Week 14: October 21th 2013

wow day off on a Monday? that's weird! oooo man as soon as i heard breakfast i was like they probably made egg mcmuffins and hash browns and yep i was right! wow that window well looks nasty!!!! sounds like y'all have been busy for the past little while! well i hope its not too chilly, its gotten colder around her lately, everyone told me that when its cold here its cold but i didn't believe them too much cuz if its not snowing its not cold to me but this morning when we were running it was 40 degrees and my hands were so bone chillingly cold it was crazy! ima have to buy me some gloves. haha right when i read christlike, i was like "chapter 6 Christlike attributes" hahahah. but ooo ya those points in the chapter are amazing! i love studying that chapter! i know that as y'all study it you will learn so much and will get closer to christ!

hey look im a solder now!
haha a man gave me some army stuff. i
 even have a flat jacket!

hahaha when i saw you added me (on facebook) i was like i knew she would fall to the temptation! and i saw you don't have a profile pic on there or stuff like that so i was like, yep all she did was make it and add me hahahaha. well we get on the computers at the church on Sundays when we are doing our online proselyting. my 100 day box was amazing i loved it sooo much! it was perfect. the Book of Mormon was great too! i read through the whole thing that day while my companion did 6 baptismal interviews for some elders in our district!! haha ya i took a pic of the jaw breaker on day one of eating it and it will take a looooong time! wow im going to get fat from all the treats! good thing we have some English elders that live next to us so i can share with them too!!! well its my little brothers birthday!!! of course im going to send him a card! what kind of brother would i be if i didn't get a present for my little brother for his birthday! ooooo sounds like fun! 

well the other day i realized why im soooo glad im in the south. They are true Christians!!!!! the other day me and my companion went to a restaurant of a member friends that we were going to go meet. after we sat down and ordered this lady came over and asked if she could sit down. we said of course she could. she asked us if we were the ones who were always riding around on bikes and we laughed and said ya thats us. she went on saying how much hope it gave everyone knowing that there were people like us going out and sharing the gospel. she was a member of a different church and had different beliefs but we both have the same savior and she knew that. it didn't matter that we weren't members of her church, just that we were going around teaching people of Christ's love. it was amazing it made me so happy that she would stop eating dinner and come talk to us because she recognized our dedication. at the end she said i just want to let you know that im going to be paying for y'alls meal tonight. I dont know who that lady was, and likewise for her and us, but she showed me that it didn't matter what someone believes. we can still serve them and be true Christians! i love y'all and hope you are doing good!

Week 13: October 14th 2013

my fist fiesta! hahah

well at least y'all are going to get snow for winter! haha. Elder Corbin told me that when winter comes all the leaves fall off the tree but that it only snows once or twice a year so I wont be able to see all that beautiful snow on the trees. thats one of my most favorite things, i love winter! and i wont get any snow for Christmas!!!! i told elder corbin if there is no snow im going to go get some ice and crush it on the porch so that i can see some snow for Christmas hahahaha. ya i saw on Facebook!  i was soooo happy!!! are they ranked at all? hey im a witness that after all the tacos and such a pizza every once and again for a Spanish missionary is just fine! so i guess he is going to be an eagle scout then huh? hahah ya its hard to talk about eternal families with people because then i think of mine but at the same time happy because i know that i will be able to live with mine forever! ...... good one.....lol huh?..... hahahah  well thanks for all the letters y'all send me, they are great. and thank you in advance for the package, im excited because every one has been soooo good so far!

well this week has been another great week in the life of the lords servant. there hasn't been any huge things that happen but ive come to realize that just as how the holy ghost confirms truths to us with small things such as feelings or thoughts, the lord has a hand in each of our days if we but look for it. Everyday I write in my journal i can always think of something good that has happened that day. If i look i always find a tender mercy of the lord in my days. The lord loves each of us so much and he wants to bless us as much as he can so that we are happy, the only thing holding him back is ourselves. As we live our lives how we should the lord will bless us. in the beginning of 4th Nephi the people are so blessed and have so many miracles around them, you know why? its because they are so faithful and do everything that the lord wants of them, so he blesses them. I have seen that not only in my life but in the others that I have been teaching and talking to everyday. When we with one of our investigators, its almost like we dont have to ask if they have been keeping there commitments, such as reading the scriptures or praying daily. We can see it in their countenances they just seem happier. As they do all these things and change their lives they are just so much more happy and are able to see the love of god in their own lives. This past week one of the many great families in the great Raeford Spanish branch moved. It was pretty sad and hard to see them go, which scares me for the rest of my mission when i leave certain areas because i will have to say goodbye to so many great and inspiring people. I know that they will all do great without me in their lives however, and the lord needs them to go and bless other people too so ill just have to live with it i guess haha. well thats all for today. I love all of y'all and miss ya so much! read and pray everyday to keep satan away!

Love Elder Park 

Week 12: October 7th 2013

The field is white all ready to harvest :)

conference was amazing!! its true i soaked up a million times more than i ever have! it was sooo great! ya its definitely changed how im going to listen to conference. did you watch the segments in between? there was one about the mexico mtc and i saw my district and i didnt get a close enough look but im pretty sure i was in it. they also showed a meeting that i was in and i tried looking for myself but it went to quick maybe one day ill get to see if i was on there or not! so hopefully y'all recorded it so i can watch it to see. did y'all have egg mcmuffins and hash browns on sunday? that morning i was sitting in the apartment eating cereal and just wishing i could get one of those that i eat every time. i missed those yesterday morning and the arctic circle shakes hahaha.I get why you do that now, i would love to just sit and listen to the conference talks while in the car but we aren't in the car for much time so it would be so scattered and i would get lost. but ya the talks were great and im excited to get the ensign to study the talks more fully!

well i hope you are doing better mom! keep working on the scripture study and keep up the praying! I have seen the blessings of being exactly obedient. thats something that my mission president has stressed with all the missionaries and we are all really good at it. elder corbin said that elder Holland said when he came here last year that we were the most obedient mission. Elder Corbin and I have been doing really good at keeping all the rules and we are blessed because we do so. we are doing really well and finding the lords elect people and teaching amazing lessons. we hopefully will have a few more baptisms coming up soon. well i love y'all so much and miss you tons! I hope y'all have an amazing week and see the tender mercies the lord gives each of us ever day of our lives because he loves us so much.

Elder Park

Week 11: September 30th 2013

Nic's First baptism as a missionary: Jonathan

well the names are Leonardo (dad) Irma (mom) Jonathan (son) and the girls names i don't know. we don't really see them much and you know how good i am with names! that was Elder Tingey he is one of the 4 other elders in the Spanish branch. ya so here is this story well  I had the privilege of baptizing and confirming this boy. When we asked if he would be baptized he said yes and because his father was baptized by my companion the week before, I think somewhat he felt obligated to choose me to baptize him but at the same time he didn't show like that was how it was. he was super excited and so was I!!! it was a bit different in Spanish and I almost forgot it, so i took a second and just prayed in the water and it just came to me and it went great! then after everything and eating this cake that i made he came up and said "so my dad was wondering who would be doing the thing tomorrow?" and we said  "whoever you want" He instantly he said me! and i was just terrified, a baptism was easy because its the same every time but a confirmation? so i tried to tell him that i wasn't too good at Spanish but he just persisted. Until the confirmation the next day i was just praying and praying that the lord would help me and that i would be able to say it all in Spanish. I was so nervous, but i went up there and it went great! I was amazed that i could do the whole thing in Spanish and it wasn't like really quick and done, it was great! I was so glad that he gave me the opportunity to try my faith, because when i did i was surprised at what i could do, and what the lord could help me do when i didn't think i could. Im looking forward to conference tambien!!!!

Ether 12:27 stay strong!!!

Love Elder Park 

Week 10: September 23, 2013

Yeah I’m pretty excited with all that happened. At the baptism a member wasn't able to come so I had to give a talk. And of course completely in Spanish. I was nervous at first but I got a couple little sentences I could say that I didn't know how to say on a little post it note, and I had a few scriptures. When I was up there everything seemed to just make sense and I felt like he was getting it. Later Elder Corbin said “that was the best Spanish I have ever heard you say" that made me so happy! I am getting so much better at pronouncing and reading. I’m even starting to understand the scriptures. They used to make no sense because in them they use a tense that no one ever says unless they are from Spain. So I never hear that used. But everything is starting to make so much more sense than it used to. It’s still really hard to speak but it’s getting easier every day. With a lot of common things and gospel things, I don’t have to translate what they said into English; I just know and understand them in Spanish so that’s really great. So the son of the man that got baptized is going to be baptized this next Saturday and he even asked me if I would do the baptism, IM SO EXCITED!!!!!  I know that as you continually strive to read and pray that the lord will bless you and the family will get so much closer!

Well Thanks for the package!! I'm excited to get it. I love the letters that y'all send. Its nice hearing about your day to day stuff that happens. Ues skittles or M&Ms!!! I'm so excited for conference too!!! Make sure that this time as a family y'all watch as many sessions together as you can. I know that as you do you will be blessed and it will just be great! I love y'all so much and tell everyone I say hi!!! Read 3 nephi 15:9 too it's a good one! 

Elder Park

Nic's First investigator to get baptized

 Elder Corbin, Leonardo and nic