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
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
ReplyDeleteIf 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.
ReplyDelete