"one miraculous week"

This has been one miraculous week! Transfers happened but Sister Faulk and I stayed the same! We were so happy. We both wrote President Wall and told him he could not transfer us. Sister Faulk has been in Opelousas for over a year! That is so rare! She does not want to leave either. She is hoping to finish her mission here and I don't blame her at all.

I don't know if you heard but it snowed in Louisiana! I used to think that dry cold weather was awful but no...humid cold weather is the worst. It is painful and my hands were literally aching! There was a thick sheet of ice on our windshield so Sister Faulk and I had to use our credit cards to try to get it off.

While we were in the process of trying to clear our windshield we looked over and saw a man who was really struggling to get the ice off of his windshield.  So we took a break from working on ours to go and help him.  He was so glad because he was worried that he would be late for work.  I thought I was going to get frost bite!

All of a sudden our teaching pool is huge!!!!!!!!!!!  Sister Faulk said this has never happened. She has always focused on less actives and members but now we are teaching investigators!

We sometimes visit a lady in our ward who is in a wheelchair and this lady LOVES missionary work! She is an excellent missionary.  She has a helper named "G" who comes to take care of her during the day.  She introduced the Book of Mormon to G who just soaked it up! She has been reading the Book of Mormon, Gospel Principles, and the Ensign. She loves it so much. So Sister Faulk and I went over there to meet with her! She is such a sweet lady and has three adorable little kids. We began teaching her about the restoration and let me tell you- Satan will do whatever he can to distract people during lessons!  We were in the middle of the lesson and all of a sudden a huge flock of birds started smacking into the window we were sitting by.  It just kept happening!  But of course Satan didn't win that battle. We just continued our discussion and were able to complete it.  G told us she has noticed a difference in her life since reading the Book of Mormon and her sweet little children have noticed a change in her as well! They love how happy she is and now they want to learn more about why their mom isn't so sad anymore. We asked her if we could continue teaching her and she loved that idea!  So we went to her house yesterday to teach her and her kids. Two of the kids were not there- just her five year old baby boy whose personality reminds me of Jagger.  He and Jagger have the same curious, contemplative looking face! Some of her extended family was also there and they decided to come and sit in on the lesson. We had no idea they would be there but it was perfect. We felt we needed to teach the Plan of Salvation as soon as we walked into the house and that is what we did. Sister McDavid from our branch who is a convert was also there with us and it was so helpful to have her powerful testimony in the room. They just loved everything they were hearing and said that it made perfect sense.

 

Her extended family told us they were even going to come to church on Sunday and wanted to know if they can come over every week for the lessons as well. I just imagined that family dressed in white at the temple. The spirit was so strong. As I started to bear my testimony to this family I started to cry a little because I could feel God's love for each of them.  

 

We also visited a super cute part-member family this week.  The lady is a member of the church and the guy is investigating.  It has been such a blessing to teach "J" and we have been strengthened by his faith! Yesterday he told us that he prayed and he knows that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true! We are so happy- I can't even describe the joy we feel from hearing that. We have been reading chapters of the Book of Mormon with his family and it has been really cool to see him liken the scriptures to himself. We will be teaching them Temple Square style tonight.  I can't wait!  

 

Sister Faulk and I were talking about our meeting with J and his family on the way to the library this morning and it's so cool to think about how Heavenly Father works. J's mother died in 2009 and since then he became more religious and he has been trying to find truth for a long time. He has been searching for God and now he has a sweet family who has the truth and is sharing it with him.   Sister Faulk and I thought about ourselves in 2009. We were high school kids who were not even thinking about missions and who objected to that idea completely; but at that time God knew what was going to happen. God was preparing people for us to help and we never even knew it! Several times in the scriptures it talks about God preparing a place or a way for us to go. He has such big plans and it is up to us to go in the path that He wants.

 

I never thought I would be here but I am happy that He helped me get here on this mission. I never would have thought that there would be people out there being prepared for when I got here and could share what I know with them. I just love thinking about that!  God knows exactly what he is doing.  Every situation and person He brings into our lives serves a purpose.  So I invite you to think about that. God has a plan and it's a lot better than our plans. His plans are way better than going to parties with our friends on the weekends or planning our lives around things of the world. If we put Him first then we get to see a glimpse of how He sees us. We get to see a glimpse of who He knows we can become.  Something to remember is that even if we feel like it's too late for us it is not! If we feel like it is too late and we are too far off the path then we are denying the atonement of Jesus Christ. We must remember how much we are loved! We all have full potential and gifts that can help people.  Each and everyone of us has a divine purpose in His plan!

All or most missionaries reach a breaking point at some time during their mission when they are humbled before the Lord. We come out here ready to teach and ready to help others come closer to Jesus Christ; but we don't really know how it is actually going to be- how we will feel, what trials we will go through, how much we will actually love the people we serve, and how important the atonement is not only in our own lives but everybody's lives. I feel like after seven months of Heavenly Father breaking me and humbling me I am finally starting to get it.

 

Heavenly Father's plan for us is truly the plan of happiness. Sometimes we think we can do it on our own but we always end up finding out that it is impossible to be truly happy if we don't put God first before everything else. Sometimes we have to find out the hard way and that is totally okay! That is when the atonement comes in. Jesus Christ descended below all and has the power to help us overcome everything. 

 

I just know that God loves each of us perfectly. He has a plan for us and it's up to us to make the decision to be with Him again one day. We need to start now rather than later. Even if it is hard He will be right there to help us. Repentance can be painful at first but that's because the atonement is so powerful and so real!  

 

I just want to bear my testimony and say that I know these things are true. I am thankful for the restoration of the gospel. I am thankful to serve here in Opelousas. I love these people! I am grateful to know that if I do my best I can be with my family again one day. I am thankful that I finally know that simply going to church, being baptized, and not doing bad things isn't enough. This life is all about progression. If we love God then we will work to show it. I love being a missionary and I love the scriptures. I just hope that everyone has the chance to feel what I am feeling and I know that if we read the scriptures every single day we will be filled with the spirit. It changes how you feel and act and treat others. I invite everyone to read them! Family, I love you. Thanks for supporting me. Sorry I am busy and I don't have much time to write back. Just know I think about ALL of you and pray for you. I hope you know that we are all so precious to our Father in Heaven. Times are tough but so are we... that's why we were saved for this time. 

 

Missionary work is great! I am happy. I hope my entire family and friends are happy. I just can't explain how much I love each of you. I look forward to going to family reunions when I get home because I am just going to cry when I see all of you. I LOVE YOU. I am on a spiritual high if you can't tell. Why? Because I read the scriptures this morning. And I have a testimony that they answer our questions and give us the knowledge that we need.

Thanks so much Renee and Dustin Phelps for your letters.  Love you guys!

 

Bye Y'all!

 

Sister Park  

Calling (from) Baton Rouge!

(back row from left to right) Me, Ashley, Elder Bracken, Gabby, Sister Faulk
(front row) Elder Jones

Bonjour Friends and Family! How are you doing? How is life? Life has been wonderful here in Louisiana. I love it! We just got transfer calls and found out that Sister Faulk and I get to stay in Opeleusas together. We are both very happy.
Each day we get up and go biking down the bayou at 6:30 a.m.  I always hope to see alligators but it's still too cold so I will have to wait for a couple of months. Then we come back and get ready for the day and proceed into our personal and companionship studies. I really hope that I keep up with my studies everyday after my mission because they are so helpful and such a good time for personal revelation. The scriptures are so awesome! Then we head out and go to any appointments that we may have. If we don't have too many appointments we go and visit less active members and just see how they are doing.  We also go visit sick people or people who have any needs at the time.  That is usually what we do for the whole day. I have not been tracting yet. This mission is more focused on building up the branch and member missionary work which has been very successful. I really want to go tracting though so Sister Faulk promised me that we can do it one day soon.

On P day we do the same except we come here to the library to email and then we go to an activity with our zone.  Usually we play dodge ball which is what we did last week.  Dodge ball was fine but I am just not entertained by that type of leisure. Well, I am but only if I know the people. I don't like to throw balls at people I do not know. Today we're having a Nerf gun war and it will be fun because I know people now so I won't mind shooting them.  But I would still rather be able to write letters to friends and family. Please apologize to everyone for me because I have a feeling I will never get a few hours where I can just sit down and write!

I am really loving it here. I love the people, the scenery, the southern hospitality, and everything.  I love how we can drive down the road and see cute little old men just sitting on their front porch, watching the world. I feel like dad is going to do that when he is old.

Ok Jeremy listen up!  You're going to like this.  Last night we went over to the Nations house for Family Home Evening and they ordered pizza. Well, in Louisiana they put shrimp on their pizza and even though I have never liked shrimp, I actually ate it! It was sooo good. I have become so cultural on my mission, its insane. First Asian food and now Cajun food.  What's next?

Oh, I know what's next!  I have very exciting news.  I AM GOING TO BE HERE FOR MARDI GRAS! Ok so mom... remember when we used to go to Mimi's Cafe and I would tell you it was my dream to go to Louisiana for Mardi Gras? Well, my dream came true! And we usually get permission to go to the parades. Don't worry I won't flash anyone for beads, hahaha!

Meeting in person with my investigators is an amazing experience that I didn't get very often at Temple Square.  It is really cool to actually be face to face with these people and to be able to feel the spirit so strong during lessons. We have been able to teach some amazing people. So last week we got a call from the elders in Jennings, Texas.  They were calling to give us a referral.  The referral was for an awesome 19 year old girl who is interested in the church and she just moved into our boundaries.

They had already taught her the restoration so we just needed to meet with her and start teaching her the rest of the lessons. We met up with her (I will call her H) on Saturday! She is such a sweetheart and we have a lot in common with her! We asked H why she was interested in the church and she said it was because of our emphasis on having the proper authority.  Wow!  That isn't an answer we get very often but it shows she truly wants to find the truth. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was there so strong. So at the end we felt prompted to ask her if she would be baptized and she accepted! She has a baptismal date set for the 16th of February. This is such a miracle because things like this just don't happen all the time- especially here in Louisiana! She came to church the next day and really enjoyed it. She was also able to attend Gabby & Ashley's baptism right after church.  I am so excited to continue meeting with her and watch her progression.

Gabby & Ashley were investigators that Sister Faulk had for about four months before I got here.  They are really good friends and are amazing. I have grown to love the two of them so much and I have only been here for 2 weeks. About an hour before church on Sunday, Gabby called us and said that Ashley was very sick and would not be able to make it to their baptism. She had been throwing up all night and was in a lot of pain. It just came out of the blue and Sister Faulk and I were so sad.  We called the elders and asked them if they would go over there and give her a blessing. So Brother Prescott took us and the elders to their house so they could give her a blessing. In the blessing, Elder Bracken told her that she would be healed. We all had so much faith because we knew that she could get better, and she did!

They ended up coming to church and she felt a million times better by the time she got there. It was amazing and the spirit was so strong. I have such a testimony of the priesthood. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has provided us with that gift here on earth. Before my mission I never really thought too much about people getting baptized but now I look at it a whole new way.  It is such a blessing that our church has the proper authority to baptize in the name of Jesus Christ.  And the faith that these people have to take this step and make this covenant with Heavenly Father absolutely amazes me. I have such an appreciation for the gospel and the fact that I get to be here at this time to serve. I used to be mad at myself for wasting time and postponing serving a mission until July rather than when I had originally planned to go but I have come to realize that this is the right time for me to be out here serving the Lord; and Temple Square/Baton Rouge are exactly where I am supposed to be!

Since coming to Louisiana, I have learned so much about the gospel and my testimony is becoming even stronger.  Spending so much time with investigators and new converts has taught me a lot about repentance and conversion.  Conversion and Testimony are completely different and I finally am starting to see the importance of it all- the temple, scriptures, prayer, serving others, priesthood, and family...but most of all repentance. I used to only associate repentance with committing really bad sins.  I never realized how close repentance can bring us to Heavenly Father.

I am kind of prideful and I do not like to admit when I have done something wrong so it is so hard for me to get down on my knees and say sorry and ask for forgiveness. Well, in my third transfer Heavenly Father really hit me hard and let me know that I need to change! Missions are so hard.  Kendall, I hope you understand this. They are so incredibly hard. Most missionaries enter the field with a lot of pride. We don't even realize it until we get here. Heavenly Father knows that he needs to break us in order to make us stronger. That goes for all of his children, not just missionaries.

In Ether 12:27 it says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

He shows us our weaknesses to make us better. He knows who we can become but sometimes we have to go through it the hard way. Well, after a ton of praying I finally realized something I have been leaving out of my prayers. I have always repented but its never been very sincere.  Because of this mission I realize now that repentance is essential to growth and I consider it a blessing that I have the opportunity to repent every single day.  That is part of what the atonement does for us.  It doesn't just redeem us from large sins but it brings us closer to God as we strive each and every day to repent and become more like Him.

Repentance can do so much for us! It brings us hope and reminds us of the bigger picture. Repentance is such an essential part to Heavenly Father's plan for us. As missionaries we are here to help others to receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I am finally starting to better understand my purpose; and the only way I can help others understand their purpose is if I do all of these things as well.

I love you friends and family and I know that if you put your faith in God and allow yourselves to fully repent and come unto Christ, he will bless your lives immensely!  Have a good week. 

Sister Park

Hello from Louisiana!

Macy and her companion in front of the mission home.

Hello everyone! I am currently serving in the Louisiana, Baton Rouge mission and I love it! It is a completely different world down here. I am in the Lafayette zone and I live in Lafayette but my area is actually out in the country in a little place called Opeleuses.  The weather is nice and warm! Today it's raining and flooding. They eat a lot of crawfish here.  I have already had it twice and do not like it yet!

This mission is completely different from the Temple Square mission. I am working with elders, members, and actually going to a regular family ward.  My companion and I serve in the Opeleuses Branch. There are about 50 people in the branch and the chapel isn't much bigger than a relief society room. The branch president made me give a talk last minute yesterday. I didn't have time to prepare so it probably wasn't very good!

It is crazy how different the south is from the west. President Wall really encourages us to use their slang words such as "y'all". I am so happy that I am serving here of all places. Sister Cuevas is serving in the actual city of Baton Rouge and they stuck me in the country. I was so happy about it though!

My companion's name is Sister Faulk and she is from northern California. I absolutely love her! We are so much alike and she is hilarious. She may be one of the most Christlike people that I have ever met! The ward members absolutely love her! I have so much to learn from her because I don't do the lovey dovey give me a hug thing and thats what people like down here. But I think I was sent to the perfect place!

Outbound is a completely different experience. We spend on a lot of our time building up the members and visiting less active members. I am not used to this because at Temple Square we find people and teach them. I feel like I have slowed way down since I got here but it's actually kind of nice. I am just so happy to be done with fleet!  One of my favorite things to do is to go visit people who are in the hospital.  Any time I step foot in a hospital I am a happy person.  It makes me miss my job though- shoutout to my friends at Oasis Hospital!- and it even makes me a little trunky (missionary lingo for feeling ready to go home).  Don't worry though, there is nowhere I would rather be than here!

Working with less-actives in the short time I have been here has really helped me to gain a stronger testimony of the Temple.  You would think Temple Square would have done that but just being able to listen to these people's stories and everything they have gone through makes me realize how special it is to have the temple in our lives. Our goal is to help them get to the temple because that is the place where we can feel closest to our Heavenly Father and our loved ones. President Wall said something really cool. He said as we are teaching people we should imagine that their relatives who have passed on are in the same room listening and learning from us as well. I thought that was interesting and so true! We never stop learning and we can be a huge help to those who have passed on without ever receiving the gospel. That goes for everyone. Members of the church do not realize how big of an influence they have on people. We can bring families together because we know the truth. We have such wonderful news! Why wouldn't we want to share it? We know that god provides a plan for us so that we can be with our families forever! We know that we have a Savior who died for us so that we can be happy. It is overwhelming and humbling to contemplate all that our Heavenly Father gives us.

I am so happy to be here in Louisiana.  I love these people.  They are all about service. They put others before themselves every day. The members go out of their way to help others come to church and will drive an hour just to take someone to the temple. The church isn't very big here but the people are strong. I am learning so much from them. They have such an appreciation for the Atonement!

Life here in Opeleuses is very hard for a lot of people. The poverty rate is very high. There are drug deals EVERYWHERE! Especially at our apartment complex.  They go on every night.  The drug dealers are nice to me and Sister Faulk though.  They respect us as representatives of Jesus Christ and refer to us as "the Jesus girls".  The people in this town experience many trials just like everyone else in the world but they have faith whether they are members of the church or not.  I can't wait to take the family back here.

On Saturday we were in a hospital visiting a sick member.  The branch president showed up to give her a blessing.  The nurse kept watching us and listening to us and she was fascinated by the blessing the branch president gave.  After he left, she asked us if she could talk to us.  She had so many questions about our church.  We ended up teaching her the restoration right there in the hospital and gave her a Book of Mormon.  She told us that she would like a home visit so we have an appointment to go and teach her this week.  I have already had so many wonderful experiences and there are more to come!

Unlike at Temple Square we eat in  the member's homes! I am not a fan of crawfish and I'm having a difficult time adjusting to southern food.  I love some of it though. I think so far my favorite thing is jambalaya. I love Cajun chicken too! The people here are great cooks! Last night we went over to the Nations' house for dinner with the elders. The Nations' are a great family in our ward! They have the missionaries over every Sunday night for dinner and football. We had meatball soup and it was so good. Then Brother Nations drove us home and we listened to George STRAIT in his truck!  President Wall has a rule that if good music or TV is on then just enjoy it. We watched football last night too. There is a lot of Saints fans here. Cammie would be proud because she likes Dirty Sanchez or something like that...????



The elders that serve in our branch with us are Elder Bracken and Elder Jones.  We see them a lot and have so much fun with them.  One of them likes Justin Beiber a lot and even has a Justin Beiber backpack.  But they like to make us do a lot of their work for them like plan their baptisms.  We do it but the other night to get them back we decided to wrap their car in saran wrap.  While we were wrapping the car we met a man named Cedric.  He accidentally spilled beer on us while he was talking to us so that was awkward.  Then he said, "I thought you were weird but now that you messing with you friends car, you cool."  So now he calls me Baby P and he calls Sister Faulk Baby Thug.  I like him.  Who knows, maybe we will get to teach him the gospel soon!





I love you all!  Families are Forever!



Sister Park

I'm going outbound!

Hello Family!  This week has been a wonderful week. Another one of our investigators was baptized! I am so happy. He is just this kid we met on chat but we have never met anyone so sincere! He is a great person!

So it is a New Year! On New Year's Eve our mission got together and had a short little New Year's Eve Party. We ate chips and salsa and had a countdown. It was 10:00 so we pretended that we were NYC time. During our New Year's Eve Party President Gillette got out this mini transfer board and announced who is going outbound! I did not expect to be on the list. He went through all of the names and then the very last name that he said was mine!



There I am in the second to last row!

I was so scared! I just started to really love my mission and now I am leaving!  I found out where I am going but I am keeping it a secret for now... I will give you one little hint: Bible Belt. I think. I am so excited because I have always wanted to visit there. I do not know how long I will be serving there. I will find that out on Monday. So this blog will not be too exciting because I have barely had contact with any human being. It's been nothing but computers and cars for me and Sister Steenhoek. I have less than a week left of fleet and even though I will miss Sister Steenhoek I am so happy to be done with fleet!  The last week is the toughest because we have to figure out all the flight info and transportation for the new sisters and the outbound sisters and it's so much more work than you can imagine. This is also a stressful week because I have transfers to figure out on top of getting ready to leave for a few months and move across the country. I have a lot of packing to do.
So last night we had to take the Trax (which is just like the lightrail in Phoenix) to see if we should just have the sisters going outbound ride that to the airport. We wanted to make sure everything worked out the way we wanted it to. Well, on the way back to Temple Square we had a little experience that was probably meant to prepare me for my next destination. We were sitting down discussing transfers and I looked across from us and a man would not stop staring at us. I couldn't even focus on our conversation because he was kind of freaking me out. And when people stare at me I tend to stare at them until they stop and look away so I just kept staring at him. So this guy and I basically had a staring contest for awhile. But he won because he wouldn't stop staring! So I looked down and pulled out the phone so I could write a fake text and tell Sister Steenhoek that he was freaking me out. So as I began typing it out, he stood up and sat across from us and introduced himself. He asked us if he could ask us a couple of questions about our beliefs. So of course we said yes! And of course he went straight to the typical questions that we usually get from people who are antagonistic rather than sincere... like polygamy and then racism. Racism questions will really prepare me for my outbound so as he was expressing his concerns I was thanking Heavenly Father for preparing me but also asking for his help in responding to this man.

We explained both situations to him and told him that racism had nothing to do with anything that has happened in the church. I don't really remember what we said because the conversation was not my own words but was completely led by the spirit.  Thankfully, the spirit was very strong during our conversation and the man surprisingly seemed very sincere.

Come to find out, he grew up as a member but could never get past those two issues. He said that he had always received different answers but had only talked to friends and had never thought about asking a missionary until he saw us sitting on the train.  He seemed happy with the explanations that we gave him. After we answered his questions we could tell he didn't want the conversation to be over so we had him read Moroni 10: 4-5:

"4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

 

We proceeded to tell this man that he needs to pray with real intent. He is sincere. But if he sincerely wants to know then he needs to pray with faith that he will receive an answer. The whole meeting was a miracle for so many reasons but the best part of all was that he gave us his contact information and said he wanted us to call and teach him.  Unfortunately I will be leaving for ....................... but Sister Steenhoek will continue to teach him while I am in.............!

 

Next cool thing to happen! So the other day we had some free time and decided that we wanted to give a few tours. So we were asked to do a VIP tour and headed upstairs to go meet the people we would be showing around. It was two nice gentlemen from Burbank, CA. They were sooo California. They even said "totally." So we took them around on a Preach My Gospel walk. (I do not like the term "tour" because our tours are actually lessons but the people we are taking just don't know it.) So we were talking with the guys and then come to find out... we were with the writers and producers of the Jay Leno Show! It was no surprise. They seemed like they were something big! That was a neat experience. It was our first VIP tour!

 

And the best thing to happen this week is that I was able to see the Udall family. Kylie had a missionary glow and I know she will do so great! I was really hoping to go outbound in Portland so that I could take care of her and if she had a bossy companion then I could set her straight but that is ok!  It was so good to see the Udall family.  I missed those people!

So for my outbound assignment I am kind of close to Rulon...  I am in the south...  It is warmer than Salt Lake...  And I might just be teaching the cast of Duck Dynasty!!  On Wednesday at 3:40 a.m. I will be flying out to serve for a few months in the Louisiana, Baton Rouge Mission!  I can't wait to serve and come to love the people of Louisiana!  I am happy to experience the next chapter in my mission and I can't wait to find out what Heavenly Father has in store for me.  Baton Rouge, here I come! 

 

Don't forget, life will be hard at times and you will have trials but the Savior was, is, and will always be there for you. D&C 90:24- "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good...".

 

Love you all, Sister Park