Week 80: The Last Letter from Kansas

Just so you know, I have written and re-written this email several times now and I have NO IDEA what to say. 

So this week was probably the craziest weeks of my mission but also the most rewarding! By Tuesday night, I was emotionally exhausted and by Sunday night, I could barely stay awake! Fortunately, Heavenly Father kept me busy enough all week long that there was not enough time to even think! 

This week was INSANE but Erika and Will got baptized and that is all that matters. Seeing them all dressed in white was just so perfect. They looked like they belonged in white. We're taking Erika on team-ups with us tonight and I am so excited!!

Favorite moments of the week: 

-Going to fill the font up and there are 6 BROWN RECLUSE SPIDERS IN THE FONT. 

-Waiting for Erika and William to come to sacrament meeting to be confirmed. They were running late and still not there as the other converts were being confirmed. I was praying SO HARD. They pulled up and I ran outside yelling, "QUICK!!! THEY ARE GOING TO CONFIRM YOU RIGHT NOW! RUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!" The 3 of us booked it inside the chapel just as they were announcing for them to come up.....it was stressful. 

-We were on exchanges all week long. I love exchanges! It takes me out of my element a little and I absolutely love all of the sisters that we work with. In all, I spent a total of 2 1/2 days with my actual companion. 

-We lost contact with Jessica for a few days and we were off our rockers! After we did all that we could think of to get a hold of her, we tried to think "what would Jesus Do?" we  decided that Jesus would leave a Dr. Pepper on her doorstep. When we finally talked to her, she said that it made her laugh so much and now she laughs every time she sees a Dr. Pepper. it pretty much saved everything with Jessica.

-a few minutes ago when PAM FROM EMPORIA walked into the church to say hi and goodbye to me!! Then I got to teach her one last lesson as a missionary. :'(

Going home just does not seem real to me. People keep telling me that this week, I am going to get on an airplane, and people keep telling me goodbye but it really has not sunk in yet. 

I want you all to know that my mission has meant and will always mean the world to me. I have never had more fun than I have walking the streets of Kansas talking about Jesus all day, every day. I am forever grateful for this marvelous opportunity to share my testimony with everyone that I meet. I want to thank each one of you for all the support and the impact that you all have had on me. I have learned to love the Gospel so much. Faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are the way to lead a happy life-it's the way that Jesus Christ led his own life. I love Kansas and my Savior with all of my heart. My life has forever been changed because of this past year and a half. I cannot believe how fast it has gone. I love you all and I want you to know that I know with all of my heart that God really, truly answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

The district! Sister McClees, Me, Elder Yardly, Elder Brown, Elder Gunnell, Elder Merrifield

 long hair problems

Kansas wind...

THRASH IT LIKE COMBINES!!!

Week 79: "Ya know, corn? The fruit?"‏

This week is going to be SO BUSY. We are going to be on exchanges all week long and on Saturday, Erika, William, Jessica, Jayla, Janiya, Christopher, and Sierra are ALL getting baptized! Don't you hate it when your worst problem is not having enough jumpsuits because the Salina Ward is exploding?! The Lord sure is hastening his work and it is going with or without us to so jump on board! I feel so grateful for such a busy week because it gives me less time to think about myself and more time to think about Heavenly Father's other children..he is so good to me. 

God has an interesting sense of humor. Yesterday, I was sitting in sacrament meeting squished in between the most solid investigators, and recent converts-Life could not get any better. THEN sacrament meeting started and it was a mission farewell! All of sacrament meeting was focused on going on a mission and I just about died. 

JESSICA. I can't get enough of that family! THEY ARE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND!! She gets more and more solid every time that we see them! She NEEDED to be at church this week in order to be baptized but she was scheduled to work! She and we did everything that we could but we needed a miracle... there are few times that I have prayed that hard for anything in my life. Her co-worker asked her to trade shifts with her and she got to come to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is so good to us! Last night, we had a lesson with her and she brought her super solid friend that she has been sharing the gospel with and they both LOVED the Plan of Salvation! 

FUNNIES:

Here in Salina, there are thousands of locusts and they are SO LOUD. We were driving in a neighborhood and I rolled down my window to listen to them. Sister McClees saw one flying towards the window and started screaming for me to roll up the window. Instead, I started to drive away and we both thought that it flew IN THE CAR!! Sister McClees almost jump out of the car, and I almost ran into a rose bush. We almost peed our pants but lo and behold, the car was free of any locusts. We managed to survive the attack. 

"You CAN'T wear boots and shorts! It's a walking contradiction" 

"they're British...So what? Sherlock Holmes man!"

"Ya know how veins are red and blue, Ya...mine are black and John Deere green."

"I think that the Lord called me to be a brown missionary so I can teach black people."

"Ya know, corn? The fruit?"

(in coordination meeting, the elders were talking about a recent convert)"He wants to marry a good Mormon girl" 

Bishop:"I vote Sister Parry!" 

(later)

"Sister Parry, you should move back to Salina and get a job as a nurse at the hospital here! 

Perfect. My life has been planned out by the Salina Ward Council. 

We had zone conference this week and it was SO GREAT. I was looking back and realized that my mission has really taught me how to BE a missionary-not just be on a mission. When I go home, I don't want others to have to look at a name tag to see a representative of Jesus Christ. This has changed my life forever. Jesus Christ is my best friend and I will do anything for my best friend. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent me on a mission. It will always amaze me how much He taught me in 18 short months and how much I will continue to learn. I hope that you all have a great week and remember that God really does answer prayers! 

Sista Parry

Our McDonalds has a permanent owl on it...

KANSAS

We're in the heartland

How many elders can you fit in Olive Garden?

There's a storm a brewing! 

Team-ups with Breanah! 

Week 78: Real Life

Happy 18 months to me! Excuse me while I go cry in a corner for a while in denial.....

One thing that Elder Holland taught us when he was here is that THIS is real life. Missionary work, the gospel, Jesus...is all REAL LIFE. At first, I had no idea what he meant until I started paying more attention. I realize that there is nothing that I love/want to do more than talk about Jesus all the time. On days that we have a lot of long-distance driving or meetings, I find myself longing to get out and talk to anyone and everyone about Jesus. Everything just makes sense. Even the small, seemingly insignificant parts of life just makes sense with the Gospel. 

For example teaching Jessica and her kids(get ready for these names:) Jayla, Janiya, Jakye, and Jashadrey has been some of the best times of my mission. We were having a lesson with her and she told us that we have a light about us, and that we seem at peace and actually happy. she told us that she wants that for herself and also she wants to be a light for other people as well. She is so amazing! Most people don't just say things like that! We also taught her the Word of Wisdom AND the Law of Chastidy at the same time and her only question was: "Is there anything else that I need to know before I get baptized?"

One thing that stuck out me again and again this week was the Christlike character of turning outwards instead of inwards. The Savior's natural character is to pay attention to helping others instead of Himself. The Spirit has pointed out to me everytime that I selfishly turn inwards this week and let me tell you that I have A LOT of work to do. 

Classic moments of the week:

-The time that I lathered HORSERADISH on my sandwich instead of mayonnaise at a recent convert's and I was almost sweating! 

-The time when our mission FINALLY got ipads...except for me and 13 other missionaries. That's okay, I'm already over it. 

-That time when we were teaching 2 less-active teenagers and I started singing a rap about the Restoration that another missionary wrote and they areSTILL convinced that I can drop a beat whenever I want! 

-That time when I woke up to the CRAZIEST thunderstorm that I have ever seen and I thought that we were going to die. 

-That time when within 10 minutes we watched a funnel cloud start to form, smoothed out, saw a rainbow, down poured with rain and hail, and then dispersed as if nothing had happened. 

Quotes of the week:

"Those are the UGLIEST socks that I've ever seen!"(President Bell to the zone leaders) 

"I ain't even mad!" 

"Somethings wrong Shadrey', he either pooped or farted"

"Doing gooooooooooooooooooooooooooood"

"I like these guys better than Elder Merrifield and Brown" 

"Shoulda had a V8" 

"I'm full of black blood, that means I'm black on the inside!" 

"Sometimes that's just how the cookie crumbles you know" 

"Satan was tempting me with this marvelous and majestic man in front of me" 

I'm so grateful for this time that the Savior has given me to be a missionary in Kansas, it really is the best thing that I have ever done! I hope that you all have a fantastic week and remember that God answers prayers! 

Lots of love, 

Sister Parry

We think we're cool

You can't really tell, but a member bought me a 44oz drink at Sonic and it was HUGE!

 Technology these days

We found him like this

Families forever!! 

June MLC

June MLC

Stake P-Day 

Week 77: Spiritually Rebuked

Happy Monday everyone!

Okay, expressing my emotions into words is like Laman and Lemuel's attempt to not complain and murmur. 

This week was a whirlwind again. We had a mission-wide conference and I THOUGHT that we were going to be trained on how to use ipads. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much at all because I will not be using them for very long anyways. I was very, very wrong. We spent maybe 20 minutes talking about ipads, the other 4 1/2 hours was spent by Elder Clarke teaching us life skills. It was like God shining a neon flashing sign that said: "SISTER PARRY THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE" I did not come prepared to receive so much revelation....I didn't even bring a notebook, so I took up 4 pages of my planner writing notes! 

After the conference, We had a few sets of exchanges so I didn't even spend time in Salina or see my companion until Saturday. Apparently while I was gone, Salina ALMOST had a tornado and someone accidentally ran their car into the church! I miss all of the good stuff! 

We saw so many miracles on Sunday. We somehow managed to hit all of our weekly goals within the last 20 minutes of the night. God is looking out for us. We have been so blessed to find 3 families to teach! I LOVE teaching families! There are few things that make me as happy as watching families come together. 

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Elder Clarke: 

"Basketball is the sport of the Celestial Kingdom." -Elder Clarke

"Sacrament meeting is a celebration of the atonement of Jesus Christ." -Elder Clark

"Happy always, content, never."-Elder Clark

"The ultimate expression of moral agency is in choosing God in in being Good." -Elder Bednar

Thank you so much for all of the love, support and prayers! I hope that you all have a fantastic week! LOVE you all!! Remember that God answers prayers!!

Sister Parry

Kansas

Reunited!!

Road trip to Wichita!

This is the 2nd most friendliest yarn store in the universe.....welcome to Kansas

As promised: The World's largest Czech egg is coming along quite nicely! 

Kansas sunset

Missionary look-alikes: Elder Hughes

Just for Dad: more olives than I have ever seen in my life