Do Good and Go!

Hello fam and friends! 

We had a really good week this week! We had some good lessons and our investigators are progressing! 

Rorie and her sister Brylee are so excited for their baptism! They have been reading the scriptures with their mom and are coming to church! Their family has never been active in church and they are now really really changing their lives. 

Elaine is praying about a baptismal date this week so please keep her in your prayers! 

We had Stake Conference yesterday and it was so awesome. Kim B. Clark of the Seventy spoke and I seriously love that man. It was the second time I heard him speak (the first was at a YSA fireside in Pocatello) and it was awesome! The theme of his talk was "be good and go". He said those are the two ways we can remain close to Heavenly Father. First by being good (a.k.a. keeping the commandments and our covenants, being obedient, doing the right thing) and secondly by going (a.k.a. acting on God's will, going to the temple or church, fulfilling callings, etc). It was so awesome for me to just break down everything we are asked to do as Latter Day Saints into these two categories. Just be good and go! Its that simple! 

He also talked about being on the front lines in the battle for righteousness. He told us that is where Christ is working so if we want to help Christ we will be out on the frontier with Him instead of falling into complacency. This was exactly the wake up call I needed! Lately it seems like I've been just living the missionary life and doing everything I'm supposed to do (getting up on time, studying, going out to talk to people, teaching lessons, blah blah blah) but I am lacking that sense of urgency in God's work. So this week that is my goal: be on the front lines. 

I am so grateful for the inspired (and inspiring) leaders we have in this church. The Lord really can work through other people to answer our prayers and give us messages he wants us to know. I know that this is His work and I am honored to be a part of it. 

I love you all and thank you again for your prayers and support and love!

Until next time,

Sister Park

Hello fam and friends! 

Thank you all so much for the packages you sent this week! (Shout out to Chad and Christy, Heath and Jimena, Grandma and Grandpa Park, and my awesome mom). I am a very lucky missionary to have such a supportive family. 

This week was so amazing! We found new investigators, taught a lot of lessons, and had so many people come to church yesterday! 

Bonnie didn't receive a clear answer this week about baptism so that was a little disappointing. She did read a lot from the Book of Mormon this week and she is still progressing, even if its slower than we would like :)

Rorie is doing great! We moved her date back to November 25th so she can have some more time to finish the lessons and be completely prepared. 

Elaine is doing really well! Her daughter, Rhonda, who got baptized a little over a year ago was in town from Malad this week and she was able to be there for one of our lessons and share her testimony with her mom. Testimony is always so much more powerful when it comes from a loved one and not just the missionaries. We also watched The Restoration movie with Elaine and she really liked it. She seriously acts and believes just like a member but she just is nervous about being baptized. She is praying about baptism though and we hope to set a date with her this week.

I want more than anything to stay in this area for another transfer so I can continue helping these people progress and hopefully get to watch them enter the waters of baptism. There is nothing more rewarding than watching someone you love enter into a covenant with their Heavenly Father. 

Although being a part of someone's baptism is an amazing part of missionary work, seeing less active or in-active members of the church gain conversion and come back to the fold is also pretty miraculous. We do a lot of less active work here since 90% of the population of Georgetown are baptized members. We had so many of these less active members come to church yesterday!! It was so awesome! Some of them haven't been in 10-15 years. 

One of my favorite returning members we teach is a girl named Mallory. Mallory is in her late 20s and has two young kids. She was raised in the church, but in high school she strayed from the path when she started hanging out with the wrong crowd. We met her about 3 weeks ago and she invited us in and basically poured her heart out to us about some struggles she had been going through and how she knew she needed to get back to church. We shared a powerful message with her about God's love and having courage in adversity and it was one of the most spirit-filled lessons I've had on my mission.

Then yesterday at church she shared her testimony in gospel principles class and Sister Reupena and I were both bawling. She said that she had been struggling so much and we came to her at just the right time. She said that she had never felt the spirit as strongly as she did when we shared the message with her that night. She committed that very night that she would never let herself get so far from God ever again. She is doing so great now and has been reading the scriptures and praying with her kids every night and plans to come to church every week from here on out. Sometimes all people need is a chance to feel the spirit and to feel God's love for them and they will come running back to the gospel fold.

After hearing Mallory's experience, and thinking about the role I play in God's work, this scripture in Alma came to my mind,

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea,behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

 13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

 14 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell.

 15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

I am so grateful that I am able to be an instrument in God's hands to help others. I can truly say, just as Ammon did, that my joy is full. 

I love you all so much! Have a great week and always remember the hand that God plays in your lives! 

Until next time,

Sister Park

This is Brother and Sister Hartley, the people who the movie, "Cokeville Miracle" is based on. They came and did a question and answer session with us on Halloween after we watched the movie. 

Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Hey y'all! 

I hope you guys have had a great week and have a Happy Halloween today! 

We had a pretty good week! We had an awesome lesson with Bonnie last night. Sister Reupena and I decided to fast that Bonnie would receive answers to her prayers during our lesson, that she would feel the spirit, and that we would be conduits for the Lord to speak through us. Our lesson was so powerful! Brother and Sister Day (Bonnie's fellow-shippers) bore their testimonies to her and Brother Day's mom, who is a convert to the church, was able to be there and share some of her experiences. Bonnie felt something and she told us that in her study of the Book of Mormon this last week that she received some answers to prayers which is huge for her. We tried to set a baptismal date with her and she agreed to pray about the date. She is seriously so close!!

We also set a date with one of our other investigators this week, Rorie. Rorie is 10 years old and wants to be baptized so bad! A lot of her desire is probably stemming from trying to fit in with all her friends who have been baptized recently, so we will have to work a lot on helping her to understand the purpose of baptism and the commitment she will be making. Right now her date is set for November 16th but we will most likely have to move it back. 

We also had Mission Leadership Council this week and I learned so much!! It was focused a lot on improving our studies and preparing to teach people which was exactly what I needed. I didn't realize how much my studies have been lacking. We talked a lot about Ezekial 34:2 which says,

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?"

As shepherds, we are going to be in big trouble one day when we account to the Lord and tell him that we wasted time feeding ourselves when we were supposed to be feeding his starving sheep.  We talked a lot about how our studies should always be focused on those we are teaching, which is something I know of course, but I seem to have forgotten it recently. In our studies we should be seeking to feed others, not studying things for our own gain. So the past couple days I have tried to center my studies around those that we are teaching and it has made a huge difference!! I just keep learning and relearning the principle of selflessness on my mission, something I hope to carry with me for the rest of my life. 

Well, I hope you all have an awesome Halloween today and eat lots of candy! I love you! 

Until next time,

Sister Park

Patience is a Virtue

Hello fam and friends! 

Things are pretty good here in Georetown! I am learning patience, that's for sure. This area has slowed down quite a bit now that we've contacted a majority of the non-members in the area and found out that they aren't interested. We've been focusing a lot of the less active members of our wards and trying to strengthen them. There are certainly a lot of those in Georgetown! 

Bonnie is still doing great! We had an amazing lesson with her last week and committed her to pray about baptism which is a huge step forward for her. She also came to church yesterday which was great. It was the primary program and she just loved seeing the little kids sing and say their parts. We are having a lesson with her tonight and we're hoping to set a baptismal date with her. 

We weren't able to see Elaine this week which was a bummer but we plan to meet with her on Tuesday. 

I'm grateful for the lessons I am learning in this area. I am praying harder, studying more fervently, and developing Christlike attributes as I continue to face challenges. I am thankful for mountains to climb because they make me better. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

Until next time,

Sister Park

Photos from Idaho Pocatello Mission Blog

You have to taste the bitter to know the sweet!

Dear family and friends,

This has been a tough week. Its been a while since I've had one of these so its been a long time coming! 

It was hard to send Sister Mizelle home. I loved being her companion and its just hard to send a companion home. It makes you a little trunky! 

I got to spend 2 days in my old area (Pocatello YSA) which was awesome. I got to see a ton of people that I taught (Reagan, Erika, Nathan, Rian) and it was great! They are all doing so amazing and it was great to see them.

To be honest, it was hard to come back to Georgetown. As much as I love this area, it is a lot slower paced than YSA and a lot harder to find people to teach. We have a couple people who are moving forward but haven't been able to find a ton of other people who are prepared for the gospel. Its been a little discouraging but I am keeping my chin up! 

Even though things were not ideal this week, there are so many things to be grateful for. 

1. My new companion, Sister Reupena is amazing! She is so sweet and we are going to have so much fun together this transfer! 

2. The members here are so great and are willing to help us with anything we need.

3. I have an amazingly supportive family who loves me and prays for me.

4. I live in a beautiful and safe part of the world. 

5. I get to be a full time servant of my Heavenly Father and represent him here in Idaho.

6. I am a member of the restored church of Jesus Christ and I know that God loves me and answers prayers. 

The list could go on and on. President Nelson gave some amazing council about having joy in every circumstance in this last conference:

"Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!

My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!"

He also quotes a colleague of his who said, "I have learned to suffer with joy." 

I have had a relatively easy mission. I think its about time I learn to suffer with joy. 

I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers. I feel them!

Until next time,

Sister Park

P.S. In other news, it snowed last night! Like a lot! There's probably 4-5 inches on the ground! October 17th and it already looks like Christmas. 

P.S.S. Its Sister Reupena's birthday today so you should all bombard her with Happy Birthday emails! (amanda.reupena@myldsmail.net)

Sister Mizelle is leaving me:(

Hey fam and friends! 

Today is the day that I am "killing" Sister Mizelle. I'm dropping her off at the mission home today and she flies home tomorrow. These past two transfers with her have been amazing! She is such a great example to me and has taught me so much in the past 3 months! My new companion is Sister Reupena! We were in a trio for like a week a couple months ago so I'm excited actually be her companion for real now! 

We had a great week! Especially yesterday. We had Bonnie, Elaine, and Rorie at church which is the most investigators we've had for a while! Also the past couple days we have just been finding all of these super prepared people! Like out of no where! Sister Gilbert used to say that its always right before a transfer that you find a lot of new investigators because they are prepared and ready for the new person coming in. 

We don't have any set baptism dates right now but Bonnie and Elaine are both so close! Bonnie just needs to decide that she believes and trusts God enough that she can give up drinking coffee. Elaine needs to gain a testimony of the Restoration and of the Priesthood authority. They are both keeping the commitments we leave and its only a matter of time! So if y'all could keep them both in your prayers that would be great! 

I'm so excited for the weeks to come! Good things are happening in Georgetown! 

Until next time,

Sister Park

*This is Bonnie! Sister Mizelle had to say goodbye to her yesterday at church

*This is Elaine (on left) and her daughter-in-law Danae (on right) and Danae's kids