January 21, 2013

HELLO!!!! hi hi hi. Wow I just LOVE getting emails from the family. How blessed I really am!!!!! Soooooooo I would first like to say a little about dad´s email! First, thanks so much dad. You are so spiritually strong. I liked your email a lot. The funny thing is, that on Friday early in the morning I was wanting to read a story in the Ensign and so I opened up the table of contents and the one I picked was the EXACT one that you spoke on in your talk on Sunday! By Elder Uchtdorf. Of regrets and resolutions. I took notes on it and I cried when I read it. I was feeling the spirit so strong and now I know why, because my very own dad had the same beautiful message in his heart too! Wow! It´s so true, even though we are far away, we are very close in the heart. I love you dad. Thanks for being you. Mother dear, thanks sooo much for your email as well. You always do know how to make me so grateful for the things that I have. Such a positive and caring person, thanks for your love. I will never forget our phone call when we just were crying and laughing and you just kept saying, Court I love you SO MUCH! hahahaha. The cutest thing ever.
Well, besides having the best parents and family ever I have some more news from the week. First, Saturday we had a baptism and it was VERY spiritual. The girl´s name is Carolina (I will be sending a pic today if i can figure out this computer here ). But, anyways she got dressed in all white and then we went to take a few pictures and I looked over at her and there were tears streaming down her face. It was sooo powerful, everyone could feel her joy. Then she got baptized and her boyfriend is a member, so right before he gave a really good talk and they are going to get married. So it was sooo cute. And he was bawling. It was so cute. And then she got baptized and after had the chance to give her testimony and it was so great. She said she knows the church is true and even though it´s hard because all of her family is Catholic and didn´t come to see her get baptized she knows that one day they will accept the gospel. Also, we told her that it will be ok because it always starts with one and then because of her all of her family and their families will be able to have the gospel in their lives. Anyways, Sunday was good and we had a very great class. 
I finally sent off Jordan´s package today so it will be late obviously, but let him know I sent it. I had to get permission to go into a different zone to send it. So I finally got to that today. Also, I sent a bunch of letters to people like on the first but I don´t think they have been sent out yet. Sorry to everyone! I wish they could have gotten out sooner. Just a few thank you notes and stuff like that. I have not received letters or packages since like a week before Christmas. It´s a really slow month for the post office but I think it should start back up soon. My Zone Leader said hopefully Tuesday we will receive a few things. Oh hey, that´s tomorrow!! 
So my comp and I right now are without a cell phone. The other night this car pulled up along side of us and I was like what´s going on... good thing the Elders (our zone leaders ) jumped out of it and told us they just got robbed! So I guess what happened is that a guy came up behind them holding a gun in his pants I guess and then told them to give him everything. It wasn´t a ton that he took just like a CTR ring from Elder Crisanto and their cell phone and a few hundred cords from Elder Bray. So they have our phone because they have to report numbers and all that for the whole zone. So I think we´ll get it back tomorrow. They live in a really dangerous area. I am thankful nothing happened and that nothing like that has happened to us... but if it does I am completely prepared with my karate class I have been taking. :) Well. I love you all sooo much! I better go. but I love you all, have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love Hermana Parker. Thanks for the happy hump day and tell Jordan happy birthday for me! love you alll!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 14, 2013

My fav stuffed animals. The owls and the bear are from my parents, the snowman from Josh, the lil monkey from Nate and the bigger monkey from my old district leader from panama.

The 2 cutest little girls ever...I love these girls!

All of the missionaries that were able to participate in SOY (EFY)

Hello there familia Parker!!!!!! How is everything going over there in the beehive state. I heard it´s a cold chicken. Too bad I haven´t been able to feel such great weather!!! hahahah. It´s still a roasting high over here in Nicaragua. But it´s great. I like it here a lot. We had a lot of success this week! We were able to get 9 people to church yesterday and they all just went all by themselves, we didn´t have to go to their houses before and pester them. So this week was very long and exhausting but so great too!!! On Tuesday we had a huge zone training. President came with his assistants and all we did was practice practice practice from 8 in the morning until 5 at night... with a lunch break at 12 until 12 30. It was a very long day but I learned SOOO much. We just took turns acting as missionaries and investigadores and they told us what we needed to change and what we were doing good. It was sooo long. Then when we got home that night I was SO tired that I was in bed right at 10 and then the phone rang... and my comp answered and was saying ok so we need to be there tomorrow at 8, thanks sooo much for this opportunity. I was thinking... oh no, what opportunity. So then she gets off the phone and tells me that we got picked by our zone leaders to go participate in SOY (it´s EFY for Nicaragua) where they go for a week and learn and everything. So we got picked... Pres told every zone leader to choose a companionship and they thought that we were doing really well and picked us. So what we did was we went to the university where it was held and we just taught little 10 minute trainings with the youth, and then they rotated and then we taught the same thing over and over. It went on throughout the whole day and it was a lot of fun!!! We really got to have fun with the youth and help them want to serve missions!!! It was funny because one of the teachers was sharing a story and said when he was young someone said you´re a Mormon right? What do you believe in? And he´s like we believe in Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost. and then he was like AND WE BELIEVE IN FAMILIES!!!! hahahahaha. We were all laughing so hard. It was so cute! So that was fun and it was cool to be one of the few missionaries to get to participate. President was there and it was fun!

So our investigator Vladimir passed his interview with President but cannot get baptized until the 2 of Feb!!! That day sounds sooo familiar... maybe cuz it´s my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahah it will be great to be there seeing this man get baptized. He really has learned so much and grown a ton! He is very happy and likes coming to church. This week we were really blessed because yesterday we had another baptismal interview and it´s a complete family. Her boyfriend is a member and they are going to get married right after her baptism so it´s this Saturday.. her name is Carolina and she is so ready! She´s way smart and super awesome!

Yesterday I was able to watch the devotional for young single adults. We brought some investigadores and it was broadcasted from BYU. The guy that conducted the devotional was my old Stake President from BYU. It was sooo awesome seeing him there on the big screen all the way over here in Nica town. His name is President Shollenburger. He was super funny, I remember. So yeah that was cool. Elder Uchtdorf spoke and I took some great notes. He´s such a powerful man!!!!!

Let the Jensen´s know that I will be praying for Zach. That´s such a bummer. Hopefully he´ll get to Mexico soon!!!! Also this week we watched the Mount of the Lord. And it was powerful. How wonderful it is to have temples here on earth. So blessed!!!!!!!! Well! It was so great hearing from you. Thanks sooo much for the email and I am excited for the packages! Let Jordan know that I will be sending a b-day gift soon! Hopefully it gets there soon. If not I apologize! Miss and love you all! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!! Stay warm and sip some hot coco for me. Love Court. P.S. That is so neat that that sister, Sister Frodsham will be coming from St. George! Tell her to be prepared to have some fun! Get some comfortable shoes and buy lots of lightweight clothes. That will be super cool! She will love it!

January 7, 2013

HELLO!!!!!!! So today I just want to say hi!!!! And that I just love you all more than you know. Thanks mom and dad for the emails. It really means a lot to me. That new game you have sounds fun and it will be good to play games with you all once more!!!!!!
So crazy... don´t freak out but something crazy happened this week... One night we were walking down the street and this creep was trying to talk to me and I was ignoring him and then he started chasing me and I was super scared and running. Then I looked down the street to my left and there the two zone leaders were... just walking in OUR area, where they never are. What a blessing. We yelled for them to help us and they came fast. I don´t know if the guy would have harmed me or not but it was crazy that they were just right there. An absolute miracle. It was so good to know that the Lord put those elders there. Then later, I asked them why they were you there and they said "Oh we were lost trying to find our way to bishops house to ask him a question." What a blessing!!! But I am safe and you don´t need to worry. Just know that I am being protected. Also, there is this guy that we met in the street about 5 weeks ago and he said, yeah I am Mormon but haven´t been to church for years. We told him he needs to go and then the next Sunday he was there all by himself and in his shirt and tie looking so great there in the chruch!!!!! Then he hasn´t missed a week since then. We saw him yesterday and I am just so proud of him, he even brought his son with him yesterday and I could see how happy he truly was!!!! It´s nice helping members AND investigadores. Also, Vladimir wasn´t able to get baptized because of some problems in his interview but we are keeping our faith for this Saturday!!!! A lot of miracles happened this week. We put dates for baptism for 3 different FAMILIES this week!!!!! One lady, we went to her door, and she said come in please!!! It turns out a month ago her son killed himself and she has been wondering where he is and how she can find peace!!! She said when she saw us she felt so comforted and she felt that there were two angels there to help her. So her and her husband want to get baptized on my BIRTHDAY!!!!! We will see if it happens but wouldn´t that be way sweet!!!!! 
Anyways, we are doing very well. I had a hard night yesterday because someone we contacted said some really mean things to me and then we left and my comp said I am so sorry, I bet you feel horrible. And I was like, um yeah, and just broke down and started crying. But then last night, I was thinking about Christ and how so many people rejected him and betrayed him and then I didn´t feel so bad. I cannot let it get me down, I just need to keep working hard and not worry about it. My comp and I had a lot of fun this week!!! It was like the hardest we have ever worked but it was the most fun that we had too! Crazy how that works, isn´t it? We are having a great time. Church was good yesterday, we brought 2 families to church and 3 other people. It was a successful day and they all enjoyed it. I think we will have another baptism on the 26. Jordan´s birthday!!!! I am going to look for something for his birthday, so hopefully I can find something cool! I am glad that you are liking that new cd. Cottam introduced me to it! She just got off her cruise to Hawaii and loved it. She sent me some great pictures. She is so great!!!! Well I will let ya go but know that I love you all soooo much and that I am doing great and that we are doing WORK!!!!!!! "Cuz work´s gonna fix what don´t work anymore!!!" ... that´s the song if you don´t remember-- hahaha. love you. love Hermana Parker