4 Months and Transfers

Hey, everyone!

So I hit 4 months this week! crazy how fast it's going! 

This week was a good one! we taught a lot of really good lessons, found some new people. 

This week, our stake had an activity called ´´Mini CTM´´ which was super cool. it was for kids 12-21 who want to serve missions. We got to teach them different missionary skills, including how to teach and how to make a contact. after, we went to a place down the road and just started to talk to people! It was cool to see all these kids doing missionary work and spreading the gospel!

So there's a spot in our area where it has a super cool view(I'll attach a photo) and yesterday the sunset was way pretty. So we were running to get to the spot in time, and these two ladies were struggling to get a suitcase to their house. So obviously, serving others is more important than a photo, so we helped them take this huge suitcase down a giant staircase, and then we ran back up the stairs, and finally got to the spot. the sunset kinda went away, but it was still a super cool picture. and we got to serve someone! 

There's a spot in our area called ´´banco dos cornos´´ which is a joke here in the Bahia. and I finally took a picture there! 

This week, we had a cool experience with an ex-investigator. We taught her again, and she wants to be baptized! It was way cool, and shell get baptized this next transfer!

And now to talk about transfers... ! will be leaving santa cruz, and im headed to Valença! To get to Valença, I get to ride a ferry boat! It's the only area in the mission that baptizes on the beach! I will live with 3 brasileiros, so my Portugese is gonna get really good, really quick! I'm way excited for this oportunity. It's sad to be leaving my first area but I'm excited for what the Lord has planned for me.

I hope you all have a blessed week <3

Weekly

How is everyone doing? It was another good week here in the Bahia

so I'll start with some good news... we had a baptism this week! It was such a cool experience. such a spiritual experience, and a happy day. I'll attach a photo. 

This week was crazy. one day, an elder we live with was sick, so my companion went to the hospital with him, and I went to the office with one of the secretaries. we had lunch in a house on top of a hill, next to the beach. it has the most amazing view. and of course, it was the one day I forgot my camera. 

Last night, we had an exposição. we went to a park and just started to talk to people, giving out pamphlets and pass along cards and magazines. it was super cool, got to talk to some awesome people! 

This week, we brought a member with us to a few lessons, and he fell asleep during one. he woke up and everyone just started laughing. it was a funny little experience. 

One of our investigators, he's really good at drawing, he drew me a picture of Jesu and it's amazing. He's super cool. we assigned him a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon and to draw the interesting parts.  So if he does it, it should be pretty cool.

So it rained every single day again this week. gotta love the winter here. everybody says it's cold, but the weather feels amazing. I'm loving it. Can't complain about the rain too much, because the summer is gonna be hot!!

Also, this week was President Bangerter's birthday, so this morning, a bunch of us missionaries went to his house and had a little surprise birthday party for him. it was cool, we had a big breakfast, with pancakes, and eggs, and BACON. That's one thing I miss. Real bacon. The cheap bacon here is in huge chunks and people put it in the beans. So to have real, good bacon was awesome. 

Well, I hope everyone is doing well, I love you all, have an awesome week!

Weekly

This week was pretty good. 

it's a little rough with our investigators, and trying to get them to keep commitments, but we should have a baptism this transfer! 

so this week, we ate a lot of lasanha. (IDK how to spell that in English) but generally, we have rice and beans or lasanha. this week was just a lot of lasanha. 

It rains pretty much every day, and last night, at 8 o clock, it just started pouring so hard out of nowhere. It was a bad day to forget my umbrella. We were soaked by the time we got home. It was fun though, the rain feels good. 

We didn't teach a whole bunch of lessons this week, but we met a lot of new people, and hopefully this week, people will be better about keeping commitments. 

I absolutely love being on a mission. It is so cool to be helping people every day, to come to know the restored gospel. To truly be doing The Lord's work. I know this church is true, no doubt about it.

(I forgot my camera today, sorry no pictures) hope you all have an amazing week! 

-Elder Opfar  

No pictures from Parker today, but here is a sample of the weather in Salvador.  

It is either raining or HOT. 

Weekly

Hello! 

this week was really good. we were able to teach a lot of lessons!!

This week, Elder High came out with us one day, and I think every lesson fell through that day. it was interesting. we made the strangest contact with someone. we got coxinha, and walked away, and elder Nascimento forgot to pay. so on our way back he was telling a story, and a girl was walking by us and she heard and started laughing. so he started talking to her, and she's known missionaries before but never got the lessons. but she was curious! so well teach her soon! 

later that night, we were walking down a road, and a bunch of little kids asked me to race them. so, of course, I did it, and I smoked them all haha it was awesome.

the other night, this little kid tried to talk to me in English, and he was super cool. so we asked if we could share a message with his family. they ended up not being home, and it started dumping rain. so we took cover, and a bunch of kids were gathered around trying to speak English with me and elder high. it was really funny, they always get so mind blown when you speak English. 

I cut my own hair this week. it was an interesting experience, and it didn't turn out too bad! 

this week, we taught the Word of Wisdom to one of our investigators. it was so cool, he and his wife threw out their coffee without question. they are golden! the guy's name is Josemar, he's super good at drawing, and he drew us a picture of groot, from guardians of the galaxy! it was super cool

there's a street where we work, where a guy has 2 horses, and every time he rides one, every one gathers around and is so fascinated. 

we got home one night, and there was a bird in our sink. kinda wierd, but, Brazil. I'll attach a picture

Saturday, we had lunch in Ondina, the area of the secretaries, so we went past the beach and took some photos. its super beautiful here. I met some lady, who said she was a member of the church,  but shes seperated. She took a picture with me, it was a funny experience. She invited us to go to a Catholic church with her, so well see about that.

So there is a boy in our ward, Yan. he is 17, and hes the only member in his family. he lives with his mom. his grandma lived with them, but she passed away a few weeks ago. so this week, we were able to teach his mom the plan of salvation, and she came to church this Sunday. it will be so cool, Yan will be able to baptize his mother! I wanna take this time to bear my testimony of the plan of salvation. it truly is the plan of God, the plan of happiness. families can be together forever, and that brings me so much joy. I'm so glad I'm here sharing this message with the people of Bahia. this church is so true, and I'm so thankful for the gospel in my life. 

I hope you all have a good week! 

Parker and His companion, Elder Nascimento

3 months

First off, sorry for no email last week, I forgot!!

but, this week was good. it was a little difficult because it was São João here. it's a huge party, so everybody was either traveling or partying. it was a hard week for teaching lessons. but it was good. 

this week, a drunk lady looked at me and said one day she wants to marry a gringo like me. it was interesting.

the people here are awesome. all the kids ask me to speak English or do magic. I just talk really fast in English and they're always so amazed. everybody here knows 3 phrases in English: ´´good night´´ ´´good morning´´ and ´´what is namey´´

okay, something a little more spiritual. this week, we taught one of our investigators the word of wisdom. she committed to living it and will stop drinking coffee. she is amazing, and she has a baptism date for the 15th of July. she is amazing. 

the people here are so awesome. we always get invited to eat cake or drink juice, or they just give us stuff. they're so nice, I absolutely love them.

so São João is a holiday to celebrate the death of John the Baptist. but nobody knows that haha. but pretty much there are a bunch of bonfires in the street, palm tree leaves everywhere, people lighting off fireworks 24/7. and not cool fireworks, just bombs, that blow up super loud. they have barbecues and parties. a lot of loud music. it's the mini version of carnival, which is around Christmas time I think. 

well, I don't have too much else, I hope you all have an amazing week!!!

Pictures of the hand from last week...he said that he burned his hand on some oil while cooking some pastels.  This week he said that he was healing well.

Trying his hand at frying pastels again!!  :)

Parker and Elder HiltonNascimento.

PIZZA!!!

First Baptism

This week was really good! I'm loving it here. it is amazing! okay, ill start with the baptism! Josemir. He is amazing, we are the third set of missionaries to teach him.he has always been solid, just never been able to go to church. he had to work Sunday mornings, so for 2 weeks, we went to our ward, ran to lunch really quick, then went and picked him up, and got a ride to another ward a little farther away in Federeçâo. he is awesome. he had a desire to be baptized, and he is so happy with his decision. this church truly is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. 

the hardest thing that happened was losing investigators.it'ss always sad when we take a name off our list! but I know were planting seeds, that hopefully one day something will change! 

something funny-yesterday, this drunk lady called us over to her and her family, and she was talking gibberish, and her family was behind her calling her crazy. but she was awesome haha. she told me she knows English, so I spoke english to her, and she looked confused, so I asked her if she understood and she said she doesnt know english. And the entire time, she was holding my hand really tight and wouldnt let me pull away hahah. but we gave them all pass along cards and were explaining our message. we have an appointment with her this week, that she may or may not rememebr about, but she promissed me a bunch of juivce and cake! haha so hopefully thatworks out! 

the best thing i ate, was yesterday. it was 2 types of lasagna. I don't know how to explçain it but it was divine. irmã dalva made it, she's in our ward, but she also cooks for the mission! so at zone conference or stuff at the mission president's house, she cooks! she is amazing, and a blessing to have in our ward! 

I pretty much like all the food here! this week we made pastels(kinda like an empanada) and we got a bunch of tapioca from this place elder high goes to a lot. the worker loves elder high! tapioca is one of my favorite things here, they put like beef, bacon, brisket and cheese, and other stuff in it. you can also put fruit in it. whatever you want. it's amazing. we make it in the apartment sometimes!

the food here is amazing. I love love love the food here! 

well, I don't have a whole lot else, I hope you all have a great week! 

You knew it wouldn't take Parker long to find a machete...LOL!!  He said that another elder bought them to cut coconuts and left them in the apartment.

FIRST BAPTISM!!!

Parker's district messing around...they sure have fun together!

Week 12

This week was great! we for sure have one baptism this Saturday!

so this week was another week of rain. when it doesn't rain its just hot. after 2 years, my legs will be pretty jacked, from walking all these hills. so this week, we bought coconuts and drank coconut water. it was pretty cool, and its super cheap. perks of living by the beach! we were able to teach a lot of lessons this week and meet a lot of cool people! we've got several solid investigators, and a bunch that need a lot of work. i'm loving it out here though! 

we had 2 barbeques this week! its called a churrasco! its soooo good! and i got some cool pictures of the favela from the top of this dude house! i love this area and the people here! nothing to exciting happened this week. 

i just wanna bear a quick testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is so true. i challenge you all to find out for yourself! have an amazing week! 

Parker's apartment

View from the patio

This is the view of the favela that Parker works in every day from a rooftop.  The tall buildings in the background are apartment buildings where the more wealthy people live.  I'm struck by the contrast.

Parker's typical breakfast, toast with margarine, and tapioca with coconut and sweetened condensed milk

From my letter:

Hey! sounds like a crazy week!! i cannot believe Aliza is a senior!! so crazy

It rained every day this week again, i think the rainy season lasts until august maybe, im not totally sure

the best thing that happened this week, was church. we went to two wards. our ward, and then we had to take Josemir, the man who is being baptized this saturday, to Federação because they have a later ward, and he works during the morning. it was just an amazing meeting, and he is so ready to be baptized. so to answer your next question, yes, we have 1 baptism for sure, and another one is still in the air. so possibly 2, but for sure one. 

The hardest thing that happened, was saturday. it was a rough day. We went to a members house for a churrasco (shoo-ha-sko) or a barbeque. they hadn't started cooking yet, so we were playing ping pong. we had to leave before they cooked the food, because we had to go to our lunch appointment in the other area. it was sooo hot. and it took us 50 minutes to get there. we were drenched in sweat. the meal was good though. so after, we went to the bank, got our money, and went home real quick to use the bathroom. i was sitting next to the fan, and i stood up to get water. i knocked the fan over, (it doest have the cover on the front) and i reached to do stop it from falling, and the blade smacked my thumb on the nail, and it cut it open under my nail. its all good now, its getting better, but its bruised and it hurts haha. but i cleaned it out with hydrogen peroxide, and i'm keeping it covered. it'll be okay, but its just an inconveinence. so after that, we went back to the churrasco, but it was over by then, but they had a party after, so we got to eat some snacks, and this thing called coxinha. its really good, its like meat and cheese, and its fried. it looks like a tear drop. and we played ping pong for a bit. we had an appointment, so we left, and started to work. the next 4 or 5 appointments fell through. it was just a really bad day. but it happens sometimes. we ended up teaching 4 lessons. which isn't bad, but it could've been better. 

something funny- i don't know if its really funny, but i call all of the kids here, my son. lie when i see them ill say ´´oi meu filho!´´ or `tchau meu filho´´ they all laugh, and the parents think its funny hahaha

yeah we found some new people! so the way we work is we always have an appointment scheduled with each of our investigators. and in the spots that are open, we try to fill it with references or street contacts. we just walk to appointments, and talk to people as we go along, filling our schedule for the next week. we never go tracting on a street or knock door to door. but we always have lots of people to teach. elder high was saying one week, me and Gomes had the highest number of lessons taught in a week in the mission for that week!