E-mail 35: March 13, 2017. 8 Months down...16 to go. Time is going crazy, crazy, crazy fast!

So today marks 8 months here in Colombia. It is crazy to think where the time has gone, it has been crazy fast. This week we had some awesome things happen.

This week we went on interchanges with the Assistants and i was able to see my old companion Elder Henline. That guy was such a stud and really helped us understand the importance of keeping commitments, and how we can help our investigators really repent and feel the Spirit. I am so grateful for these awesome leaders that I have here in the mission to learn from.

This week went pretty well. We found 21 new investigators this week which I have never done before, but unfortunately only 2 of them went to church. But we also witnessed a miracle. We have been teaching a less active husband and his wife for about a month and the wife has only gone to church once. This Sunday they both went! It was such an accomplishment. I was honestly shocked to see him come in, we had talked to him the night before and he seemed really tired and we didn't think he would come. But it was so cool to see him come in with his little baby, and his wife, who has been reading the scriptures really well these past couple of weeks. It made me think, that as a missionary, really when we work and are obedient, we are able to see these tiny miracles from the Lord. This guy is starting to change and the best thing is that he loves his family. He is a tatoo artist for a living and to change this would require a lot of faith. But he said, I don't want my little girl following in my example. And for that reason I am going to change. I am so grateful for the Lord allowing me to witness this little miracle here in Neiva.

Also a little side note. Our investigator is amazing! She went to church all by herself, her husband wasn't feeling well in a downpour and she was sick. We were in the Gospel Principles class and she started telling us all about Nephi and what a great example he is for us with obedience. If all goes well, she and her husband should be baptized in 3 weeks.

Friends and family, thank you for all your support these past 8 months. There is honestly no other place I would rather be, inviting people to change their lives and receive the greatest blessings the Lord has to offer. I love you all so much,

Elder Parson

Pictures of me and my former companion

Playing Paintball on P-day (Preparation Day)

Making pancakes out of cookie dough mix -- heavenly!!!

E-mail 34: March 6, 2017

This week was one of the best and hardest weeks of my mission. To start off, we had training with my Presidente this week, who is such a stud. I learn so much from him. He told us that the blessings always come to those who are righteous. Even if we can't see them right now, we are always laying them up in heaven. This week we also had the opportunity to help some members move, Colombian style. This basically means you get a truck, and just throw all the things you can on top of the bed, and then just hope that the truck can move. It was quite a crazy experience and I am sure right now I can move anything. 

Now, onto the reasons this week was hard. We have been finding a fair amount of people this week, but most of them are unwilling to commit to anything more than reading a folleto. We have passed and passed for our investigators, inviting them to church, and they haven't gone. We have talked to a lot of people, and many didn't want anything, or the worst, they want somehting but there isn't a guy in there house so we can'tenter. But, enough complaining. While we were contacting, I was thinking a lot about coming home. Not being trunky, but just what it would mean to take off the plaque. It will be way sad. I am not the best missionary, I lack a lot, but with this plaque I can do 2 incredible things. I can invite others to change their lives and I can promise them blessings in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Nothing is better. I am here to help others to come to Christ. While sometimes I don't see the results, Christ as well didn't have everyone in his church. And there is nothing better than seeing the lives of these people change. That is why I am here on a mission.  As long as I serve with all my heart, leaving any type of laziness or disobedience aside, and tryihng my best, I feel like I can say I am completing my calling. I am so grateful for the opportunity to dedicate 2 years of my life to this great calling. And I thank all of you who have led me and helped me to make this decision. 

Well, time for me to go. I love you all so much,

Elder Parson

and once again I have no pictures because.......... Colombian computers.

ciao

E-mail 33: February 27, 2017. Faith During A Massive Rainstorm in Neiva

Wow, everyone, it feels like I was just writing you guys, the mission just is going by way too fast. This email will be pretty short, but it has been a good week. 

Number one, the investigators Jose and Sonia have finally put a date for marriage and they are so ready for baptism. They invited us to their birthday party and it was so cool.  We were able to contact his son as well. 

Also we are still having a good time with the Las Palmas Ward.  I love them so much. I just want to share a quick story.

So this week, right before Sunday, there was a massive rainstorm.  It is hilly here and and some people can't get to church.  We had no investigators at Sacrament Meeting which was really sad.  I was giving them excuses, that in Colombia if it rains, and if it is muddy, it is really difficult to get to church.  I was just thinking about this at church when I saw Hermana Lilliana walk into church. She is a convert of seven years and is eighty years old. She walked to church in the rain, two miles from the chapel, without any excuse. This is the types of faith that I need to have.  That no matter what, the Lord will help us keep His commandments--look at 1 Nephi 17:3:

"And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."

So yeah, that is it for the weekly email.  I apologize for the shortness, but I hope all goes well, and that you know how much I love you.

Keep enjoying the cold!

Love,

 Elder Parson

E-mail 32: February 20, 2017. Living the dream.

Hola mi familia, como estas?

Well this week went by way too fast, but it was awesome. And not to mention I almost have a month with my companion, which I haven't had in a very long time. But as always, I am living the dream.

This week we have been working very hard with our investigators to get them baptized this month. We have an amazing couple that are so close to being married. They want to be baptized and I am amazed by the faith they have. We taught them the Word of Wisdom and they began to tell us how much they like a little bit of wine, and some tea. We tried to explain the principles about living this commandment, but they still didn't sound to sure. We asked them to live the commandment and they said "Well if this is what we need to do to be baptized, we will live it".  I was so shocked, but so happy. 

Also we witnessed a miracle this week. We were walking home after a kinda disappointing day.  We hadn't found a new investigator at that point and we had just given kinda a frank lesson with another investigator. I was feeling depressed and then as we were walking a lady said, "You are the Elderes, right?"  We said "Yes", and she proceeded to tell us that she was baptized 20 years ago but hasn't attended since. We were able to teach her and also her sobrino (her nephew).  The sobrino was way interested and then we were able to teach his entire family. And now they all have a baptismal day, want us to come back and want to come to church on Sunday. What a miracle. Also we have a less active that has come to church for the past 2 months and wants to get reactivated and baptize his son.

I have been so blessed with the opportunity to be in this ward, they are incredible, but more importantly, to serve the Lord as his representative here in Neiva. I have really felt the power of His love this week.  I have really been trying to focus and fix my weaknesses in hope that as I improve, my investigators will improve as well.  The faster I leave my weaknesses and disabilities, the more I am able to help my investigators. 

I love you all.  Have a great week

A local iguana

Missionaries serving in Neiva

Lunch with an awesome family

Neiva, Colombia

E-mail 31: February 13, 2017

This week went by crazy fast, I really don't remember what has happened this week, but it went good. We had a difficult week, we weren't able to have a lot of people at church. But we did have one miracle this week. We have been trying for months to help this couple get married and we have been trying and trying and trying. But we were sitting in ward council this week and one guy said, "it is our job to help these people get married. They want to be baptized" and he offered to pay for a third of the matrimonio. This is incredible, this is the love of God. I was able to give a talk this week and really, sharing the gospel comes down to love. Living the gospel is love and this is why we are here, to bring others to Christ in any way possible. 

I love you guys so much.  I apologize for this email, but really, I do love you.

siempre pensando en vosotros,

Elder Parson

I'm sorry, I can't send pictures right now.

E-mail 30: February 6, 2017.

So for the first time in 3 months, I get to keep my same comp! I am so happy for this. He is such a stud, and has been through some difficult things in his life, but I am learning so much from him. And it also helps that we are having a blast in this ward.

So this week it was crazy. We received 11 references from the ward, which I have never had in all my mission. It is so fun to be with these members, because we can be really frank with them. In Ward Council we say "so this week we have been asking for referencias, and we need some more, so what is your homework for this week" it is kinda harsh, but we are doing well. Also we had a fair amount of people come to church even though they didn't show up for the Santa Cena (sacrament). Right now we have a lot of people progressing towards baptism, Jose and Sonia are doing well, they just need to raise money to get married so they can be baptized.  We also have two kids, Steven and John, who are preparing for baptism, we just need to get their parents on track.  And two other families are investigating as well.  The Lord is really helping us with success.

Also were able to spend a few days with an awesome returned missionary, Faiver Gonzales, who is visiting from Utah.   We had pancakes for breakfast and spent the entire day with him.  I love these awesome people!

Thank you for all your prayers and support.  I really am loving the mission. While I miss my family, there is nothing better than being in the service of the Lord.  To end, I would just like to pass along a quote from someone in my zone, 

"Who you are is the greatest gift God gave you...

who you become is your greatest gift to God".

´

I love you all, and more importantly, God loves you with every fiber of His being, which is the universe.

Have a great week.

Elder Parson

Elder Parson, Elder Thompson and friends in Neiva, Colombia.

Elder Parson, Elder Thompson and friends with Faiver Gonzales and friends.  Neiva, Colombia.

Enjoying a pancake breakfast with Faiver Gonzales.  Neiva, Colombia.

E-mail 29: January 30, 2017. Seven investigators attended church.

Well this week went awesome and I have a ton to write.  As you guys know, there is never enough time. But this week was great, but my dad would like me to write a little bit about my daily schedule, and only because it is his BIRTHDAY this week, I will comply with him. JK, dad, I love you and happy birthday!

My daily schedule is wake up at 6:30, workout, eat, and shower for the day. At 8 we start our studies: personal, companionship and language.  At 11 we leave to work. We have actually been having lessons for the morning, so at 12:30 we go to lunch. After lunch, from about 1:30 to 3:30, we are contacting or knocking doors for most of this time. After that, it is quite busy.  We are in lessons with investigators and with members for most of the night. We do walk quite a bit, there aren't buses here very often and sometimes the citas are about 1 to 2 miles from each other, so we end up walking  a fair amount. Here we actually don't eat dinner because there is just to much to do.  So when we get back to the house at 9:15, normally after a lesson, we plan till about 9:45 and then we make a quick snack.

But this week I want to focus on our investigators. The Lord really blessed us this week. For some reason, this week I didn't feel like I was on top of my game, I felt that I was lacking. We have a lot of investigators that we are teaching but are not progressing. But this week I decided to fast. And wow, did the blessings come. We had one family that we are teaching come to church--a single mom and her 3 kids, and they are reading the Book of Mormon and progressing so well. They have a baptismal date for the 18th. Then we had some contacts that have been coming to church for the past two weeks and they want to get married. And that never happens.  Here in Colombia there are people that have been together for 35 years and still don't want to get married to each other. Then we had some menos activos come to church and their son isn't a member, and we have been able to teach him. It has been such a great week. We had 7 investigators come to church which I have never had happen in all my mission. It was such a blessing and I am so grateful for the opportunity to fast. It is always really hard, but when we put God's will before our own, the blessings always come. 

Although this week was definitely hard, I don't know why I felt so off.  I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can change my bad desires and become better. I can become a better son of God. And there is no better place to improve than in Neiva, Huila, Colombia. 

I hope you all have a great day and can feel of the love your savior has for you.

quë estén bién y tengan una fantastica semana.

Love,

Elder Parson.

Enjoying American food.

Elder Thompson and Elder Parson enjoying American food.

Elder Thompson and Elder Parson

Missionaries in the Zone.

Elder Thompson and Elder Parson with Gospel Principles class members in Neiva Ward.

American food stash.

Drowsy Elder Parson.