From Pres. Hancock

Dear Sister Paige Park  ,

We are pleased to extend to you the calling to serve as a Sister Training Leader in the Idaho Pocatello Mission.

You will have the opportunity to attend and participate in our monthly Missionary Leadership Council.  Your role as a Sister Training Leader will also include training, encouraging, and watching over the sister missionaries assigned to you.  Every six weeks you will conduct a 24-hour exchange with each companionship of these sisters.

Heavenly Father will bless and guide you as you pray to Him in faith.  We know the Lord qualifies those whom He calls

Thank you for your example and service in our mission.  Your leadership will bless the lives of many sisters and help the work move forward as we invite others to come unto Christ.

Love,

Gene E. Hancock, PresidentIdaho Pocatello Mission

 

cc  Parents, Stake President 

Crazy Stuff Yo

HIYA!! 

Man this week was INSANE!!

So to start, we got transfer calls! I am going to Ammon! Ammon is like right on the other side of Idaho Falls so like 15-20 minutes away from where I am right now. Its a new city that is really growing right now with a ton of new people moving in so that will be fun. My new companion is Sister Bruff. I don't know much about her except that she went home early from her mission a while ago after getting hit by a car. Shes back now and she will finish her mission in April. We are white-washing our area so we will both be new to Ammon and we will have to basically just start over there! We are also going to be Sister Training Leaders so we will be the ones to deal with all the sister drama in our zone (yay...) but we will also be able to go to the leadership meetings in the mission and give our input on changes President might make. I am sad to leave my area now but I think I am ready for a new adventure and a fresh start somewhere else! 

Also this week we had 2 investigators get baptized! The first one (on Saturday) was L. L is C and K's ten-year-old daughter. Satan was totally trying to interfere with her baptism though, holy cow. On Friday L fell and sprained her wrist. At first, they thought it was broken and that she would need a cast but luckily it was just sprained so she just had to wear a brace. The brace was temporary so she was able to take it off for the baptism. She was so upset! The first thing she said after she fell was, "I'm still getting baptized tomorrow!"

Her baptism was sooooo awesome. It was not the traditional baptism that is for sure. She wanted all her family members to participate so her brothers said the opening and closing prayers and C and K gave the talks. I was super stressed because I wanted this baptism to be perfect (#perfectionistprobs) and I was worried that C and K wouldn't know what to say or how to give talks. Sister Bueno kept telling me to just shut up and let them do things their way. I am so glad she did because the baptism turned out perfect. The talks and prayers were humbly given and very honest and L cried the entire time. She is so mature and she fully understood the gravity of this decision to get baptized. 

We also had a baptism on Sunday. J was finally baptized! His parents finally gave him permission--thanks to a LOT of fasting and prayers. His baptism was amazing as well. Like half the ward came to support him which was so awesome. I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the people that showed up. He is VERY shy and doesn't like being around a ton of people but I think he was super happy and excited to be a baptized member of the church! 

C and K are getting married next month!! Their wedding date is set for February 27. Not only are they getting baptized this day, but C is being ordained to the priesthood and then baptizing his new wife K the same day!! What the heck! And President Hancock is giving me permission to leave my area for a day to be there! Its going to be the best day ever! 

Okay last miracle for this week. Brace yourselves for this one. Its pretty intense. So C has lung cancer right? He has been given 4-10 years to live. This was one of the things holding them back from getting married because C would lose his Medicaid and he has cancer so that means a lot of medical bills. But, after making the decision to get married, C and K got an unexpected call from a doctor telling them he had some important info for them about C's condition. He explained that all the problems C had been experiencing with his lungs are gone. GONE! They have one tiny spot they need to keep an eye on but other than that he has miraculously healed. Ummm can you say miracles?! Yeah we were shocked. They were shocked. God is real. The end. 

Missions are the best. Miracles can happen. 

Love y'all :)

Until next time,

Sister Park

P.S. I will miss Sister Bueno a lot :(

Hi!! Hope you all had a great week!

Things here in IF are going well. These next couple weeks might be some of my last here so I'm really trying to do everything I can to make them awesome! 

We started teaching a girl named J this week. Jenny is 17 years old and is one of the most incredible people I've been able to teach. She was raised going to a non-denominational Christian church with her adopted parents (who are actually her grandparents), but she started taking seminary this year in school. Her boyfriend Nathan is a member of the church and has been the one who has encouraged her to learn more. J is a very studious person and she would basically devour any study guide or scriptures that were given to her by her seminary teacher. She says she already knows that the church is true and she wants to get baptized! 

So she sounds like a golden investigator right? Lets just fill the font and get her in there! 

There's just one tiny problem... Her parents HATE the church. They think that Joseph Smith is a fraud and the Mormon church is a cult. So they WILL NOT give her permission to get baptized. It was a miracle that they even let her come to a lesson with us. So she won't be able to join the church until she's 18 but hopefully we can keep teaching her and answering her questions. 

In other news... We have 2 baptisms this weekend! J's mom finally gave permission for him to get baptized! So we quickly set the date and he is scheduled to get baptized on Sunday! K's daughter Lilli is also getting baptized this weekend on Saturday. She has been to a lot of different churches and she says she felt like the LDS church was right and she wants to get baptized! So she will get baptized on the 23rd.

Also K and C are getting married next month! We are so excited. This is taking a lot of faith for them to make this decision and to trust in God's plan for them.

Sister Bueno is almost done training! She has one more week and she will be ready to train another missionary! I'm going to be really sad to leave her. We have become best friends in the three months we've spent together. It took a lot of heart-to-hearts, tears, honesty and love to get us to the point we're at now but we are stronger and closer than ever. Perfect timing right? Now we are going to have to leave each other! :(

I love my mission. I feel more fulfilled than I've ever felt in my life. I know I'm in the right place. I know I'm doing the Lord's work. 

I love you all so much! Have a great week.

Until next time,

Sister Park

Hey Everyone!

Hey hey hey! Another week of the mission has come and gone! The weeks move so fast here its crazy. 

So N was baptized on Saturday!! Her mom, who is not a member and wasn't planning on coming to the baptism, actually came!

So background about N's mom: she is terrifying. Once we were teaching a lesson at N's home and her mom barges in and starts yelling at us and asking what we were doing there. We quickly explained that we were teaching N about the church and apparently she had no idea that we had been teaching N. We had asked permission from the father to teach her but I guess he didn't communicate well with his wife, and she was not very happy with us. Eventually she cooled off and she let us continue teaching Nat but we were only allowed to do it on weekends and not in their home. So we doubted that she would ever give N permission to get baptized but after we fasted with N a few weeks ago, a miracle happened and she gave the okay!

At first she told N that she didn't want to come to the baptism but I guess she changed her mind and she showed up! She even told us afterwards that she enjoyed it! She refused to sign the baptism record though and we had to get the bishop to talk to her and reassure her that she wasn't signing her life away to the church or anything like that. 

K and C
are still doing pretty well but they told us a few nights ago that they want to wait until the summer to get married which means they can't get baptized for a while. We are trying to convince them to speed it up but we've had no luck so far. 

So.... I had a break-down moment this week. I have been so great the past couple months. I have been so happy and haven't really felt discouraged or homesick or anything. And then this week I guess it just caught up with me. We had been out trying to find people to teach for probably 3 hours with no luck. I was cold, tired and just wanted to go home. My mind began wandering and wishing I could just be back home, curled up in bed with Netflix and something good to eat. I just wanted to be a normal person for a day! 

Then I remembered why I am on a mission. I am here because it is the least I can do for my Savior who sacrificed everything for me. The famous scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 122 came to my mind. "Know thou, [my daughter] that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? Therefore, hold on" (D&C 122:7-9). 

Christ suffered much worse than I ever will and it is vain for me to think that my struggles are anything compared to what he went through. I committed right then to stop being selfish and to re-devote myself to this work. 

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! 

Until next time,

Sister Park

She felt the Woosh!

Hello!

We had another good (and cold) week here in IF. 

For starters, N is doing well! Her baptism is on Saturday and she is so excited! She had us make invitations that she could hand out to her friends at school. She has her baptismal interview tomorrow and she is really nervous but she just needs to relax and realize that everything is going to be fine! She knows the stuff but she has a hard time putting her thoughts into words and she is super shy. 

She also told us that she invited her parents but they don't want to come to her baptism. We didn't believe that her parents really wouldn't want to be there to support her, so we dropped by her house to talk to her dad. Sure enough, he told us that he and his wife would not be there for the baptism because they are "busy" that day. We offered to move the baptism date but her dad refused and said that don't want to be there. Period. N was really upset but we have just been reassuring her that she is doing the right thing and her Heavenly Parents will be there supporting her even if her earthy parents aren't. 

K and C are doing well also! We asked them this week if they would like a priesthood blessing from the Bishop. C is in a lot of pain and his lung cancer has been acting up a lot lately. And K's pay checks are getting garnished. And C's grandma died last week. And both their cars broke down so they have no way to get anywhere. And their son, A got kicked out of school. Basically everything that could go wrong for them, has gone wrong. 

So we thought a blessing would be a good idea. Both they and Bishop agreed and so last night they were able to get blessings of comfort and counsel. K's blessing talked a lot about focusing her sights on the temple and continuing to investigate the gospel. It counseled her to keep the commitments we extend to her and to continue seeking for truth. He blessed her with comfort and patience in overcoming her trials and in keeping the commandments of the Lord.

It was an incredibly spiritual experience. Afterwords K said that when the Bishop laid his hands on her head, she felt this "whoosh" feeling go throughout her body. She said she felt warmth spreading from her head to her feet and she felt like the Savior was standing there with Bishop. It was so amazing.

Then Bishop blessed C. He blessed him with patience to overcome his afflictions and promised him that as he studied the story of Alma the Younger in the Book of Mormon he would receive revelation. He also told him to focus his sights on the temple as well and he promised C that he would one day be ordained to the priesthood. He talked a lot about C taking one step at a time and not overwhelming himself with all the things he has to change in his life at once. 

After that blessing, K asked C  if he felt the "whoosh". He replied that he didn't, but he had always understood the spirit in a more visual way. He explained that when the Bishop talked about putting one foot in front of the other, he saw, in his mind's eye, a staircase. Just a few steps above him on the stairs was Jesus Christ, reaching His hand out to help C along the way. 

So between the "whoosh" and C's staircase vision, I think its safe to say that it was a pretty spiritually packed night. 

I feel so blessed to have been a part of that experience. I know that if they heed the counsel of their blessings, K and C will be able to overcome their challenges. As they rely on the Savior, all the things that are going wrong in their life will seem less difficult to manage. 

Well I love all of you! I love my Savior. I am so happy here and feel that I have so much more perspective on my life and life in general. The gospel, lived right, makes perfect happiness possible in this life. 

Until next time,

Sister Park