Those Dolls with like 6 dolls inside them...

I´m sorry that it´s gonna be uber uber short today, but I don´t have much time.

Updates

L is still going. He makes the decision to be put into a facility and then he changes his mind. Then he makes it again and then changes his mind. I know that someday we´ll get to that point, but all we have to do is have patience :)

We met a man named JB and man does he talk a lot ;) I love it. He talks our ears off, but it is just one more challenge during the lesson to try to guide. But most of the lesson is listening and trying to teach them the simple truths, so I think it will work out wonderfully :) But he´s great. He had a wife that passed away about a year ago, and it makes me just love him and tell him that there is a plan after life and the whole plan that the Lord made for everyone of us!

R and G are great! They are excited and reading the Book of Mormon and praying. I love when people see changes. Maybe a little more peace in their lives, a little more tranquilidade and just the fact that they notice so much more that the Lord has given them. They just gotta give that wonderful book a chance. Without any judgement, without any doubts, but with that desire to want to learn, to know that there is something more :) Isn´t that great? I love that :) <3

L and J together, our buds, are doing just fine. Us 4 together is quite a hoot :) We had another churrasco last night to try and change L's mind again, but gosh I just love the 4 of us together. Always a hoot.

P is just a miracle. It´s funny how the Lord works. Every time we have felt to go there, it has always been the perfect time, the exact moment she needed help. P is a menos ativo and we´ve just started visiting her last week, and we didn´t even know but she has been praying for help and some people to help her go through some of the stuff she is going through, and gah, the Lord´s timing is just perfect :)

T is another menos ativo, and we all have a hoot together :) We decided to take her on splits with us and it is just the best thing ever! She loves it and she is starting to come back to church :) I have a picture with her but for some reason the camera isn´t working :P

I hope everyone had a happy Easter! It truly is a wonderful holiday :) Our own savior lifted up on the cross. And we get to have a day to celebrate it! How wonderful is that?!?! The knowledge that this wonderful plan was made and formed with the atonement of Christ that was planned before everything just shows to me how much God really does love us- that he sent his son. Just think of that. Gosh life is amazing :) 

Those dolls that have 6 dolls inside them. Sorry that my analogies are getting lame. It´s just so many things happen during the week and I forget to write them down and I just get so involved during the week and forget that I'm writing soon, and  then I just completely forget about the analogy, so..... you get stuck with something that I made up 3 minutes ago. ;) But. Those doll things are like the scriptures. You can take one verse from the scriptures and find so many different avenues! And every time you read them, you find something even more special. Something different. And inside that doll, you find another wonderful word or phrase or meaning. IT´S ENDLESS. And I love it. So read your scriptures. Because they are endless and completely and utterly wonderful :) <3

Anyways, that´s it, sorry that there isn´t more or more things that happen during the week, but i´ll improve for next week! One thing-- living in 4 is a hoot :) I love talking and dancing and singing. Church songs have never been more fun ;) I love you all and I promise that I´ll try to be super focused during the week so that I can remember everything! I love you guys so much! Take care!

(Sorry, no pictures, the cord isn´t working :/ But next week! :)

Love ya!

Sister Parco :)

Plastic Coverings

My week

This week wasn´t bad at all. A little emotionally draining and physically draining. I don´t know why, maybe because I am not sleeping well but it was. I was just down a bit on my teaching skill and language. But hey, it made me realize how dumb I was being and that it will all come in time ;) I always have a tendency to run faster than I have strength, Who can name that quote?!?! :) So i´ll just have to relax a bit and rely a bit more on the Lord. And everything will be just fine! Not easy, but just fine :)

L

I think this week was one of the more emotional weeks with L. This week he decided he wouldn´t do treatment. That he´s going to leave and try to stop in the place he is going, which we know is impossible. And to be honest, it killed me and Sister P. Absolutely killed us. We´ve visited him so much and we just want him to be able to do this, but it seems that no matter how hard we try, he falls. And I hate to see him like that. We really want what is best for him and he really can do this, but I guess it will just take time. But hey, we´re still visiting, with his decision, and in fact, we had a Family Home Evening with him and his mom last night which was fun! :) So hey, just pray that he´ll be able to stop this addiction :) It will all come in time ;) We just don´t know how much ;P

Words of wisdom

Don´t buy a churro for you and your companion without first asking for the price. Because then you´ll pay 3 bucks for each churro when they are normally 1.50. Absolutely killed me. Never again. ;P

News

OUR AREA IS SPLITTING!!!! SO that means 4 sisters in one house. HECK YES. I love that :) It´s going to be so insanely fun and I´m so stinking excited!!!! We got new tables, new beds and pretty soon new friends! Me and Sister P are staying together (Whoop whoop!) in the area that has most of our investigators and 2 sisters, a hispanica and a fresh newly grown american is going to live with us! I was thinking of pretending that I´m a brazilian for the first 10 minutes, think I can pull it off? ;)

Plastic coverings

So turns out that even though I´m close to 20, I still act like a teenager and irresponsible (Sorry mom, probably not going to change...) One day we were making or heating something up in the microwave that we got about 3 weeks ago and I kept smelling plastic burning. And I looked everywhere and couldn´t find what was making the smell. But yes, lo and behold, we completely forgot to take of the plastic on the microwave. And yes. there were directions on how to take it off and that we should take if off before use. But. With this irresponsibility comes 1 good thing! A not so very good comparison from me this week ;) Enough said. Read the instructions. You don´t know how much it will make a difference :) And what instructions do we have in life? SCRIPTURES! Scriptures are just sitting there and waiting to be read! They have so much to tell and so much for you to learn. But you have to sit and read. And then when you understand, you got to cut off the plastic wrapper off the microwave, or else you are going to have semi heated food and not have an idea of why it´s only semi heated. So read. Read everysingle day :) They are truly wonderful :) 

Anyways. That is my week in a nut shell. I hope your guyss week was awesome! I love to be here and every day I am reminded of the hand that the Lord has in our lives everyday :) And I learned that we have so much we need to improve on. I see my faults and all that I´m lacking every day. I´m grateful for a loving saviour that makes up for the rest. We truly are blessed to know everything that the saviour has done for us, and we can repay him every day by being our absolute best! I love you all!!!

Sister Parco

Old People

I first wanted to start out and talk about all the complaints that I have about general conference. OH, wait a second, I have none! :) :) Wasn´t general conference just amazing?!?!?! I love that we have a living prophet :) Just another proof that God doesn´t change and that He still loves us, just like that past :) Gah. It was wonderful. And I´m very grateful that I understood it :) It was all in portuguese and I was pretty nervous that I wouldn´t understand it, but it´s amazing what a little prayer before the conference can do :) Hehehe and never in my life have I seen Holland start the conference! Like, WABBAAAAM. RIght in the beginning. Twas lovely. And can we just talk about the choir? AH-MAZING.

My week

This week was actually pretty rough, our numbers were down, everything fell, and this is this first time on the mission that my legs were sore from walking, but hey, the life of a missionary, hey? ;) It´s just one of those weeks where you walk under your umbrella buy a bag of candy to put in your rain coat pocket and eat while you're walking and just stay happy, because, whether it´s disappointing or not, you´re serving the Lord, and nothing is better than serving! :)

Language

Gosh I love language study. Me and Sister P are practicing getting to know people, (which is hilarious because I don´t know how to converse in english without being awkward, so in a different language is still gonna be interesting ;) ) But Sis P makes up the craziest people that I have to try to talk to. I love it. AND if you want to learn a language and know the easier words, read the friend ;) Probably the best way that I learned all the easy words ;) 

Our adventures with the Elderly!

We cut people´s hair this week! Well, Sister P cut people´s hair this week :) And that left me with the hard part-conversing with the elderly while they were getting their hair cut. I think half the time I nodded and smiled and held their hand because half the time I had no idea what they were saying ;) Also, the lady that is in charge wants us to come to the house and give a mini devotional everyday, so we will see how that goes ;) Today, we talked about charity with them and cut out a heart for all the words that represented charity :) Probably the cutest thing ever ;)

People

Every one is doing great! Learning more and doing awesome! One thing- V went to General conference and he loved it! WOOHOOOOO! He´s already read the whole Book of Mormon and we were just waiting for something to happen and here it is! Probably the best feeling ever! 

Old People

So this really isn´t a comparason, or gah. what´s it called, hyberpole? Anyways, it isn´t one of those. It´s more of a theory. I decided after visiting all the elderly this week that, you know how in Heaven, (in the truth, I don´t know this, but I always thought this way when I was a kid), everything is going to be white and pure. I decided that is why all of us when we´re old and that all the people that are elderly now have white hair. Because they are the purest cutest things ever and more close to being pure than anyone :) So theres that. Lesson learned. Old people are cute.

Another theory. I discovered why they have the ward feed missionaries. I think last p-day I ate ice cream, peanuts, and an apple and a banana. Yes, I am still irresponsible. ;)

Anyways, that was my week! Hope your guyss was awesome! If you didn´t watch general conference, watch it right now, because it´s flipping good :) I love you all so much! Take care!

P.S. I´m almost to my 6 month! ;P Isn´t that weird? Gosh has time flown by..

Sister Parco

Oreos

I´M STAYING!!! ME AND SISTER P ARE STAYING!!! WHOOOOOOHOOOOOO! We literally found an empty road and had a dance party and jumped up and down a bit because we just love this area and are doing so many things! And! The plus side, we get to see the end of Maura´s house! And we´re having a churraska there when we finish that baby :) I´m so excited for this next transfer!!!

 

Language

 

We have a problem here. But I shall fix it in no time. It´s always hard to repeat after a person because they have different verbs for different people. So basically my companion just told me (just now mind you) that I have been messing up my contacts.. It would go something like this ´´Oh, I am catholic´´ and the easiest thing to do is repeat what they say and then say, ´´awesome, how cool!´´ But lo and behold, that doesn´t work, so here I am doing contacts and when people say ´´i´m catholic´´ I basically nod my head and act all excited and repeat, but yup. What I´m really saying is, oh! I´m catholic? How long?´´ Oh the trials. I have been totally blanking.. ;) But i´m here to learn, right? ;)

 

Zoo

 

First thing is first that I have to tell you. The zoo here is free. That made the highlinght of my day :) And it was wonderful :) We went with our zone and some friends from our ward :) I love animals.

 

Divisions

I love divisions! I learn so much! And I love taking everything I learn, writing everything down and using everything! I love how so many people teach differently and I love learning new tactics and new ways to explain stuff :) It really is the bees knees :)

 

Women´s General Conference meeting

 

We got to watch the Women´s General conference meeting! And we watched the whole thing, but get this. Yup. So we were 10 minutes to the end until we realized that it was 2013 and not 2014. Bahahahahah I died. Yup so we definitely took an hour of our pday to watch the broadcast from last year. Oh the irony. But hey, maybe it was a sign that we probably needed it ;) Guess I have to have more charity! ;)

 

The house

 

Dang. That house is getting there! It should be done by this next transfer. It is really needed too. We were sharing a message with Maura and we saw that her wooden house collapsed in the middle. So there is a big hole in the middle of the house because the whole house is basically sinking down from the foundation. It´s so crazy :P But one thing I do love is seeing the whole ward here come together to help her out :) <3 The elder´s quorum came this saturday to help move everything and donate some funds, and the relief society is coming to help clean and get the house organized after the men put in the floor. There is nothing that makes me more happy than people coming together and serving their neighbor :) Charity really is amazing and so so important in this life. You have no idea how big of a smile you get serving :) It breaks my heart (with happiness) to see all of the ward working together :) And that's what we are here to do! Help each other out and look out for eachother :) Gah. So thought for the day--Help everyone! We´re all the same species. We all need help. :) So go get them :)

 

Updates on the Peeps

 

You know what is surprising? How the Lord does so many things that you least expect. This week we really focused on finding and finding those that were ready, and we tried our very hardest to find the people that were ready. We did more lessons than I´ve ever done before (with an all day conference and pday :) ) and found more novos than before and you know what was funny? The Lord provided us with people that were completely out of our teaching pool. All of the people that were ready were from references and from a young man that saw the "visitor´s welcome" sign in the front of our church and decided that he would stop by and see what it was like. I love the Lord´s sense of humor :) :) We truly were blessed :) And the Lord is really putting people in front of our path. I think that´s the interesting thing about life :) We focus so much on what we´ve done and we think that there has to be some sort of affect to that thing we did. But then the Lord goes out and says, nope. My plans. And then gives us everything we need to do this marvelous work of his <3

 

Some updates on the peeps: A, who we´ve been working on for 3 months and is a menos ativo finally went to church! We couldn´t have been more happier! We had so many wonderful references of E, S, and M (the guy who just passed by the church) and I´ll make sure to keep you updated on all of them! But times dwindling, I´ll have more to tell next week :) 

 

Oreos

 

So, I just happen to be eating oreos right now. Such a sin but no regrets... And I decided that sometimes people like the cream, and some people like the outside. And I came to the conclusion that I like both. Together. So is life. I am really really loving it here :) The good and the bad, the creamy and the crunchy. And I´m just eating it up. The whole package of 8 oreos. No regrets people. Open it. Taste it. Love it. Don´t regret it. :)

 

I love you so much! You all are wonderful! Keep being awesome!

Sister Parco

Whoops

Updates

WE FINISHED CLEANING THE HOUSE OF A! We never thought we´d get there, but we finally cleaned out all the trash and bagged it and sorted it out. I´ve decided I can probably be a professor of spiders because I saw spiders big and small that I´ve never seen before. I am going to guess 30. Unfortunately, I am still afraid of spiders, but at least I have more knowledge! ;)

We´re building a new house for A and M too! It´s a blast. And makes me smile every time. Because here we are two missionaries helping clean trash and who comes to help? Yup, our investigators. Gosh I just love J and L. It is sincerely a blast working all together. A little disappointing too because the members of the ward said they would show up and none of them did except our investigators, but we are going back during the week too. We actually went there today to help wash clothees and fold them :) (The whole member situation kinda stunk because we were told that we should have organized better, which really stunk because I think if members signed up they should remember to help :P A bit frustrating to be told that we were at fault, but haha I´m repenting now and feel bad for not calling them.. :P )

L. Oh L. So we found a support group for him with the drinking, and it is hilarious how hard it was to drop him off at the place. It was, what I imagine it to be, dropping a kid off for the first day of school. It was hard to put him in someone else´s hands for 4 hours, I don´t know why, hahahaha. But I just imagined this the whole time because we dropped him off, and like a parent, said ´´okay, so we´´ll come by and pick you up at 4, and feel free to join everyone. Have a good time´´ Was so hilarious how similar it was. But we hope it works. It´s getting harder and harder. It´s hard becuase it really is an addiction for him and we are really hoping that we can get through this together!

V is well, going. He is in 3 Nephi already and we are just waiting for something to happen. But he´ll pray about the book of mormon eventually! :) But their family is so kind hearted and wonderful. Me and Sister P haven´t bought anything this transfer because everyone is giving us so much food. Especially the family of V, they are seriously the cutest family ever :)

That´s pretty much it. oh, WE´RE GOING TO THE ZOO. SO I´ll have some pictures of that next week! And, next week is transfers, I´m crossing my fingers that me and Sister P stay together :) Because that would be so amazing :) But you´ll see next P-day!

We had a conference this week, and let me tell you. Best pumper uppers in the world. It reminds me of how every day we need to be pure. Pure and willing to do all that the Lord asks us to do. We exert all in our capacity, and with that comes miracles. Miracles that we think are impossible. (Suggestion: Family, watch ephraimm´s journey. I am certain that you will cry.) It´s truly amazing everything that you can do with the Lord. Do we realize the capacity and the talent that we have? It really is astounding, and I think that is something that I´ve learned the most on a mission. That, first of all he cares. And second of all, he has all power, all knowledge. It´s difficult to think of why we don´t put everything in his hands, because, truly, he knows what is best, and he knows exactly what needs to be done. I love my heavenly father and am so grateful for this opportunity to be here and there is nothing that makes me more happy. Laying down in a bed sore has never brought a smile to my face. I must be crazy. ;) But really just love the Lord, and you´ll find yourself more happy than ever :)

Whoops

Well today´s analogy is like a cereal or cracker jack box that says it has a prize but really it doesn´t because I totally blanked and didn´t have an awesome last minute idea that I usually get the night before ;) So I apologize. But be grateful you don´t have to read a cheesy paragraph ;)

I love you guys so much and I love every minute I am here! I love everything about everything here and it´s almost impossible to stop smiling here. Be good. Have fun. Be safe. LOVE YOU!

Sister Parco

Race Cars

Language

Still going :) Sometimes it´s frustrating because people pay more attention to my "strange accent" than the words that I am saying. And sometimes I just want to know if they are only paying attention because I talk different or if they actually want to hear what we have to say. But i´m sure It´ll change :)  

Stories of the week

One thing that I learned this week. Raw meat does not do much good for the body. Not much good at all. With that said--first experience sick on the mission! Wooohooooo! And I just have to give a shout out to my companion Sister P because she is a boss. Because the meat affected her right after lunch. And she just pretended like nothing happened. Hehe like, we´re just walking there minding our own business, and Sister P says, "oh just wait a minute," and then pukes on the side of the road. Of course I´m like, "okay, Sister, we´re going to go home" and she just argued with me that "it´s gonna pass, it´s gonna pass" so we continued after fighting a bit because she didn't want to go back home, and every single house we visited (only 4 thank goodness) she had to go to the bathroom and puke again. She´s crazy. I don´t know how she did it. So we went home she wouldn´t let us wait to plan tomorrow and headed to bed. Then the lovely bacteria hit me during the night. Was just as fun :) ;) Hahahaha it was hilarious because Sister P would yell into the bathroom to check if I was okay and I just jokingly said back to her, "it´s gonna pass, it´s gonna pass" hahahahahahaha it was quite a sight :) 2 girls in one room lying down on the ground with half a pot of soup and a half filled container of tea. I just sat there and laughed about the whole situation. But hey, never a better day to just sit and watch church videos all day. ;) It was fun. And hey, Pops, I now know what it feels like to be lactose intolerant these past couple of days, and I don´t know how in the world you do it ;) 

The other story goes along with the sick story. Remember L? Well we had an appointment with him the day we were sick. But he doesn´t have a phone and we promised to meet him at 7. And me and sister puggina just looked at each other. Yup we had to go meet him. We knew it was important to have daily contact with him to help him stop drinking, so we took a bus (for a normal 15 minute walk) there to meet him. I bet everyone thought we looked like the walking dead hahahaha. And then we get there and he shows up at 7:30 drunk :/ but we still taught the lesson and caught a bus to get back home. It was a little sad because he was doing soooo well with drinking and it just hurt to see him fall back down again. But, hey, he´ll get there one day :) I´m sure of it, just needs a bit of help :) 

Updates

We met some new people named M and B! They are wonderful! They have so many questions and are so willing to learn more and to do everything :) It was one of the first investigators that actually flat out said-- ´´My gosh, I felt something when you guys were speaking and I´ve seen that my life has been more peaceful´´ A phrase like that just makes a missionary want to yell out in happiness ;) It´s really amazing what a difference scriptures and the gospel can make in someone´s life. It seriously makes us soooo happy :) But we are continuing to visit them and we are so excited for them!

V. Gosh, he is the coolest guy ever. He´s already in Alma 35! He still hasn´t prayed, but he will after he finishes. And he is willing to hear everything we say and just soak it in. And he´s the kindest guy ever! His whole family invited us to lunch with them and told us that any day we can stop by and talk with them. I seriously love seeing them every time we visit them :)

I´m sorry that there isn´t much more and that I forgot all the funny experiences, but I totally forgot to write down notes in my planner, but I will be better next week, I promise!

Race Cars

I was thinking about something to compare and yet again, I don´t know why, but I´m going to compare it to a childhood toy. ;) I am certain that Jared and Ryan know this because we played it all the time. But any of you guys remember that race track toy where you put the cars on the track and you pushed a button to make them go (probably worst description of anything ever...) Well. I remember when I was 7 and I pressed that controller as hard as I could, thinking that the harder I pushed, the faster the car would go. And every time I did, the car would detach from the race track and fly across the room. But the secret was that you had to hold the trigger right in the middle, not too fast, not too slow, so that you could beat the other car (always your car, Ryan ;) ) to the end. Basically. Do what Mosiah 4 says-- don´t run faster than you have strength! ;) Sometimes we focus on the quantity of things we do rather than the quality. Some times we do everything that we are supposed to do-- read our scriptures, pray, assignments or other things and just say ´´okay, I did them, you can bless me now´´ But it´s the times where you spend that 30 minutes on one verse, spend that good 30 minutes talking to a person to see how they are that actually do a lot more than doing an inumerable amount of things. So, nuff said. Don´t run faster than you have strength! Or else you´ll regret it and end up going to a lesson and not remembering anything you said because you were leaning on your umbrella the whole time thinking about your bed ;) thehehehehe 

Hope you guys had a great week! Love you all!

Sister Parco

Bouncy House

So, I didn´t write anything down for some reason. But just know that this week was filled with smiles, service, people, and a bit of a cold. :)

Things I learned

A mission really changes you. Never in my life would I think that I would want to watch all the vidoes on the old testament dvd. And never in a thousand years would I think that I would joke about the seed of abraham.. (theres a part in the bible where it talks about how the seed of abraham are the numbers of the stars inthe sky) and sometimes me and my companion look up and say ´´opa. Abraham would be pretty disappointed...´´ Cheesy and weird but it´s what you end up joking about ;) 

Members are awesome! There is a lady that we are teaching that lives in a shack, and the priesthood of our ward (with out our help or urgency) are gathering together to help build her a new house! I love the members here!!

Updates

V is doing great! (Donald-- I called him Donald in front of his face and later found out that wasn't his name. So embarrassing.) He is in Alma already! He has so many questions and I can´t wait until he finishes! :)

L is awesome too! He´s stopped drinking and we are just working on cigarettes with him! He's great!

Bouncy house

So there's somethings in life that we feel like we don´t need, or that we are too old for or too mature for. BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE. Enjoy life! Go into bouncy houses! Sing in the shower. Yell on the streets. Cry by yourself with a romantic comedy movie. Write a poem. Do jumping jacks. Because you are never too old, and you will never regret going into a bouncy house. Nuff said.

Sorry that it was so short! I love you guys so much! Take care!!! :)

Sister Parco