Halfway through the CCM!

Guess what?  Me and my boy are the new Zone Leaders!  It’s pretty cool, but right now our zone is really small so hopefully we get more people.  Now I have to be super responsible and be the example for everyone else. It’s cool because I have already been able to help a few missionaries.

Anyways, nothing too big happened this week.  All we do is study.  But I did teach a lesson completely by the spirit and I definitely had the gift of tongues on my side.  It wasn’t perfect Spanish but I pretty much said all I wanted to in round about ways.  It was rad.

And this week I was able to anoint for two blessings, one to my teacher and one to a Hermana in my district.  I haven’t said a blessing yet, but it was still super cool.  We went to the temple again today and I knew a little bit more of what was going on so that’s good.

Any who… I found a teacher with a slack line but he wont let me borrow it because its too dangerous for missionaries… but we improvise and tightrope on fences and jungle gym type stuff.  I’ll send some pictures.

I named our fly swatter in our dorm “the flaming sword of cherubim.”  I carve tallies in it for every life I take, but so far I only have six because for some reason only our room has no bugs.  All of our roommates left so it’s only me and H. in a dorm meant for 6.  It actually gets kind of lonely! 

I’ve learned a lot so far and I’m halfway done.  3 more weeks and I’ll be in Texas! 

Until next week, hugs and kisses from Elder Parks

The old Zone Leaders with the new Zone Leaders

With the District

With BYU friend Tyler Wandry at the CCM

Shortest Haircut of My Life!

Wow, that's pretty short!

Conference, Soccer, and Waffles

Ya, I haven’t gotten anything in the mail yet.  They say it takes like 2 to 3 weeks for something to come in the mail.  What a bunch of slackers! Haha!

So I’ve only been here for 13 days but it feels like I’ve been here a month! But now the time is flying by!  People say, at the CCM a day is a week and a week is a day and its totally true.  Did you see the world report on the CCM after conference?  Because that is where I am!  It’s crazy because it’s like a sanctuary inside the walls, but outside is the crazy city.  At night we always hear sirens and the cannons from the church across the valley. 

Last week I had to get my haircut and they have a place right here at the CCM.  The two Mexican ladies that work there don’t speak English so I just told her I needed a hair cut and let her work her magic, because I didn’t know how to say anything else!  Haha!  It’s pretty much a buzz with one size longer on top.  I’ve never had my hair this short before.  I’ll send some pictures.

I also found out that as of right now I will be coming home September 8, 2015.  Pretty crazy, right?  Haha!

One of my favorite parts here is we watch these videos from the New York Times online. They are called one in 8 million.  They are narrated autobiographical slide shows about people and their lives and they are each like 5 minutes long.  Then we use the video and the people and discuss the best way we could teach them and why they personally need the gospel in their lives.  I love them and I love learning about all the people.  You should watch a few!  My favorite is the homeless black guy with dreads who plays the violin in the subway.  I’ve learned a lot from those videos because each person is different and needs to hear a different part of the gospel.

At the CCM, all the missionaries watched conference together in a big auditorium.  My favorite talk was Elder Dube's and how he talked about looking forward at the work we have still to do.  But during Uchtdorf’s and Monson’s talks, all I could think about was hearing Hunter's impressions at the dinner table right before I left!  I had a nice little chuckle!

Still one of my favorite parts of the day is every morning when we have gym time.  It’s not the most spiritual time, but I like it because I can wear my tie-dyed shark shirt and my stance socks and just play soccer everyday.  Now that I’ve been here long enough and the fact that I’ve played some soccer before, I’ve pretty much been accepted by the nativos and the really good white kids.  It’s pretty sweet.  Everyday we play on this cement court that was originally a basketball court, but it has a small goal at each side.  It has a 20-foot fence around the whole thing so we call it The Cage!  Like one might say, “I’ll see you in The Cage tomorrow”, pretty threatening!  The hardest part is that Hermanas play and they know that the Elders can’t really touch them or get physical.  They know that so they use it to their advantage!  Like if a Hermana has the ball, one might try to stick a foot in here or there but that’s about it.  But when Elders are going at it, they push each other up against the cage and the real fun begins!

This morning for breakfast, they served chicken and waffles, but they completely messed up the stereotype because they didn’t fry the chicken, they sliced it.  And then they added lettuce and tomato on top and called it a sandwich.  Down here they do Mexican food very well but whenever they try to do American food, its just never quite the same.

Anyways, that’s about everything worthwhile that happened this week. Other than that, I just study all day.  I started reading the Book of Mormon in English during personal study.  I started 4 days ago and I’m already at Mosiah 4!  Pretty crazy, right?  But I think I’m just frying my brain, I’ve never read so much in my life!

Well... till next week, Elder Lund

With my companion in front of the temple

My First Week at the Mexico MTC

The MTC, or la CCM in Spanish, is alright.  We just study all day long and it’s hard to stay focused for so long.  All the other districts take breaks and play games and stuff, but not the 12D!  Everyone in my district is in hardcore missionary mode and they like to only study then have a little fun in between the studying.  I swear they must have put me in this district for a reason.  Just like Chandler said, they give the hoodlum California boys a strict companion... except that's my whole district!

I don't think the food is bad, but it's not the best either.  It's cold in the mornings but gets like 80-90s during the day.  The best part is we have gym time every day and I've been playing soccer and volleyball.  We are at 7,000 ft and it's so hot that I die every time.  It sprinkles most days while I've been here but it has never fully rained yet.

My companion's name is Elder H.  He is from Ogden, Utah and he's kind of a goober.  He is super tall and skinny.  He does some weird stuff in the way he acts and talks, but it's just different, and I love having him as my companion.  He is definitely teaching me more of the Spanish and spiritual aspects and I'm kinda bringing him out of his shell and stuff.  We work great together.  We are super close and it's good because I am learning a lot from him. 

This Sunday was fast Sunday and I prayed super hard to receive an answer as to why I'm her and if I'm doing the right thing because it's not super hard here but it's hard to stay focused and excited about the work.  Well during class that Sunday I was telling a story and that's when I got my answer super strong.  I told everyone and I even cried a little.  It was weird.  

My teacher is Hermana Haz and she is really cool.  She had interviews with everyone and during mine I ended up really opening up to her.  It was kinda weird for me!  I told her about how I grew up in the church so I was always taught it was true, but other than that I never really gave much effort in the church.  So during my interview I told her all my prayer and she said that's exactly how she was in the MTC.  

She said she could teach me how to do everything from studying to teaching.  So that's rad that we are super close now and she's going to help me out.  She also said that my companion and me are like a super companionship because he has the Spanish and all the gospel stuff down, and I have the kind of outgoing attitude that will really draw investigators in and they will like it.  So, I guess I have that going for me.  

I have actually learned so much in la CCM so far, and we have taught this investigator three times already.  We just got back from the temple and it was pretty cool doing a session in Spanish. The best part is that there is a friend from college here so I see him every time we eat and at big devotionals and its nice to just talk about stuff we have done or what is going on with someone we already know.  

Here are some pics.  They are of me and my companion, me and my district at the temple, and the view from my room.

Some pictures my first week

With my companion Elder H.

Stank face

With my district at the Temple

The view from my room