I`ve been in this area for an eternity but somehow I never lack things to say because there arealways new miracles and people and everyday Peru moments to note :)
P-days are crazy here in Piura. Our mission is so FUN and I love it. Today we had a soccer tournament (and last week) for the whole mission. They made us hermanas play so that things don`t get too competitive/aggressive but with the future Messi`s we have in our zone, I really didn`t help the team much, haha. We ended up in 3rd place, not too shabby!
They don`t celebrate Thanksgiving here but advantages of having a gringa companera is that we sang Count your Many Blessings all day and bought a keke with chocolate chips to celebrate :)
Just in time for the holiday, we had a couple experiences this week that made me super thankful for my family, health, opportunities, and most of all the gospel of Jesus Christ!
- We met Addy Jorget this week. Her husband is paralyzed from the waist down and her youngest daughter has leukemia. If you thought that was all, her second daughter disowned her as her mom and in their last house they were robbed of absolutely everything they had (including the book of mormon she had from missionaries years ago). Yet she is the sweetest and such an example to me of patience and positivity. We are excited to continue teaching her and her daughter. I know that with whatever trial or test we are given in this life, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer!
- Also met and taught Soledad. I will never forget the smile her down syndrome son had on his face when we gave him a picture of Jesus Christ. They came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it. Juan (her son) was totally tranquilo the whole time looking at the pictures in the Liahonas, which was such a blessing so that Soledad could focus on the messages!
- Zone meeting was fantastic and we are super excited to start showing Ha Nacido Un Salvador to contacts, investigators and members! Let`s flood the world with it :)
- Oh man I don`t think any other time in my life will match the stress of Sunday mornings. Lately we have had a ton of people coming to church who we just met aka they don`t know members yet aka it`s all on us. But we survived and made it in time to take the sacrament after a lot of prayers that morning!
- I ponderized Alma 37: 37 this week. On my mission these past 5 and a half months, I`ve learned how to pray. I mean, of course I prayed before the mission but I didn`t pray. One of my favorite parts of PME is chapter 4 in the section Pray with Faith. I love that it says effective prayer requires great effort. I remember my first week when Hermana Orellana would pray for literally 20 minutes straight at night and I was always amazed at how she could do that.....well now I know! Prayer is humility in action. It`s praying specifically and sincerely, name by name. It`s a form of worship as we pour out our hearts in gratitude to our Father. It`s a conversation with Him and a report of how we`re doing as his servants on the earth. It`s a tool to receive inspiration and spiritual impressions.
¨Recognize that your Heavenly Father knows what you need better than you do.¨
¨Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.¨
If it takes a solid 20 minutes to gain the highest of all blessings and communicate fully with my Father in Heaven, 20 mins it will be!
Love you all and hope your Thanksgiving holiday was spiritually and physically ¨filling¨ :)
Hermana Parks
a hole
La Familia Paredes
No turkey, but plenty of awesome fruit!
Again, no turkey, but POLLO
Zone soccer tournament. #32. Shocker.
Action shot of planning/coordinating rides to church
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