Happy Halloween!

Well the mission just keeps changing and changing! We had zone conference last Friday and President Morgan announced that starting that same day, all missionaries in our entire mission are approved to use online proselyting. It's crazy! There are now 250 missionaries using Facebook. We will be getting iPad mini's and iPhones right after transfers in November. So my last 12 weeks in the mission, I'll be walking around with an iPad. It's so crazy to even think about! There have been SO many amazing changes since I've been on my mission and so many things have happened that I never even thought about being possible. The Lord really is hastening His work and I'm so grateful that I get to be a part of it as a full-time missionary and then come home and participate in the work as a member missionary.

We have Mission Leadership Council this Friday, which is when all the zone leaders and sister training leaders come together with President Morgan to council together. This time around we will be meeting with the leaders from the NY NY South mission. They have been using Facebook longer than we have so we're assuming that the meeting will be on how we can use it more effectively, which will be awesome because we need more ideas. 

That's pretty much the big news for this week. Destrie is for sure getting baptized on Sunday and I'm super duper excited. He is SO ready for baptism , it's amazing. He's asked me to give the talk on baptism. I'm really grateful that I get to participate in his baptism and that I was able to teach him for a little bit.

We're having a halloween party with our zone today! We're going to carve pumpkins and have a costume contest. Our apartment dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. I'm Dorothy, Sister Keanini and the lion, Sister McCurdy is the scarecrow and Sister Westlund is the wicked witch. I'll send better pictures next week but here's a quick picture we just took with the computer we're using...

Just so everyone is aware, you're allowed to comment on my Facebook posts. In fact, I would LOVE if you commented on my Facebook posts. Answer the questions I ask. Share your testimony. Who knows who could see it and decide that they need to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're all in this together and I need your help to make online proselyting effective. Don't ever hesitate to comment on something I post. Please just keep it missionary appropriate. 

Thanks! Love you all!

I hope you all have a great halloween!

Love,

Hermana Parkin

Halloween Came a Little Early

Well Halloween came a bit early for us here in Danbury. We got a referral from a member to work with one of her friends who has evil spirits haunting her. But for real. Not for fake like she's crazy. She played with a weegee board (I have no clue how to even guess to spell that one...) when she was younger and then she got possessed and they she got an exorcism and now she's here still being haunted by Satanous things. She's afraid to go into churches (which makes sense because Satan isn't really a fan of God) but she wants help to get away from all of this stuff. That's where we come in. Except that we're kind of scardy cat girls and told the elders they needed to be there because they have the priesthood. The first meeting was good and she does really want help. But I think the elders are going to take over on that situation because we don't even know what to do with stuff like that and we're secretly a little afraid of anything creepy and weird happening while we're there.

I think President Morgan has forgotten that there are 249 other missionaries in the mission besides me and a lot of them would be great speakers at zone conference. But instead he has asked me, yet again, to give a talk at our zone conference this Friday. I am grateful for the opportunity. However, I feel weird that I get the opportunity again while so many other people probably will never have that opportunity...

We are working with the coolest less active ever. I think I talked about her already - Menoli. She's awesome and wants to come back to church so badly. Plus the elders are working with her boyfriend to teach him about the gospel and he's super awesome too. They make time every day to read the scriptures together and they are participating in some of the ward activities. It's so awesome! I think I'm destined just to work with less actives for the rest of my mission because I love them and feel like I'm able to help them more than I can usually help my investigators. Menoli reminds me a lot of Leydi from New Rochelle. They're both Peruvian and they both have huge desire to have Christ back in their life. It's the best.

Also, I found out that one of the investigators that Sister Brog and I found and started teaching, Manuel, got baptized on Saturday! I'm so happy for him. There were so many miracles during the time we were working with him. I know that he will stay really strong in the church.

I hope you all have a great week and that you don't suffer from too much coldness!

Love you!

Hermana Parkin

In the City Today

We're in the city this week! We came down to go to the temple with our district. I love being in the city. I love upstate too but the city just has a special place in my heart always.

This week has been great. We're back to the normal flow of things and it's going really well. Sister Keanini is awesome and we have a great time together. I'm really grateful that I get to serve with her. I feel like I learn so much from her every single day.

I realized while I was serving in English last week that I have a seriously distorted view of what a normal serving size of food is. I'm so used to all the hispanic people giving us giant plates that are overflowing with food. So when I was in the English ward and people would give me food, I always thought "Wow, this is like no food. I'm probably going to starve." And then I would eat and instead of feeling like I needed to throw up, I just felt normal and satisfied. It was crazy! I've forgotten how non-hispanic people eat! No wonder I gained so much weight while I've been here...haha

We had stake conference this weekend. The Sunday session was really good but the Saturday night adult session was AMAZING! I was crying for basically all 2 hours of it. There were so many great talks about relying on the Lord for help during difficult trials in our lives. Then to end it, the couple in the Newtown ward that had a child pass away in the Newtown school shooting last year spoke. It was amazing. They went through a huge trial in their lives but the whole time they relied on their Heavenly Father for help and they were able to receive so much comfort. Not only were they so strong during it all but they are a great example of forgiveness and love. They don't hold any grudges against the shooter or his family. They are incredible and it was an amazing conference.

The work here in Danbury is good. We're working with this less active that I'm really excited about. Her name is Menoli and she has a lot of desire to come back to church. Even though she's less active, she's stayed super strong and when her friends have offered her drugs or alcohol, she's always declined. She really wants to get back to where she used to be when she was active. She's awesome! I'm really excited to work with her. Plus her boyfriend isn't a member and she wants to share the gospel with him and he's super nice. He told Menoli that she needed to have us over for dinner one day. haha We took that as a good sign that he likes us.

I hope you're all doing well! Don't forget about how important you are as members to do member missionary work. Us missionaries can't really do anything without you!

Lots of love,

Hermana Parkin

New Pictures!

Hermana Parkin was busy downloading pics this week to send to me. Here is a little bit of the letter she sent me (her mom). And some new pictures! They are pictures Shelisa has taken throughout her mission. 

Last week was crazy with the companionship situation! So last Wednesday, we were about to get in the car after transfer meeting and head up to Danbury with the English sisters that are opening an area there. But then the assistants to President Morgan came running over telling me that I needed to go be companions with the sisters serving in Poughkeepsie-Sister Laititi and Sister Skinner. Sister Laititi doesn't have a drivers license and Sister Skinner's license expiered so they had no one that could drive them in their area. So I was assigned to be their driver until Sister Skinner could get a license. It was so much fun to be Sister Skinner's companion again! And I love Sister Laititi too so it was just great. On Friday, we were able to get a license for Sister Skinner so they didn't need me anymore. So they took me back to Danbury and I've been companions with Sister McCurdy and Sister Westlund who are serving in the Danbury English ward. I didn't really know either of them very well so it was fun to get to know them and to serve with them. This morning, we went and picked up Sister Keanini so now I'm finally with the companion I was actually assigned to serve with. It was a fun and crazy week but I'm excited to go back to the Spanish branch and get back into the flow of things.

 In the subway

 At the Empire State Building

 Central Park

 With Hermana Wankier and President Morgan

Happy Halloween!

I'm Staying in Danbury!

I am doing really good! Transfers have been really crazy! Sister Wankier is going to North Manhattan and she is going to be a Sister Training Leader with Sister Barker. So basically my two best friends are going to be companions and I'm super excited for them. I am staying in Danbury and my companion is Sister Keanini. She's from Hawaii and she came into the mission at the same time as me but we were in different districts in the MTC so we don't know each other super well. However, she seems super awesome and I'm excited to serve with her. The crazy part of life is that we won't actually be companions until Tuesday even though we had transfers today. There are two new sister area's being opened in the zone that we're Sister Training Leaders for. In one of those areas, the sister who will be opening up the area has been in Salt Lake helping with General Conference for the past couple months and she won't be back in our mission until Tuesday. So Sister Keanini is going to take her spot in that companionship until then. Meanwhile, I was supposed to be in a trio with the sisters that are opening up an English area in Danbury. But at the transfer meeting today, right before we were about to leave, the assistants asked me to be in a trio with a different set of sisters that I have stewardship over because one of them doesn't have a license and the other one's license is expired so neither of them can drive. So until the one sister gets her license renewed, I'm in a trio with them. I'm super excited though because Sister Skinner is the sister that needs to renew her license so I get to be her companion again for a little bit! They're area is an hour away from Danbury though so it's going to be a crazy next week trying to figure everything out. I'm glad that I'll be able to help though.

Besides the craziness of transfers, I don't know that there's all that much to tell. I'm still loving Danbury and all the people here. The work is going really good and we have so many really awesome people that Sister Keanini can start working with when we're actually together.

I hope you're all excited to watch General Conference! It's going to be so good! I LOVED the Relief Society Broadcast. It basically talked all about becoming consecrated, which is what our missions focus is so it was really awesome. I encourage everyone to watch it if you weren't able to see it on Saturday. I know that General Conference is going to be just as spiritually uplifting and instructing. I hope you're all able to prepare to feel that spirit so that you're able to learn what the spirit teaches you.

I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Parkin