Monday, September 17, 2012

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
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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

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