if it`s really clean!, and strawberries - if they were frozen! NEXT WEEK I WILL BE WRITING ON WEDNESDAY BECAUSE WE`RE GOING TO THE ZOO! :)

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