Week 30: Don't Fall

Happy (almost) Independence Day!! 

You know, you would THINK that after 14 weeks of riding a bike on and off that I would get the hang of it. That would only make sense. LOL this week, I only actually hit the ground once, but the other time, I literally flew over the handlebars just to stick the landing, much to my companion's entertainment!

I have learned a lot more about prayer this week. We had a great training on how to make our prayers more meaningful and I have been trying to apply it this week. I really got to practice this last night. We were biking home when the elders called to have a conference call with everyone. Long story short, gave the opening prayer, over the phone, while biking down a hill(obviously I didn't learn very much from my two falls this week!) 

One of my favorite moments of the week was when our investigator decided to fast for the first time to receive an answer!! the 3 of us fasted this week for her. No answer yet, but she really is being so sincere and truly seeking for an answer with all that she has! I am so proud of her! 

Oh! Guess who is back!! Our investigator that went to Texas for a month is back and still wants to be baptized!! YAY! 

Julie is still as golden as ever. She has loads of questions but her only concern is that she will not live long enough to get ALL of her family history done! She also cannot understand how anyone would NOT accept the gospel! Uhhh.....People just don't come as golden as she does! 

Emporia's less-actives have been so prepared! We are working with 4 people who all want to go to the temple! I am so excited to work with them! I have never seen so many less-actives progress all at the same time. 

I am learning so much. Some lessons are harder to learn than others, and sometimes, the Spirit probably wants to hit me over the head! I am so lucky to be serving here in Emporia with and for the people that I am around. I have so much humbling to do and the Lord has a lot of work for me to do! I love doing what I do each and every single day! I love and miss you all! 

Remember that God Answers prayers! 

 One of my favorite Kansas views!!

 All day, every day. :)

Saving Kansas one spider at a time! 

Gotta love the Kansas sunsets!!

Seriously, sunsets just don't come like this!

Catching a glimpse of the fireflies!! :D

I have a pretty serious tan line! :o

salvation is much more important than my stomach..

Rain, wind, sleet or shine!

:) 

Week 29: How to be a Mormon 101

Well hello there! 

This week I feel like I walked through a whirlwind and back...in a good way! 

First of all, we need to talk about Julie....GOLDEN Julie. I talked about her a bit last week, but this week was even crazier! We get there and she just found out that a family member just passed away but lucky for her because we came prepared to teach the Plan of Salvation! She wasted no time with chit-chat and we got right to the point! She hung up the phone turned to me and said,

"Okay, PRAY."

Got it. 

The lesson was soooooo good! She just absorbed everything! She had so many questions, the Spirit was strong and want to know the best part? She had read Joseph Smith's testimony and said, "He saw the angel 3 times, I don't think that he was lying!!" 

Me:"So you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God?!"

Her:"Yes."

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Do you want to know something that I love to watch? I love to watch people's faces light up when they learn about Jesus performing miracles for the 1st time! "DID YOU SEE THAT?!?! HE WAS JUST DEAD AND NOW HE IS ALIVE!!! THAT IS SOOOOOO COOL!!" 

This week was also full of invitations. We were invited to a beer party on one day and the next day, we were invited to attend someone's sermon! We must be getting popular. LOL 

So, I have been told what it means to be a "Real Mormon" coming from a professional mover who peeks at the inside of Bibles to see how much you read it. According to her, all "real Mormons" ALWAYS write in their Book of Mormons and they have a stock pile of food that they want to take with them. She came across a Mormon family that did neither one of these and was very close to telling them that if they were NOT real Mormons and if they were going to be Mormon, they better do it right! I told her that the next time that happens, just give us their address.... 

Some of the random exciting moments of the week consisted of living with a swarm of fruit flies all week long, finding a 6th Brown Recluse Spider, teaching the Plan of Salvation with a random horse, going to the zoo, and having a scripture battle with the elders....we won. :) (Revelation 3:15-16 + Genesis 25:34 = COOL BEANS.)

I hope that you all have a fantastic week! Always remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

Hello and welcome to the Emporia District Ugly Face Contest! Sponsored by Elder Landroche stealing my camera! The 1st contestant is Sister Andersen:

 The 2nd contestant is Elder Karchner:

Next up we have Elder Landroche:

And Elder McDaniels:

Now for Sister Parry:

Of course we can't forget about Elder Daines:

I saw and caught fireflies for the 1st time EVER!

We were ATTACKED by fruit flies

"The field is white already to harvest"

"The field is white already to harvest"

We made a friend

You know your in Kansas when..

found this on our investigator's porch hahaha love that Jesus and Peter is walking on water..

The Brown Recluse count is up to six...SIX!!!

FIREFLIES!!!!

Photo Dump

We take missionary work to a whole new level!

Faye and I

Sister Heger's goodbye to Pam

We love her

We ran into Miles!

Sister Heger's goodbye to our Darling Debbie

Debbie and I

WELCOME TO EMPORIA SISTER ANDERSEN!!!!!!

Brother Lomu, saving lives in Kansas

I do this to countless doors!

Biking it out

Life is too short to keep it too serious

Welcome to the biking world

The ER curse lives on! 

I am getting to know the ER staff quite well

Brown Recluse Spider Tally is at 5 now..

Week 28: The ER curse lives on..

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

This week has been quite a whirlwind! Sister Heger and I got her all packed up, said our goodbye's and sent her off to Wichita! While in Wichita, I was able to sit with every single one of my companions all at once! It was so amazing! 

So, I met my new companion Sister Andersen and the 1st thing that I did was give her a hug and warn her about my companion's curse. Almost all of my companions have gone to the ER and have become an STL. Well....3 days later, the mission nurse sent us to the ER because of her foot! Seriously?! Obviously, The Lord is trying to teach me something and I don't know how to take a clue! Sister Andersen is doing good, she had an allergic reaction to a bug bite. 

I have been teaching her the ways of biking in a skirt, and she is doing awesome! I am wearing her out! One night, I was brushing my teeth and she walks in and grabs something from the closet and walks away. A few seconds later she walks back, and looks very concerned and asks me, "Why am I holding my tweezers?!?!" Yep, I think that she is a little tired! I just about died, it was hilarious! 

It is amazing what blessings the Lord has in store for us if we will just get out of the way and let him lead us! We went to contact a referral from the elders, and when we got there, she had a Restoration pamphlet highlighted, taken notes, answered the questions in the back, and had questions ready for us! Whaaaaaaat?! No one does that! She has definitely been prepared! 

So this morning, I was doing my makeup and out of the corner of my eye I see a brown recluse spider crawling next to me. REALLY?! That makes 5 now! I think that I must be getting paranoid! 

A few weeks back, we taught someone all about the 12 tribes of Israel via sticky notes, and this week, she told me that she loved it so much that she actually has started to write an article to the Ensign about it....I keep telling her that the Holy Ghost just knows her too well! 

The sad news this week is that I have officially lost my quad. I mean, I must be the only missionary in the world without a bible!! 

Life here in Emporia is the best thing ever! I absolutely love the missionary life, I hope that you are all doing awesome and I love and miss you all! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

Confessions of a 6 month Missionary

This was written by a sister named Sister Cramer and all I have to say is AMEN!!

"So, now that I am at my six month mark, this is my confessions of a sis mish part of the life here in Kansas

1. it is so flat here.  a bump in the road (or hills as they eagerly call it) is something cherished.

2. I still feel like I know nothing.  I hope that I actually do know SOMETHING, but it feels like I know nothing! haha

3.  everyone talks in accents and uses words in incorrect tenses

4. We are always tired. And it never seems to get better

6. Members who live here are mostly converts or are from utah.  It is interesting to see the difference of mormon culture

7.  If you were raised in kansas, you stay in kansas your whole life.  Growing up in california, when people said they were from the east, you thought east of the country.  Here if you say you are from the east, they mean easter kansas.  it's so funny!

8. I love it here! It is SO WORTH it!  You get to a point when you stop and wonder "why? Just Why?" and then you look around and see all the potential and are reminded exactly WHY! There are people in Kansas that we are here for! Even if sometimes it feels like we have to lift boulders to find them."

Week 27: Faith like a Mustard Seed

Transfers are this week and................I'm staying!! I have a curse that I need to humble all of the future Sister Training Leaders! Haha That is Sister Heger's fate as well. It is so bitter-sweet! We have gotten really close but I know that change needs to happen to keep on growing. We are working with so many people that are so insanely CLOSE that it HURTS. Seriously, our investigator gave us family heirlooms this week. They are mustard seed necklaces I picked out the one that belonged to her mother and Sister Heger has one that belonged to her grandmother. I just love her! 

I cannot believe that I have been on a mission for 6 months! Time flies by so fast! I am having the time of my life and learning so much every single day! We learned a hard lesson this last week. A few of our people do not want to meet with us anymore. It just breaks my heart to watch someone feel the Spirit so strongly and not want it. 

I can't believe how much my mission has taught me. I am constantly learning and growing every day. I am learning so much about humility and how to work as a team. Missions are hard, but they are life changing and so, so worth it! 

I got to do one of my very favorite things this week! That is to teach a little kid how to pray! Prayers are amazing! My other favorite thing is to hear people pray. Especially recent converts and those who do not pray often. I just love to listen in to people talking to Heavenly Father! 

Sorry that the letter is short this week but I got to go teach people! I love and miss you all! I hope that you have an amazing week! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

FOOD.

I actually found the world's smallest violin :D

I would if I could

Mexican food is pretty extreme here

The turtles are pretty much locals here

We love our peeps!

Why did the turtle cross the road? To meet the missionaries!

Week 26: 6 MONTH MILESTONE

Oh my goodness, I just got the best news!! Alexia's dad was baptized last week!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for them! 

Okay, so the Lord has started to pump up the humidity here in Kansas...

We were on the bikes+humid+sweat=we were a SIGHT!! All week long! I have to depend on the Spirit for anyone to even take me seriously! 

Can you believe it? In 3 days, it is my 6 month anniversary!! WHAT. Time flies by so fast! I am 1/3 of the way done! Only 1 year left! 

In other news, I found a couple of spiders. Except one of them found me. I found and DESTROYED a brown recluse spider one morning, that was pretty exciting. That night, we were kneeling down to pray when Sister Heger GASPS AND POINTS TOWARDS ME. I look over to find another Brown Recluse spider running by my leg! WHAT. The only thing worse than finding a spider is losing a spider! After we lost it, I REFUSED to kneel on the floor. 

On a happier note, we are working with the best less active ever. She is so cool! She asked us to explain the 12 tribes of Israel to her which is a pretty complicated story with deep doctrine(I just cover the basics!) so, we pulled out the sticky notes and told her the story of the Great Baby Battle! It was a hit! Ever since, she is in full out war with us trying to read a conference talk that we have not read yet. Good luck Adelle, good luck! 

I obviously need some work with my humility because all week long, the Spirit directed me to get a blessing from the elders and I could not get myself to ask for one! I decided to ask for one when at church, someone talked about the importance of asking for help, and my investigator was sure to point that part out to me...It's a work in progress okay?!

The blessing was so great, I was told that my mission is a short time and I need to take every opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ.

The Lord likes to use the train to provide miracles for us! We were waiting for the train, and knocked on a door close to the tracks. Turns out, the guy that answered the door is the nephew of a ward member! I don't know about you, but I don't believe in coincidences! 

This week we also had exchanges and honestly, I was a bit nervous for it! Something crazy always happens on exchanges!! Luckily, nothing TOO CRAZY happened other than the usual craziness! I love exchanges though, it's fun, and it always teaches me so much about my teaching that I don't realize! 

This week was also interviews with President Bell. Oh my goodness, he is the best! In my interview, he had to answer a phone call, so I looked through his open scriptures in front of me and WOW!! He is so inspired! I love to read his comments in the columns!

I know that I have so much to learn, so much to do, and so much to grow. Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself. EXCEPT, I am not going to do as good a job at that as the Savior can, so I am just going to give my life up to him, and let him make all the calls! 

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

Sister Parry

Found and DESTROYED another Brown Recluse spider. GROSS!

HAPPY BAPTISM MORGAN!

I got him to smile on camera. YES!

Oh, what's that? ANOTHER BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER NEXT TO ME WHEN I AM ABOUT TO PRAY! I refused to kneel on the ground after that...

"Sister Parry, smile!"

This is John. We took selfies with him. Not sure why.

You can put a name tag on Auntie Sarah but you can never take the auntie out of Sarah. This is the most adorable 3 year-old in Kansas!