Missionary Experience's

Mother and Family,
Well this week has been a good one. Well actually it was a great week.
I can just imagine how much fun you must be having with all the grand kids. It must be great to be able to be with them all. It makes me really happy to hear that they are doing well and that they are all reading and praying frequently. It seems like they have all grown up so much since I have left. It will be interesting to see how they are when I get back and if they remember me or not. By the sounds of it maybe they will remember me. Also it will be great to have new nieces and nephews that I have never seen before. It still seems like I have that whole easiness thing with children. The kids normally love me. ha. Which makes it harder because I really cannot hold them or anything even when they want to go to me. I am very excited to be able to hold my nieces when I get back. But that is enough about talking about being back home. As for now I still have 6 months of great work to do here in Brazil.
Congrats for Justin and his family doing some missionary work. I really never realized before how much the missionaries really need the members. It really helps the work so much. Mother just think... if you got flowers from that lady because she thought Justin and Jason were good just think of how much stuff you would get if she only new me. ha. It really is so great to hear that my nieces and nephews are praying for me. I don't really know if they are doing it but you say that they are and so I will believe you. I think that maybe it might be hard for them to recognize me by the time I get back. I feel older and older every single day ( but don't worry I am still younger than most people I know/ Krystal, Justin, Jason, Shane, etc..). If I feel old now a day’s good old Jason probably feels ancient.
I too hope and pray every single day that our family will be together forever. I really hope and pray that we all can do the things that we need to do to be able to be an eternal family. The trick is that we all need to help each other out. The straight and narrow path is not always the easiest path but it is the only one that is worthwhile. While the other paths might bring instant happiness that lasts a little while, living on the straight and narrow path brings happiness and will never end.
I really love my mission so much. Until now I really don't think about home that much. Which I feel is a good thing. Even though I love you all so much I really need to do what Doctrine and Covenants 4 tells me to do, that is, keep my eyes fixed on the work of the Lord. It is not always easy to do this but I will say that it is worth it. When you really give all you have and you try your hardest to do all you can to bring souls unto Christ, Christ than uses you to perform his miracles. As Amon felt in the Book of Mormon I feel as well (Alma 26:12). I know that I am nothing without the help of the Lord. Without of the help of the Lord I turn into only someone that is beautiful and with blue eyes, but with his help I turn into a powerful servant of the Lord. A servant that can with his help perform miracles and bring his children to his presence again. Without him I cannot do this work. Well a few great things happened this week. But before I talk about them I will tell you a quote that I heard the other day.
A man against the church: "If God really wanted or needed to restore his Church he would not have called a young man to do it"

Emma Smith: " Maybe at that time only a young man of 14 years was willing to search for God"
I don't really know if that is the best way to translate the quote that I heard but I hope that you can get the point. God has his thoughts and we have ours. It seems like God always calls the humble and the willing to do great things. He will never force somebody to do something. Although at that time there were many people that were very smart God chose a young man that did not have that much study to restore his church because that young man was willing and humble enough to receive it. We need to be humble and willing to do what God would have us do so that we can do great things. I really don't know if this whole thought of mine made sense. I really hope so I love this quote. It makes me think a lot. God does what he knows is best but not what man thinks is best. His logic is better than mans logic.
1. Well this week we were blessed with two baptisms. They were really great. The Lord really blessed us with them. The meeting was really great as well. I think I am really learning how to sing or at least someone is trying to teach me to sing. I sang at the baptism meeting it was really great. I am really starting to love to sing.
2. I finally realized how very important it is to listen, teach, and ask things with the Holy Ghost. I and my companion were teaching a lesson the other day. That lesson was so great. We prepared a lot before it and then during it the Lord was really helping us every step of the way. It was weird to note that as I was trying my hardest to listen to everything that the investigator was saying, every once and a while the Spirit told me " use what she said right there to teach this" or "she is trying to say this help her" or " ask this question and then listen to what she says" or "teach this or testify about this". It was really a great lesson and a great time for me to learn more. The key to having true happiness and to knowing what God wants from us is having the Spirit with us. It is not easy to teach like this. I have been practicing very hard and it is not always like this. To be able to listen to the Holy Ghost and not our conscience is really a hard thing to learn. It is something that I am trying to learn more and more every single day. I know that if I can master this I can be a better servant in God’s hands.
3. I have really been learning so much in the Book of Mormon lately. I learned In 2 Nephi 2 :26 I think that we are here on earth to be able to make actions and not to receive actions. When we are obeying the commandments of God we are able to make actions for ourselves but when we break the commandments of God we then start to receive action and not act. For example coffee or cigarettes. When we use these things our body is not able to act but the cigarettes or coffee act against our body and spirit. Also in verse 28 of the same chapter we learn that the way to really know if we are being led by the holy ghost or not is by asking ourselves..... This action that I will make will help me receive eternal life? If the answer is no we know that it was not the HG that told us to do something but it was something else. The HG will always tell us to do things that will help us to be able to live with God again.
4. I was able to return to my first area again. It was great. I really love the people there and it is great to know that they really remember me very well. I was very surprised. Almost all the members recognized me and were excited to see me. One person I taught is still going strong and was baptized. He is really great and is planning on going on a mission. That really made me so happy. It was a joy not possible to describe. I love the mission so much.
Well that is all for now. I love you all. I love you so much mother. Just know that I am always here for you all. I know that God loves us so much. I know that his plan is perfect. I know that the scriptures really do have the power to change our lives. I love you all and until next week.
Elder Daniel J. Parkinson

Mission...Quote

Mother it is great to see your testimony and to feel your sweet spirit. I really am so grateful for you and for the example you are to me and to my companions. I talk about you a lot with my comps and they too have been able to grow and love you for. One of my companions from a very long time ago once again will write you a letter. He called me the other day to get your address. Here in a little bit Krystal will get a letter at her house with your name on it. He was very excited to be able to write you and practice his English at the same time. He has never taken English classes but still speaks English pretty well. Mother I love you so much. Thank you for the updates on everything.
Sounds like your trip back east has been full of adventures and fun. I am glad to hear that you are able to read the Book of Mormon everyday and pray to him. I hope that even with your busy schedule you continue to do all these things. I bet it would be great to watch Rachel play soccer. If you really want to when I get back I will invite you to all the games that I play in no matter what sport it is. You will always be invited to come and watch me. You were always my biggest fan and for that I am grateful. I feel as though every one of us feels better and does better when we know we have someone in the stands cheering for us. I want you to always remember and the whole family to remember that we have plenty of fans in the stands (heaven) cheering for us. We need to realize that they are there so that we can do better. These fans are God, Christ, Megan, and Grandma, etc....
Oh Grandma. How I love her so much. I am very excited to give her a nice big hug. I hope that she is well and that she is being able to make it to church and read the Book of Mormon. If not I hope that someone could be there to read it with her. One day I really hope that she stops drinking coffee. I agree that we all need to at times let God help us find the puzzle pieces and do things in his time that way we can make the perfect puzzle and not just something. God will always be there to help us do things his way we just need to slow down and let him help us so that we can always do the things that he would have us do. We all need to at times slow down and do things little by little and step by step and just keep doing the little things until the great things are completed and revealed to us. (2 Nephi 28:30)
It really is great that we have so much technology to help us. All technology is here to help us and help the world learn about Christ while healthy and happy. The trick is to use the technology in the Lords way and not the world’s way.
I am so happy to know that the little girls remember me. That makes me so happy. I thought that by now they would have already forgotten about me. Also I do not know how Sara remembers that because she was so little but it makes me very happy to know she still remembers. I cannot wait to receive pictures of all the girls, and of the whole family.
Well the mission is going great. The Lord blessed us with a baptism this last weekend. His name is Carlos. He is really great and I am so grateful that the lord put him in our path. Also this Sunday we were blessed as two more people are being prepared to be baptized for this weekend. I really hope and pray that I can continue to be a worthy servant in the Lords hands. I really do not do much. I feel as though I try my hardest and with my hard work he does the other 99.9%. The work is good be God is good and the mission is great because God is great. I love the mission so much. I have been learning and growing so much .I just hope to keep learning and growing each day that passes. I still have a long way to go to really feel as though I have learned enough. I need a lot more help in just about everything. ha. I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you are doing. I am so grateful. I love you so much. The mission is great. I will be sad when it is over and when I need to leave this area but the Lord knows best and so I continue just following whatever he sends my way. I love you all. Until Next week. Love you.

Elder Daniel J. Parkinson

P.s. The quote of the day is this one. I made it the other day.
" Everything that happens in your life can be for your spiritual growth or destruction....You make the choice!"
-Elder Parkinson

Setting Goals/Eternal Family

A few things that I would like to cover:
1. My companion and I have made goals that we would like to complete and do for this transfer. It has been so great and I really feel as though making goals is the way that we can get things done and do what God really wants. It has been great and is really helping me to complete a few things that I have wanted to do.
2. One of the goals that we made together was to just do prayers of Gratitude every single Tuesday and Friday. It has been such a great experience. It is cool to see how much you can really be thankful for. I challenge you all too sometimes just pray to God thanking him for everything you have. You will be surprised how many things we have to be thankful for. Even on the worst days we can be thankful. I actually found out that on Friday this exact thing happened. It was not the best day. Everything that we marked fell through. Once we got home we knelt down to pray. In my head I thought what do I have to be thankful for today. Everything that we had marked fell through and so what am I thankful for. The pray was great and really set me at peace to know that God knows what he is doing and that we are in good hands. He really does take care of us and even on the worst days we need to thank him.
3. I had the chance to finish the Book of Mormon again. It was great. I really love the book of Mormon and know that it is the word of God. When I was reading the last few chapters I realized how true this book is and how blessed we are to have it in our days. I also thought to myself how much better it is to follow God always and to listen to the things that he gives us. If we do that we will be so blessed and if we do not we will not be as blessed. The trick to true happiness is obeying the things that God has for us.
4. This next week I am very excited. This week we will have interviews with the president. Those are always great and always help. Also we have 2 baptisms marked. I really hope and pray that we can help these two people to be baptized.
Well I love you all. I am glad to hear that you are having a good time back east. I know with all my heart that our family has the potential to be an eternal family. I look forward to the day when I will be with you in all in the Kingdom of Our Father. I know that God cheers for us to make it back. It is up to us weather we make it there or not. Let us all help one another, let us all pray for our brother or sister or mother, etc.., and let us all do our part so that we can be together again. I love this gospel so much. I know that God made a perfect plan. It is up to us to follow his perfect plan. I love my savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. I know that he suffered and died for each one of us. Because of him we have the chance to live with God again. He was and is the key to enter into the kingdom of Our Father. Let us all take hold of the key (Christ and his teachings), so that we can live forever with our family and with our Savior and Father in Heaven. This is my prayer. I love you all. Until next week. Just know that all is well. I love my mission so much. Thank you again for everything. Love you.
Com Amor, Elder Daniel J. Parkinson

P.s. Also I hope that you are all doing the little things every single day. May God be with you always or better yet may we all be prepared and qualify to have him by our side day by day is my pray. I love you all.

Follow the Prophets Words

This letter will be really really really short. I would just like to let you know that I am doing great. I recently received a letter from a friend back home which made me very happy. It is always good to get letters in the mail from friends and family. (hint hint). Just joking i understand that you all write me e-mails instead. In all seriousness the letter that I received was great. Also this last week has been great. I really enjoyed conference. I really hope that you all had the same chance that I did to watch all of the sessions. They were absolutely amazing. I feel as though the subjects that were taught were fantastic and could be put into the lives of every single one in our family. I have a lot of things that I learned and will try to start doing. I hope that we can all learn from the talks that we heard and try to make a goal to apply one of the topics into our lives more frequently. I will try to do this. I really love President Monson and could feel with even more strength that he is a prophet of God. I loved his talks. To tell the truth I love all of the talks. The week was filled also with a weird infection in my eye. It was pretty neat. NO worries all is well. I am fine. My new companion and I are doing well together. Also I feel as though this month we can have great success if we do our part and focus on the work of the Lord. I just hope and pray to have his spirit with me.

I have been learning so much lately and I am so grateful for that. I really have come to love the scripture 2 Nephi 28:30. I feel that it is a great scripture that can help us all. We really need to follow the Holy Ghost line upon line and precept upon precept. If we do that he will guide us every single day of our lives. Most of our revelations from God will come line upon line and so if we do not follow the first line we will not continue to receive more revelation. I love this gospel. I love my mission. Continue to pray for me please. I will always need the strength that comes from your prayers. I love you all. I really love you so much Mother. Thank you for everything that you have done for me and are doing for me. You are such a great example of the believers. Love you. Sorry that this letter is so short. Just know that all is well.
Elder Daniel J. Parkinson