week One

Hey all!

So you are all probably wondering why I´m sending my email on monday.
well monday is my actual pday. on transfer weeks we get one on
thursday so the new missionaries can get everything situated.

Packages can be send here send them to the mission home and put a
religious sticker on it and it will be all good. also send pictures
because the members love seeing you all.

Well this past week has been full of interesting experiences. The
first one occurred Friday night. We just finished dropping off our wash
to Hma Lopez when returning to our home (which is right above a tinny
store, there are many houses that have little stores in them) there
was a group of people parked outside drinking. I could see that my
companion was getting kinda nervous so when they yelled out ¨hey
where is my friend?¨ he started freaking out a little bit.

I being the person that I am was like oh look people who speak
English. I speak nothing but Spanish and Guarani all day so lets have
a little chat. It turns out that the guy speaking English one, wasnt
drunk yay, and two is American but has lived in Paraguay for the last
20 years or so. We sat down and chatted and the focus was all on me.
Not in a negative way like why are you here? and such and such. It was
more ``welcome to my country, we are so happy to have you here. we are
a bunch of lawyers and judges who come here every friday to hang out.
so if you ever run into trouble just tell us. now i want to give you
some advice.´´ tony (his name) started to talk about how much he
admired us and how his focus was that i am safe and do my work in his
country and to know that i have people that i can depend on.

This is not the first time this has happened. Yes, the first one in
English, but in multiple homes of investigators and members they are
completely focused on making sure that i am safe.

honestly how saweeeet is that. it just shows how truly humble and
kind these people are. I am so grateful to be with them and showing
them the gospel.

Second story. (prayer and family)

So we were teaching an inactive and her family one night and after we
left and got home i came to realize that i lost the only picture that
i have of my family (send more please they love seeing you all).
honestly it killed me. i didnt sleep well that night and that is all i
thought about for the next morning was how i lost the only photo of my
family. i went to read all of the letters and advice that was given me
earlier on that day which did comfort me but i still wanted to find
the picture. i honestly love my family so much and they are such a great influence in
my life. that is why this gospel is for the family is so all can feel
that love for the family.

me and my companion knelt down and prayed for me to find my scripture
just a small and simple thing. later on in the day we decided to visit
that inactive family. when we got there she came out and said ``elder
wilson i have the photo of your family you must have dropped it.´´ I
was so happy to see it and we were able to do a great lesson on the
family because of it. i know that the lord answers our prayers both
big and small that is a perfect example of it.

Sunday

so sunday we have to hurry a little bit faster to get ready because
our church is at 8. if i was at the Y that would have killed me but
here I'm fine. we go to church which is a 15 min walk from our house
and had a great priesthood meeting. the ward attendance goes from 28
or so to 50 depending on the week. then we go to do our Gospel
principles class but unfortunately no one was able to come. so we went
outside to call up our investigators to see what was up and see what
we can do to help them get to class.
so here comes the interesting part. the ward missionary asked if i
played piano and i said i did for a while and i can read music so i'll
try to get a song down for sacrament so i went to practice 10min or so
before sacrament. after some practice a piano player came on in and
said that he knew how and i was all good. as i got up to talk to my
companion 


but i love you all and care for you dearly. i am so grateful for this
gospel and the joy that it brings.

love,

Elder Parker Wilson

Mba´Etekopio/Mba´Eichapa!!! (Hello male/female in Guarani)

First PDay here in beautiful Paraguay. It truly is beautiful. The
people are wonderful and so far it is wonderful.

First news is the address update.

The best thing to do is Dear Elder because it gets to me in a week.
Everything else can go to one of these two addresses first one is
mostly for letter and the other is the mission home

Elder Wilson
Casilla De Correo 818
Asuncion Paraguay 1209

or

Elder Wilson
2881 Del Maestro c/ Caballero
Barrio Herrera
Paraguay, Asuncion

So my dad sent me an email asking for basically the 411 of the mission
here. I will follow his questions for my email.

Companion:
My companion is Elder Piriz he is from Uruguay and has been out for
around 16 months or so. Great guy and a great trainer I am already
learning so much from him. A great thing that he is teaching me is
Guarani (native language of Paraguay) which is completely different
from any other language. It is sooooo cool I磎 already up to like 5 or
6 words that i can say in conversation bomb huh? He has also played a
little prank or two on me with some members so you know that I磎
having a good time.

Area:
I am in a place called San Isildor. It is just south of Asuncion about
30min. It is a great area got an ok amount of members and alot of
less actives so we got a lot of work to do! It is a relatively poor
area. There are some places that are `` chuchi创 which is like hoity
toity but most of the places we are and the members houses are pretty
poor but they are wonderful and bright people.

President Callan:
I cannot explain the joy that i felt when i got off the plane and saw
President and Sister Callan. It came out of nowhere but they are
truely awesome and I only spent less than a day with them.

Weather:
Oh this is a fun topic. It is called Haku in Guarani which means its
hot, and it truly is hot hot hot. I磎 always sweating and the people
notice it. My companion said that I will get used to it in a month or
so. Its around 85 or so but the humidity kills. Its not even at its
hottest!!!!! but i'm glad we are going into winter! that will make my
life so much easier.

Geography:
Where i am there is a lot of vegetation and old building. most of the
streets are either dirt or cobble stones. Lots of stray dogs and
random music everywhere. Its not really flat its kinda like minnesota
where there are no mountains but there are alot of hills which make
walking wonderful hahaha Lets just say im gonna be a walkin machine
when i get home pure domination awwwwww yeaaaaa

Language:
My trainer and the people are really impressed with my spanish and i
can understand them perfectly but im still trying to learn new words
and phrases to say in spanish. Guarani is insane but awesome i cant
wait to learn more of it. I already have a good handful of words in my
word book yay!

PDay:
Woke up studied got dressed went shopping got back walked to ta
members house ate lunch walked again and then email then cleaning and
then teaching from 6 till 9.

Random:
So as many of you know i am a king of ping pong. I guess the Lord does
really bless us in different ways because do you know what we got in
our church? ya, a ping pong table!!!!! My joy was off the charts when
i saw it and got to play. Oh and my room is A/C and that makes
sleeping soooo wonderful i love it.

So i have to be honest there have been some moments of me going why am
i here in this random country doing what im doing. I am constantly
reminded by moments where i can feel the spirit, prayer, reading the
scriptures, and the advice people gave me before my mission to push
through. I am so grateful for all of you and the blessing you guys are
to my life.

With much Love,

Elder Parker Wilson

Arrival

Hey!

So i have flown all through the night and have made it to beautiful Paraguay! I do have to admit i was freaking out a little bit but now Im ok and feeling good the president and his wife are wonderful! oh so a really fun fact guess what was the first thing that i started doing when i got here? yes family i started sweating. It is beautiful and i love it here so glad to be in this country and i know this is where the lord wants me to be. oh and i was wrong
Dear Elder DOES WORK, and is the fastest way for people to send me mail. (dad please post that i will give you the address to send to on thurs for mail and such)

I will give you guys my new address on thursday because that is the pday for this week but pday is traditionally on mondays.

Love you all so much,

Elder Wilson

(the photo arrived today is of his MTC District)

Misc MTC Photos

Travel Day

Today Elder Parker leaves around 11am and wends his way slowly to Paraguay. I can't grab the map any better but you get the idea; the toggle arrows are live to you can re-size it on your screen.


View Larger Map

Flying Bye

Elder Parker's time is truly flying bye.

We received our first photo from him today

MTC Life

Hey so i only have 20 mins to answer the email so this one is going to be a bit shorter than last weeks. 

 

So this week has been wonderful since my last email we have done two TRC's which is where people come in and be investigators for us so we can practice teaching. the first time was kinda scary but me and elder palacios are getting in sync and we are rollin!! Unfortunately i am not able to answer everyones emails by emails so that means that i will write you guys letters in response. 

 

so i got my travel plans!!!!! so exciting i cant wait its in less than i week now i head out monday afternoon and fly from SLC to texas, then from there to Buenos Aires (long flight huh? finally get to sleep for longer than 8 hours!!!!) and then from there i go to Asuncion. regarding mail if you are not able to get it here before this sat then you can send it to my mission address which is:

 

Elder Parker Maurice Wilson

Paraguay Asuncion Mission

Casilla de Correo 818

Asuncion, Paraguay

 

if you do send it and it gets here after i leave then the mtc will send it down to my mission. how nice of them!

 

so this past week has been filled of awesome spiritual experiences. you guys don't get to see how perfect your timing is when it comes to your letters and dear elders. dad your letter with all of the personal revelation stuff on it i was teaching that the next day and i didn't know what to do much with that part and you helped me out. when i was having a tough time with one of the elders in my district mom your thing on reading blairs advice on loving your companion was perfect to make me calm. so many of your letters have just helped me out in so many different ways and i know its the lord giving you a little hint to say a specific thing. the best spiritual experience was how after one TRC i was just feeling that i couldn't do that much. couldn't connect with the scriptures to the lesson, didn't feel like i was saying what the lord wanted me to say. i just wasn't feeling to hot. we were teaching "pablo" our teachers  other persona who we teach and i asked the lord in a short prayer if he could help me find something to teach and something meaningful that could boost me up. the second pablo asked a question and i looked down and found the answer in my scriptures. i was able to tell him the answer and bear my testimony. how awesome is that!!!!!!!!!

 

im sorry that im not able to answer everyones questions i feel kinda bad that i cant but honestly what else needs to be known other than i love being here, this is where im supposed to be, and i know that the lord will help me through everything while im here every trial and issue that comes up hes got my back. i see that as just being the main thing to have in life is knowing that the lord is on our side and that we can go to him for anything. i am constantly finding myself finding new things that i didnt know before. praying longer and harder than ever before (oh and in spanish awwwwwwww yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh) as long as i am willing to do whatever the lord wants me to do i will always come out being happy and giddy.

 

what i love the most about the mtc is that i am still able to be myself. i love being serious and being spiritual in class but when we eat lunch are walking around or are just more casual in class i am still able to be me. other than bringing the people of paraguay to christ which is my main objective, i feel that im supposed to bring them elder parker wilson. bring them who i truly am.

 

again i want to thank you all for your wonderful letters keep them coming they lift up my day and my spirit when i read them. i care for and love you all dearly. i know that this gospel is true. i know that through the atonement that we all can be saved and become like christ and our heavenly father. all we have to do is trust in him and he will help us find a way. things may be tough but that is how we grow and if we never grow how can we gain a better knowledge of why we are here. we watched the joseph smith movie this week and that reassured me that joseph smith is a prophet of god along with president monson being our prophet today. i cannot wait for general conference when we can hear the representatives of the lord. i know that i will be awake and paying attention to all of it. (there is a first for everything) i know that the gospel is true and i say these things in the name of jesus christ amen.

 

i love and miss you all

que dios te bendigan!

 

(oh and i eat cottage cheese every meal weird how the mission can change you huh?)

 

elder wilson

Departure photos

Rindy had a couple of other departure related photos that I am adding to the collection

Saturday at the MTC

Cousin Mary, known as my favorite, volunteers at the MTC,Chinese speaking.
Today in her visit she had a 20 second run in with Parker, no she stood corrected - "Elder Wilson"
The biggest scoop, other than looking good and happy, is his Visa apparently has come through and he leaves for Paraguay a week from Monday.

First Letter

this will be a process learning how much of Parker's letter to post and how much to edit - so have patience. His first email arrived today. ... as follows

Elder Wilson reporting from the beautiful mtc. well the first day was great just full of fun exciting things and interesting things. As from what brig mom and ev saw i was shown around by a good buddy of mine Elder Joe Decker. he is a good buddy from j hall and it was so great to have somebody i know around to show me the ropes.

 

My companion is Elder Palacios he is from Guatemala but has been living in Las Vegas for the last nine years or so and he is going to Fort Lauderdale (dont know how to spell it). Honestly it just shows how much my father in heaven knows me. while i have been working on my spanish and learning all of the mormon words i get to help him with doctrine. He is such a great spirit. My district consists of 3 companionships of Elders and 1 companionship of Sisters. There are only 3 gringos in the group but we fit in swimmingly just so much fun. we all get along really well. most of the Elders are going to different missions in Argentina and then all of the sisters are going stateside. 

 

in our hall we live with a bunch of natives coming from places like mexico, argentina, columbia, peru, just all over the latin american world. they are some of the funnest people that i have met ever. we have our old zone leaders who one of them is elder gomez from argentina and he is such a great example.  when he has fun he has fun and when he works he works hard. in zone 55 which is ours the saying is to m.t.c make the change, or in spanish c.c.m. cambio cambio misionero. i can feel that i am making the change and that being 100% obedient is the most important thing for me to do. even though it feels like i only take a 20 min nap every night cuz we are going non stop its a good thing. i love it here there is no other place that i would rather be at this time.

 

a tougher thing for me to adjust to is the vocabulary. here everyone is elder or sister. guys, dudes, bros, hommies, home slices, all of that stuff is out the window. its all about making the change. i am known as the singing missionary in our district cuz im always spunk and i have a song to sing. they range from the classic disney, church hymes, to baby theres a shark in the water, and multiple other songs which are appropiate to sing. sadly im not singing much t swift cuz they just dont fit. but i still am loyal to her for the long run.

 

the things that i love the most about the mtc is that no matter where you are you can feel the spirit. we have a few devotionals a week and the spirit is so strong!!!! its one of the most wonderful things in the world.  you can always feel it in the class rooms when we discus teaching material and how to bring the spirit into investigators homes. i have also noticed that my english skills are going down a little bit which i think is kinda good because ive been using mostly spanish. i ask you all to read Alma 32. the president of the mtc asked us to read is recently and honestly it is a gold mine. so many fantastic scriptures in there that can answer so many situations.

 

while like every missionary here i have had my ups and downs i am so grateful for the letters that have been sent to me. dad thank you so much for your letter it just brightened up my day. i guess we cant wear the tie clips out in the field because people will look at them instead of our tags so unfortunately i cannot wear grampas tie clip. instead i always have it in my pocket. whenever i touch it, it reminds me that i am here doing the right thing and the best thing for my life at this time. that i am here to save the lord and to bring unto people the love of chirst. 

 

i want to bear my testimony to you all that i know this church is true and that jesus christ is our savior. i am able to see the lords work every day while we are here. he has personally helped me learn more of his gospel, become more calm, and always feel his spirit. i know that any of us can go to the lord with anything and he will answer. we need to have patience and faith that we will, but if we have both of those then our prayers will be answered.

 

time is about to run out i want you all to know that i love and miss you all!

 

Elder Wilson

Savior Come

We made a couple of video clips of Parker singing before he left.

Consider the Lilies of the field

can't get the video to load but the link is live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M4PGxfwM-M

MTC - Let it Begin

And so it begins...

Tender Mercies at the start of an adventure are a wonderful sign of things to come. Parker, not unlike the rest of new missionaries was nervously awaiting checking in. A bit of apprehension of the unknown and a bit of apprehension of being unknown. The last pre-mission stop was at the Creamery on 9th, and he was tapping his foot, tearing up a napkin, and just visibly nervous. But things quickly change; the car wasn't 20 feet inside the gate when Parker recognized a friend and yelled out his name. His friend (Elder Decker) hollered for joy and followed our car for the 400 feet around the buildings until we stopped. Elder Decker took care of the suitcases, we hugged Parker, and said goodbye. Without a glance back he happily began his MTC adventure with a friend and Evan, mom, and Brigham left. A calling , nourishing in the good word and a friend. It sounds so simple; but that later component breaks the barriers down so quickly for the others. Once welcomed in it is a quick adaptation. Senora Levan in first grade was eager to meet Parker because so many of the other kids in the class were eagerly awaiting his arrival and a shout went out once he entered the classroom. The MTC is like first grade is like the first day at church, is like the first day at naperville, is like ...

 Paraguay and Parker will be a great mix.

photos to come