Week 48: Do you believe in miracles?

Whoa. I can't believe that another week has already flown by! 

It probably went by so fast because we were having a party every day! Sharing the Gospel is the funnest thing that I've ever done. 

I was definitely spoiled rotten on my birthday! Mom will be so disappointed when I don't get humbled on my mission! haha We were having dinner at a member's house and they pulled out a cake! I was like "What?! Why did you do that??" then they pulled out the candles and even a present! Sister Bringhurst surprised me by making me a sign for the apartment and everywhere we went, someone gave us cake. So spoiled.

Did any of you dress up for Halloween? Because we totally did. All week long, I themed my outfits after Disney characters and at the ward trunk or treat, we came dressed up as The Book of Mormon and The Bible. We also decorated our trunk and handed out pass-along cards with candy taped to them, the ward loved it! Shout out to Sisters Savage, Runia, and Hymas for the ideas! 

On Halloween, President and Sister Bell came through Dodge and we had a photo shoot with them at the Dodge City sign for their Christmas card. They adore Dodge as much as I do. Later on we needed to be off the streets and everyone was trick-or-treating so we spent the evening decorating for Christmas! The apartment is so magical, and it is the best thing to wake up to. Every day feels like Christmas. 

Earlier in the day, we were decorating the Lira's door with post-it notes when Sister Bringhurst says, "Their driving up.....RUN!!!!" So, we booked it around the corner. Then we hear Gonzolo yell "Happy Halloween sisters!!" Yep, they totally saw us. Oh well. 

The ward is LOVING the Lira family! Every time that we bring someone new to meet them they always compliment about how sincere they are. Jasmine told us this week how excited she is to be baptized and that she wants to go to seminary!! They also fed us dinner last night! How did I get so lucky?? I am serving the Lord in the best place on Earth:Dodge City Kansas, and teaching one of the best families that I have ever met. Every day, I thank Heavenly Father for this wonderful opportunity to learn, grow, stretch, go out of my comfort zone, appreciate the Gospel, make lasting friendships, and learn to truly rely and trust him. 

A small miracle happened yesterday. We went to the park to go talk to people. As we were leaving we smiled and waved to a lady but didn't talk to her. When we were almost to the car, Sister Bringhurst turns to me, and says, "I think that we need to go back and talk to that lady." I say back, "I know, I feel the same way" We go back and Sister Bringhurst says to her, "haha Hi again, we really feel like we need to come talk to you!" We explain who we were and we have an appointment with her on Wednesday! I love the promptings of the Holy Ghost and a companion who is braver than me to follow those promptings!

One of my favorite moments happened yesterday morning. I was just about to shower when Sister Bringhurst noticed that it was only 5:30!! SCORE!! Another hour of sleep. Totally a miracle because I'm a little sick and haven't gotten much sleep at all this week. The only sad part about Daylight Savings is that it gets dark at 6:00, and no one wants to answer their door after it's dark! 

Oh well, The Lord will provide. 

I hope that you all have a fantastic week! I miss you and I love you all! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

Halloween week day 1: Cinderella

Halloween week day 3: The Bible!! 

Happy trunk-or-treat!

The beloved Lira family!

Halloween week day 2: Snow White

#dodgecity

It's the party life in Dodge City. 

Precious moments! 

Happy Halloween Dodge City! 

Week 47: The tale of 2 missionaries

Hello! 

Today is another one of those days when so much happened, but I have NO IDEA how to write it all out! I should get my companions to write my emails for me! :) 

I prayed that Heavenly father would give us tons of people to talk to this week and we were so busy-those weeks are the best. By the end of the day, I feel so exhausted that I want to collapse but it is such a satisfying feeling to be worn out in the work of the Lord. 

Speaking of being worn out, I was brushing my teeth when I realized that it WASN'T MY TOOTHBRUSH. Nasty. Great, then I had to tell Sister Bringhurst that we need to run to Walmart to get her a new one! So embarrassing. 

The beloved Lira family! Is doing so great! We had to figure out all sorts of details this week but they are all on date to get baptized!!!!!!!!!! The mom and daughter are getting baptized on November 22 and the Dad needs to wait but he will be getting baptized in March. :)))) Oh, and they finally made it to church and they loved it! The Spirit is getting stronger and stronger with them. Just walking into their home the other night, was so great. We walked in and the Spirit was already in the home waiting for us! Usually in teaching almost anyone, we try to bring the Spirit with us and leave it with them.

Last week when we were teaching the 13-year old class, they all laughed when I said, "Church is only 3 hours long!" 

But seriously. We spend all week long, pumping people up to come to church, getting them a ride, clearing their schedule, ect ect. When Sunday morning rolls around, It's game time. All the missionaries stand by the front door waiting for everyone to come. Once when they do, church instantly turns into a juggling act! 

Oh, I'm giving a talk? Where's the teacher? No, I'm not the librarian, lets all go to 3 different classes? How many times can someone bring up doctrine that the investigators have never heard before?? I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love every second of it. Going to church makes me feel like I have been on a roller coaster! 

So the 4 of us sister missionaries are at a dinner appointment with some great members. They pull out this home-made cheesecake and we all die. I am sooooooo excited because it has been months since I have had it! Then I taste it. Gross. It tasted so bad, but we all smiled and told her how much we LOVED it! I look over at Sister Judy and she was struggling to even get it down! The members were standing in the kitchen so I took a HUGE bite of hers and swallowed it down. Just taking one for the team. 

It's never too early to get ready for Christmas! Sister Bringhurst has some mixed emotions about her 1st Christmas away from home, so I am making it my personal mission to make it the best Christmas ever for her. I know that odds are, we probably won't be companions during Christmas, but that's okay, I have a plan! I'm not going to give it all away now, but this week we are going to decorate the whole apartment! And maybe we have listened to just Christmas music ALL WEEK LONG? Love it. 

I love and miss you all, remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

Liberal Kansas is the home of Dorothy so we just HAD to have a mini photo-shoot! 

So Kansas. 

Jesus is the way. 

Teach when you find, find when you teach.

Cupcakes!

So many jumping pictures this week!

Loving fall

 

Week 46: I can't come up with a catchy title this week :)‏

Hola! Como Estas?

As you can see, my Spanish is coming along quite nicely ;) 

This week....Felt like a year long and only one day at the same time! Transfer week always does this to me and neither one of us was even transferred!! Just said goodbye to Sister Runia...may have had a cry fest over ice cream! No big deal. 

Okay, the Lira family, I love them more and more every day! I'm pretty positive that we were all Pre-Earth life buddies. They definitely want to be baptized and are now planning on getting married! When we were talking to them about the law of chastidy, they told us that they have been waiting years to get married but they were trying to find the right church to get married in. Precious. 

When they didn't come to church yesterday, we got a bit worried. We wen't over to check on them and every single one of them was sick.......again! That must be Satan's plan for them, just get them sick every Sunday for the rest of their lives! I may have to invest in some Vitamin C for them.

Speaking of illness, Sister Bringhurst got sick....again! Poor sister! I feel so bad when people get sick. Whenever you get sick on your mission, it feel 1000 times worse because you are already physically/emotionally/spiritually exhausted to begin with! Not to mention, she has only been out for 8 weeks! 

So......I may or may not have gotten pulled over for the very 1st(and only) time.........possibly. Naturally, the elders just HAD to drive by right as it happened! So dumb. Fortunately, the cop was super nice and only gave me a warning! I put it in my scriptures to remember to ALWAYS obey and honor the law...

I am the only missionary that has gone 10 1/2 months without being asked to speak in sacrament meeting...until this week! I had like zero time to prepare so I pulled out my scriptures, found an investigator in the congregation to look at, and pretended like it was just a normal lesson. Then, we were asked to teach the 12 year olds! Luckily, the lesson was about inviting others to become more like the Savior. Perfect. It's already mission-related. Practiced with some role-plays and committed all of them to invite a friend to the next ward party. :) 

I have learned more about and love the priesthood in the last few months than ever before. I always hate asking for a blessing, but I am always so glad that I do! It blows my mind how specific answers to my prayers are always answered! I have a new-found respect for worthy priesthood holders as well. It is such a blessing to know that we always can ask for one. 

I just got news this week that Cody Hadden was baptized!!! Back in Emporia!!!!! WHATTTTTTTTTT

Ate Russian food this week....yum? No wonder why I serve in the states! 

Why are there random cats in local businesses? I don't understand. 

Favorite quote of the week: (from a father of 10) "It's so much easier to make Mormons than it is to baptize them!" True?

I love and miss you all! Kansas is the best place on Earth! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

THE BROWN RECLUSE SPIDERS HAVE RETURNED!! 

Team up's are fun

Always in the country

District brunch to say goodbye! :'(

Goodbyes to Sister Runia....may have cried.

Week 45: "Are you an RM?"

Woah, another week went by again?! Being on a mission is like one big time warp! 

So, both Sister Bringhurst and I survived transfers, so we get another 6 weeks together YAYYYYY I've only had one other companion that I got to spend 2 transfers with so I am pretty pumped! This transfer is going to be full of adventures, I can just tell. :) We are going to pick up the pace on EVERYTHING! 

So many adventures this week! So, something cool that happened this week:

We were planning on meeting with a less-active that has just made the temple her new goal so on Tuesday morning, I studied up about the temple for her. When we actually met with her, we didn't even talk about temples, she was questioning her testimony. I listened to her with no idea what to say to encourage her, I felt prompted to ask her some of the baptismal questions and she answered them with flying colors! It was cool to see her realize that she truly does know that this is true. :)

Right after that, a recent convert texted us and wanted to meet up. I really don't know her too well, so she told us her amazing conversion story, and pretty quickly brought up some concerns. It got a little intense at times and then I really had no idea what to say at all, but then I realized that everything that she brought up was exactly what I had studied that morning for (seemingly) someone else! The Holy Ghost is so cool! 

Speaking of the Holy Ghost, we went to go settle an investigator's concerns, and when she opened the door, she looked mad and yelled at us, I just kept the straightest face that I could, tried to smile and said to her:

"We just wanted to come say that we love you and see how you are doing." 

You could practically see the Spirit fill her up. Her face immediately softened, and she told us to come in.

So, I did something new this week! We taught the Plan of Salvation and got a haircut at the same time :) We sat down with Mary and she said that the only time that she could cut my hair was then so we did it right then! Once when she started, she said:

 "Well, aren't we going to talk?!" 

She loves the Plan of Salvation by the way! 

So, sad moment, we had just set up an appointment with someone and while we were walking down the stairs, Sister Bringhurst did something to her ankle....long live my curse! No ER this time folks, but at my rate, it won't be too long....

So, the Lira Family is doing great! We saw them with a member and afterwards she said,

"Well, they are just as great as you said they were"

 "I know right?!" 

I just love them so much. I haven't met very many people that are as sincere as they are. They love church, they just want to know what is true! I can't wait to see this family grow even closer through the Gospel. :) 

Sorry that this email is a little over the place, you just kind of get my thoughts as they explode out! I love and miss you all, Kansas is the best place on Earth and sacred ground to me. Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

Favorite conversations of the week: 

(Elder from out of country): "Sister Parry, are you an RM?"

Me: "WHAT?! NO!!"

Elder: "You're not a registered nurse?"

Me: "I'm not that either!" 

Mission President's wife: "Sister Parry, how is your Spanish coming along?"

Me: "Uhhhhhhhhh.............Mi Espanol es MOI POQUITO!"

Just thought that I was called to an English speaking mission but PSYCH!

Tears may or may not have been shed when I finally bowled a strike....

P day bowling! I stink at bowling...

Not sure how I feel about being out for 10 months...

Haircut! (I hate taking selfies)

Fall isn't all too pretty here...

Week 44: Never have anyone tell you how meat is processed

Hello!!

So, Conference?! Did anyone else receive crazy revelation? If you missed it, I would definitely go back and watch it! 

I learned so much about having pure charity from Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf just hit it home for me. I have been waiting to hear those things for a while now! 

This week was so full of awesome things. Monday evening, we headed over to see an investigator, and we met some of their neighbors playing football. (I may have tried to jump in a few times) :) As we talked to them, they told us that they are "searching for the truth" They have been so prepared! They just want to know what God wants them to do! They even all came to Conference! and I got to play Operation: entertain the kids so the parents can listen! So, I didn't hear all of conference. 

Have any of you heard of the new movie "Meet the Mormons" President Bell had all of the missionaries watch it and..woah. I may or may not have teared up..Go watch it, go have all of your friends watch it as well. It's not an "in-your-face" kind of thing, it just super good! 

So, I don't know what is up, but I keep loosing everything!! First, Sister Bringhurst lost her glasses, then I lost my planner, and then I lost my laundry money! What is going on! I discovered how lost I am without my planner. Seriously, It's almost as bad as when I lost my scriptures! I keep telling Heavenly Father than I know that things are just things, and I can live without it, but I would REALLY LOVE to have it back! :)     

So, good news and bad news. Good news: Cindy!! She has realized that she needs the Gospel in her life again, and knows that she can't leave it behind! Oh my goodness, I was on cloud 9 when she was telling us this! I am so happy for her. The bad news is that she is moving to California in 2 days. I'm going to miss that family! I gave her granddaughter a mini Book of Mormon and a picture of Jesus. She wants to be baptized when she turns 8 so bad! She is so in tune with the Spirit it blows my mind! This week, she told us that "God misses us" Look at her, she already has a grasp of the Pre-Earth life!! 

Favorite quotes of the week:

(while playing football, I had just thrown the ball, Junior looks so proud and says:) "I taught her everything that she knows!" 

Sylvia: Sister Parry, your hair usually looks so cute, today, it's just thrown up!
Sister Bringhurst: "I thought you looked okay...."

(when we saw the prettiest sunset)
Sister Bringhurst: JUST DRIVE!! WE HAVE TO GET CLOSER TO IT!!! 

I love you all, I miss you, remember that God answers prayers! 
Sister Parry

Sister Bringhurst: "Do you want your face in the picture, well I'm going to get your face in the picture!"

Dodge City 

Me, Andrea(with her new Book of Mormon) Cindy, and Sylvia

So pretty. 

I have never met anyone like her. She is so in tune with the Spirit and cannot wait to be baptized when she turns 8!

I am never leaving Kansas 

Week 43: Why did the pig walk into the kitchen...He wanted some bacon!

I hate it when sad things happen right before Pday. It puts me in a weird mood. To follow up from last week, that investigator kept going strong, so SOLID. Then, out of no where, she dropped us again. So sad. Usually, when someone drops us like that it's a pretty hard thing to go through. It's hard to explain but I was so calm and peaceful all day long. Not a single investigator showed up to church, but instead of getting all worked up from it, the Spirit told me that it was going to be okay. We went over to her house last night and had a good talk. She doesn't believe that the Book of Mormon is true. There were tears(from me) but some laughs as well. Such a weird appointment. Sister Bringhurst and I were trying to get our thoughts together afterwards. We were saying how sad it was, but both of us couldn't deny that we felt okay about the whole thing. I love Beverly so much and I have had so many life changing moments standing on her porch.

Something that Beverly said to us earlier really had me self-reflecting. I asked myself this: "Am I serving a mission, or am I serving the Lord?" What if the Lord asked me to serve here and I didn't get any benefit from it at all. No life lessons, no pat on the back, no glory. What if it was all anonymous? Would I change anything if there was nothing in it for me? I realized yesterday that I wouldn't. I would still be here in Kansas because even though I am blessed so much more from the Lord than I could ever give back to him, This work belongs to the Lord. This work is so much bigger than me. Don't get me wrong here, I know that a mission is more for the missionary than it is for the converts and investigators, but I realized more what it means to give everything that I have to the Lord. I realized more so how to be a servant of the Lord. He is the one who sent me to Kansas, and I am forever in his debt for that.

Our mission has a saying, "I grew up in Kansas" I was raised in California and Utah, but I am growing up in Kansas.

On a more happier note, the less-actives here have been so prepared! So many of them want to go to the temple and truly change their lives! I love watching faith grow so much! We have the opportunity of working with a lot of less-active members and I learn so much from them!

I made a best friend this week. We met a lady whose friend told her about the church and wanted to learn more. As we were talking, her 6-year old son named Manuel comes in and sits RIGHT next to me, practically on my lap. As his mom was expressing her desire to increase her relationship with God, he kept turning to me to tell me a joke(notice the title.) His puppy couldn't get enough attention as well.  When we were leaving, he jumped on his little motorcycle and raced us in the car. Now, every time that we leave, we have to race!

I hope that you all had a fantastic week! Keep relying on the Lord and he will take good care of you! Remember that God answers prayers!

Not quite sure exactly how this played out, first there was hail, then the CarZar called us after 10 pm going crazy and wanting us to check the car. I was just confused :)

Happy birthday Mom! So, I may have waited until this morning to take pictures....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!

Week 42: The Greatest Miracle of All

Hi from the great state of Kansas!
Hope that all is going great with all of you!

You know, every Monday, I sit down to email with my handy dandy post-it note full of adventures that I had all week long to tell you about; and every week when I sit down, I stare at my post-it note and get writer's block! That's usually why my letters are only a few paragraphs long because I can't figure out quite how to make it sound just as exciting as it really was in writing!

So, here I sit, trying to figure out the perfect combination of clever/funny/spiritual. Sorry.  Anywho...

My week:
Started off with sister's conference! Few things compare to 1/2 the sister missionaries in the mission all together! We serve with the STLs so we got to help out a bit so it was fun to watch everything come to life. My favorite part was they had us all trace our outlines on a big piece of paper and hang them all up. Each of us wrote down everything that has been holding us back from giving our all to the Lord. Then, we tore it all up. We tore down our natural man.

Poor Sister Bringhurst has been sick all week long. Saturday, we decided that she needed to sleep in. I was trying to find every productive thing to do around the apartment when I felt like I should watch The District. I ignored it because I knew that we would be watching it for her training in a few weeks. Again, the Spirit told me that I needed to watch it. So I watched all 3 hours of it and boy, did I need it! I definitely got rebuked by the Spirit about what I need to be doing! I realized that I have been so preoccupied with teaching the doctrine points, that I forgot that I am inviting a child of God to take steps closer to Jesus Christ.

I got a blessing earlier this week, it was awesome because so many of my prayers were answered through it but it was so weird to hear my 1st name being used!! He said my name in the blessing at least like 7 times and I flinched every time that I heard it! Don't know why, it just weirds me out to hear anything besides "Sister Parry"

This week, a sister missionary serving from the Dodge City ward had to come back home for health issues. That was so sad. She was not released for a few days, so she practically lived with all of us sisters all week long. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about appreciating the time that we have out here.

So, I saved the best news for last! A few weeks ago, an awesome investigator dropped us and it was heartbreaking. Last Monday night, Sister Bringhurst and I went over to check up on her and see if she would answer the door. She did! She told us about a few concerns that she has and we all cried as she told us that she still wants to learn more! We had an appointment with her and she is so solid again! Seriously, no one calls us to confirm an appointment! We were heartbroken when she didn't come to church but we found out why later on. Turns out that on Saturday night, she had some crazy diabetic problems so she couldn't come to church. She said that she knows that it was the devil preventing her from going to church.
So, to make up for it, she spent all day long watching the BYU channel! She told us that so many of her questions were answered yesterday. I was speechless as she looked at us square in the eyes and told us that she knows that this is true. She knows that this is where God is leading her! She was giddy as she accepted to be baptized in October! It is amazing to consider how far she has come. She was raised in a home and in a church that hates Mormons and now she cannot wait to become a part of it! God really is so nice! Oh, and she told us that she wants an elder to baptize her because she "spent so many years slamming my door, and turning them down." Wow.

It's cool to watch miracles happen, it's awesome to be play a role in God's miracles, but I realized that the biggest miracle of all, is what God is doing with me. Every day, he smooths out the rough edges and molds me into my potential. Kansas is sacred ground to me. Every day, I try to keep up with the blessings that God is giving me! I love you all, I miss you, and remember that God answers prayers!
Sister Sarah Lucy

The very middle of The United States

Kansas, land of the roadkill and sunsets