Rushed Transfer

so funny story real quick, literally 15 minutes after i was done writing you i got a call that i had transfers and that i had an hour to pack my stuff and get ready to leave. Monday was a horrible day hahaha. i was so excited that i was going to get to stay in portoviejo (hands down my favorite sector so far) and then they called me to leave and it was frantic. i was a mess too hahaha. i had to call my favorite families and tell them i was leaving and they came running to our house to come see me. ugh it was horrible i was crying so much hahahaha. one of the families, the familia nuñez (i sent a picture of them to you last week) took me to the bus terminal and everything. gosh they were so cute to me. and my best friend Mary was crying just as much as i was. goodness it was rough. but you know god needed me to leave so its okay, i know he will take care of them for me. so they sent me to a part of guayaquil called Portete. im with my companion hermana reina that is from guayaquil ahaha shes a hoot. she goes home the transfer before i do. and in this zone there are 10 elders and just us two sisters hahahaha its a party let me tell you. we are going to go the temple tomorrow so im super excited. yeah so this week has just been a little crazy getting to know the sector and the members and everything. but i still miss my dear portoviejo...

I love you!!!

Pictures of Our Hermana Parker

One Year Down

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

1 YEAR WHATTTTTTTTTTT.
That is literally so weird i still cant believe it. It does not feel like i've been gone for a year at all. i cant believe how fast time has gone by. last night i had a minor panic attack because i realized how much time i have left and how little time i have to be with thsse people that i love so much. it makes me really really sad to think that i have to say bye to all them i dont like thinking about it its weird.

we were able to see some miracles this week because we found some great great families and we are super excited. we have been teaching the garcia family, i dont remember if i already told you about them or not but oh well hahaha. so we have saul and sara that are the parents, sara absolutely LOVES me and she wants me to move back to ecuador for her. and then harry and andres are her sons they are 22 and 18. They are so cool i love them to death. i have officially converted them to be black keys fans. arent you so proud. The whole family is so great and they love us so much. we talk with them for foreeevvveeerrrrrr. we are hoping to help them in to the waters of baptism in october. pray lots for them.

also super cool experience- we were out contacting with the relief society pres and her daughter and we found this lady named erica and we talked to her and she told us to come back during the week. and then as we were walking away she called us back and we went in and met her whole family and they made us lunch (if they give you food here its a very good sign). So erica and her husband and her 3 kids live together with her mom and dad, her aunt, and her sister leidy. ericas house had fallen down in the earthquake and they had to move in with her mom. so we met all the women of the family and they like instantly loved us. we taught something quick and they asked when we could come back and they got all sad when we had to leave and they just hugged us and wouldnt let us go. The spirit was just so strong and the family is so incredible and we are SOOOOO excited to start teaching them this week. IF we have time, we have a sister conference in guayaquil and we are going to the temple FINALLY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

So in the city of Portoviejo, there was a LOT of damage from the earthquake. every time we drive through the center of town we can see all the damaged buildings and all the holes from where the buildings were. its really really sad. soooooo many people lost there houses. and the saddest thing in the world is when you see a hole in the ground from where a building was and you see like the little cross and mini shrine thing for the people that lost their lives. Its really rough. But i know that what happened here was for a reason and i know im safe. i feel a lot safer being close to the elders in my zone. nothing protects you more than the priesthood folks.

I LOVE YOU ALL

ps. i chipped my tooth this week and i looked like a pirate but dont worry i got it fixed for free because there are mormon dentists

Hermana Parker

Hey there!

Short and Sweet post this week

Hi mommy dear,

its been a super fast week and i was really suprised. Everyhing is good here! Portoviejo is literally ginormous and my sector is too. Some parts of it remind me of the US. There are 10 elders and 6 sisters in my zone. Im trying to lighten them up a bit because they are really serious hahaha. The members here are lovely and i think they are amazing. we are working with a cool family right now, the family Garcia. they love me for some reason hahahah and they thought i was latina because my spanish was so good. they all keep telling me that but i dont believe any of them. i still sound White hahaha. Anyways so weve got Saul and Sarah the parents and then the two sons Harry who is 22 and Andres that is 17. they are hilarious. i obviously have to call Harry Harry Potter and he loves me for it. But its cool me and HErmana Tirrell have improved A LOT since we were companions in the MTC. so we are just going to baptize everybody with our overbearing gringa presence.

Glad to hear you guys have started school and are happy and working and all is well. i cant wait to go golfing with you guys when i get home. i was started to get really into it before i left because me and bub and ryan always went just to hit balls to let off steam. speaking of. bub is a missionary officially and he is so happy and hes already telling me about his plans he has for us when we are home together in august 2018 ahahahaha. so thats going to be great i miss him so much hahaha

i took precisely one picture this week so here you go hahahaha.

I LOVE YOU GUYS

Hermana Parker

More investigators and a baptism

Hello mommy dear!!!

This week went by suuuppppeeerrrr fast but it was super super awesome. Just so everyone is aware, my favorite lady in the ward made me a black t shirt dress and it is the greatest thing in the world. pictures to come.

We found SOOOO many coooool people this week. We had 7 investigators come to church. And it was incredible. We have a family, the familia Bajaña Alvarado that is super awesome and they are preparing to get baptized. They LOOOOOVVVVEEEE me and my companion and we love them so much it hurts. Also we found two chicas this week, Angie and Joselyn, they are cousins and they are SOOO awesome. They came to church after we had only taught them one time and they LOVED it. And then last night we went to go visit them and we ended up teaching the two girls and the familiy of Joselyn and it was one of the most incredible lessons i have ever had in my life. it was SOOOOO filled with the spirit and they were so receptive and it literally was just icredible. We are SOOO excited for this family.

We have a baptism this saturday for our friend Amy. funny story actually. she got baptized when she was 8 with her family but they had lost her records and they havent had any proof that she is a member for years. our zone leaders asked us to help her get baptized again. she wasnt super crazy about the idea at first because she didnt want to forget her first baptism. but we were able to help her a lot. a baptism for a lost record has actually turned into us helping this girl become converted to the gospel for the first time and helping her to gain a new testimony of the church. it has been super super awesome teaching her and she is really excited to be baptized again. And everyone is jealous of her that she gets to get baptized again because for real who wouldnt want to live that amazing day over again. i know i would.

So this is the last week of the transfer. we will hear about if we have transfers or not this sunday night. ahhhhh i dont want to leave but i am scared i might because i have sooooooo much time in this zone. im not sure if you are aware but i have been in the same zone for literally my whole mission. and im very nervous for these transfers. also it sucks because hermana cox is going home. thats a bummer. but oh yeah we have a new zone leader his name is elder gonzales he is from peru and he was actually one of my best friends from the mtc so we already get along great.

im not sure how this birthday is going to be but from what i have heard im going to be eating a lot of food. so.

i do want to see pics of the new car! and i wanna see pics of the kids on their first days of school too!! thanks for the baby pics. i was actually going to ask you to send me some hahahah. OH BUT I DO NEED A FAVOR. will you send me one of my lacrosse pics?? no one knows what lacrosse is and i want to show them. send me one from instagram if you can. THANK YOU

ps how dope are the olympics am i right?

I LOVE YOU GUYS

hermana parker

Studying so much her scriptures fell apart

mama,

This week went by super quick. We have been teaching a cute little couple that always gives us juice. And we are preparing my premortal life best friend Ana Maria for her baptism in August. And Elkins little sister is going to turn 8 and be baptized the day before my birthday. We have a cool investigator named Joel that has gone to church three times and we are going to invite him to be baptized TODAY. woooooo we also found a single mom named Leidy that has three adorable little sons. wevve already seen them in white. such a cute family.

i bought a pair of cheetah shoes and my favorite lady in the ward is making me an awesome black t shirt dress. im stoked.

we buy food at a grocery store called Tia. Its like smiths basically. really ecuador is a lot more civilized then you might be thinking. they are just very humble hard working people in a country where there isnt a lot of work. And i havent eaten cow stomach or heart but i have eaten octopus and i did not enjoy that whatsoever. i just hate the rice. ITS SO MUCH RICE EVER SINGLE DAY.

ELDER HANSEN FINALLY WENT TO OUR HOUSE WOW IM SO HAPPY. I was like developing anxiety because he hadnt gone yet. He went home like over a month ago with the package. If you can get that letter to bub today that would be awesome because im 99% sure he leaves this week.  But im so glad you got it. Did he like just leave it in the mailbox or did he like go talk to you or what. im dying to hear about this hahahaha

My best friend Hermana Cox's is going home early because shes got some nasty stomach problems and she will be going home in three weeks at the end of this transfer. and im really sad. This past week weve talked a lot about marriage. hahahah. I think she's a little too excited to go home. I cant even imagine how im going to feel. i probably wont be able to talk to boys and ill just crack and start rambling in spanish. i dont think ill be getting married anytime soon ahahahah. 

Tell nana bird thank you!!!! i treated myself to buying more shoes hhahahaha. they were only 10 bucks. and a cute pair of leggings too. sorry i splurged mother.

i cant believe summer is almost already over and that the kids are starting school again and i cant even begin to rap my head around the fact that my little baby tutu wearing brother is going to be a senior. AHHHHH. tell him to email me i want to hear about his life. and luke too. i literally havent recieved one email from them in almost 11 months. he he he almost 11 months mom.

We are going to be having another baptism next saturday the 13th!! Elkin´s little sister turns 8 next week and we are preparing her to be baptized. shes my best friend she really is. dont even know how much i love her. We also have two families we are working with. Leidy and her three sons and a couple named Doris and Nery. It is AMAZING working with families. This past week we were helping leidy learn how to pray and at the end of the lesson her and her three sons were all sitting close together with their arms folded and their eyes closed and they just listened to their mom pray. I couldnt help but have my eyes open during that prayer. THAT RIGHT THERE my friends is what missionary work is about.

alright mother, my scripture of the week for you this week is 1 nephi 18:21. i started reading the book of mormon over again in english a couple weeks ago. I wanted to really start studying it again. And im to the point with my spanish that i dont have to study the book of mormon in spanish to learn the language anymore. he he he. Anways so what ive been doing is that every time it mentions Jesus Christ, i underline his name with a special purple pen i have. He has so many cool names in the Book of Mormon like Mediator, The Lamb, The Holy One of Israel and cool stuff like that. and it has been AWESOME reading like this and focusing so much on Christ while i read. And this past week my quad started falling apart and i had to glue it back together. My mom Hermana Pugh always told me that scriptures that are falling apart belong to someone who isnt.

Im really grateful you and dad are sealed mama. Its one of my biggest blessings.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH

Hermana Parker

Mission Conference lunch