Week 3

I made it to Kansas everyone!! 

So, Tuesday was traveling day! Half of my district woke up a 2:30 to report at 3:30 :/ We reported to the buses and set off for the airport! (Don't worry, I waved to you all when we passed by) My flight was delayed a few hours, and Elder Knight's parents met us at the airport because his mom works there! Right before we boarded our plane the other half of our district walked by and a huge reunion happened(which is pretty sad because we were only separated for 7 hours)

 I really wanted to sleep on the airplane but we were assigned seats and I was in between my companion, who was sight seeing out the window and...Elder Knight. AWKWARD. So, sleep was at a minimal! We landed in CO to switch planes, when I boarded a 7 ft wide plane with..PROPELLERS. WHAT?! After many prayers, we made it safely to Kansas! I met President and Sister Bell who are both amazing! We ate and spent the night at the mission home and they spoiled us rotten! 

The next day, I got on a bus and placed my 1st Book of Mormon!! WOOHOO! 

He lives in Oklahoma but wants me to send missionaries to his house after the holidays! :D 

My first area is Salina Kansas and my companion in Sister Runia from Draper, UT actually! We both went to Alta but never met! She does not cry at all either so we get along just great! hahahaha 

But really, she is an awesome trainer! She has always trained or been trained so she is well experienced! AND her last companion was assigned to a spanish speaking mission so Sister Runia and our investigators are at least 1/2 Spanish speaking!! I get to sit and smile and say "Si!" at what appears to be the appropriate time! 

The 1st week has been an eventful one for sure! I didn't even see our house until after 10 PM! 

We drove straight to a less-active's house for dinner. The husband is trying to quit smoking by Christmas Eve so he can baptize his son this coming year. When we left, we took his last ash-tray and drove to the church for a surprise baptism! Yes, I did walk into a church to meet members for the 1st time with an ash-tray in hand! hahahaha gotta love the missionary life! 

I have met a LOT of inspiring people with some amazing stories, I wish that I had the time to share all of them with you guys. 

Another event that happened was that we have been snowed in for 2 days!! in a few hours, it snowed a foot here in Salina! The Zone leaders said we can't drive and even church was canceled(Kansas is still trying to discover snow plows)

the area is beautiful! It is a little city with quite a bit of country mixed in, so I am in my element! 

I hope that everyone is doing amazing! I would love to hear from YOU! 

Have a very Merry Christmas and remember that God answers prayers! 

Loves and a hug from Salina, 

Sister Parry

Week 2

How art thou? Technically, I don't have a Pday this week so my emailing time is super duper limited due to traveling preparations.This week has goon by in a blur! Honestly, 98% of my time is spent in the classroom so unless you want my spiritual notes, there is not too much to report this week. The speaker last Teusday was Quintin L. Cook!!! It was spectacular! Yesterday the BYU Men's Chorus came to perform! Yes, it was amazing as expected! This week was a bitter-sweet one. We said an early goodbye to Elder Simonsen early. He went home and is going to serve a service mission. He has one of the strongest testimonies but needs to serve in a different way. 

Yesterday, we went on another temple walk and this time, the gates were open! WOOHOO!! I took a thousand pictures that

Hello parental figures! How art thou? Technically, I don't have a Pday this week so my emailing time is super duper limited due to traveling preparations.This week has goon by in a blur! Honestly, 98% of my time is spent in the classroom so unless you want my spiritual notes, there is not too much to report this week. The speaker last Teusday was Quintin L. Cook!!! It was spectacular! Yesterday the BYU Men's Chorus came to perform! Yes, it was amazing as expected! This week was a bitter-sweet one. We said an early goodbye to Elder Simonsen early. He went home and is going to serve a service mission. He has one of the strongest testimonies but needs to serve in a different way. 

Yesterday, we went on another temple walk and this time, the gates were open! WOOHOO!! I took a thousand pictures that will be uploaded at an undermined time...sorry! This week, Sister Speed and I taught our investigator Lance :) He is fantastic! He was really open with us but had troubles accepting that God loves him personally. Goodbyes with Lance was pretty hard. We also taught a less active member. She wanted to talk about the temple so that was pretty fun! 

When I am not in the classroom, I am in devotionals! This week, we had a in-field devotional which lasted all day, it was pretty fun actually and really interactive. I definetely feel more prepared to enter the field. The only thing that was bugging me this week was my knee, nothing major, just annoying. I got a brace and it felt better within 3 days. 

We had even more blessings happen this week. Both Sister Speed and I recieved blessings, and also 2 other sisters that really needed it. Last night, Elder Jones also recieved a blessing. 

The funniest thing that happened this week needs a little background. Sister Cramer is amazing. She is also very unique and ecsentric! When she laughs, she cackles...REALLY LOUD! I adore it because it is basically her personality in laugh form! Anyways, getting stares in the cafeteria is a daily thing for our district and we love it! So a few days ago, we were eating dinner when we all started laughing about something, and Sister Cramer's cackle starts up again! I was laughing so hard from her laugh that I started crying! She started laughing even harder because of me, and it went back and forth! For a whole 2 minutes, she looked at me right in the eye and CACKLED while pointing at me!!!! I was both scared for my life and very entertained!will be uploaded at an undermined time...sorry! This week, Sister Speed and I taught our investigator Lance :) He is fantastic! He was really open with us but had troubles accepting that God loves him personally. Goodbyes with Lance was pretty hard. We also taught a less active member. She wanted to talk about the temple so that was pretty fun! 

When I am not in the classroom, I am in devotionals! This week, we had a in-field devotional which lasted all day, it was pretty fun actually and really interactive. I definetely feel more prepared to enter the field. 

We had even more blessings happen this week. Both Sister Speed and I recieved blessings, and also 2 other sisters that really needed it. Last night, Elder Jones also recieved a blessing. 

The funniest thing that happened this week needs a little background. Sister Cramer is amazing. She is also very unique and ecsentric! When she laughs, she cackles...REALLY LOUD! I adore it because it is basically her personality in laugh form! Anyways, getting stares in the cafeteria is a daily thing for our district and we love it! So a few days ago, we were eating dinner when we all started laughing about something, and Sister Cramer's cackle starts up again! I was laughing so hard from her laugh that I started crying! She started laughing even harder because of me, and it went back and forth! For a whole 2 minutes, she looked at me right in the eye and CACKLED while pointing at me!!!! I was both scared for my life and very entertained! 

I love hearing from everyone!
I am loving the work remember that God answers prayers! 

Lots of Love, 

Sister Parry

PS if you write me in a non email sort of way, send it to my mission home now. :

Sister Parry Week 1

Hi everyone!

 First of all, I LOVE THE MTC!! The Spirit is so strong here! My companion's name is Sister Speed, she if from Florida but has gone to school at the Y here. We balance each other out really well and keep each other focused. We love to have really deep spiritual discussions, but I often find her frolicking through the snow sometimes :) There are 12 missionaries total in my district and I will not hesitate to say that I have the BEST DISTRICT EVER!  They are all loads of fun! There are 6 sisters and 4 Elders. 

The most spiritual experience I've had here happened the second night here. The elders gave 4 of the sisters priesthood blessings. It was their first time using their priesthood. We were all crying! The spirit told me to wait to get one and good thing, because I got one last night alongside my companion. Sis Speed needed healing for her lungs and the spirit told me to ask for one as well. The elders were more than happy to give us blessings. They take it so seriously.

So we work in 16 hour days and 12 of those hours are spent studying and working. If you want to see some serious stress relief send a bunch of these missionaries on a walk in the snow to the Provo Temple! It was hilarious!

Sister Speed and I have an investigator named Lance. I just want to give him a hug! He has been in some really dark places and is scared of God. Any advice?

Some of the lessons that I have really taken to heart are:

If something intimidates me or scares me, I have to jump right into it! And to not try to guide the spirit, but to let the spirit guide me. It is is easy to feel the spirit here and I can feel his promptings louder and clearer than ever before!

I will tell you two funny stories before I have to log off:

In a 12-hour time span I managed to not only fall on my head attempting a hand stand, but also, I hit a sister in the FACE with a volleyball........whoops.

At dinner Sunday night, Elder Jones was asking everyone if they were going to eat their rolls. Later on, I mentioned that the MTC president and his wife were 6 seats away from us. When I said that, Elder Jone's eyes went wide and said, "THAT'S THE MTC PRESIDENT'S WIFE?! I ALMOST ASKED HER FOR HER ROLL" I died a little.

Anyways, my time is just about up. I fly to Kansas in the weeee hours of the morning next Tuesday. I love you all and I LOVE to hear from you! 

Lots of love, 

Sister Parry 

Mission Pictures

My sister was so kind as to take some pictures of me for my mission! We went to Gardener Village for these, it was perfect because it is decorated for fall which happens for fit rather well for Kansas. The pictures have not been edited yet, so these are my favorite "before" shots :) :)

                                                 

Mission Music

So, I have a confession to make, I sing. Not well or on key, but I sing. A lot. With this knowledge, I know that while I am serving my mission I will need sing then as well, it's not just going to go away! The music standards for my mission is uplifting gospel music by LDS artists. I think. I can't find the letter from my mission president so I am sort of guessing(whoops) Music is near and dear to my heart and speaks to my soul, besides as we learn in D&C 25:12,
"For my soul delighteth in the song of he heart; yea, he song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads"(Learn your scripture mastery folks:))
I have been on a hunt for music to bring to Kansas with me so I don't go crazy and start improvising to make up for the loss. Music is a FANTASTIC gift idea for a missionary (wink wink) This is a list of what music other girls are bringing and music on lds.org. I haven't listened to ALL of it yet but here you go:
-BYU Men's Chorus
-EFY CDs
-The Piano Guys
-Motab
-Hilary Weeks
-Jenny Oakes Baker
-Alex Boye
-Fatai TAbo
-BYU Vocal Point
-The Lower Lights
-Reflection of Christ
-The Singles Ward soundtrack
-Not Your Mother's LDS Music
-The Canadian Tenors
-Mindy Gledhill
-Noteworthy
-Called to the Work by Rebecca Mohler
-Timber
-Grace by Cherie Call
-Lidnesy Sterling
-Julie de Azevendo
-Desert Book Summer Fever
-Time Out for Women
-RM soundtrack
Jimmy Needhad
-Meridith Andrews
-Page CXVI

If you have any suggestions let me know!

The house of the Lord

i found this post from the day after I wen't through the temple! I wanted to share my 1st thoughts. Pictures will come soon I hope!!

So uh........

I WENT THROUGH THE TEMPLE YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness is all I can say. I LOVED it!

I will just say that the temple is soooo worth waiting, working, and putting every effort into! It is different than what I expected, but very, very sacred. I will be honest, that the nervousness beforehand never struck me for some reason. (except waiting to leave the house) I TOTALLY understand why most people are! The way that I saw it was this: No matter what, the church is true and I trust the Savior and my Heavenly Father more than anything.
A lot of people were surprised that I went through even though I don't leave for 4 months(and 4 days :D) It was a personal decision. I knew that I wanted to go early, because my mission does not have a temple in it's boundaries. Therefore, I want to go as often as I can before I leave. I knew that the Lord wanted me to go there at the time that I did and I did not want to put off making covenants or receive blessings. In the end, I'm glad that I did it.
The spirit is so strong, and I definetely do NOT understand the meaning of everything, but that is just an incentive for me to come back! I can't wait to get out in the field and help others get to the temple!
If you are nervous to go. Don't worry. Seriously. There is like 2 nice little old ladies at virtually EVERY CORNER of the temple! They thrive off of helping you and they have heard and seen it all!
You will not understand the depth of everything nor remember everything the 1st time. It is like trying to drink out of a fire hose, it really is. I had to remind myself like 6 times that I didn't have to remember everything!

UPDATES

Sorry it's been forever and a day since my last update! Things got a bit crazy over here!! Wow where do I start?
Okay, first thing's first...
 I WENT THROUGH THE TEMPLE 
UPSTAIRS BABY. 
I loved it! I have heard the advice to go early and then go as many times as you can before you leave on your mission. My mission does not have a temple within it's boundaries so I am pretty sure that my temple attendance will definitely be at an ultimate low on my mission so I wanted to squeeze in as much as I could! If you are going in the temple soon, my suggestion is spiritually prepare.
It is a crazy amount of the spirit and learning so it can be overwhelming! I had to keep reminding myself that I DO NOT have to remember every thing and every thought/emotion all at once! Basically, just sit back and love the experience!
P.S. DO NOT WEAR MASCARA OR ANY MAKE-UP THAT WILL SMEAR WHEN YOU CRY BECAUSE IT WILL HAPPEN!!

NEXT!
I went on Trek and oh my goodness I loved it!!
Because I haven't been in YW for months, and I work full-time, I didn't exactly know everything there was to know about this Trek...
Luckily for me, I have been on Trek before with my sister's stake in CA a few years back, so I knew what to expect.
So, I have a little bit of a confession...I had been so caught up in mission and temple things that I sort of didn't realize how fast Trek was coming up. If you want to get a picture of the day before just imagine me sitting on the curb in the McDonald's parking lot(food-less) crying. Yeah, it happened. And, it was rather pitiful.
It was the 1st time that I let Satan discourage me since before I turned in my papers.
Long story short, I ended up buying a 20 dollar bonnet and dared everyone and anyone to even mention my apron that I made myself. :/
So much for my crafty side.
The next day:
Woke up at 3:30 in the MORNING so I could get to the Stake Center by 4:00 
WHAT THE?!
It was so worth it! I am not complaining I promise! I sat down with a bunch of younins and called them family! It's funny, I sat there with perfect strangers, knowing that in 3 days, I would honestly feel that these people were real family and that is exactly what happened.
We went a total of about 20 miles in Martin's Cove. It was humbling to catch a small glimpse of what my ancestor's went through to praise their God in peace.
I am proud to say that I totally worked it! I placed myself on the ropes in the very front 70% of the time and I loved it. Because of my spine surgery 3 years ago, my back and arm muscles aren't the best, but I CAN work my legs!! I put that rope around my hips, leaned forward and charged!! Worked for me!!
One thing that everyone has to know about me is that I will sing. I am just going to do it. I sing it off key, I sing it loud, I sing it in the car, I sing it in the shower, I sing it in the middle of conversations, I sing it without realizing it!
Luckily, I had the best family in the world! We sure did sing alright! The very 1st thing that we did when we hit the trail was belting out our souls through music!
We died down for a little while but we did sing NON STOP FOR 2 HOURS. No. Joke.
We sang everything from hymns, disney, 1D, to High School Musical. It happened. The next 2 hours my bro Zach talked. and talked and talked. He asked a few times if he should/could stop but it was denied. His endless ranting about his best friend Maddi was the only thing that kept my feet from hurting!
Ahhhh I can write about Trek for days!

MY BEST FRIEND LEAVES ON HER MISSION IN 22 DAYS AND I AM GOING CRAZY
I can't handle this! This is what my emotions look like right now:
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I am an overwhelming combination of excitement for her, jealousy that she gets to be out there on her mission, and sadness that I am not going to see this woman for 20 months. :) :/ :'( Does anyone feel me?
We have been running around getting her ready and calm. Yesterday we went clothes shopping for her! CRAZY! I can't believe that it is so close! I love getting her prepared because it keeps me excited and going for my own mission :) I can honestly understand when I couldn't before of how future missionaries can get lazy and slowed down. When your 3 months out there is not too much that you can do to get ready and the excitement might die down for a little bit. Just keep focused on mission things to avoid this!! I am helping her, going to mission prep twice a week, shopping little by little, going to farewells left and right etc. Keep yourself going!!
I have secretly been planning packages for her once when she's gone and I'll share them with you once when they actually happen!
News on my mission:
I GOT MY LETTER FROM MY MISSION PRESIDENT!!!!! It told me a whole bunch of great things about the history of my mission and things that I need to do! I am sooo pumped!
That's all I got for now!
Here are Trek pictures!!