Week 21

This week taught me a lot of things! 

I now know how to pray more sincerely, be strengthened as companions because we have a lot more trust for each other, I know that the elders learned that they CANNOT take 2 hours to answer the phone at 2AM(now, the phone never has to ring more than twice before they answer!) I know that my companions are cursed to have a medical emergency! (remember Sister Runia's wrist? I am no foreigner to the ER anymore!)

To make a VERY LONG STORY short: 

Sister Heger had a diabetic seizure early Tuesday morning, I shot her with her emergency shot, and we had an adventure in the ER! She is doing really well now and recovering just fine. It's funny how Heavenly Father didn't stop the seizure from happening but he did prepare us for this. Not only had Sister Heger trained me on how to perform the shot, but when we left the ER the dietician gave us a list of foods that she needs to eat with every meal for the rest of the week. We had bought EVERY SINGLE ITEM the day before so we were fully stocked up, coincidence? An investigator was asking us if God was supposed to be our loving Heavenly Father, why would he allow this to happen to someone who is serving him?! That was a good point. I don't know what God had in mind, but I have learned a lot this week. I know that God has turned an awful thing into a learning and growing opportunity for the both of us. I love seeing how God is so willing to bless us if we will just let him do it!

The rest of the week was central to recovering from Tuesday. She still can barely move an arm without me checking up on her! Luckily, we both survived transfers this week so we are both here in Emporia for another 6 weeks! 

We had a few other extreme things happen this week: 

-Extreme weather! I have never been in a Sacrament meeting where they tell you what to do in case a tornado hits! 

-Extreme amount of Girl Scout cookies! We are giving them away like pass-along cards! 

-A ride in an extremely cool and old car! 

-An extreme spider!!

-Extremely awesome moment when Debbi told us that she wants to stop smoking and be baptized! She knows how to make a missionary happy! 

Because the ER was not ALL depressing here are some of the funny moments: 

When the insurance lady asked her if clergy was allowed to visit I laughed and said:
"We ARE the clergy! And the OTHER clergy isn't picking up their phone right now!!"

"Sister, what is the date today?" "April 22" "Oh okay, what is the date today? Did I already ask that?"

"I rode in an ambulance for the first time and I missed it?!" 

"Has General Conference happened yet?"

"Was Sandy okay when she came up out of the water? (talking about the baptism) 

This week really threw us for a loop but I gained so much from it! I know that God has so many blessings to give us if we will just let him! I love this gospel with all of my heart!
I hope that all of you know that God answers prayers!

Loves and a hug from Kansas, 

Sister Parry

Week 20: An Easter Miracle!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!! 

The week started out on an interesting note, do you remember Christian Hug Guy? Yep, we ran into him again and he fed us VERY authentic Mexican food!  Even though my food was repeatedly dropped, it was no big deal because he gave us herbal tea to wash it down with...mine had a stick in it. It's no wonder I didn't leave the states! I had a great conversation with one of them:

Him: "What is your name?"

Me: "Sister Parry"

Him: "No. What is you REAL name" 

Me: "It's Sister Parry" 

Him: "I mean your actual name!"

Me: "I want to go by Sister Parry"

Him: "WHAT IS THE NAME THAT YOUR PARENTS GAVE YOU?!"

Me: *mumbles* "Sarah....."

Him: "Sarah!! Drink your tea!"

Me: :/

I won't lie, I actually prayed for my taste buds to handle the tea it was gross! I rewarded myself with some good ol' orange juice! Sister Heger LOVED all the food, but I guess that I am just a picky eater after all.

The rest of the week had similar adventures like thinking we were being chased by a dog when it turned out to be a tiny chihuahua, handing out fliers like no one's business, and biking in the wind. Let me tell you, the wind in Kansas, comes from every direction! We actually go slow down hills because of the wind!

The week had a tender moment though. We have an investigator named Faye. She finally let us teach her and at the end, she noticed that Sister Heger had an angel necklace and decided that I needed one as well. she gave me a beautiful one! Up until this moment it was all jokes about how crazy we are so I loved to see her be sincere. That sincere moment was short lived because she also gave me a Walking Dead necklace and a Budweiser keychain. Yep, I'm keeping it.

So, we spent all week long getting Sandy ready for her interview and her baptism on Easter Sunday! 8:30 Saturday night, we get a call from the bishop saying that he is not comfortable with a baptism happening on Easter Sunday and that the stake was supposed to talk to the mission president about it! UH-OH!! President Bell never heard about this so we spent the rest of the night on the phone with the bishop, President Bell, the ward mission leader and the zone leaders. It was decided to postpone the baptism. We were so frustrated. I was in a battle between my shoulder angel and shoulder devil! Honestly, this was a big moment for me. I was so discouraged and angry. The worst part was that we could not even tell Sandy that her baptism was postponed until we picked her up for church. She was disappointed but took it well and with a lot of faith.

President Bell came to church to see if she was okay, and to shake hands with the bishop. 5 minutes before sacrament meeting started, President Bell, walks up to us and says that the baptism is still on for 1:15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Miracle worker! We ditched church to run over to grab Sandy's things, feed her, her her interviewed, and dressed. The poor elders really got it yesterday too! They had to teach a class last minute with the mission president there plus get it from us as well: "Hey elders do you want to loan us the car, play piano, witness the baptism, and confirm her in 10 minutes??" We owe them big time! 

It was some of the craziest 24 hours of my life but when all is said and done, Sandy is the newest member of the church! I don't care what I have to do or go through, it is my job to give her every opportunity to come closer to Christ, so it was all worth it. I would do it all again any day. Looking back, I see that maybe Heavenly Father wants me to have more faith and trust in the Savior. As it says in Proverbs 3: "acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" 

Lesson learned. 

The rest of the day we were pretty exhausted but because it is Easter we wanted to celebrate! We dyed over 30 eggs and wrote scriptures on them, we hid them in less-active's yards and sent them on a scripture chase! I have been the Easter Bunny in my family for a few years now, and I am not giving it up any time soon!

Happy Easter everyone and I hope that you all got to remember the true meaning of Easter! That EVERYTHING was made possible through the Savior's atonement and resurrection. I thrive off of what I get to do each and every day! This really is the time of my life! 

I love and miss you all! Remember that God answers prayers!

Loves and a hug from Kansas, 

Sister Parry 

Week 19: A Christian Hug

So this week was...eventful. 

We were in between appointments looking for productive things to so when a random man runs up to us and asked why we never stopped by again. We figured that the sisters before us had talked to him once so we we talked to him for a few minutes. Soon, he started asking us if we were familiar with paint colors...

"uhh...I guess" 

We soon realized that we were not who he thought we were but I know a teaching opportunity when I see one, so we ended up following him to a few houses that he was remodeling and gave him all sorts of remodeling advice! After we picked out the wall colors for the whole house, we sat down and taught the Restoration to him! They were receptive and asked some great questions! As we were leaving he randomly hugs Sister Heger and when we tried to protest he said, "It's okay, because it's a Christian hug!!" and hugged me anyways! 

Walking away from that, we asked each other what exactly just happened. I don't really know, but He's going to have a great looking house and the elders will have a new investigator! Everyone wins! That one encounter was a miracle, spiritual, and just weird, all in one! 

Our mission is having a mission-wide Easter Baptism Day! It looks like our investigator Sandy is going to be a part of that! She has met with missionaries twice before us over the last few years so I am so glad to see that the Lord has prepared her! I love watching people see so much hope in the Gospel! She has read the Book of Mormon a few times and really wants to do this! 

Want to know one of the greatest feelings ever? When 3 investigators show up to church!! YAY! We promised Debbi that if she comes to church every week, reads and prays every day, she will see her life turn around. She is so much happier ever since! Pam is also unbelievably close! She told us that she is a little scared of receiving an answer if Joseph Smith was a prophet. She knows that if that is true, the Book of Mormon and the church is true as well. Basically, if she gets her answer, she knows what she will do and is a little intimidated by it. 

I am so excited for Easter this Sunday! I hope that all of us take time out of our day to think about the Savior and how much he has done for us! 

I love what I do and everyday is a crazy adventure! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Loves and a hug from Kansas, 

Sister Parry

--

Obedience is the price, faith is the power, love is the motive, the Spirit is the key and CHRIST is the reason! 

Attempting sports again! AND I learned how to play rugby!

Let's play a game, what is the weather going to be like today? Sunday=Thunderstorm!!

Week 18

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!!!!!! And happy anniversary to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I hope that everyone that everyone was blown away by general conference; I know that I was! 

I would be a liar if I said that Conference was not my favorite part of the week. I think that I need to work on being more reverent during conference-I tried to tone down the fist-bumps and "Yeah!". I'm not even kidding. I was excited. 

All week long, we prepped everyone to listen to conference. We challenged everyone to write down a question and listen to it with that question in mind. I have done it for a few years and it works wonders! The Spirit will talk to you if we listen! 

Admittedly, the week had a rough start when an investigator dropped us after an intense lesson. Sad. Thankfully, the Lord ALWAYS has blessings in store for us if we will listen and look for them! When I look back on the day, I see that the Spirit was working in crazy ways!  

We were biking around and in-between appointments, with nothing to do at the moment, Sister Heger remembered about a less-active that lived in an apartment close by. When no one was home, we left a note on the door and I played around on a piano in the hallway and enjoyed a view of Kansas from 4 floors up. We left and just as we got on the elevator the less-active ran out of it! She started to run down the hallway and we yelled, "are you Adelle??" She yelled, "Yes! follow me!!" so we chased her down the hallway and had a great lesson with her! She was able to remember why she joined the church, and I really feel like she has been prepared to come back to church with her kids. Looking back, we realized that if I hadn't played around on the piano and stopped to enjoy the view, we would have completely missed seeing her! 

We have been on our bikes all this week and that always leads to interesting moments..lol. The sad but hilarious moment was when Sister Heger yells, "Sister! I think that I just swallowed a bug!!!" LOL I was almost in tears! I'm such a bad companion! 

Seriously, Pam is SO CLOSE to finding her answer! She wants it so bad! I have never wanted anyone to get an answer so bad in my life before! 

I hope that everyone's week was great! Don't forget what you learned in conference! Remember that
God answers prayers! 

Loves and a hug from Kansas,

Sister Parry