June 1, 2015 - A miracle.

The miracle was that the Familia Ribadeneira went to church. After two months, they went to church!! It has all been worth it. They are also finally moving for sure now, so on wednesday we are going to help them to move all their things. And they have a baptismal date for the 20th. SO we are really excited for that!

This week was a little bit slow, but it was still really special. The other family that we are working with is reading the Book of Mormon, and although they did not go to church, they still really want to listen and learn more. 

Today in the zone, we did a barbeque and it was so good. haaha It took a while, but that was our activity today and it was super fun! 

I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Parker

May 25, 2015 - The new change

Well, it was kind of a tricky week, being in meetings with President Richardson, with the Stake president, and being in the hospital, but the good news it that I just have like a small contusion or something in the muscle. So no worries! I just have to do some special exercises and take some pills, and all will be well!

This week Jennifer got baptized!! :) It was super good, but really stressful also. The baptism was supposed to start at 5, but they had gone to the south earlier that day and it had been raining really hard, so they had to wait and they did not get here to san carlos until 7, and the baptism started at 7:30. So that was stressful. Then on Sunday, we went to get them at their house to come to church so she could be confirmed, but they did not leave their house until 2:30. So we got to church super late. But at the end of the meeting she got confirmed, which was super good too! 

We have been working with the Familia Ribadeneira and they are FINALLY moving to a new house, which means they will be able to come to church because they have been looking for a house every weekend for a long time. And they showed up to church 5 minutes before it was over, which, hey, is an improvement!

I was going to send fotos, but my camara just died.. so yeah. Oh well! Thank you all for the support you always give and for your prayers. All is going well here in our sector and things are improving a lot! We have a lot of people we are working with here, which is a big improvement from the beginning of last change. Thank you!

Love,

Elder Parker

May 18, 2015

Sorry, Elder Parker didn't write a group letter this week, but he got a new companion from Bolivia!

May 11, 2015 - Time goes too fast..

I have already been a missionary for more than a year now. And it has been the best year of my life! I could not be happier. I have grown and changed and have a completely different view on life. And I know I am going to change even more in this next year and I know I am going to enjoy it even more than I enjoyed the last one!

We were loaded with meetings this week and were not able to do as much as we would have liked, but we still were able to have some quality lessons and other activities. Only one of our investigators assisted the church this weekend because of Mother´s Day, and while I love my mom SO much, it was kind of frustrating hearing from every person, "I have to go visit my mom." What can you say to that. We got really direct with some people about sabbath day, but no pudge.. 

But Jennifer is doing really well! She went to church and is going to be baptized on the 23rd of this month! Her mom is also really excited and is going to be rescued this month too. We are still working with the other people, but progress has been a little bit sloww. 

Today we went to Teleferico, and it was awesome. We could see just about all of Quito, and it boggled my mind. It was sooo pretty. And it was cold :) It was so nice to feel cold cold wind on my face again. 

And that was basically our week! We had some fun and I am learning how to juggle too! But I slipped on a rug yesterday and exploded an orange. hehe it was so funny! But I plan on being a pro when I get back. 

Happy Mother´s Day! Happy Birthday Dad! And Happy Anniversary to my parents (it was the 1st) :)

Thank you all for everything you do!

Love, Elder Parker

We found out this week that it is TRUE! if you cook an egg in the microwave, it will explode. And then you can eat it! hahaha

May 4, 2015 - Week of miracles

It has been a week of miracles. Truly. And it has been awesome. We set a goal in the zone this week to find a new investigator every day. And to have a new investigator, we have to be inside their house, teach them a lesson, end with a prayer, and have another appointment with them to return. So, if we don´t have any appointments with people, we have to go contacting and hope that the people will let us in to their houses! But, we wanted to do it soooo bad. So we went with full faith into this week, and had miracles.

First miracle is Gabriel. On tuesday, we had to go do an interview for one of our district leaders. And that took up some good time, but when we got back, we made a few calls, and our other appointments were´nt there. So, we went and said a prayer, then started contacting. After like, an hour and a half of contacting, we did have an appointment that was not set, but we were just going to go and see if they were there, so we are heading to the church to meet up with a member, and we see this guy walking down the road going the opposite direction as us, and I just felt that we should contact him. So we do. And I was thinking, "this is our guy. He is going to take us to his house and we are going to teach him!" But... it wasn´t the case. Bueno. Lets go to the visit. So we are going to the church and we see a man waiting outside the church. When we get there, he asked us if there was a program or anything like that. We said no, but asked him if we could do something for him. And he tolded us he needed help.  That is a statement that we LOVE to hear as missionaries. So we invited him inside and had a lesson with him. He told us that he had separated from his wife 4 days earlier and was super bad. So we were able to teach him the plan de salvacion and he accepted a baptismal date! He told us that he had been walking up the same street where we talked to that guy before going to the church and had passed us and almost decided to talk to us, but saw that we were busy. SO, if we had not talked to that random guy in the street that I thought was going to be the one, Gabriel never would have passed us and we never would have met him. He is amazing. We met on Friday again and told us that he felt peace after that first meeting on tuesday. That was our first miracle. 

Second miracle is that we have been working with Monica, who is less active, and her daughter Jennifer who is 12 and is going to be baptized in 2 weeks! Monica had a boyfriend and was going to get married with him this friday, and we had tried to teach him and all that, but he was just weird and like, really disrespectful. And we did not like him. We were always worried he was going to be there when we taught Jennifer because he always interupted. But we found out on friday that she had dumped him and is now 100% ready to come back to the church and be active :) And they went to church yesterday!

sorry this is kind of long, and there have been more, but those are the biggest. 

I love you all! Thank you for your suppport and prayers! 

Love,

Elder Parker

list of areas served in:

 

1. Carcelen Bajo en Barrio Carcelen en estaca Ofelia por 4 cambios. Compañeros: Elder Herrera - San Pedro Sula, Honduras (2 cambios) Elder Larsen - Meridian, Idaho (2 Cambios)

2. San Antonio (y otras partes) en Rama El Ejido en Distrito Ibarra por 2 cambios. Compañeros: Elder Apaza - Arequipa, Peru (1 cambio) Elder Obando - Trujillo, Peru (1 cambio) 

3. CollaLoma en Comité del Pueblo en Barrio CollaLoma en estaca Calderon por 1 cambio. Compañero: Elder Miranda - Cusco, Peru.

4. San Carlos en Barrio San Carlos en estaca Quito por 1 cambio (o mas. Estoy aqui ahorita) Compañero: Elder Guild - Star Valley, Wyoming.

April 27, 2015 - New Investigator

It has been a pretty normal week! Work, and walking and talking, and having fun! Me and my companion get along super well. We are trying our best to help this zone progress. We had a couple baptisms this week in the zone and are super happy for that. But we are going to work even harder to help even more people!

There were changes intermedios (?) in the zone, so we had to be in the terminal this morning, and then we went to the offices.. Yay.. so fun.. haha But we are really excited for this week. 

Our days are really normal. Iris has slown down a little bit in her progress. We are afraid her friend has been telling her things that she saw on the internet. But she is still reading the Book of Mormon! There is hope :) 

The Familia Ribadeneira don´t actually live in our ward, but are trying to find a new house, so we are actively looking for one too, hoping that we will get to keep working with them! 

We have a new investigator called Jennifer. Her and her mom actually contacted us one day in the street. Her mom is less active, but she is not yet a member. But she has been reading the Book of Mormon and said that she felt something in her heart and just couldn´t stop reading. :) OH ya. We just have to help them come to church. Tomorrow we are going to have a Family Home Evening Night with them. 

I have started a study on all of the atributes of Christ that are found in Preach My Gospel. I have a new Book of Mormon and am reading the book, looking for stuff about one of the attributes at a time. And I am really enjoying it. I am reading about Faith right now and it is super cool! 

I love you all! Thank you for all that you do. 

Love, 

Elder Parker

My first time ever solving a Rubix cube. What joy. haha

April 20, 2015 - Another Week

Well! Another week has flown by. It has been really good though. On Friday we had our monthly training with President and the assistents, and WOW. It changed me. It was such an amazing training and you could feel the spirit so much!

We have been working with a family Ribadeneira. They are way cool, but are looking for their answer through knowledge instead of the spirit, so we are trying to get them to change that mindset. 

We are also working with a woman named Iris. She is cubana and we invited her to general conference in the street in a contact, and she went! And took her friends! Whoa... so now we are working with her and her friends to help them get a testimony of this church and the Book of Mormon. 

That is a brief summary of who we have really been teaching and focusing on. It has been raining here a lot. And raining hard.. :P We have gotten super wet a couple of times. And the rain is cold. But then when we get home and it is cold and we get into bed, it is the BEST! haha I am sleeping with my warm up pants, a hoody, and 4 blankets  Que rico...

Thank you all for your support! 

Love, 

Elder Parker

April 13, 2015 - First week.. Check

Well, I am done with my first week in my new sector and things are going well! Due to a lot of fallen appointments, we got to talk to a lot of families this week! It was fun, and really satisfying, being able to talk and share with the families. AND we have a family now that has a baptismal date and that we are working with :)

My lesson that I have learned this week has been the power of testimony. We contacted a man that was over 80 years old this week. We started talking to him and he sounded pretty interested. He had gone to church before when he was younger and liked it, but didn´t want to be baptized. We started talking about baptism or something, I don´t remember exactly what, but then he started saying that this was wrong and that was wrong, and I started trying to teach him that it was right, and it was getting a little contentious I will admit. But then my companion just bore his testimony about living prophets and their power. And the whole atmosphere changed. It was amazing to feel. Then I realized what I was doing was not helping at all and bore my testimony too of living prophets and the church. And we are going to visit him this week! 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Parker

 

 

 

April 6, 2015 - General Conference and Changes

I had changes again. Only one change in my old sector. Oh well. I am now in San Carlos in the zone Quito Oeste. My companion is Elder Guild from Wyoming. 

I was kind of sad to leave my old sector. There were a few people that the Lord blessed us with that I did not get to see be baptized, but that is OK! I know that they will take those steps to make those covenants with the Lord, and that is all that matters.

Nothing really new or exciting has happened. I just have a renewed testimony that we have prophets and apostles that are called of God! And they recieve revelation for all of us!

I love you all! 

Love, Elder Parker

March 30, 2015 - March 30..

It has been another normal week here in CollaLoma. We have been working a lot with William Rojas, and we are just waiting for the papers to get taken care of so they can get married. That should happen in about 2 weeks!  :)

We are also working tons with Fabiola, and WOW! We made plans with her to pick her up with a member that has a car, but she walked to church on her own in the rain, because she wanted to be there on time! She is doing super well! 

Today we just went to the offices to get a few things for a few of the missionaries. And now we are writing! 

I was going to send fotos, but my camara died.. Shoot. 

But I am sooo excited for general conference this weekend! And all of you should watch the video, Because He Lives. It is a video that has helped me sooo much! 

Thank you all for your well wishes! 

Love, Elder Parker

March 23, 2015 - The Week

It has been a good week. We had a conference with President and the assistents on Friday, and that was way good! Then saturday and sunday we had stake conference and Elder Godoy of the 70 came to find the new stake pdt. His talks were also really good. He asked a very interesting question. What is my part? What is our part in our calling? What are we supposed to do? It was a very interesting question. And it made me think a lot. I hope it does the same for you all :)

On our P-days, lately we have just been doing shopping, going to the offices to pick stuff up, and resting for a little bit. That would be it! Kind of boring, but much needed haha. 

We are working with a less active that is called Fabiola Proaño. She is an old lady that has so many problems. I don´t have much time now, but just know that this gospel is blessing her life so much. I have learned so much from the lessons that we have had with her, it has been amazing. 

Food, we have been cooking almost every morning. And it almost always contains eggs, because that is easiest. haa But it is always SOOOO good :) 

DyC 67:10 is officially my goal in the mission. Just so you know. Thank you all for all of your help! I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Parker

March 16, 2015 - Another Week

It has been a pretty good week. We spent a lot of time in divisions and accomanying the companionships in their sectors to try to help their investigators. It was cool though, to see this message change lives! We accompanied the sisters to one of their appointements to someone that was not exactly understanding the importance of baptism. But the Lord helped this sister to understand through the Book of Mormon. It was the coolest thing! Literally it was like a light bulb turned on. haha She was just like, whoa.. Ohhhhhhhh.   It was way cool!

This week was a little bit tough, but we got rewarded at the end of the week with 11 less actives in the church, that are going to be rescued next week :) 

We have an investigator right now called William Rojas. He is awesome. Seriously. He has been the golden investigator of my mission. And I love that guy. He tries to speak little things in english with me and it just makes me laugh. He is super friendly and understands things super well. It has been awesome teaching him. He is getting married this week, and next week will get baptized! :) I am pumped!

I have to go now, But I love you all!

Love,

Elder Parker

March 9, 2015 - New Sector

Ok, so I have actually been here for two weeks, but have not had time to write at all. I am now in CollaLoma in Calderon, in Quito! It is not super far away from my first sector. Like 20 minutes in bus! And it has been way good! 

I met my companion on my first day in ecuador.. haha He was an assistent when I got here. But things are going super well with us! We get along great and work well together. It has been a nice break :) haha 

Today, we did a few things, like pick up the clothes, cut our hair, and then SLEPT. It was amazing. We have been getting to bed a little bit late because of the things we have to do for our zone. But it was the best hour of my day :) 

The sector is progressing well and we are seeing miracles! I don´t have much time right now, but I will explain our many miracles next week! 

I love you all! 

Elder Parker

March 2, 2015 - No Time...Sorry

Sorry. I don´t have time. Another busy day. But get your questions out and I will do that next week! I am going to have more time next week. But all is well and I love you all! :)

Love,

Elder Parker

February 24, 2015 - New Sector

So I don´t have much time because we got home late yesterday and there was no light, so we weren´t able to write, so I am writing a little bit today.

I am in a new sector. Sadly, I have left the beautiful city of Ibarra and am Quito once again. But I am excited to be here and to have new experiences. My new companion is Elder Miranda once again from Peru.. haha yeah... But it is going to be much better now. He was the previous assistent and we are serving together as zone leaders in this part. 

Our P-day yesterday was just travel, go to the offices of the mission, go home, and work! It was a good day. Last week, we went to the coast, and next week I explain a little bit more about that, but it was WAY awesome! :) 

Everything is going well, and I wish the best for all of you! Thank you for your support and love! 

Love,

Elder Parker

February 16, 2015 - Not Much Time

Everything is good! I dont have my package yet.   But I am in the Jungle right now and it is HOT.  Haha Rigth now I am too warm. 

I have to go now, and I am not sure if I will be able to write any more today. We have a 2 1/ 2 hour drive to get home. But all is well!

February 9, 2015 - 9 months.. wow.

We finally have a baptism this weekend!!!  After more than 2 months here looking under rocks and above the trees for people who want to get baptized, we found him! His name is Jorge. 2 weeks ago we started teaching him. He had been coming to church, and then finally decided that he wanted to listen to us! :D So we taught him and this weekend he is getting baptized. 

This week, Luis and Tania also got married! So now, he just has to come to church and then he will be baptized also! 

We had a super cool experience this week. On Saturday, we had been working, but all of our appointments fell. We had no idea what to do! We were lost. But we decided to do a prayer and ask for guidance. So we did! We finished the prayer and I just felt pulled to the right, to leave the street we were on. So we went, but then we passed a house, and the feeling stopped. So I looked back, and saw this wooden door. I just knew. That was where we needed to go. So we went. And this lady opened the door. She was talking on the phone and we heard her say, I have been really down lately. And I just knew even more. So we started talking to her and it turns out that her daughter had been listening to the missionaries before, but that she had died from an illness 2 or 3 weeks ago is all. We were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation, and invited her to church, but she didn´t come :( But we are going to go visit her this week because I know that she is ready to hear this message! :)

That is all that I have time for! But keep reading the Book of Mormon! Keep praying! And always go to church so that you can always be ready to recieve the blessings. It is like a cup. The purpose of the cup is to hold water. But if it is turned upside down, it can not do it´s job. Like us! God has many many blessings for each of us! But if we are not oriented good, or if we are turned upside down, we can not recieve the blessings!

Love, Elder Parker

 

Luis and Tania! 

And my district gave me guanabanas for my 9 month mark!! :)))))) AMO guanabana :)

 

 

Waterfall!  haha 

And the baptism of Jonathon! :)

 

 

 

 

February 2, 2015 - Happy Groundhog Day

Will there be more winter or not??

It was a pretty good week, although I am pooped. Really. We spent a lot of the week just contacting and talking to people and just getting rejected basically. BUT!   We do have one person who is really interested and wants to get to know the church and wants her husband to listen to this message too! Her kids were super excited when we got to their house and we didn´t exactly teach a lesson, but talked about the church and just testified and it was super cool! 

We are also (finally) teaching a man named Jorge. He is the "boyfriend" of a member of the branch and has come to church in the past, but did not want to listen to us. But this past week he decided that he wanted to listen and now he wants to get baptized!! He has a date for the 14th of February.  haha  and it is going to be awesome!! 

This past saturday, the branch also had a baptism! :) I had the opportunity to baptize Jonathon, the son of alexandra, who was baptized about a month and a half ago. Jonathon only has one leg, so elder etcheverrito helped me baptize and support him. It was way cool and WAY spiritual! 

Today we went and visited the Arch Angel that protects Ibarra. It was pretty cool, and we could see all of Ibarra. It was pretty neat! 

I started reading the Book of Mormon again this week, and it is such an amazing and special opportunity that we have to have this book and to be able to know that it is true! The Book of Mormon is super powerful and gives us peace and happiness in our lives if we are willing to read with an open mind and apply its teachings! 

I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and thoughts on my behalf. 

Love, Elder Parker 

January 26, 2015 - Week of Meetings

Last week was a week of meetings and sitting in a suit listening to trainings that really were awesome! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we had meetings. So it was pretty hard to work this week and we did not have a lot of success, but there is always something good, at the end of every storm there is a rainbow!

Rainbow 1: We have been visiting a member and her kids to strengthen them and to help prepare her daughter for a mission, and she has a boyfriend or something. I don´t know exactly what he is, but I just refer to him with her as "futuro" He has come to church one time before, but has not been super interested in listening to our message, but he came to church yesterday! And he said he wants to listen to us!! And we didn´t even ask him!!! It is the best when the people come looking for us. Saves us a lot of walking.. ;) haha  So we are going to visit him on Wednesday! :)

Rainbow 2: On saturday, it was a super rough day. All of our appointments fell and we had to just contact. I wasn´t feeling super good (I have been with a cold) but then, at like 8:45 at night, we found her.. She listened to us, and although she did not have a lot of time, she did say that she wanted us to come back and teach her. And she was treating me like she was my mom too, haha. Telling me all these things I should do in order to fight the cold that I had, and telling me to take care of myself. It was neat (don´t worry Mom, you do it better! :P) but it was nice to have a random lady (AKA future member of the church) looking out for me! :) 

Rainbow 3: We have power again!!! hah We did not have power this weekend because the guy who is supposed to pay it is in the orient and didn´t pay it. So it was cold showers and recieving all the reports from the missionaries in candle light this weekend!

Today for P-day, we did a Parrillada, or basically a barbecue with the zone. We made food, played soccer and volleyball! It was a lot of fun! Other news.. This week I am going to get the privilege of baptizing someone. I baptized a mother about a month ago, Alexandra, and this Saturday I will get the chance to baptize her son who had a car accident about 6 months ago and lost a leg. But he is getting baptized this weekend!! WHOO

Final thought. Repentance is real. It is SO real. We had a lot of capacitations about repentance last week, and we learned about how we can have more confidence before God (the talk from elder Klebingat and from elder Robbins). It is an amazing thing that changes lives and destinies!! 2 Nephi 1:15 :D

I love you all!
Love,

Elder Parker

January 19, 2015 - Another Week

We had a couple of sweet experiences this week. The first, one wednesday I was sick with food poisoning (not throwing up, just a lot of diarreah) but I was in the house all day. We went to an appointment in the morning with someone that we had talked to, but I almost threw up there. It was close. hah so we went home. We called the Zone Leaders and asked them if they could come give me a blessing. THey came and gave me a blessing, and in the blessing told me something like if I worked and did the Lord´s work, I would be blessed. After the blessing, I rested for a little while longer, then we went out to work. We had an appointment set with a recent convert, so we went there. I was super excited for that appointment, but they weren´t there. I got a little discouraged at that point, but the a thought came to my head, "Let´s go look for Diego" He is a less active member that is really trying to change his life. SO we went. I didn´t remember where is house was, but I just felt that we should go looking for him. Well, God blesses us and knows where He wants us to be. On the way to the house of Diego, we found him in the street with his girlfriend. He stood up, and asked "let´s go to the house?" And wow. THat was awesome! SO we went and had a super spiritual lesson with him. It was way neat!

The other experience that we had was with an investigator. LUIS. He is way awesome. The problem is that he has to go work for the next 3 sundays and will not be able to assist the church. But! he and his wife still are going to get married on the 5th of February!! And then we are planning his baptism for the end of February! He is awesome. We always feel the spirit super strong with him! It is way awesome! 

Today we went to the waterfall again, but this time it was raining and it was way cool! I have some pictures that I am going to send.

 

The week has gone well. I have just been fighting some food poisoning that I got on Tuesday from some meat that I ate. haha But all good now! 

Woops, didn´t include all of the pics..  Here they are!!!  I love you all and pray for you always!!

Love, Elder Parker

 

 

January 12, 2015 - Changes

We had changes today! I am still in this same sector. But... my companion left to Quito! And now I am with Elder Obando. Another peruano.. yay. haha It should be a good change!

So I realize that I haven´t written much in the past couple of weeks. We have not had tons of time the past couple of weeks. But, I will try to do better in the future. But honestly, not much has happened. The work continues as normal. It has just been kind of a slow change. We did not have much success. But it is a new change and we are going to work super hard in order to have more success and in order to help the people here in this sector! 

Questions?  There is not much more that I have to say, I am going to send fotos! But things are all going well. I will have more stories next week. 

1. A cool foto of the moon

2. We went to the jail to visit somebodies brother! 

 

 

January 5, 2015 - Keep it up!

I love you all! Keep it up! And pray for the Broncos!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

December 29, 2014 - Christmas week

It was a pretty normal week. Christmas was cool. Kind of.. haha On Christmas Eve we had to be in the house at 6 pm, and on Christmas day at 5 pm. But it was good. We went up on top of the house to the terrace and chilled up there for a little bit. Then went and studied, cooked, ate, then later went to bed!

We have finally found someone that wants to learn and know the gospel! Finally! haha after a month of looking and searching, we found him! His name is Luis, and his wife is a less active member. We have been teaching him, and he is super interested. It has been way good. We are just working on getting some doubts resolved. But things are going way good with him! 

What else? Today for P-day we just played soccer with some members of the branch, and now I am super tired. But it was way fun to be playing again. I miss it so much.. :/ But oh well! haha   You know what else I miss? Snow. So much I miss the snow and the cold and all of that. Honestly.   I remember one time it actually got cold and windy enough to where I felt a little sting in my cheeks when I went inside. That was awesome! I miss that feeling sooo much.. haha :) 

I am out of time for today, but I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and thoughts!

Love, Elder Dallin Parker

 

1. My district in a restaurant on Christmas Eve! 

2. An investigator that I got to baptize! 

3. Our Christmas Tree! THanks MOM! and family!

 

 

 

December 24, 2014 - Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  John 3:16

December 15, 2014 - Cascada de Peguche

In the last pic I look fat. But don´t worry. Its just the wind blowing crazy.. ;)

December 8, 2015 - New Area

It has been a week in my new area and things are going super well! Although it is huge. We take buses 20 minutes and are still in the sector, and there is one member family that lives 1 hour and a half away in car. But we are going to go rescue the one. One of these days.. Because if we go in bus, it is like 3 hours. But all is well.

Sorry, I am out of time! But I love you all, and will write more next week! Today was just a super busy day. 

And pics will come next week.

John 14:27

Love, 

Elder Dallin Parker

December 1, 2014 - Changes

I am now in a different sector! After 6 months in my first sector, I am out! Done with the honeymoon. I am now in Ibarra in the sector El Ejido. It is about 2 1/2 hours north of quito. I am with my new companion, 3rd, Elder Apaza from Peru. He was in my ward in my first change, so we already know each other, so it is going to be a good change, I think.

Not a lot of time to write today either for the changes, but things are going super well for me. I am super excited to be here as a missionary and just serving the people here! 

I forgot my cable, so no pics this week, but next week for sure! 

John 14:27 is my message for this week!

 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Thank you everyone for everything! I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

November 24, 2014 - Quick Scripture

Ok, I don´t have much time this week to write this letter, but what I do want to share is Mosiah 24:12-16. This is such a powerful story and example of faith, patience, and persevering. The meaning of these verses really sunk in when I was accompanying the sisters in one of their appointments and they shared this scripture and wow, it struck me. It says,

 12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand aswitnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord didstrengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

 16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

This is my message to all of you, that we trust in the Lord. He will help us. I know it because I have lived it.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

A couple pics from the baptism,   and then a car wreck that we saw. That truck t'boned a bus..

 

November 17, 2014 - Baptism

The family Jimenez got baptized this weekend and it was awesome!! On friday afternoon, they called us saying that they couldn´t have the baptism in the afternoon, and so we had to scramble to get it set up for the morning, but it all left very well!

You will all see in the picture the exciting thing that happened this week for me haha :P

I don´t have a lot of time today, but everything is going super well for me! We have 2 weeks until changes, and I am super scared that I am going, but am almost positive that I am. This is still my first area and I am more than a fourth of the way done haha!

I hope everything is well for everyone!! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

and the right leg looks the same now too! haha

November 10, 2014 - 6 Months!

I got burned today. Hard. We had an activity with the zone, and we were outside playing volleyball for like an hour and half. And I am burned. Then after that, we went and ate with my district, encebollado! It is like a soup with stuff, and is SOO good! And then we came to write! But encebollado. So good. uff.

It has been a good week with a lot of work, but not quite as many fruits. BUT!! On Thursday, we visited the family Jimenez with our mission lider, but he said a few things that weren´t  quite correct, mainly because he doesn´t know, and unfortunately planted some doubts in Rafael about tithing. So on Friday, just us went and we talked straight up with them about everything. So what we all agreed on is that Rafael would talk with his wife (she already wanted to be baptized) and then we would come to lunch on Saturday and eat with the zone leaders also and he would tell us.    So we prayed and prayed and prayed for him.   

Saturday at 1 pm, we went and ate soup of balones de verde. So good! Then we talked..

He started by saying, "unfortunately I don´t dream and didn´t dream last night either" and I was like nooooo. :( but then he continued, saying how they had talked and really how they have changed and felt a lot better and more peaceful and all. Then ended by saying, we are going to get baptized!! I almost jumped out of my seat, and just hugged him!    The zone leaders interviewed them right then, and they are getting baptized on Saturday!!! WHOOO!! haha it was awesome!

So that was that. And that is the highlight of the week! Things are going really well here. I am still in my first sector, but am done with a fourth of my mission! And I hope to stay here for one more change! We have changes in 3 weeks, and I hope to survive them, although my chances are slim. :P 

Don´t have very much more time, but I just leave my testimony that I know this church is true, and that being a missionary is awesome. I have changed so much in so many ways already. I just look at things a little bit differently. 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

November 3, 2014 - Work Week.

This week has been way good! I don´t have  a lot of time so this will be short. Sorry! next week will be better.

This week we worked tons with less active members. And we have a family, the family Tonato, that are SO good, and are coming back and are just about active now. 

I really don´t have time today, but I love you all.  And I did get my package and my letter! THank yoU!!!

I love this week and I love you all!! Keep being you, no matter what the world says or does!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

October 27, 2014 - Happy Birthday Alyssa!!

Happy Birthday Alyssa! I hope you got my other emails with the fotos.

It has been a pretty good week. It was basically normal. Nothing new really happened. So this email might be a little bit shorter. 

It has been raining almost everyday. And the mornings are definitely a little bit colder. Ummm, to tell you more about my companion, he is from Meridian Idaho, he is 18 and just graduated from High school, and he is basically my same size. He is improving so much. And we have been having some amazing lessons. I honestly have been feeling the spirit more than I used to and it is amazing. I love teaching and being with the families here! 

The family Jimenez are amazing. Hands down. Golden. We taught the word of wisdom and they stopped drinking coffee with that. They want to change and be baptized so bad. We are just working on the dad to get his "revelation". His wife had a dream, or a few dreams, and he wants to have dreams too. But he has felt the spirit, we are just helping him to be able to recognize it. 

Everything else is going well. I just want to leave a thought with you all. "Discouragement will weaken your faith." That is from Preach my Gospel and I love that frase. That is what I trained on in District meeting. Really if we are happy and suffer all things with patience, with the goal always in mind, we will be able to keep the faith and carry on and be strong in all things. 

I am sorry I don´t have more time, but I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

Not much, just this way cool spider that we found near our house! It was like silver and shiny! 

 

 

October 20, 2014 - Changes O.O

We got changes last night. And.......... I am staying here for at least one more change!! WHOOO!!! I am also District Leader now.. Yeah, so that is going to be a whole new adventure. But I get a cell phone now, which will make things a lot easier and more convenient! :)  And I am staying with Elder Larsen so I get to finish training him :) He is way cool, and improving so much! So I am way excited for this change!

We also baptized Anabel this weekend, which was way good! It was such an amazing experience. She was definitely prepared by the Lord to be baptized and to be taught. And now her mom has been reading the Book of Mormon, so now we just have to get her to come to church, and then she can take the step to be baptized too! 

We are continuing to work with the Family Jimenez and they are awesome and I love them! They gave us blankets this week that are suuuuuuuuuper comfy. SO soft, but SO warm and cozy haha. And they are always super excited to listen and to learn. We almost always eat something small with them, but they are always like, "eat fast so you can teach us!" haha it is amazing. 

I am not sure what else happened this week..  To answer a few questions, Yes, I do dream in spanish, not always, but a good portion of the time, although not as much now because I still talk english with elder Larsen, but when I am always talking in spanish, I almost always dream in spanish. 

I have a new favorite food! Or drink actually. It is called Colada Morada. It is like a fruit drink or something, that is super popular here. I am not quite sure how to describe it, but it is a drink that they only make here during this time of year for the day of the dead. And they eat it with bread in the shape of dolls with a little bit of frosting which they call guaguas de pan (kids of bread) guagua is kids in kichwa. And that drink is SO good! 

2 Samuel 22:2-4 is my thought for the week. I found out about this scripture from the mission president´s wife, and it is a powerful scripture. So amazing. We can do all things because of Christ. I know that He lives and that He loves every one of us so much better than we could ever hope to understand! 

I love you all and thank you for all of your prayers. Remember who you are!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker

1. with Anabel just before the baptism!!

2. With the Family Jimenez

3. All of the missionaries in our ward (before changes)

4. Missionaries with bishop and a few members. (bishop is the dark one)

5. Cool pic just outside the chapel

6., Family Jimenez

7. With the Family Cortes where we eat on sundays and where we wash our clothes.

8. With Anabel just after being baptized

October 13, 2014 - Rain Week

It rained this week.

Not a lot happened this week. Pretty normal. But we are finally seeing success! The family Jimenez that we found last week is progressing and seems very happy. Although we might move their baptism date back a little bit, because I am starting to feel that it is a little bit rushed and I know the husband feels like that too. But we will see! I have faith that we won´t have a problem :)    

We also just restarted teaching a family of less actives that went to church and have talked to bishop and are now starting to come back to church. And something that I have realized is that it is better to focus on only a handfull of families, rather than trying to save the whole world haha and we have been focusing on that, and now we are seeing results!  But... changes are in one week, and if I leave I will be very sad. But I am thinking that I will have one more change here to finish training my son. But we´ll see!   But we have the baptism of anabel this weekend, so I will at least see that!

Umm, I don´t have much time now, but we went bowling today! That was a lot of fun! and I have a pic of us at the bowling alley. So yup! :)

I have to go but I love and miss you all. Thank you for yours prayers and faith!

Love,

Elder Dallin Parker