Stay Positive

Hiya!! 

So missionary work is really hard. I heard it a million times before I left but I didn't really understand how hard it can be. This week was really disappointing and frustrating. 

I promised myself before I left that I would be super honest in my letters and not sugar-coat things. So I'm going to talk about the hard times as well as the good. 

I learned something about myself this week. I struggle to have patience and charity with people. We had appointment after appointment fall through this week and I was getting really fed up with our investigators, but I was trying to play it cool. Its no big deal. And then last night we had an appointment in Osgood so we had to drive like 20 minutes to these people's house and they decided to not be home. UGH I was not very happy. 

I started complaining to SIster Latu, "Why are people so unreliable? Why can't they at least call if they can't make it to an appointment?" 

Sister Latu then asked me a very telling question in response. She asked, "Do you love the people we're teaching?"

Wow. I had to think for a second. Do I love our investigators? Or am I so set on accomplishing my own goals that I have forgotten that these are real people we are teaching? 

Needless to say, I decided that my goal for this week is to have more charity. 

So right now we are not teaching as many people as I would like to be and the work has slowed down A LOT. But I feel like my personal growth and testimony has increased ten-fold.

I had a neat experience while praying one morning this week. I was asking Heavenly Father to help me to know of His love for me. I asked for reassurance to know if I am doing okay as a missionary. I felt very down on myself the past couple weeks and I just needed to know if God was satisfied with my efforts or if I needed to try harder. I felt a peaceful feeling of love fill my heart that I can't really describe. I know it was the Holy Ghost confirming that my Father in Heaven loves me and is proud of what I'm doing. 

Anyways, transfers are this week! Sister Latu and I are staying together here in Eagle Rock Stake in Idaho Falls. So I have at least another six weeks in this area. I'm confident that the work will pick up soon. 

Thank you all so much for your prayers. 

I love you!

Until next time,

 

Disappointments and Miracles!

 Hello! 

This week was another roller coaster week with some really great moments and also some of the hardest moments I've had so far. 

I guess I'll start with the bad moments and end on the good. So we are teaching a kid named Tanner. He's is a 12 year old boy and he acts like one. He has a hard time being serious and focusing when we teach him. He never keeps the commitments we extend and it seems like hes just not really progressing. So as a last ditch effort to help him we took him on a church tour which is where we show him around the church, focusing mainly on the chapel and the baptismal font. We showed him my favorite video about the Savior (called Because of Him) and I bore my testimony and I felt the spirit so strong. I asked Tanner what he felt. And Tanner's response? He just sat there for a sec and then was like "Can we go now?" 

Ugh I was so frustrated! I just want to shake this kid and tell him to at least try to have a spiritual experience! But instead we just smiled, finished the church tour and he went home. Sister Latu and I are probably going to have to drop him which is so sad. I know that the gospel would bless his life so much but it must not be the right time for him. 

So yeah that's the bad news. But we did have some pretty cool miracles this week too. 

Miracle 1: The first was just a lady we found while walking down the road on Friday night. She was just sitting on her porch with her little daughter and we walked up and started talking to her. Her name is Cassie and she said she met with missionaries like 10 or 15 years ago but they didn't take time to explain things to her and she felt rushed into baptism. So we asked if she'd be interested in meeting with us. We told her we would try to answer all her questions and stuff before even bringing up baptism and she said she wants to meet with us next week! Yay! 

Miracle 2: So we went to one of our bishop's homes and we started talking about this girl Brittany. Brittany's name was on a list in our area book and we thought we might try to stop by and see what her interest in church is. We decided to go to he Bishop first and ask him what he knew about her. He said he knew a LOT. He was planning on giving her a calling as the second counselor in the beehive class (one of the leaders over 12 and 13 year old girls). She has apparently been coming to church like every Sunday for months and he assumed she was just a baptized member. But shes not! So you can't have a calling if you aren't a baptized member of the church. But we can easily fix that problem! We are going over there sometime this week to talk to her about baptism and the significance of it and to ask if its something that she wants to do. But it sounds like it is. So we can't wait to meet and start teaching her! Whoo! 

So we had quite the week this week! A lot of ups and downs and a lot of growing experiences. I have learned lessons here that I would not be able to learn any other way and I feel so blessed to be a servant of the Lord. I've truly come to know of my Savior's love for me and the power in His atoning sacrifice. It is only through Him that progression and redemption are possible. 

I love all of you.

Until next time,

Sister Park

Dinner Disaster

So this week we had dinner at a member's home. As we were sitting down, the mother informed us that she had let her daughter cook for us tonight from a recipe she had invented. After we sat down, she poured us big bowls of "soup". This soup was literally water with partly cooked carrots, potatoes and leaves floating around in it (yes LEAVES). I tried to choke it down as best as I could but it was pretty bad. I guess you have to have at least one bad meal on your mission right? Lets hope its my last. 

This week we went on exchanges which is where you switch companions for a day. I went to a different part of Idaho falls and was companions with my Sister Training Leader, Sister Tapia. She is from Argentina and is a Spanish speaking missionary. She speaks English too though so we were able to communicate and everything. She is seriously an amazing missionary. I learned SOOO much from her in just one day. She helped me to be more bold in opening my mouth and testifying my beliefs to everyone we met. She really motivated me to be a better missionary and to cherish every moment I have on the mission because it goes by really fast. 

So bad news: one of the people we were set on baptizing this month backed out. Her name is Laci. She doesn't feel ready to be baptized yet but we're hoping she will next month. Good news though: our investigator Tayson moved his baptism date up a few days so his mom can be there. He's planning on being baptized on the 22nd of September. 

We had a really good experience yesterday at church. So yesterday was testimony meeting which is where anyone can get up and talk about what they know to be true or about any spiritual experiences they've had that they want to share. Sister Latu and I both bore our testimonies first and just shared some experiences we've had and what we've learned on our missions so far. Then after us a few people from the Jacobson family got up and talked about missionary work and how appreciative they are for everything Sister Latu and I have done for their friend MIchael who we are teaching. After that it was everyone who got up started talking about missionary work and how they need to help us more by telling their friends about the gospel. It was just super cool because I finally feel like that ward is catching the vision and is willing to help us find people to teach. 

Well I've got to get going but I love all of you so much! I love my Heavebly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that through Christ's atonement we can overcome any trial or weakness we might have. I feel the power of the Book of Mormon every day as I read and study its words. It is truly another testament of the Son of God. I have felt my faith grow immensely over the last month and I think that has happened as I am forced to defend my beliefs and really reevaluate what I know to be true. I love the gospel so much!

Until next time,

Sister Park