Wednesday, April 15, 2015

WEEK 28!!!!

Hi, Mom, Dad, Leilani, Auston, and Nika,

First of all, I'm SO sorry that I couldn't write to you guys yesterday. Some things came up, and we ended up spending our ENTIRE P-Day practically working. But, it's fine. We're having lots of great success in our sector. In fact, last weekend, we had 2 Baptisms! They were two kids in this part-member family, who were inactive in the Church for a while, but learned that leaving the Church is never the right thing to do - especially in this life. So, we took some time teaching the Padilla Family our missionary lessons, and talking with our bishop and other Church leaders in order to have them rescued and baptized into the Church. Now, this family's fully active, and couldn't be more grateful to have us help them re-invite the Church, and its teachings,  and (most importantly) the Spirit back into their home and their lives.

Sorry I couldn't send any pictures this week - no P-Day, no camera usage - but I promise that next week, on P-Day, I'll have lots of really awesome pictures to send to you guys both for the blog and to keep for memories. I have some pictures of this awesome food that my companion and I made (Executive Peruvian Cuisine, he tells me), of the baptisms (which include me dressed in all-white, because this was my very first Baptism!), and LOTS more! Again, sorry that I didn't have enough time to be able to send any pictures this week, but I promise that I will be able to send some next week for you guys to enjoy, as well as those that are reading and following the Mission Blog :)

I can't lie to you guys. This past week, I've had experiences that have peeled my humility down to the core, that have made my faith desire to hide under a rock, and I can't help but still question whether or not I am truly, sincerely, absolutely, without a doubt, supposed to still be here, serving this mission. But then, I think to myself that, it's those experiences that peel down our humility, that challenge our faith, that make us seriously question, "What lackest I yet?"  In other words, what more can I do in this day to invite the Spirit, and be able to help invite others (including myself) to come unto Christ? It's those experiences that help us come to know the truth, and come to know what it is we need to know to have success in our mission, as well as the rest of our lives.

I love you guys so very much, and again, I'm sorry that I couldn't find the time to write to you guys yesterday, nor find the time to send pictures. Everyone's been looking super forward to hearing from me this week, so I couldn't say no, and I couldn't wait another 6 days until I could talk to you guys about how much I miss you, how much I love you, and how anxious I am to see and talk to you guys again this Mother's Day. But, I'm going to have to settle for writing you guys these gigantic E-mails until then. I love you guys, and may God and His Spirit be with you.

Con Sinceridad y Amor,

Elder Conner Duane Parke

2 comments:

  1. Elder Parke: What an amazing young man you are for choosing to dedicate two years of your life to serving the Lord and the people of Ecuador. When you received your mission call and you were reading where the Lord had assigned you to serve the spirit was so strong it almost knocked me over, true story! Always remember that feeling when you are having feelings of doubt. You have prepared your entire life to be prepared to serve a mission never doubt that you should be there, you are! Satan wants us to feel inadequate, he plants these thoughts into our heads so we will doubt what we are trying to accomplish in our lives. He does not want missionaries to be serving the Lord and the people of the world and he will do anything to stop this progression. You were raised by parents who love you and the Lord very much, what an example you all are to me. Love you cousin. Jana, Jeremy and the kids

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  2. If it wasn't for faithful young missionaries, I never would have found my way back to the church. Even if you find one soul, it will all be worth it.

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