12.15.2014 (Picture)

This was at a beach called las cueves, just to the east of Maracas beach. It was nice to finally go the beach. 

12.15.2014

My companion has been out for 5 months, but he is a very well prepared
missionary. His obedience is stellar and I'm just trying to keep up with
his diligence. He also has a wealth of knowledge about the scriptures and
apostolic quotes.  The new family is doing ok. We weren't able to meet with
them too much this week, and because of the Dad's mom's health, they didn't
come to church. The Ramroops are on a roller coaster. Donald went back into the hospital again and the doctors are saying he needs another surgery. We went and saw the rest of the family last night though, and taught about reading the scriptures, especially the
Book of Mormon. Their youngest son was feeling very sick and had had a
fever all day. It was suggested that we give him a priesthood blessing.
After we finished giving the blessing, Kevin started to perk up. Before we
even left he was up and moving about. It was so cool to see the priesthood
in action. I think that I am ok for Christmas. You don't need to send
anything. I love you a lot mom! Merry Christmas! Love, Elder Parker
Also I ran out of time so if you could tell the rest of the family hello
for me, that would be great!

12.22.2014

I think that I'll be in Trinidad for a while. To serve here, a permit is required and they take forever to get so those who come to Trinidad usually stay for a while. I don't think that I told you last week, but our mission will be splitting this next June. There will be the Trinidad Port of Spain Mission which will include Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, and The ABC islands also know as the Dutch Antilles. The other half of the mission will be the Bridgetown Barbados mission which will include Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Martinique, Guadalupe, and French Guiana. I've been thinking about what you said about how your mission Christmases were some of your most memorable. We have been doing our best to schedule appointments with investigators for Christmas Eve. There is a great video the church has put out that we have been watching with people called "He is the Gift". I told grandma about it. I really like it because it invites the spirit and I feel so peaceful as I have been able to watch this video about the Prince of Peace. What a wonderful time of the year this is. I'm trying my best to focus on Christ, especially at this time. Merry Christmas! Talk to you soon! Love, Elder Parker

12.8.2014

The only address I have is the mission office and the mission home. I got my Trinidad drivers license this week. Elder Horsley's mom's name is Shelly.  Elder Horsley is a really great missionary and he has a great drive to be obedient and to work hard.  I'm just trying to keep up with him.  I think that we will see many great blessings together.  For instance this past week, we were out in an area called El Soccorro, later in the evening and we felt prompted to contact a young man who was just outside his gate, liming.  We met him and found out his name is Reon and he was really willing and receptive to the Book of Mormon.  Then as he was heading inside we asked to meet his parents.  He went inside for a few moments and then out came this man with a super long ras (dread locks).  The dad said his name was Justin and was just as receptive as Reon.  Then we met the mom and she told us how she wants to improve her family and marriage (yes thy are married!).  We read Mosiah 4:12-14 and some other scriptures to explain about how the Gospel blesses our families.  They were overjoyed and tried to give us hugs.  We asked if we could come by the next day and they quickly responded yes.  When we came back the next morning, they had started to read from the Book of Mormon and we also invited them to be baptized on January 10th.  I can't wait to see where this family can go.  We are rebuilding our investigator pool right now, since it is pretty small.  Brother Ramroop is home and doing well.  Today I am going to price mart Which is owned by Costco and then I'm going home to study.  We did a lot of cleaning this morning. Next week we should finally be going to the beach!  Say hello to the rest of the family for me!   

Love you!

Elder Parker

12.1.2014 (picture)

Here's a picture of me when we went to visit Donald at the Hospital that was right by the coast.

12.1.2014

Hey Parents!  We taught a few more lessons this week. We had 2 investigators at church. One was a surprise, which was a blessing. His name is Bobby and he's a referral from our Elders Quorum President. He has worked on the mission cars so he has had many chances to read everything mission related. I think that he will be baptized soon.

The Ramroop family is doing well. Donald is coming out of the hospital this week. He was about to die this last week, but after fasting with the Francoms, and many many prayers, the Lord intervened. His infection is now almost all gone and he is looking the best I have ever seen him. We also just watched the Testaments with the family last night and they loved it. It is so cool to see this family learn of Christ, especially from the Book of Mormon.

My area has a variety of neighborhoods. We have everything imaginable, from ghettos to millionaire mansions. Everything is made of concrete though. The only good beach in Trinidad is Maracas, and I haven't been there yet. I might go up there some time this transfer.

I'm glad to hear that you guys had a fun Thanksgiving and I bet the Sisters are going to be great. You guys should find somebody for them to teach. I know that the Lord will provide if there is enough faith.

Unfortunately, Elder Rowley and I do not get to serve another transfer together. He is being transferred to the branch right next to our ward in a different zone. I'll see him on Sundays in between church though. We have become really close friends and I'm sad to see him go, but I get to serve with another Coloradan!!! He is from Arvada and his name is Elder Horseley. He's been out for 3 transfers and has been serving in Tobago his entire time.

Love you!

-Elder Parker

11.24.2014 (Picture)

Ward Mission Leader, his wife and brother in law

11.24.2014

(Speaking about the weather and snowpack)

It has been about the same 88 to 92 here, but it has rained a lot. I hope

you guys get a good amount of snow this year. It's been rough the past few

years. I bet you and mom and Ben will have some fun skiing stories when I

get back.

Is Sarah still playing the piano?  I'm sad to hear that the Grovers are moving. I think that President Grover will be working at the same place as Cori. I bet Bishop Walton is doing a great job.  The Ramroops are doing better. Donald, the dad, finally got to go to a good hospital, courtesy of President Mehr and probably the church humanitarian fund. He was going to die if he didn't get medical care. Elder Rowley and I also helped out when their house flooded because one of the kids left a sink on. Victoria, the mom, and the 3 oldest kids came to church this week. We had 8 investigators at church this week, which was a nice way to end a challenging week. We did a lot of finding this week, because we need to find some more prepared people. Our teaching pool has gotten kind of low so we are on the hunt for some more wheat. We had to move the Ramroops

Baptismal date because of health challenges, but they want to be baptized!

Today we are going Christmas caroling and then we will be having thanksgiving dinner at the mission home. Oh, and we also were able to finally motivate another one of our investigators to come to church. One other cool story from this week. On Wednesday morning all of our morning appointments fell through. We decided to do some finding in an apartment complex, but we missed the turn. Thinking we could find another entrance we kept driving. Instead of finding our way into the apartments, we found ourselves in the middle of some farmland. Not knowing what to do, we decided to pray. We asked Heavenly Father to provide us with somebody to teach, since we had been tracting all morning. As soon as we finished praying, we looked into our rear view mirror and saw a man dumping something out of a bucket. As we started driving away he yelled out to us

"Church people?". We got out and started talking to him and found out that he, Hablal, was a member since 1985. It was so cool to see the Lord answer our prayer like that. It really helped to strengthen my testimony of prayer. Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Elder Parker

11.10.2014 (picture)

Elder Rowley and I found this big swamp while tracting. That's him in the picture. 

Love, Elder Parker

11.10.2014

We have a new ward mission leader named Brother Campbell. He recently returned from inactivity and also just got married. Both he and his wife are young and full of energy. They are super excited to go and do missionary work. It was great taking him teaching this week. Our investigators hearts were softened so much because we brought a member by. We also got to go teaching with the Elders Quorum president's son, Demetri. Elder Rowley and I are teaching a lot more with the members here and it is great. Our most progressive investigators are the Ramroops, and a lady named Basanti. She came to church on her own and that is where we first met her. We have a good-sized teaching pool, but these people are the ones who are coming to church and keeping commitments. The Ramroops are the Hindu family that we have been teaching. They are working with the Francoms (a senior couple) about getting married. They want to get baptized and the dad, who got shot a few months ago, is recovering from a recent surgery. The mom already has a dress. We taught this family twice this week, once about hope and prophets, and then about the restoration. President and Sister Mehr went teaching with us to teach them about the restoration and it was a great learning opportunity for both the Ramroops, and for myself. President was so loving, but also taught boldly about the truth. I thought that I already was a bold teacher, but I learned I have room to improve. On the ride home, I asked a question about humility. His advice can be applied to any Christlike attribute. I'll have to summarize, but essentially what he said was that as a natural result of service, pride is displaced by charity, love, humility, etc. Then on Sunday, President Mehr made a comment in Elders quorum about the importance of follow up. Too many times we miss opportunities for growth because of a lack of follow up. In sacrament meeting, 2 very good returned missionaries spoke. We are taking them teaching this week and it's going to be great. I wish that I could be sore like you. I have been eating a lot of oats and milk. We had a Halloween ping-pong party in Port of Spain so I had to email early. There is a great scripture in 2 Nephi 28:14 that teaches about those who are the humble followers of Christ, but they err because they are taught the precepts of men. I thought of that scripture when you mentioned Gabby's experience. I am studying Humility for this next round of reading the Book of Mormon and it's great. There is so much power in the scriptures to help us engrave on ourselves the countenance of Christ.

Love you all,

Elder Parker

11.3.2014 (with picture)

This week went really well. We found a lot of new investigators and the area is starting to pick up. I have been trying to be more organized and to be even more obedient and diligent. I was feeling discouraged this week after making some mistakes while teaching and I felt encouraged as I read in 2 Nephi 4 about how even Nephi felt frustrated with himself because of his imperfections. Verse 28 stood out to me too, because Nephi talks about no longer drooping in sin. I thought about it as instead of drooping in sin, droop no longer in discouragement. I thought about in my patriarchal blessing about how the spirit will prompt me to lift myself up to be happy. So I did, and I feel happy to be in the service of the Lord. We also got to go to an orphanage this week and do some service. Those kids there were so ready to be loved by somebody. I am so grateful for you and the rest of the family. 

This was at the orphanage. It was a lot of fun.

Love, Elder Parker

10.27.2014

Wow! Mountain Vista, CO state Champs three years in a row! That must have made Dalby pretty happy. I have been pretty healthy lately. I have maintained about the same weight since the MTC. 

That's cool that you got an email from Elder Hatch. He was AP until last week. He is now in St. Vincent. He is a stellar missionary. 

Thanks for ordering more shirts for me. My shirts are just stained with things. I have tried to bleach, shout and dish soap them, but some of the stains just aren't coming out. Thanks for getting those for me mom! 

Have you found the black flash drive? Elder Rowley and I are running out of music options so we have broken out the Josh Groban Christmas songs. has been good lately. 

Our most progressing investigators are now a young woman named Shantell (17), and a young man named Josiah (16). Shantell and Josiah ask a lot of great questions in the lessons and are reading and praying. The only problem is that they didn't come to church this past week. It's been tough getting any investigators to church lately. The ward is currently looking for a place to build a new chapel since the one we currently go to is kind of far away. The Singh family that was once so progressive, have slowed down a lot. We think that they got some anti-mormon stuff. The Assistants are going over tonight to check things out. I bet they will resolve things. The Ramroops are doing ok. We went over there last week for dinner and taught them more about faith in Christ. The dad is in the hospital again though, so he needs many prayers. It's been a good week though. 

Sundays have become so much more meaningful since general conference and all those talks about the sacrament. As I pay close attention during the sacrament, I just feel so rejuvenated.  

Love you! Hurrah for Israel! 

Love, Elder Parker