Goodbye Sis. Latu:(

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good first week of November! Oh my goodness I can't believe its already November. Time goes so fast here! 

This week was a week of change. We got our transfer calls on Saturday and Sister Latu is going to Iona. Luckily she's only about 20 minutes away from me and we will get to see each other at the Christmas zone conference. Since I am training a new missionary, I won't find out what my companion's name is until Tuesday night. I'll get to go pick her up Wednesday morning and I can't wait! 

I am terrified to be training! I'm excited but I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing and I'm not sure I know how to teach someone else how to do this. I think it will be really good for me but I'm still freaking out! 

We had a pretty good week! We started teaching this new family, the C's. They were formerly a part of the F-LDS church (break-off of Mormon church that practices polygamy) but they left a few years ago because they didn't agree with what was being taught and practiced. So the C's neighbors are an awesome family in one of our wards (the J's) and they decided to invite them to a family night lesson in their home with us. We taught about the plan of salvation and had a really good lesson. They want to start meeting with us every week now. I think they have a lot of potential. The parents want religion in their lives but not to the extreme of the F-LDS church. Anyways they are awesome and we are teaching them again tonight! 

So L and R. They are seriously my favorite people in the world. We got our transfer calls and we knew we would have to tell Leesa. She has really bad anxiety with meeting new people and she has always told us we'd better not get transferred cause she doesn't want anyone else visiting her besides us. But we had to break the news to her. 

We went there on Friday night and she was seriously the happiest we'd ever seen her. She LOVES us coming over and she gave us these ear-warmers she made and some leftover Halloween candy. Then we taught their family a little lesson and broke the news to them. Sister Latu is leaving. 

L just lost it. She started sobbing and saying, "Of course this would happen to me. Right when my life starts going good my missionaries leave me. God must not care about me." We tried to comfort her and reassure her that I would still be here but she would not listen. She told us to get out and go home. She was angry. It was so hard for me because I know I can't do anything about Sister Latu leaving. I wanted to help L but I didn't know how.

The next day L  texted us and told us that she read the scriptures we have been telling her to read the past couple weeks. L usually makes excuses about how she is too busy to read but she said she finally made time for it and was so grateful she did. She said she felt a lot better now and she apologized for being so rude to us. She asked if we could come back one more time so she could say goodbye. 

Last night we went back and showed her some more scriptures we felt like would help her. We took some pictures with their family, shed a few tears, hugged goodbye and that was that. I told L I would text her what my new companion's name is when I find out so she can at least think about giving her a chance. She said she would. I am not giving up on that family. Even if L is nervous about this new girl, I am going to go over there and force my way into their house. I LOVE THAT FAMILY AND I'M NOT LETTING THEM SLIP AWAY!

R has grown so much since our first meeting with him and I'm not letting all that progress go to waste.  

I think I finally understand why missionaries want to share the "good news" with everyone. Before my mission, I thought missionaries were too pushy and "forced" religion on people. I wanted to serve a mission so I could help people learn about our religion. Truly though, a mission is about so much more than just being an informer. Once you really gain a testimony of the gospel, all you want to do is tell other people about it (whether they want to listen or not). For those of you who think missionary service is all about proving to people that Mormons are right and brainwashing them into baptism, you are so far off from the truth. At least for me, I want people to learn about the gospel and get baptized because I know that it is the only path to lasting joy. I love the people here so much that I truly want them to be happy and receive all the blessings and peace the gospel brings! 

This is the Lord's work. I am out here serving because I love my Heavenly Father and because I love His children. I want to help them to have faith in their Savior. I want to help them repent of their sins. I want to help them make sacred promises with Heavenly Father through baptism so that they can experience the blessings of always having the Holy Ghost with them. 

I love you all. Thank you for your support! Keep the faith.

Until next time,

Sister Park