Elder Parson was excited to share that he was notified that he received a full-tuition scholarship to BYU!
So
for the title of this message... after 22 months in the mission one starts to
miss root beer floats. So my companion and I received revelation that Coke with ice cream should be a good combination and it was awesome. It might
be better than root beer floats; I invite you all to try it.
So
this week was good. I would like to start off with what I am grateful
for...
1. I
am grateful that the Lord gives us inspiration on the mission. On Sunday night
my comp felt that we should call an old contact and we did and were able to
teach his family about the Book of Mormon and how we can improve our lives
through repentance. It was incredible.
2. I am grateful for the rain. This week we were caught in some heavy rainstorms
where the roads where turned into rivers by the amount of rain. It was super
fun to go out in the rain and visit people, especially after being in my
mission with 100 to 110 degree weather, it was awesome.
3. For mission leaders. My friend Elder Ostler is my District Leader and he gave
us some great counsel on how to help people complete their commitments by
being sad. We were able to use it a fair amount this week. And on the picture
below is one of my favorite Zone Leaders, Elder Marsh, an amazing elder that
came back to Colombia to visit. I am so grateful for how they've changed my
life.
4. I
am grateful for members. This week we had 4 appointments in 2 hours and we weren't
going to be able to go visit everyone. But I was able to leave with a member
and my comp with another and it was so much fun being able to visit
people.
5.
People who want to change. I honestly believe that humility is so important in
the Gospel and missionary work because it allows the Holy Ghost to work through
people. When people are humble and want to change, their lives begin to become
so peaceful.
6. The opportunity to be a missionary.
I love you all,
hasta
lueguito,
Elder
Parson
From Elder Buhrley (Elder Parson's companion):
This
week was a great one!
Monday-
we played micro (small field turf soccer) for Pday and it was awesome! The
latinos get really mad when they get beat but they just focus too much on
handles and not enough on shooting, it's all good though! So that was really
fun! Then as a zone we went to this super cool restaurant and shared a big meat
platter thing and had piña coladas! (non-alcoholic of course, don't worry mom).
Then later in the night we had an awesome FHE with some less actives and some
investigators!
Tuesday-
Had an awesome district meeting and zone meeting! Our zone/district is awesome.
We're working right now on how to be devastated when our investigators haven't
read the BofM! Then we taught an awesome Restoration lesson to Angela and she
accepted a baptismal date for May 26th! The spirit is always so strong when
teaching the Restoration! The only bummer is when we came back she had just
found out she's pregnant with the son of the Familia Mayoral who's a member. So
that wasn't good but they are planning on getting married so hopefully they do!
Wednesday-
Went over to the Familia Plata for a lunch invite, it was good! They're a super
cool family, we just gotta get them coming to church! Then we contacted for a
while but it was really hard because there was a big game on between Real
Madrid and Bayern Munich so nobody answered their doors! Then we had the
English class at night and played Simon Says in English with them, it was
pretty funny!
Thursday-
Again weekly planning took quite a bit but then again we saw tons of miracles
after! We taught David and Luisa, the brother of one of our investigators
Danny. They're way cool and really want to increase their faith! But they have
a car wash and it's gonna be really tough for them to leave it on Sunday's for
church. But we're hoping and praying they'll make the right choice and be able
to recieve those blessings! Then we did divisions with two brothers in the ward
and me and Mauricio went to a new investigator, Julian, who is really cool and
said he already gave up smoking and drinking a few years ago because he felt
like it was the right thing to do! Then we taught Carolina and her 7 kids that
live with her! They're super awesome and we taught the Restoration!
Friday-
We walked a lot and everyone canceled their citas but we still got in a couple
lessons and got some great contacts! And it rained super hard which was
awesome!
Saturday-
We taught an awesome NI (New Investigator) Aleida and her son Tom! They're
really cool and are really interested in learning more and hopefully will have
the faith to act on their commitments! Then we taught the Word of Wisdom to
Maria Bautista and she's gonna have a tough time giving up coffee because
everyone drinks it here, but she can do it!
Sunday-
We had a conference for all of Colombia and Ecuador! It was streamed from Salt
Lake and we heard from Elder Richard G. Maynes and from President M. Russell
Ballard, it was amazing! We only had one investigator that could come,
Anderson, but it was in a building pretty far away and most people don't have
the money for it. We just have to do everything we can for them and pray hard!
It
was another great week, the Lord's hand is in this work for sure.
