18 Oct 2011

Mom and Dad,

 Everyone's has been surprised to know that I'm from Alabama, apparently I don't have anything close to a redneck accent. In fact I was in the bookstore here and the cashier asked where I was from. I said Alabama and she said, "Really?" to which I responded, "Yes, Ma'am," and she laughed and said she never would have been able to tell until I said "Ma'am", hahaha.

So My P-Day is on Tuesday, which also happens to be MTC fireside day, so I get to go to the temple and immediately hear from a general authority :) Last week we got to hear from Sister Beck, the General Relief Society President, and she gave a very good talk about struggling to get missionaries in Brazil. I loved it. So far we've been told that a lot of apostles have been visiting lately, so I might get to write home about them :)

Conserning my leave date, we've been told that we're leaving on the 14th of November or thereabouts. From what  I know, the pilot program is  that we get fewer weeks in the MTC, so we can send out more missionaries, plus we have stretched the limit on housing...some rooms have 6 Elders. There is also a lot of construction going on, we have no idea what for though.

In regards to Dad's questions;  there are eight people in my district, five of which are going to Mexico City south, and three going to Mexico City southeast. There are four elders in my room, and there are four sisters in my zone. Our zone leaders, Elders Stevens and Leiva, are really awesome and the whole zone really is awesome and hilarious to be around ... when the Utah guys aren't being dark that is. Apparently my whole district is doing very well in Spanish, we're pretty much learning both the Predicad Mi Evangelio and Espanol at the same time. I've been able to learn and retain a TON of Spanish, so I'm glad about that.

When you see Jeremy or Jacob or anyone else that can speak Spanish, tell them this joke: How many stars are in the sky? Sin Cuenta. Now, cincuenta is the word for fifty, but sin cuenta means "without number", so they may get a kick out of that.

I would love to get a lot of  "dearelder" mail from everyone, although if  my friends send me some, maybe make sure they give me their address so I can write them back? So far, everyone in my district has gotten like five letters each day, and I'm sitting at my desk reading the same ones over and over, so I'm really glad to get new mail :) .

I'm so jealous that in Alabama the cold weather is setting in. For some reason, it's become pretty hot here for a few days, and I'm getting impatient for snow, lol.

My Branch President, President Lloyd, is amazing, and he reminds me of Grandpa Meservy in just about every way. He also tells me that I'm the one elder who pretty much always smiles, and he loves my smile, so I'm guessing I'm smiling a lot more than I used to :)

Regarding pictures, I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now, I've actually been told that if you put stickers of Mother Mary and Jesus on the envelopes, that they won't get stolen from, haha, but I'll see what I can do. I'm gonna try to send an SD card back so that you can get a video off of it.  I want to try to video my district's "hasta ver," where everyone in the zone sings "God be with you til we meet again" in Spanish at the top of their lungs.

I'm running out of time, I'll try to email as much as I can next week.

I love you so much, let everyone know I love them!

con mucho amor,
Elder Parker ... #2

25 Oct, 2011

Mom and Dad,
Okay, I only have fifteen minutes to respond.

When I say they are "dark", I mean they will sometimes joke about things that shouldn't be joked about, like women. Not dirty jokes, unkind to be sure. I was able to silence them at one time-- they were joking about women, then asked me if I had any jokes. I responded, "No, I prefer not to joke about God's most precious and beautiful creations; the "mothers of all living." There were about ten minutes of silence and I hope they acknowledged my beliefs concerning that. Someone just looked over and read my email and remarked that they know that those jokes are dark, but that they're still funny. I disagree. Bro. growth told me that not all those in the MTC are there for the right reason so I guess it is back to: "no one is perfect", and "it takes all kinds".

 Richard G. Scott came to our fireside last week. I was very much impressed with his topic: he exhorted us, as soon as we were released from our mission, to find and marry our eternal spouse, and to not let anything get in the way of starting our eternal sacred families. After all, that's part of what we preach, that we are part of an eternal family and that our goal is the temple, so why should we wait to go to the temple with our future companions?

Last thing: I have heard two songs and fallen in love with them. The first one was just sung at the fireside on Sunday, I think it's titled something like "I know what I have Seen" I think it's about the testimony of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. The second one is an arrangement of the choir song we are about to sing at the fireside today (yes I'm in the choir and I love it... I'll try to send stories that the director tells later) It's an arrangement of the hymn,  "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer".  Jeremy would love it, and I think the ward choir should sing it. It's amazing- at one point the lyrics are "curb the winds and calm the billows, bid the angry tempest cease". Try to look up the audio, and imagine a ship in a storm, it's sinking, there's water everywhere in the ship, and a few men are clamoring about, then imagine a single man at the very front of the ship, calm, and stretching forth his hand. It's an amazing hymn.

OH! last night, I stayed up really late, writing down lyrics. I thought up an arrangement of "Abide with me; Tis Eventide" and "I Need Thee Every Hour" and I think it would sound amazing with Jeremy playing.  I'll have to do it with him when I get home though.

I love you all, so much!!

con mucho amor,

Elder Parker #2