Messejana, Brazil - Goodbye November!

Hellooooooooooooooo everyone!!!!

How was Thanksgiving?! I totally didn´t even remember it was Thanksgiving until the next day hahaha actually I thought it was the week before soooo that´s embarrassing lol

Well this week was crazy! Monday Sister Alvarado packed her bags and we went to the mission office to drop her off :,) I hung out there with other missionaries who were killing their companions (when you leave the mission, you die. when you´re companions with a companion going home, they´re dying and you´re killing them lol i know it´s weird) and we´re there until like 6 (when p day ends) so the assistants finally told us, "transfers won´t happen today, you´ll get your companions tomorrow." So they paired us off - me and Sister Ximenes went back to my area for the day until we got a call saying our companions arrived. Sister Ximenes was adorable! She arrived with me when I came to Brazil but she´s Brazilian so she was fresh out of the MTC so she has 4 months. But anyways! We hung out in my area for a day and the next day we get a call and they told us who our companions would be and that we need to go meet up with another pair of sisters and blah blah blah yeah. So we all meet at the bus terminal and Sister Ximenes left me to go back to her area with her new companion. I stayed with another sister who still didn´t have her companion like me in her area. Well, her companion arrived that night. So we were in a trio for a bit. The next morning I got a call saying my companion had finally arrived!! Wooh!! She was serving in Interior (the country, and was super far out). So I´m not training! Her name is Sister R. Santos and she´s been out 15 months! I may be killing another companion GAH! But she´s awesome and is a hard worker! We´ve been meeting a lot of new people in the area trying to find more people to teach! The other day we had a miracle! My planner had fallen out of my bag and I hadn´t noticed until later. So as we're walking back to our house, a guy stopped us in the street and described my planner and asked if we had one like that and we were like yes!! Turns out he had been taught by missionaries a ways back and had a date for baptism and everything but it fell through!! So we asked if he would like another date and he was like, "I would love that!!!" So we put him on date and have started to teach him and it´s awesome!! There can be miracles!!!

This week Anderson (our wonderful friend leaving next month to Argentina) had a going away party and he asked me to sing Amazing Grace so I did! I have a video but I don´t have time this week to send it I´m sorry I have 2 minutes left but I´ll send it next week! A guy in our ward who plays the flute played along with me and made me miss you Mom!!!!! He lives below us and sometimes in the morning he plays the flute and awwwwww mannnn it makes me miss you!!

LOVE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

- Sister Parks

Messejana, Brazil - Ch ch ch ch changes!

Hello family!! Happy Thanksgiving last Thursday! I totally forgot it was Thanksgiving until I heard someone say "Black Friday" on a radio on the street the Friday after! I thought about you guys all getting together with the family and how it´s probably nice and cool outside and I bet Mom´s wearing adorable sweaters!! Made me a little nostalgic haha but not homesick! I just wish it would cool down here, too! Haha but November and December are the hottest months here I was told sooo that´s not happening anytime soon! Haha! Well, I bet everyone's preparing for Christmas now! I bought a few things for you guys to send but I don´t think I can get it sent today because of Sister Alvarado leaving and I have to go with another set of sisters until my new companion arrives so I won´t have any free time today but I´ll try and get it sent next p-day and hopefully it´ll arrive before Christmas! I didn´t buy individual gifts, I´m sorry, the things I did buy specifically are only because I ran into them and thought of that person! I promise I wasn´t picking favorites :) 

This week was good! We ended the week with a baptism yesterday!!!!! Padua was baptized! When he came up out of the water he had the biggest smile on my face - it reflected mine! He´s a great guy who really wants to change and has accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life because he knows it´ll help him and bless his life! I know this too! The gospel is true! 

We´re also progressing with this couple, Maria and Laudeberto, who are great! They said they would come to church yesterday - she asked what to wear and everything - but I don´t think they showed up! I say I don´t know because it was stake conference and there were lots of people there! 

With Thiago - we´ve given him some time to breathe but we still stop by every other day and ask if he´s prayed about his baptism (he hasn´t - ugh!). But I know one day he will be baptized and it will be glorious! ("One day I will climb over your wall of anger and it will be glorious!" Quick what movie?? Not sure if the words are correct sorry! haha) I uploaded the pics of the baptism and a few videos with the monkeys!! Now I want videos from yáll!! :) 

Sister Alvarado is leaving me today :((( I´m very sad and a little nervous to be taking over the area with a new companion! I don´t think I´ll be training but I think I´ll be senior companion. It´s very likely that next transfer I´ll be training though haha so that´s not scary at all! Haha no it´s all good. Sometimes during meetings I think, "This is easy, any other American could understand that sentence" or whatever, but then I think, "No some don´t even know the word hello", you know?? I´m understanding so much and it´s such a blessing!! When I still struggle to say something, I think of another way to say it, and the people understand me! 

I´m so blessed to be here and I´m so blessed to be a missionary, a representative of Jesus Christ. I love Him and this gospel and I´m so grateful for the blessings and knowledge it brings into our lives. I know I can live with my amazing family after this life. Death is not the end. There is life after this life, and it can be with God, Jesus Christ, and our families if we choose to follow Him - Our Savior. 

I LOVE YOU GUYS HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!

- Sister Parks

Messejana, Brazil - It´s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

But it´s not beginning to feel like it, that´s for sure! I swear the past few days have been hotter than Hades! I don´t know how people can live here with ONE SEASON! Actually, yes, I know. They go to the beach often. That´s the difference between them and me! Haha! But there are a bunch of people decorating their little Christmas trees and putting up lights - it´s adorable! And making me a little sad haha but I´ll get to talk to yáll for Christmas so yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this week ended a little sad! Thiago didn´t pass his baptismal interview on Friday but Elder interviewing him said that if we came to church on Sunday he would come again to interview him so that Thiago could be baptized but when we passed by Sunday morning Thiago wasn´t there :( So when we passed by later at night he said he didn´t go because he doesn´t want to be baptized right now. That was a real sucker punch in the heart for us. You guys don´t even know how - he is SO great! And he KNOWS this is the right path! We´ll leave him alone for a day or two then talk to him again later in the week to see if he changes his mind or not. We hope he does!!! Sister Alvarado really wants to see him be baptized before she leaves!! This is her last week! Which means I´ll be taking over the area soon! AH!

We also have another awesome investigator Padua who´s come to church 2 times on his own and he´s so great! He´s going to be baptized this Sunday!! WOOH!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Sister Parks

Messejana, Brazil - picture's worth a thousand words

 Anderson making us pancakes! hes a member and we love his family. 

He leaves next month to Argentina for a mission!

Us with pancakes in the shape of A and P

 the district

our tags with pretty flowers

 selfie of me

 me and Sister Alvarado

us and Anderson lol - the sign means beleza which is like great more of less lol

 us and an investigator Thiago who will be baptized this week!! He made us a cake haha

he also gave us these hats haha

 coconuts!

selfie in the bathroom at church haha

Messejana, Brazil - trunky

When you have a companion going home.... you start getting trunky too!!!

Haha but no worries, it´s not serious!

This week has been another good in Messejana! I´m starting to get the area down and trying to memorize names and figure out where I am so that I can show my new companion the ropes! Eleonardo who was baptized this past week was confirmed yesterday, and this random guy we met on the street and invited to church showed up!! That was awesome! We stopped by his house later and taught him the Restoration. He has a lot of problems he needs to quit before baptism, but I don´t doubt anyone! Anyone can change!

Thanks for the video! Yáll are the cutest :) Some answers to your questions:

We have a washing machine but we hang up our clothes to dry.

Before I got my mission card they put my money on my companion’s card and she would take out my money and give it to me.

Yes they have roaches eww but usually in our house we have giant ants (they´re crazy big here!)

Also I’m so sorry but I forgot my adaptor for my camera. I know yáll want to see my hammock waaa I’m sorry!! Next week :)

LOVE Y’ALL WITH ALL MY HEART AND REALLY MISSIING Y’ALL!!!!!!!!!

- Sister Parks