Wiser. . . Like Shadow!

  Mom,
Happy Birthday Riley and Mom. congrats on another year of life! i hope that this year is full of health and happiness for you all. love you two!
     ive never understood celebrating birthdays, do we celebrate them to help us feel a little better about getting older and closer to dying... im tryin to stay 20 the rest of my life.
i love cascavel so much! the weather here is so much nicer, and the people are way more receptive to us. haha im gonna baptize every week here! the people are a lot more accepting of us and its not very hot, its actually good weather with a nice breeze always. haha im so happy right now. the only problem is that im training, i have to stay in the house a lot and help Elder Jewell with the extra studying. its something everyone has to do in there first 12 weeks in the field, its cool and all but it takes 2 hours out of everyday. its whatevs though, im still gonna baptize weekly here though! :D
   skyping was pretty awesome, went by really fast though but it was nice to see everyone together. this next Christmas ill be there and not skyping with everyone, im happy about that. i heard rileys gonna baptize someone huh? still wants to be just like his big brother! tell him to get his own life! ;D im joking thats really cool should be exciting!
    personally im scared of this new age limit for sisters, generally, im not saying all, but the sisters that come out are out because they havent gotten married yet. now were gonna get sisters that are out on there mission that are 19, why does this hold a potential problem, cause there gonna be sisters that probably would have been married by the time they turned 21. like heather dockstader, thats a pretty girl there, im 99 percent sure she would get married to someone within the next 2 years before she had the opportunity to serve. what am i trying to say here? theres gonna be pretty sisters in the field and i dont like it. hopefully ill be gone before most of them get there visas to come to my mission. i hope she writes me though while shes in berminham alabama ;D
  im changing as a missionary. ive found that the more i repent, the more power my words have when i speak, the more powerful my Priesthood becauses when im cleaner. Priesthood power is so much more powerful with virtue. i dont feel like ive changed my style of teaching up that much but for some reason people are starting to accept my invites a lot more, my challenges that i make to people seem to be stronger and impact them more. people believe in me as a representative of Jesus Christ more i think. all i know is that im inviting people to follow Jesus and theyre actually following Him being baptized! ive found power in repentance, a power that comes from letting virtue garnish your thoughts, desires, words and actions unceasingly. other elders are asking me what im doing differently because they percieve the powerful effect that my words are having on my investigators. the Lord is blessing me a lot more in His work. i dont know how to explain it, i used to leave the house every morning thinking, lets see if God will put an elect person in front of us today! now i leave the house knowing that will put an elect person or family in front of me today. the other day another elder told me, i remember you from a year ago, you were super excited about missionary work and you yelled alot. why are you quieter now? i replied, im still excited, im just excited with wisdom. he asked me what that meant, i replied i dont exactly know haha something has just changed. i feel more worthy. elder jewell was asking me a bunch of questions about how were gonna baptize this girl this week, i told him to not worry about it. just sit back and watch, im the old dog and youre the young pup, just watch how its done. and it was done and now her moms gonna be baptized this saturday.
    i feel like i came onto the mission as that young dog ( i forgot his name) from the movie homeward bound and now ive turned into shadow. homeward bound analogy to end my letter, still love that movie to death.  
         love you all!!!
                - Elder Bennett
Dad,
      ya skype was awesome, im glad it was my last Christmas skype on the mission though haha. next year ill be there!
  thats crazy to think that riley is already turned 16, man how time flies! baptizing someone is super duper easy actually, they just have to bend there knees and its basically all done. who is this kid though? thats crazy to hear cause i dont ever remember hearing about any convert baptisms in our ward... im excited though. i made the batizador list this week and im gonna keep on baptizing weekly! someday im gonna move to daily baptisms!!! ever since i changed to Elder Bennett, ive baptized every week. Vamos Lá!!!!
      sounds like there basketball team is pretty good, does riley get in much?
    how did cambria get a pimpall? isnt she only 10?!! i dont understand how that happens?
probably cause shes got armenian in her blood.
   well i love this area a alot more, the members are way more excited about everything here, they just havent had very many baptisms the last couple months, then i showed up.
         love you a ton dad, keep the family up and running!
       - Elder Bennett

Cascavel with a new companion

Mom
        when i first got in the field there already was another elder bennett in our mission and you cant have two missionaries with the same name so i had to change. he went home in september so i decided id stay elder parker until i left tupã because all my recent converts and everyone already new me as that. now that i left ive swithched back, its that simple.
         My new companion is  elder jewell he is 6'4 and 240 pounds and is from highland utah. i dont think he has any blog or anything but hes got a sister!  honestly, hes new, he has no idea whats going on and his last comp kind of just put him down all the time so he doesnt really have any self confidence. but he baptized his first person this week! i love first week baptisms! we baptized a young man named mario, hes really cool, hes lived in brazil for the last 3 years. he was living in japan. he speaks japanese portuguese and english fluent. hes a smart young man, i dont know how the last missionary here didnt baptize him? i think all it lacked was just an invite to be baptized haha.
    my new address is:
                                 R. Pio Xll, 1701- AP 0019 BL C
                                     CEP: 85802170       Cascavel- PR
                                               Brazil
 we live in an apartment complex and thats why its a little bit different then the other addresses. we live with another companionship of missionaries also, elder scoville from sacramento and elder arf from some city in são paulo. there all cool though.
   we havent found anyone to use there skype account yet but were looking for, so i dont know what time it will be or when but it will happen.   love you all, until tomorrow!
                  - Elder Bennett

 Dad,
ya i like cascavel alot better. the ward is much stronger here. we baptized a 25 year old young man this week and it was a really good baptism, hes made a lot of mistakes in his past but he really was repentent of it. it was elder jewells first baptism, hes from highland utah, hes really struggling in the field. he'll be alright though. well i dont have much time but tomorrow will be awesome. ill see you tomorrow then. love you dad, merry Christmas!
              - Elder Bennett

TRANSFERRED!!!

Date: December 17, 2012
Area: Cascavel
Companion: Elder Jewel

Mom,
   sister sorensen got home, o please tell her to write me!
   i got TRANSFERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im leaving today!!! im going to a city called Cascavel its a 9 hour bus ride and is 2 hours out of Foz do iguaçu! im training some amercian elder again! his names elder jewel hes starting his second transfer. lets go!!!! elder schenwark is staying here, good luck sucka! i did my time in the pen, got my street cred, put it on my street cred card and now im free!!! and we baptized a little young family this week, im leaving having baptized a family and i couldnt be any happier!!!!
    i have a ton of sisters in my zone, i love sister missionaries they make cakes for district meetings an stuff!!!! im leaving today at about 5 ish then im going to sleep in another city then travel to londrina tomorrow then get on the bus for 9 hours. everything but the bus part is cool about that!
     o im going to send the Christmas present really late cause i waited for something to come out first, then i bought it so my present will probably show up about two weeks late. sorry but its worth it.
     they do everything we do in the states for Christmas except the fact that its a 105 degrees. have you ever woken up in december in the middle of the night sweating. Christmas in Brazil! haha
     i dont have my address for cascavel because its in another state. yes im leaving the interior part of são paulo!!! im going to a stake and not a district, im going to serve in an actual ward and not a branch. i miss having a bishop! its been 7 1/2 months since ive had these joys!
     what? chads gonna get released before i come home!? i dont believe it!!
     we should skype around the same time we did last time which i think was around 7 for me and about 1 for you all. i dont know the specifics but ill be able to email you on Christmas eve so we can plan everything out correctly next monday.

     im going to miss elder Schenewark, dear mother of Elder Schenewark, i love your son. hes an awesome missionary and will baptize hundreds on the mission. this next transfer will be easy sailing for him cause he's rock solid. put this in his next email please. his next comp is really good, i know him, hes a cool argentinian elder and he will love him. just so you know, in our 3 months together, we baptized more then this area has baptized in the whole entire year. thats 6 more other missionaries and 9 months of work that they put here and we have reaped the benefits of more success in a third the time. i think that the work and numbers speak for your son as an exemplerary representative of Jesus Christ. im very grateful i had the opportunity to serve with him.

    hey mom, i finally got my name changed to Elder Bennett again! im reppin the whole fam now!!!! and Elder Bennett arrived in the field with 2 baptisms this week! lets go!!!! first baptisms of little Elder Bennett!! i hope i made my momma proud!!
love, Elder BENNETT

   i need pictures of hot chicks! i heard from numerous sources that some good looking girl moved into our ward about a year ago?! whats this!? why have you never sent me pictures of her!!! please mom, its the best Christmas present i could recieve!!!!

We MUST do our part as Member Missionaries!!!

: December 11, 2012
Area: Tupa-SP
Companion: Elder Schenewark

Mom

     nice to hear that logan is heading out for the mission also! ya i remember brother slaughter, i remember playing pokemon at his house one time with christopher, did he ever go on a mission? how does he not know where hes serving yet?
     why did nicole and khloe move out? where did they go? ya i write chad, i usually just return his letters he sends to me. i was the last to write him so im waiting for the reply letter.
     sounds like you have been saying this house project would be over every week for the last two months. is it ever going to really end?
     ya i wont get the package till after Chrismas but im fine with that. heres my last Christmas on the mission though. i come home this coming year haha.
     what do i want for transfers. with every ounce of desire in my little heart i want to leave this place and never return. theres a reason why the church has been in tupã for 33 years and they still dont have a stake. the church arrived in manaus 25 years ago and not only do they have at least 9 stakes they have a temple also. (you need at least 9 stakes to have a temple) the church only grows where the members are willing to work. i am certain that of my baptisms here, almost all will leave the church. the members never do there home teaching or visiting teaching. im still baptizing, i was looking at the baptisms here with the last two years and i have the most baptisms here of anyone thats passed through in the last 5 years. besides some spencer mechum from arizona that baptized a ton here and NOBODY from his hard work is active, and i know that cause its me that is trying to reactivate them right now. ive actually got 3 possible people to baptize this sunday and 2 more for next week, its not that the works not moving with the missionaries its that the members here are FUBECAS. i baptized a single 21 year old of two small children back in september with elder saraiva and shes already gone inactive. she has been assigned visiting teachers and the branch member missionaries to make visits to her and teach her again and within 2 and a 1/2 months you know how many visits shes gotten... 0
    even with her less active nobody cares. im preaching to a dead congregation. ill always baptize wherever i go, the only thing is that after there baptized id like them to stay active and here in tupã theres almost no chance for that. i feel like im fulfilling my duties basically just to do it and nothing else. i have faith in the work, just not the people. terra amaldiçoado! i dont get dissapointed, this is the best work ive done or will do in my life.
     youre gonna have to make me a skype account cause i dont have one and what if i get a comp next week that doesnt have one. make me a skype and next week send me the password and stuff please. haha kayson is funny huh. another girl. o boy.
     my shoes are fine, one pair just wore down way faster then the other and was already getting destroyed so im just gonna let them die then switch to the others. there my nice pair for sundays and zone conferences! :D
      I LOVE YOU ALL! IM EXCITED TO SEE THAT MY FAMILY IS GROWING SO MUCH!!!!!!! - Elder Parker

1st Year Down....

Date: December 04, 2012
Area: Tupa-SP
Companion: Elder Schenewark

Mom,
yup one year passes by so fast. but it came and it went, i was going crazy though the day of but now its settled in. im and old missonary now. cant say im still a newby.
crazy to think that in a year, what i just did, ill be going home. got me thinking about all my recent converts and how there lives changed and in about 1 year i wont be here anymore to babysit them and itll be just them and ill be just me. ill only have myself to look after, wont have this stress of what there doing because its "not my job!" - mac dre i guess in the end of everything, when all is said and done and i walk off the plane, the only thing i can ask myself is, "am i a better man walking off this plane then i was when i got on 2 years ago?" that is a really difficult question. so i asked myself, am i better man right now then i was one year ago?
i dont know about the Christmas package because transfers are on the 17th which means i could be out of here on the 17th. maybe itd be betterto hold off on the package.
we had 70 people in sacrament meeting, its pretty good. im trying to get stuff done here but i feel so limited. nothing ever happens on the timeline we want huh?
i think Christmas time is better when its cold, hot is terrible. its wierd saying merry Christmas with sweat running down your face.
i really dont have much to write about this week im sorry, i need to baptize more people though on my mission. só batiza!
so this is what 1 year feels like, nothing to write haha. everybody tells me that within 6 months my emails will turn into about a paragraph and that ill recieve about a letter a month. well the letter one is already true but the email one seems like its coming also. im sorry i just have nothing to write to you all,
o ya im gonna get my haircut today.
well love you all, im working really hard and i hope i see the benefits here pretty soon. - ELder Parker


Dad,
sounds like winter has come around there. here in tupã it is super hot. yesterday the priesthood leaders had a council to see if they should excommunicate this one lady here that actually got baptized this year. shes basically gone crazy and is crazy. just another sunday in tupã :D
i need to start baptizing more people and fast. im so sick of trying so hard just to squirt out one baptism. im trying to baptize families, families families families, but every family seems to have a step dad that drinks to much and is numb to the spirit.
good to know that riley is still playing basketball, careful though, this is the age when the boys start to get into the habit of breaking the commandments, i never did like the environment of sports teams that much. were working really hard and seeing little results but we will keep on working. love you dad! - Elder Parker

Only Miracles in Tupa!

​ Mom,   
     that doesnt sound very good about what happened to logan. (tore his ac from his shoulder in a skateboard accident) i feel bad for him too, i hope he doesnt get bummed, stay strong and carry on!
     its only miracles here in tupã! im not gonna lie, i do not like this city but i give it my all. we had two baptisms lined up for the week, one being the daughter of that family and the other being the nephew of a member. we baptized the little girl cause she keeps the commandments. listen to this, the nephew of the member was marked to baptize on saturday, we passed by there on friday to go teach him with a member and on the way there guess who we saw at the corner bar with his uncle member drinking beer. him! i almost lost it in the front of a bunch of drunk people. he took off running and the uncle just sat there. so he didnt get baptized. but are we seeing the problem here though, the uncle who is a member should be helping him get baptized not be drinking beer with him the day before his baptism. this is why the saints are not blessed in this city, they dont keep the commandments! i went up and talked to him and with no shame he had the audacity to tell me he doesnt know where his nephew is and didnt see him the whole day ( i saw them drinking together! they saw me coming up! i saw the nephew take off running!)  then he asked me what time his baptism would be on saturday. ya uncle, ill be sure to baptize somebody i just saw drinking the next day! i was so furious haha. the next two people i talked to that treated me disrespectfully didnt stand a chance. i tore this lady up in 1 breath, it was terrible haha. dont worry i repented and im going to study patience in preach my gospel and see if i cant become a little bit more like my Savior. but technically the Savior still burned people also (matthew chapter 23) i love you all, i really like this family im teaching. there special people. a gift that God has given me.  adventure time shirts size large and also some stick deodorant.  ya i wrote maxwell back, i basically invited him to be baptized. tell all the young woman to write to me for Christmas. im lonely and i need new prospects. :D even if theyve met me before the mission and didnt like me still tell them theres a chance, and ive changed! the missions changed me! please young women of the world write this worthy priesthood holder for Christmas and i promise your life will be changed eternally!
                                    - Elder Parker

Dad,
sounds like the trip to utah was really fun then. it was probably cold there and snowing huh. youve been assigned to the executive secretary then, sounds like more work for you haha. does that mean youre in the bishopric? dont worry about the letters mom writes letters long enough for 3 different moms put together. the work is really starting to take off here in our branch. our attendance in sacrament meeting was 62 and thats the lowest weve had in 3 weeks and its only cause it was raining really bad so it didnt give people that walk to church a very good chance to come. we baptized 1 and the other missionaries in our branch baptized 2! thats 3 new additions to the branch! me and elder schenewark made it on our mission site for 6 reactivations this week. that makes 7 baptisms and 9 people weve reactivated here in tupã. and thats the sacred numbers of the mission. its nice to look around in sacrament meeting and count the many people that are there because of the gritty hard work you put out in the burning sun. the work will always go on!!! love you a ton dad!
                  - Elder Parker

Happy Thanksgiving

mom,
   only the u.s. celebrates thanksgiving. i can gaurantee you i will work on that day and not a single brazilian will even know what day it is. i dont even know what day thanksgiving is...
  ya get me the same ctr socks that i left with, there really good and dry really fast.
  the garents can be regular size like what i left with, and no spandex please, just regular old cotton garments. more i just need about 4 more tops and 2 more bottoms please. also one my brazilian comps wants an adventure time shirt also.
     now i have 3 different emails all from people i dont recognize, there names are alec jensen, austin cloward and robert gunnerson. i have no idea who they are. whoever they are please tell them to write me a letter cause i cant respond by email and actually i cant even read there emails also. mission rules. i think there just people joking around honestly.
    hurray more mission calls!!! congrats to everyone!
   we had some miracles this week for sure! this guy that i was teaching way from the begginging when i got in tupã 2 months ago almost got baptized but then his mom went physcho when elder saraiva and i were teaching him at his house and she sent her 7 foot 300 pound shrek of a son at us and we left the house runnin! his name is bruno and hes 23 but he didnt get baptized basically cause the mom hates mormons and uses a lot of drugs. her other son is the biggest guy ive ever seen here in brazil and hes mentally handicapped but his body works perfectly fine. im not joking bruno told us the guy is over two meters tall. he is giant and being mentally handicapped is extremely dangerous to be around. actually all of brunos family is dangeous, his other brother is in prison serving out his sentence for murdering a man with a knife. the whole family is crazy except bruno. we couldnt ever get to him. but guess who got in a fight with there mom and moved into there uncles house who is a family that we reactivated?! the return of Bruno! you may be asking how do i always get into sticky situations... baptism!!! 
  then were teaching this little family that is super elects! the mom was sick so the dad sent his daughter to go get the missionaries to give her a blessing. they gave a blessing, passed the reference to us and they went to church and the daughter is going to baptize this sunday. the parents arent married yet but they will get married and then were gonna baptize them also. there really special.
  we had 74 people in church on sunday. thats a lot better then the 44 we had when i arrived so im pretty happy right now!
 ill buy a present just put some extra money in my bank account and ill send here in a couple of weeks. 20 dollars is about 40 reais in brazil, thats plenty. well gotta go, love you all have a great thanksgiving.  please send me stick deodarant from the states, not gel, i hate spray and thats all they have in tupã!
               - Elder Parker

Only Miracles in Tupa!!

Miracles in Tupa for sure! In just one week the Lord was able to soften Sebastiao's heart and he was baptized. AMAZING! I am so thankful that Parker was able to be a witness to this. GLORY...GLORY!!

Mom, im staying in tupã... NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

  the only area ill stay in more than 3 months and its in Tupã! NOOOO!!!!

  my address is still the same then.

      who is alec jensen, he sent me an email asking about the mtc or if im getting chick mail yet... (Help?? I have no idea)

   ya im stayin with elder schenewark. Elder Chambers got transfered to bauru haha

     is jordan patterson active again!? i could cry!

      i need socks and garments please

       Barack Obamas the man! (not a shared opinion of family!)

  it was only miracles this week in tupã! that man i was talking about last week got baptized yesterday! his names sebastião. we passed by there on tuesday with the branch president and to be honest didnt even teach him anything, just talked about the dream that he recieved and then our branch pres. told him that when hes ready, we will be here to help him get baptized. but he was not open to us at all, he kept talking about how its not his time and that God told him that he should actually stay in the church hes in. which we know is a lie cause God would not lie to someone, so i told him straight up, you changed the answer that you recieved to fit to your circunstances and that you werent doing the Lords will but yours. but with a closed heart nothing can touch him ya know. so we passed by there on thursday and just started talking regular with them and he told us that the visit with pres. fabio really touched him and that pres. fabio said something that really touched him. he told us that he couldnt sleep that whole night after we visited him and that he went into the bathroom at 3 in the morning and just started crying. he said that God said to him, " I am the Master and you are the servant, and when I show you the right path you do not take it? no, you have to take this path I have shown you cause I am the Master." he was crying when he told us the story, i was thinking haha alright! nothing like a burning from Heavenly Father to make someone obey His will. welcome to the Big Leagues Sebastião, when God gives an answer, you follow it. we immediately jumped out of our chairs and gave him big hugs of rejoicement. it was a very tender and sweet moment. everyone was happy! haha when he got baptized, he came out of the water shouting, "glory!" "Glory!" and tears fell from his cheeks. o ya, he randomly asked elder chambers who has never taught him and talked to him once in his life to baptize him, he said that God told him that Elder Chambers should baptize him. so we let elder chambers dress up in white also with elder schenewark just to make him happy haha. its only miracles happening here in tupã! the Lord is blessing us a lot here. 

        does landon live with his girlfreind?!

     did you get my birthday video yet, i sent it home about a month ago...

           LOVE YOU ALL!

           - Elder Parker     

  o ya i forgot, elder havili is in my old area in arapongas and this week he baptized two people that i got the signatures for and taught but things came up in the end with parents and stuff so they didnt get baptized and it was on the miracle of the week that they passed by there and baptized the two teenagers this week, yaaa the Lord blesses us with more baptisms!!! i loved those little skater dudes so much and now there members of the church!!!

Dad,

wow,60 missionaries in 3 months. in missions they do it by transfers (6 week intervals) so that means that in one transfer there gonna get 30 missionaries. thats a lot of missionaries. this transfer we are recieving 17, which is a really big group haha itll probably just keep on going up.

   i wish elder schenewark would have went to the stake youth musical,(it was entitled In God we Trust) hes obsessed with the united states. hes from the east coast so i think there probably really patriotic over there cause boy does he talk a lot about the u.s. and how it was divinely prepared to receive the restored gospel. he loves it.

    

i dont really know maddy cleveland but congrats to her! (going to Argentina for mission)

       ya, we won the competition! we found out right now, haha i cant believe we won, this is basically the worst place on earth. the zone covers two cities, one called presidente prudente and the other tupã where were at and both of the cities are known as the worst cities of all time for missionary work, one being because the church has been in both cities more than 30 years and they still dont have stakes( large congregations) and the second because the members struggle, which would explain why the 1st reason is there also. but its getting better, we had an attendance of 72 in sacrament meeting, thats the highest weve ever had in the last 8 months. the new missionaries are helping out alot.

    im bummed i cant go to utah with you all, i really wanna see temple square and all that since i still have never seen it in my life. i think im gonna get married in the salt lake temple. love you dad, say hi to everyone for thanksgiving.

                            - Elder Parker

Face to Face with Christ and still Deny!!! Wow

Mom,

    sounds like this was a busy week for all of you back home.

   we baptized the wife (elderly couple they were teaching last week) cause the husband is being really stubborn. there from another church and he has a calling as the deacon of there church so he thinks that he has the priesthood and that he was baptized by someone with authority. so we showed him in the bible that he actually wasnt and that he actually doesnt have any authority and so hes been really angry with us ever since, he didnt even come to her baptism. he just scared of what all his evangelical friends will think of him when he switches churches. get this, i invited him to be baptized when he recieves an answer from praying and he said i dont need to recieve an answer i already did. i asked him how the answer was. he explained that he read the parts in the book of mormon we marked, with his wife and then after  they kneeled and prayed together and asked God if these things are true. he said it was just a normal prayer then they went to sleep but while he was sleeping he said that he had a dream that he was standing in an open field and Jesus Christ walked up to him and told him face to face that he should be baptized and this is the right path for him in his life. then he looked at me and said, but im not going to follow this answer i received. 

    you see the levels of pride hear. you have the wife, who actually never recieved a solid answer, she just says that theres no way to deny that its true, she says she just feels its true, then you have the husband who recieves an actual answer, and not some small answer he even said to us, i take it as if Jesus Christ spoke with me face to face it was so real, and he still wont follow the answer. he cares more about what his friends think of him then his own Savior Jesus Christ. good example to me in my life how pride makes you a fool. good thing shes got a humble heart though. but were not done with him yet, im still gonna baptize him.

     Some people get scared of the baptismal invite from the missionaries. thats why we challenge people to be baptized in the first lesson, so we can know if they are really in this to better there lives or if they just want to waste the Lords time.

    they changed the age limit for missionaries to go on missions to 18 so tell landon he can go on a mission now when your in utah.

      transfers are next week so dont send anything, next monday i should know if im staying here or if im going away.

    also im starting my Christmas list right now, i want an Adventure time shirt in my Christmas package. its a show that riley and cambria should know, please get me the shirt.

     i wrote larry a letter like 4 months ago and he still hasnt wrote me back yet. what, costa rican missionaries are cooler or something?

                                   - ELder Parker

thanks for the commentary dad,

   actually we had a ward council meeting and it was super needed. the new branch president is really good, he served a mission so he knows what hes doing. he put up all the statistics on a chalk board and basically just let the numbers put everyone to shame. they average about 8 home teaching visits a month of the 34 assigned. hes a strong, organized leader. hes areally good fit for the branch.

     i love cambria also, tell her i said she can watch spongebob before i get back, she doesnt have to wait. thats true though that riley is growing up huh, its crazy to think that cambria will be 11 when i get home.. riley better get excited for the basketball season, theres a lot of playing to do. is he playing j.v. this year then, he is a sophomore right? man how time flies, i feel like yesterday i was a sophomore in high school haha. were doing a competition in the mission based off of a point system. for example, 1 baptism is worth 20 points and 1 lesson with member is worth 4 points. things like that, and the zone that wins gets a p-day with president and sister tavares which are always fun. anyways our zone did really well this week so were in 1st place as of now and this is the last week. were ahead by pretty far we just need to seal   the deal with a solid week. its funny though cause the zone of presidente prudente is known as the worst zone in the mission with tupã being one of the worst areas in the mission and everyone cant believe that were in first. guess its not where you are and who your comp is, it depends on how much ya put into it!

       -Elder Parker

Skinny "P"

Mom,

      hurray for logan and jenaye! congratulations for your temple wedding!!! i wish i was there for the Halloween party and karaoke. . . . . tupac anyone..., return of the Skinny...

      no but seriously though something crazy happened this week! me and elder schenewark were walking down this street and when we turning the corner and i heard someone yelling something. but i couldnt make out what they were saying and plus it was from far away so i thought it was other people yelling to one another. we kept going but whoever it was kept yelling it out, "Magro!" "ay Magro!" "Magrinho!" then i finally realized they were yelling out to me, so i turned around and looked and this kid just said, " e ai Magro!" then gave me the thumbs up and went back in his house. Magro in portuguese means SKINNY!!!  that kid was calling out to me, " ay skinny!" and when i looked he just said, " whats up skinny!" gave me the thumbs up and left. elder schenewark said to me, who is that kid. i told him i dont know. he said what did he want. i said, "people recognize me anywhere i go and in whatever language." end of the convo.

         halloween parties are fun huh, they dont celebrate halloween here. candy is a national thing, wherever theres candy, theres gotta be halloween.

        i dont know why Gods putting so much old people in our paths. i think elder schenewarks gonna be known as some old person baptizer. were teaching this old couple that is going to baptize this sunday. haha this week we almost baptized this middle aged lady but when we passed by there to get her and teach her, her aunt came out and said, she doesnt follow anything. then i said, well shes gonna follow Jesus Christ being baptized this weekend. then the aunt told me that this lady we were teaching is a drunk and cant get off of pinga. pinga is a highly addictive brazilian drink. i looked at elder schenewark and was like, dang we almost baptized a pinga drinking drunk. got out of there and never went back. but if she hadnt have drank pinga in the last 4 days, i still would have baptized her that very night! só batiza!

                     me and elder schenewark are starting something new, operation baptize children. were gonna carry candy in our pockets and walk around and throw them out to all the little kids on the streets, that way they love us and its easy to get in with the parents and we can baptize some families. were gonna be the creepiest elders in town.  " hay kids, you like candy?" "YA!YA!YA!"  " Elder Parkerll give ya some candy if you jump in the baptismal font!" or heres my new question when i roll up into favelas (ghettos), " goodness its hot,... who wants to go swimming?!"

       welcome to missionary work.   ;D  Totally joking, calm down, don’t take everything I say so serious! Gotta have some humor now! We will baptize anyone the Lord puts in our path, we are just hoping for a family!

-          Elder Parker

Dad, (asked who is Gaspar that keeps appearing on Parkers bank register)

     ya gaspar is this guy that basically owns this town. he owns the local market that we all go to. hes also the mayor here, he basically runs everything. ya weve got everything now except for the kitchen table.

               thanks for the words of wisdom dad. thats very surreal that logan and jenaye were sealed in the temple. as a church we need to be more of a temple going people. im grateful that my city has a temple. i was thinking about where im going to live when i get my family and everything going and then the thought popped into my head, wherever the temple is. so i dont have to leave, fresno will have to do.

          That’s really great though that they got sealed, i feel very blessed that i have two more older siblings that have taken upon themselves the higher covenants even the covenants of exaltation, i hope he understands the full responsibilities that come with everything that he’s just done, it will be pivotal for him and his family in the coming years huh.

          well, tupã is a far far way away from zion, but were giving it all weve got. we did an activity that the brazil area presidency made for all branches and wards in brazil to do. we had the activity on saturday, we had a whole 9 members, 8 missionaries and 3 of my investigators im teaching go to the activity. sometimes i feel like these people actually dont want a solution to there problems cause they are used to losing to satan so theyve just given up. weve got new missionaries here so the work should be able to go by faster. to tell you the truth, if i was a member here, a common brazilian person 20 years old and i lived in tupã, id fall away from the church. but im a missionary, and i know the potential this place has that they cannot see, so work, work, work is what we will do!

                o ya that lady we baptized last week, i confirmed her yesterday, can you believe that im doing most of these priesthood ordinances for the first time in a foreign land, speaking a foreign language. its crazy how far someone can come in such short time with the help of the Lord. feels like yesterday i didnt understand people when they asked me my name.

                                                                    love ya dad!

                              - Elder Parker

Let us all SHINE on!!

Mom,

    ya we moved out, its been an adventure this whole week. 4 missionaries one house, and four mattresses. we have no furniture, no fridge, microwave, no nothing. no washing machine, my garments i have on right now ive been wearing for 3 days now!!! all we have is running water and we cant even drink the water from the sink. we have been sitting on the floor to eat and do everything, study, plan, dress, sleep. hahaha me and elder schenewark had to carry our mattresses to the new house which is about a mile away from the house and it was like nine fifteen at night and theres just two white mormon missionaries carrying mattresses down a busy avenue at nine fifteen at night. we walked in front of this church and the pastor looked at us like what is going on in this world. the other two are elder anderson and elder sander. there both brazilian and they both have a lot of time. one has 1 year and 8 months and the other 1 year and 4 months. they dance alot. i bought some bread, mustard, and hot sauce and someone else bought saltine crackers. mmm ive had saltine crackers with hot sauce for breakfast the last 3 days. and i just steadily munch on bread. and elder chambers lives in the other house about a fifteen minute walk away. and the guy to put the beds, desks and dressers together has marked to come here like 3 times and he never comes! its really impeded the work though cause if he comes then one set has to stay and let him in and show him where to put stuff and where to build it and just make sure that nothing goes wrong and he never comes! so this week he stole like 3 days from us, one being pday which you just dont do. but they just brought the washing machine finally, got the guys reference that brought it to us, he seems baptizable. he seemed pretty interested.

     tyler Haroldsen needs to get called to brazil londrina so i can be comps with him and we baptize everyone!

     CONGRATULATIONS TO LOGAN AND JENAYE BENNETT!!!!!!!! im so excited for them to enter the temple, they can be blessed much more in there lives because of this decision. i wish i could have been there for there REAL wedding. Dear logan and jenaye, welcome to the Big Leagues.

    kayson knows how to talk?! he probably speaks better english then me, although i do speak some mean pirate.

     well we baptized this week!!!! we baptized this really funny old lady. haha i think shes like 76 or something. her names natalina! elder schenewark put  her in the water like a pro! i was so proud! hes got a little kick in his step ever since he cleaned 76 years worth of sins. Priesthood Powerzão!!!! Natalina was telling a member about us meeting her and it almost brought me to tears. last saturday we were knocking on this guys door that we taught and he wasnt answering. then this old lady from across the street came out from her house and said hes probably not home. we said thanks! then we sat there and kept clapping at his door. he wasnt coming but the old lady was watching us from the otherside of the street. then i said to elder schenewark, what does this old lady want man?! we clapped again. nobody, but she was still there. so i said lets just talk to her then. so we went over there all excited and what not and just told her to go to church tomorrow and that wed be there to pick her up. she agreed. miracle she was there the next day waiting in the doorway, i was like, alright ill take an old lady to church then.( No disrespect just because old people usually are really hard to baptize). so we took her to church and the next day when i went to teach her with another elder, it was a division, we taught the restoration to her and at the end elder abreu said to her, sister natalina we have a very special invite for you. (invitation of baptism) but she said, " before the invite can i ask a question." we said yes. she asked us how long does she have to wait to be baptized in this church!!!!!!!!! i almost jumped out of my seat! i was like sister natalina, you can be baptized this sunday! she said you think i can be prepared for this sunday? i was like, Yes you can! you already agreed to be baptized this sunday and then i just yelled over all her doubts she had and she started laughing and it was smooth sailing from there. haha while preparing her we taught her the law of chastity. she said, " well my husband died 20 years ago. then when we invited her to live the law of chastity she said i dont know what if i meet a nice man in the church of the mormons. i was like natalina can i build a time machine and go back in  time and marry you. i love her to death. shes hilarious! shes like the grandma recent convert i always wanted! o ya but heres the best part, she was telling the member about meeting us and she said that she saw two young men knocking the door across the street and that she came out to see them. i called to them that he wasnt home but they kept knocking, so i sat there and watched them. because while i was watching them knock the door, they were shining. i saw a light illuminating from them. and when they came to talk to me, i saw that they had a light that was illuminating from them so when they invited me to go to church, i had to agree. she said, " i wanted to be a member of this church before they talked to me, because of the light that left from them and the way that made me feel." they were like two angels across the street and now i have two angels in my home with me.

thats the second person thats told me that here in Tupã. like i said to the first, im just so white that the sun is reflecting off of me that makes me appear like i shine. i shall shine on then!!!!

BLESSINGS FROM THE MISSION!

let us all SHINE on!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

- Elder Parker

 Dad,

    man 7000 missionaries coming into the field. were makin the last serge for the second coming. VAMOS LÁ!!! ya it was super exciting when they announced that in general conference. Elder Schenewark is coming along just fine. he got his first little baptism this week. it was very special, youll see it in moms email. the works going but the members arent. i hope the Lord answers my prayers and wakes them up.

ya about Presidente Gelwixs talk he gave, one thing that we learned the other day is that they call missionaries based on there mission president. they have a picture of you, and they decide where youll go based on the revelation they get from which mission president you should be assigned to. pretty cool huh. Elder Cook of the Twelve said that, he also said its a more profound doctrine that happens in the mission choosing process that nobody knows much about. so i was assigned to serve the Lord, but i was assigned to serve with His servant Presidente Tavares. pretty cool huh.

hurraay for logan and jenaye getting sealed in the temple. thats pretty monumental to think that there getting sealed in the temple considering where logan was 3 years ago. onto the next ones, landon and chad.

tell cambria i said to get better. she still is that little baby in the stocking to me.

utah? i still havent had a comp that is from utah and i dont think ill ever be like utanians. i live with brazilians, i just forgot english so hoot is a good, mild mannered word to use for him. you dont have to worry about me, ill always be a cali boy. did i mention we got a new house, nothing else inside or anything, just a new house, with 4 mattresses.

- Elder Parker

Pressing Forward with Faith

Dad, 

      ive learned first hand that people in the church are not perfect. i know why this is known as the toughest district in the mission. it really is. not just the members struggle but the leadership also. when men dont serve missions and then get called as leaders, im sorry to sound biased but there just not as good. they dont have as much faith, granted there can be some that dont serve missions and still turn out great, President Monson, but the majority are weaker. Im learning that missions are vital to your spirituality and teach you so much.

                      so the family is all doing well then huh? its nice that riley keeps busy cause theres nothing good for teenagers to be doing at this time of the year. hes a sophomore right?

               i hope cambria is doing well, i miss her a lot. she likes folding paper now? thats so random haha. tell her i said to have spongebob ready for me when i get home.

              i cant to hear about the marriage of logan and jenaye in the temple. should be awesome!

                dont worry dad im taking care of elder schenewark, hes just going through the whole new missionary transition, ya know shy and timid at times. hell break out of it and we will start baptizing here pretty soon.

                         wanna know something funny, all my life ive loved serving in quorum presidencies like in deacons quorum and teachers but here on the mission, i do not like responsibility. the zone leaders and district leaders have to work much more with the other missionaries making sure there ok or there area is good and ive seen what its like, and ive decided that its not for me and i dont like it. i like very much to just keep to myself and worry about my companionship and my area and my investigators. we had interviews with president tavares and he said to me that God has revealed to him that i am ready and capable of having any calling and serving in any area in the mission. i dont like where this is going.

                                                   love ya a ton dad!

                                        - Elder Parker

Mom, 

     we dont move into the new house until this thursday. the other two sets of missionaries havent gotten here yet. there waiting for the house in a city close by. the works gonna really start going now once these others show up. now me and elder schenewark wont have to cover as much and it should give us more time to focalize the Lords work in a more concentrated area. the address for packages is still the same at sister ana´s house but for letters its changed. the new address is:

           

             Elder Parker

             Rua Macús 273

             Centro

            CEP: 17600-310      Tupã-SP

                          Brazil

     thats exciting with the new house coming. i hope you buy me a house when i get home.

        its getting hot here. it rained though the other day so thats nice cause it cleans the air and cools the city down for a couple days.

      where is alex wood going to serve? curitiba, florianopolis, or porto alegre? i think you said he was going to serve close to the ocean in the south right?

         thats so crazy that emersons back already. time flies!

      if they get any crazier with the musical practices there gonna have to start paying the youth. 3 times a week is ridiculous. remember when i was heleman and larry was in it and we had a part together with dakota in the background. the musical hasnt been the same since that performance.

          where is aunt sheryl gonna move to? is she going to stay in clovis?

       ya the gospel is nice in our lives but im trying to baptize people here! elder schenewark is coming along, its not that hes timid its just that for being a missionary he is. when your a missionary you just gotta own it. you have to arrive in someones house and just your demeanor has to say, "im here to baptize you all."  haha i was talking to him about how we have to be like a spiritual drug to these people. we need to get in and get out and they need to miss us and our visits. then i said they have to be addicted to us. haha he said, " ya i got cha, lets just roll up to people and say, hi my name is elder cocaine and this is my comp elder heroine." ...now hes gettin it!

            the other day we were walking in the street and he dropped the book of mormon and it hit the ground. then he looked at me and said, " does that mean my wife just got uglier?" this elders a hoot!

         but you cant really blame us, these last two weeks have been really difficult with the whole split, and us getting a house and what nots, it hasnt really given us any time to just focus on the work. and plus we spent this whole week on the other side of the city trying to find people to teach for the other missionaries when they arrive so when they get here they wont be completely lost, yes were just that nice. a weeks worth of work for another set of missionaries. we found some really good people though. this one guy named monoel who has already been to church 8 years ago. met him on saturday at 4 and we taught him in the street about being baptized yesterday. haha almost pulled out a miracle and baptized a man in less then 24 hours! the only problem is that he drives diesels for a living so he had to prepare to leave and wasnt able to go to church for the second time. but well prepare him for the other missionaries when they get here on thursday so they can baptize him this sunday. hes got a family also! ya know how one rule is that someone cant drink coffee or drink, or smoke for 4 days before there baptism so i asked him if hed already been to church and he said yes. then i asked him if he drinks coffee and he said no, then without me asking him he said i dont drink or smoke either cause its all bad for your body. i said to him, "sir, you just told me youre an elect and one of the chosen of God and you need to follow the example of Jesus Christ being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God, tomorrow." he laughed but after 5 minutes of talking he saw that me and elder schenewark dont play no games!

   i want to baptize everyone, elder schenewark is beginning to become one of us, as much as he does not want to, its only inevitable. welcome to the world of baptism. new rule, we can only talk about things if they have any correlation to baptism.

    example: " thats such a nice car... ya we could totally baptize so many chicks if we had a car."

     example: " im hungry... for some baptisms!"

                         itll be fun!!!!

                                                love you all, hope that dakota gets called to londrina and i train him.

      - Elder Parker

New Companion, Elder Schenewark

mom,    

     ya that was so crazy when they announced the new age limit for missionaries. elder schenerwark started shouting and clapping his hands like it was a football game. i think the wierdest thing is going to be sisters that are 19. most of the sisters in our mission are all like 23 and already graduated from college. its wierd thinking that some sisters will arrive younger then me. i could training elders straight out of high school here in a few months.

     ya my comp is elder schenewark! i dont know where he is from cause hes lived all over the country. he tells people he is from boston but he says he lives in ohio so i dont know how that works out. when i told elder chambers on the phone that my comp was from boston, elder chambers said, " hes from boston texas!" i love him :D but elder schenewark is fine, he speaks portuguese really well for only two months, but hes like a little baby missionary and has lot to learn. im super bummed i didnt get a baptism lined up for him in the first week, our investigator didnt show up for her interview, ill see what happens tonight when we visit her but i think were gonna cut her.

      did aunty sheryl like conference...

        dang, if brazil didnt take so long to get a passport and stuff dakoty could get called to brasil londrina and i could train him. thatd be cool.

        o ya i got an email from tyler haroldson but pres. tavares made a new rule that we cant even recieve emails from anyone besides grandparents, parents and brothers and sisters. so i erased it on the spot but could you tell him to just write me a letter instead, its the only way i can recieve it.

            the wheat pics were with elder luchmun, my 5th comp. after elder zioli.

            how am i supposed to return and marry some young summer flower if they can leave at 19 now. so much for blessings from the mission. ill probably wind up marrying one of the older ones that already served, graduated from college and is like 25, then again she could work and just take care of me for the rest of my life... blessings from the mission. :D 

              why do all you moms stay in contact with each other, its wierd. because were not there so what do 4 moms talk about to each other on the computer, im just confused at the relationships that are forming and how rapidly they are forming.

           jared metcalf wanted to know what the missionary work was like here in brazil and how do we proselyte, i hope the bus video answered his questions cause i dont know if i have time to answer all of them. sorry jared.

            elder schenewark is super funny, i told him that my last comp was transferred  cause he thought this area was dangerous. then i said to him dont be scared, and he said, " o im not scared! my dad grew up in compton man, i can take anything!" i was like alright calm down Compton now your just getting crazy.

         when i was watching conference i couldnt help but remember about my last conference before i went into the field and thinking about how i only watched 1 of the 4 sessions as usually was every year but then i thought to myself what is it that is so much different now then 10 months ago. why is this conference making such an impact on me that other conferences never could. its because i came to this conference with a humble heart, meek as a little child ready to learn. the name tag i wear and the title of elder before my name dont change the person that i am and never will. this conference wasnt the best conference of my life because im a missionary, it was the best because i made it the best and i hope i can strive to make every conference the best for the rest of my life.                    

                                     Te Amo!

                             - Elder Parker

Elder Parker is now a trainer

mom,

     baptize some people. if you keep taking more people to church im gonna pay for a flight, come home and baptize them then return to brazil. gee goly jimminey what a marvelous work that is happening in fresno.

  

  my birthday party was awesome! i filmed it all youll probably get it in a month. i spent it with some random brazilian family i met while knocking doors.

    

    President Tavares, seeing the need,  has sent two more groups of missionaries to tupã. One for elder chambers ward and one for mine.  The people of Tupa wonder why the church has been here for 33 years and they still aren’t a stake and they have 1300 members here in this city but still in sacrament meeting only 61 were there. Which is a huge win. the branch had 42 when i showed up. im not whining, im just showing you why tupã is one of the hardest areas  in my mission. The people here really struggle with keeping the commandments of God.

       

o ya ala 2 my old area in Londrina, it got closed because some drug dealer showed up and told the missionaries if he sees them again, hes going to kill them. i served there! i got robbed there! ive got street cred on the mission. o believe me ive got street cred.

     

    and better yet i got called to train! im gonna train! ive got a little baby missionary waiting for me in the ctm. hes sitting there right now shaking in his little suit not knowing what hes getting in to! im so excited!!! im staying in tupã! but im gonna move my house so dont send anything, ill give you the info on my new house next week. o ya that reminds me, elder chambers and i went house shopping in brazil, it was very boring, difficult and frustrating. how are two americans gonna know how to get a house, ive never even lived out of my parents house before in my life. My companion elder saraiva got transfered, im not sure where though. . im gonna train an american, i think hes from provo, i dont know for sure yet because i only saw that really quickly but ill find out tomorrow. elder freitas will be so happy!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CAMBRIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    i love you so much cambria. just think i was your age when we first got you as a little baby. i was just ten years old when i first held you in my arms. you had big eyes and a bald head! :D

           me and elder chambers are changing tupã. one soul at a time!

                     - Elder Parker

    

 Elder Chambers and Elder Parker on his birthday.

 Random Brazilian family they celebrated with.

 Not sure about this one, but Elder Parker looks happy!

Birthday Boy!!!!!

 

thanks for the happy birthdays mom! ya i got all the packages, the two you sent and i got lindsey and jareds package last night. i cant believe im going to be twenty years old. i really really like my 19th year, i think it was my favorite year of my life. time has flown by the last couple years huh?!
thats awesome thought that youve lost 24 pounds! congratulations! thats a really big triumph, dont stop, keep on going! fat people are breaking the word of wisdom. seriously though. nothing in excess.
i havent baptized in the last two weeks and im going crazy, its just that the problem is that here in tupã nobody stays active aftere there baptism. some elders that worked here 4-5 years ago baptized a lot of people, im currently trying to help these people get active again. i just know that if i baptize people here theyll go inactive when i leave so im trying to work more with the members to help retain and reactivate the members here. that man i baptized 3 weeks ago, still has not had one member stop by his house and just tell him congratulations for his baptism or just to say hi. without visits how are my recent converts gonna stay active. dont get me wrong, im still gonna throw anyone in the water, but im trying to do what elder quentin l. cook of the twelve told us to do when he said that the church wants real growth, they want more people in sacrament meeting, more people paying tithing, more people with temple recommends and more young men preparing to serve missions. he promised us that if we work with the less active people and people that left the church more, we will also find more to baptize amongst them. me and elder saraiva havent seen anything yet but we just gotta keep holding on huh. .
(Parker is answering a couple questions I had from pictures sent home)i was waiting to take a shower. theres only one shower in the apartment and 6 missionaries at the time, thats why i wasnt dressed yet. we ripped the shirts because president tavares recieved revelation that all shirts that were here on the mission need to be destroyed. hes a pretty strict president.
whats been going on lately, a whole lot of serious reactivation work.
its really really hot and dry here. the air is super dirty, i got a sinus infection. reminds me of Fresno.
forget college for the church, me and elder chambers are going to SLC (pronounced slick). salt lake city community college, welcome to the real life.
i dont have any more time left but i love you and hope that you have a good week. keep up the good work Bennett family. whatever happened to landon? still lost in the rebellion against nothing?
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!
- Elder Parker

thanks for the email dad. its crazy to think that im going to turn 20 huh! i cant believe how fast its passed by. especially the last two years, i feel like when senior of high school started until now has passed by so fast, and its been two years! i gotta start doing something with my life otherwise itll fly right by me.
i hope that chad is doing well and not having problems in prison. i hope that when he returns from his time in there he will finally make the decision to change his life and hold to the rod until the end and not just for a short spurt.
our family is very blessed. the Lord surely has had a part in the way that our family is coming together. although it was an uphill and difficult battle for a long long time i feel like the worst is over and that now the Bennetts will only rise. just as Lehi says to his sons to shake the chains that bind you and brake the bands that hold you back from keeping the commandments i feel like the Bennetts are finally starting to do the same. but everything is from what the Lord has done for us. yesterday i gave a talk in sacrament meeting about the prodigal son and the spirit was very strong. the saints here are not strong at all. they are a very weak group of saints here, they do not stand together, everyone stands alone. even in there own families there broken, they just dont have any unity here. many are very disheartened, there spirits are broken because of the hundreds that theyve had to watch leave the church over the last 20 years, and everyone points the finger at the next person. you could say the people here are not a very blessed group of saints. they struggle very much to keep the commandments. so for my talk i decided to speak of the prodigal son, and how if we would just accept that we have wronged and return to our inheritance that God has given us that everyone single one of us has gone and wasted just as the son here, we will be accepted with a kiss and a hug from our Heaven Father and so we should do the same when others come. i told the story of nick pass and how his father kicked him out and he returned and went on to serve a mission. the spirit was magnificent. many cried with me as i spoke of the lost sons, daughters, and brothers, mothers, etc. that we have here in tupã that we must recieve with open arms and many kisses, not judging. when i say many, i mean many. about a dozen of the congregation of 54 people were crying. i feel like its exactly what many needed to hear. these people are so distraught and destroyed, im trying my hardest to work with the less active people and people that have left the church but im not seeing the blessings. i havent baptized these last two weeks and my calling as a missionary is to baptize. but here i am doing this work that should be done by the members and i dont know how much more i can take of it. i need to baptize people, its my calling.
- Elder Parker

Humility is the Key

Mom, ya i know those people. just add them to my facebook,  you dont have to ask me when i get home ill be able to see who i want and who not.

   bryce pass is the man!

   logan urmston is going to florida! spanish speaking! yaaaaaaa get his address and all that for me please. só batizar!

      haha dakota sounds like hes turning into the man that everyone wants him to be. im super excited for his future! why is riley getting bigger then me?!

     ya pres. tavares and sis. tavares came to my district conference. i baptized that little dude, his family was innactive and theyre reactivating! :) the baptism of there son has only excited them even more! sister tavares bore her testimony at the baptism, shes is my brazilian mom.

      ya i got the package, haha i got it 10 days before my actual birthday. im not 20 yet family. 20  years old, im getting so old. i fell like im an old man. 9 boxes of reeses pieces and two bags of mangos? ya! but you can put a little variety in what you do. a yoyo? ill probably just give it to some random brazilian kid on the street...

          sounds like chads doing good in prison, cause tupã is the worst city on this planet. i was talking to this lady thats left the church and i invited her to come to church, she said no, then i told her if she doesnt come to church then shes breaking a commandment and she doesnt love Jesus. she said, " i dont love Jesus." these people are so prideful here! there hearts are stone! i feel like im trying to invite souless people to return to church. the district president gave us a list of the less actives in my branch, there is twelve pages of 600 less active people! he asked us to meet everyone of them and see what we can do. (1 Nephi 3:7 please)

           this city is so apostate. these are by far the most prideful people ive ever met in my life. strong members also, they dont care that there neighbors arent coming to church. theres over a thousand people baptized in this city, i did the math, 1 out of every 65 people is a member. and i had 57 in the church yesterday. do you see what im working with here!? and elder saraiva keeps having deja vu and he says he thinks God is talking to him telling him this is where he will die. hes not even joking either.

                 i decided im just gonna go on a rampage and start baptizing the rest of this city. this city is in the state são paulo. my mission cover the state of paraná and a little bit of são paulo. i think maybe thats why i got your package a little faster then usual. it only took 10 days.

           im very grateful for our trials that we face in our lives. without our trials, how could we grow. we need to have the hard times so that we can recognize the good times. but we need to face these trials with humility, or we cannot grow. pride is the stumbling block to everything in this life. every sin is a branch of our pride. i want to make a difference in this city but i need a lot more help from my Heavenly Father do do His work here. i need a lot more humility in my life.

-          Elder Parker

-           

Dad, i dont think ive ever met the pittams before? shes probable from paraná, minas gerais or rio de janeiro though.(Dad’s home teaching family just got a foreign exchange student)

      ya elder cleveland is doing really well, we write each other about every other month.

     when is pierce going to go into the field. the field is so much better then the mtc. the mtc is terrible.

         cambria is gonna be 10 right? man dad im turning 20 next week. never thought id say that. its a whole new world of responsibility.

       thats cool that riley went to a fresno state game with the parkers. i really hope that addison and cameron parker make the decision serve a mission. not someday, but really soon. they say that you gain enough wisdom and knowledge in these two years then someone else will recieve in a whole life as a member of the church. its so true also. im doing things i never thought id ever do. my humility has reached a peak that i used to see as foolish. the pride of a heart cannot see the joys of humility. the older i get as a missionary the more older i feel. i feel as if my soul, has been growing years and years in the last couple months. this week i had two baptisms that fell. they dont want anymore to do with the church. for now they say. but the great enemy through a little trial in there way that they just couldnt get over. it happened friday night. i worked all week with them, and a lot of last week also. i gave them everything i had. but just as it is, every baptism must have a period of opposition. opposition in all things. without opposition how will we grow. when i got home that night of friday, i was filled with a mix of emotions. i knew i gave all i had, i had no more to do for them. the rest was just to get in the water. but that friday night, i knelt down and i gave thanks to my Heavenly Father for the opposition that He put into there lives right now and the opportunity that He gave them to make this choice. it was a tender prayer, i never thought in a million years that i would give thanks to Heavenly Father for my baptisms falling. generally i feel feelings of dissapointment, anger, or lacks of faith. but this time it was different, it is His Work, He directs it, He sculpts it, He decides what is best, i just give it all to Him. but its not easy, but its very worth it.

                    - Elder Parker

ONLY MIRACLES IN TUPA!!!!!!!!!!

 Dad,

     bob cleveland died?! i was just playing basketball with him like yesterday. man i didnt think that he would ever die. him and betty are some of the nicest people on this planet. i dont even know how I'll live if betty ever goes.

      thats so awesome that dakota got his patriarchal blessing. patriarchal blessins really are something special. i remember when i went to go get mine. a stake patriarch has such a high and sacred calling. everything that was said in mine is and will come to pass. haha when i was 12 and i got mine, i didnt know where to start! it talked about seminary and my future wife and the higher priesthood filled with scriptures, it was such a gigantous thing to get as a twelve year old, but it certainly did good to me.  this week  i baptized a 9 year old child of two less active parents. theyve been to church 2 of these 3 sundays ive been here. were helping them return to activity and baptizing his child, misssionary work at its fullest. all the members really like us a lot here also, because the man we baptized last week. we gained a lot of respect from the members for that one. it was good because were opening the area here, and you cant get respect or help from people that dont know you.

          the man we baptized gave us lunch in his home yesterday. lunch here is the equivalent to dinner in the states so they put him on the list of members to eat lunch with. hes really excited these days and is very grateful for the peace and tranquility hes feeling in his life. its only miracles on the mission. haha were teaching this lady that absolutely loves me! shes a mom, its nothing bad or anything, but the first time we taught here she said to me, " you have some kind of light thats shining from you! you have some brilliance about you that i cant describe! (what she said to me)] your a good boy, your a really good boy (talking to my companion), but YOU! (pointing to me again) you have something special, you have some sort of brilliance, a light that shines from your presence!"

   i told her its because my skins so white that when the light hits my skin, it reflects off, appearing as if im glowing haha.

                                  love you tons dad. make your family teaching visits, and do family home evenings every monday. your childrens future for the eternities depend on it.

                                                                      - Elder Parker

Mom,

your still goin to that time out for woman huh? it does sound like an efy for moms.

    is that michael fox guy a poet or what

    its not your fear that keeps you from sharing the gospel, its your pride.

     yay 2 boxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      well tupã is going thats for sure. president tavares came because it was branch conference. he always gives really good talks. hes such an inspired man. and no, no one is feeding us here in tupã. its internationally known as the worst area of members to give lunches. president tavares came up to me and said, " elder parker, you look like your actually losing weight on the mission. are these members feeding you enough?" it was conference too, so there was tons of people around, and i said, " no president, we rarely eat with the members." he started laughing and then said, "thats gotta change sisters!" to all the people around. it was awesome cause everyone was laughing and then president tavares got all serious and burned all the sisters here. its what ive wanted to do the last 2 weeks.

    i heard dakoty got his patriarchal blessing, congrats!

    ya i got your letter through mission ties, but it didnt have a picture with it.

      were teaching this one lady, and on our first time teaching her, we left the book of mormon and explained how joseph smith translated it and told her to read some parts we marked then pray about it after. p.s. this lady loves me to death, she tells me that shell be my mom while im in brazil. anyways we passed by there again, and she told us the following story:

                       

    i read the parts you little boys marked for me, and after i kneeled down and prayed like you told me to. but i didnt ask if the book of mormon was true, i thanked God for giving me this book and that it was delivered by your hands to me. (she likes me alot) i didnt need to ask God if it was true, when i was reading it i already knew it was true. i felt it! i know i need to be baptized by your hands. (she likes me alot) but i cant be baptized now, im not ready."

    then i said i know, your not ready, your not married. your breaking the law of chastity, your a sinner. (she laughed) but lets marry you and baptize your family! shes got two daughters were gonna baptized this sunday. ONLY MIRACLES IN TUPÃ!!!

                                         love you all! everyone keep progressing in the gospel, and fix my car for when i come home. its hit me that eventually i will go home. 9 months already! why is it passing by so fast? o ya by the way, Elder Alex Katich is serving in the Maceío Brazil mission. he wrote me, hes still the coolest guy ever!

                                            - Elder Parker