Week 57: 13 Months?!

I'm sorry but this is going to be another week when my thoughts are in a thousand different directions and I don't know how to write an eligible email.

Have I really been out for 13 months?? Because it feels like it has only been 4! 

So, transfers are this week and all last week everyone in my district would not stop asking me where I think that I am going to. I guess that everyone assumes that your leaving when you have been in one place for nearly 6 months! There is something about transfers that is universal: they never end up how you think they will! 

I'm going to Manhattan University! And here is the real shocker, Sister Bringhurst is leaving too! It gets better: No one is going to replace us! WHAT. The other missionaries in Dodge will take over our area. I'm torn. BUT fortunately, the Lord is the one in charge here! I know that this coming transfer is going to be a great one! 

The weather. I just don't understand it especially in Kansas! The other morning, we walked outside and Sister Bringhurst mentioned how nice it felt. By that night, BAM. BLIZZARD. The best part is that our car was parked most of the week so the Lira's drove us home and it took over an hour to drive what usually takes 10-15 minutes. They even canceled church! 

This week, we saw so many miracles! We found so many solid people which is an answer to my prayers! There is 3 new people that are so serious about searching for truth in their own life! I love working with people like that because they usually have an open mind and are prepared for the Gospel. 

I have discovered how much I take the Gospel for granted! We started teaching Beatriz's aunt and, wow. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and I have never received so many questions in such a short amount of time! We went through the whole thing with her and asked if she had any more questions and all she said was, "No. it all makes sense. I've asked so many people these questions and no one could make me feel like you have." When we were teaching her about the first vision, she started crying and praying to thank God. Yesterday, we went over and she was in a bad spot. She told us that she was ready to give up. It was amazing to watch her whole attitude and demeanor change as we testified to her about the atonement. It is so hard to describe but I haven't experienced anything like that moment. The Spirit came into the room so strong and we all knew that God loves her SO MUCH. 

I hope that you all are falling in love with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as much as I am! I love and miss you all! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

Quote of the week: 

"Grandma! If you're going to get baptized then you can't drink beer!" (coming from 4 year-old Julian Lira to his grandma who haven't been the biggest fan of them getting baptized) LOL 

A solid 5 degrees outside. Don't worry, it dropped even lower after we took the picture!! 

In the middle of the blizzard

Week 56: Pants?!

The hardest part about writing a letter is starting it out. I always try to shoot for a good balance, of positive/funny/spiritual, you know, something that will keep your attention for a few paragraphs!

Did anyone else realize that for a whole year, almost none of you knew me or saw me! Weird. Where did 2014 go?! Oh yeah, I'm on a mission; therefore I am in the biggest time warp! 

This week started off on an interesting note, we went ice skating with like 30 missionaries. I love ice skating, so I have been pumped for this for a few weeks now. Then I realized that ice skating requires wearing pants. Believe it or not, I have completely forgotten HOW to wear pants. How do you put them on? How do you move in them? Is this what I really look like with pants on? Where is my skirt?!? The minute that we walked into the ice rink, a few recent converts saw us and the first thing that they said to us was, "YOU LOOK LIKE HUMANS!!!" :/ All I could say back was, "I know! :'( Where's my skirt??" From this experience, I decided that I am only going to wear skirts for at least a month after I get home. 

We had such a great lesson with the Lira's this week. We talked about the priesthood and it was 

amazing to watch Gonzalo take his priesthood duty so seriously! We talked about the keys that he holds now, and had the elders talk to him about worthiness and preparing for the Melchizedek Priesthood. The whole thing was of course focused on the whole family and the temple as always. :) 

Is Christmas really gone already?? This week, there is nothing I wanted more than to be as busy as possible. That turned out to be a little hard because no one was home! Given, visiting family is the 2nd best thing to do other than to hear about the Restored Gospel. :) We celebrated by going caroling a few times, going to a baptism, eating TONS of food, and skyping the family!! 

An adventure this week was that everyone and their dog as sick this week! Including me!! It was enough to keep me in the apartment for a day. Being sick as a missionary is just so weird. All you do is sleep, read the Book of Mormon, and watch church movies(I probably watched more church movies than I ever have on my whole mission combined!) 

So, I don't know if I mentioned it but at the end of November, we were challenged to finish the Book of Mormon by Christmas looking for examples of faith and every time that the Savior is mentioned. This has been such a great blessing! I have a new-found testimony that the Book of Mormon truly is a way to get to know Jesus Christ so much better no matter how well you think that you know him! 

There is so much more that I want to tell you all about but this email is getting long so I will bid you all farewell until next year! I love you all! Remember that God answers prayers!

Sister Parry

favorite quote of the week: 

"Sometimes, I feel that you two are spies sent to watch me and my family!"

ummmmm NOT the impression that we were going for! 

I taught my daughter how to ice skate! PS don't look at what I am wearing!

"What am I wearing?!" So the down side to ice skating is that it requires wearing pants!

I finally got a pony for Christmas! 

The whole crew

Week 55: Merry Christmas from Kansas!!

Feliz Navidad!

Who's pumped?! I am. I have been looking forward to this coming week since October and it is finally here!!

If I had to choose just one word to describe my entire week it would probably be "joy"....or "insanity". 

The huge news of the week is that Gonzalo Lira is now a priest with the Aaronic priesthood...Who knew 3 months ago that they would come so far?? The Lord knew. They are full force members. They have been promised very powerfully several times that The Lord wants them to be a very active part of his kingdom building and they are taking that seriously! They feed all 8 missionaries once a week, the parents are on team-ups with the missionaries several times a week, yesterday, they drove a few people to a devotional at the stake center an hour away and bore their testimonies at the devotional! If this is how far they have come in just 3 months, I cannot wait to see where the Lord will take them in a few years! 

I gained a testimony about the Lord's timing this week! We went over to a lady's house for the 2nd time and just a few hours earlier, her husband and her decided to get a divorce! She burst out crying and apologizing. The Spirit came into the room so strongly as we testified to her about the Savior and the Atonement. It was powerful. I love moments like that when you can practically see the Spirit right in front of you. 

A few nights ago, I woke up to my companion talking! I was so confused so I looked over to watch her as she sat up in bed and said: "I think that I know what I am doing haha, hold still!"  It was hilarious, now the question is what was she dreaming about?!

Another great moment was during studies, there was a knock at our door. When I answered it, 2 men were at the door and said, 

Them: "Hello, we are ministers for the Bible Baptist Church."

Me: "Hey, we're missionaries too! Have you heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints?"

Them: "Yes we have."

Me: "Really? Have you ever talked to or seen other missionaries around?

They proceeded to give us their card and invite us to their Christmas services-Don't worry, I invited them to ours too! It was soooooooo funny. Now I know what people think when we come to their door! 

Also, guess who I saw this week! Kevin and Kylee AKA Elder Page and Sister Runia! It was so fun to catch up with them but pretty weird to see them again not as full-time missionaries. 

Quote of the week:

"We live next to a LDS church in Lawrence and now we are on vacation from the Mormons"

I hope that you are all enjoying this Christmas week! I challenge you to take a few minutes every day to forget about presents that you have to buy, the cards that you still have to send, the house that needs to be cleaned, and the in-laws that are spending the night. Take at least 10 minutes of your day to look around and to be grateful for the Savior and all the love and blessings that he gives you! I love and miss you all! Remember that God answers prayers!

Sister Parry

Our cute Christmas tree

Kylee and I

Week 54: Surprise!

Happy Monday everyone!! 

I can't hold in the news any longer.......GONZALO JUST GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!! I know. I'm just as surprised as you are..still. So here's what happened: Gonzalo was going to have to wait until March to be baptized, I was so bummed that I was going to have to miss it but excited that he was willing to wait and endure to the end. Last week, the assistant to the ward mission leader suggested that we talk to President Bell again about him getting baptized because EVERYONE realized how sincere he is and how much he wants this! (He has even been going out with the elders!) President Bell agreed to come interview him! He interviewed him on Friday night and he was baptized on Sunday. 

It was one of the top 3 spiritual baptisms that I have ever been to. He has truly turned his life completely around and worked so hard for this. He came up out of the water grinning ear to ear. We all bawled as the talks were about this family preparing to be an eternal family. Sister Bringhurst and I have been talking about it and we realize that we really haven't done much AT ALL. Looking back, we realize that the Spirit took complete control, we just loved them and did what the Spirit told us to. It is amazing to realize that despite our imperfections and shortcomings, the Holy Ghost can work miracles. 

Saturday was so much fun! We went to a training/Christmas party for missionaries. We were all just minding our own business when President Bell announced that we were going to look at everyone's BABY PICTURES?!?! I thought that he was kidding, then I realized that he was serious. I thought that this only happens in nightmares!!! LOL Then we had an ugly sweater contest, I brought a beauty that I found in our apartment closet....that work of art won me a gift card! :) 

Last night after the baptism was so cool! The zone leaders challenged us as a whole zone to find 10 new investigators by the end of the evening. This wouldn't have been too much of a big deal but they just raised the standards on new investigators this week. All of our appointments fell through and we were a little bit at a loss. We decided that Christmas is in full bloom here and we went caroling! The 1st door that we caroled to was interested but the Mom mostly speaks Spanish, so we will let the other missionaries take over that one! Then we tried once more and again the parents only speak Spanish. The 3rd time a super cute family let us in and everyone spoke English........except for the Dad, another family for the other missionaries! The 4th door that we tried spoke perfect English and wants us to come back this week!!! 

Do you want to hear the song that Sister Bringhurst and I are working on? So far, it goes like this:

"No one speaks English in Dodge!

Only the children speak English in Dodge! 

We don't know Spanish....in Dodge!"

It's a work in progress! 

More miracles of the week include:

-A little Ceasars is opening in Dodge tomorrow!!

-I taught Sister Bringhurst how to plunge her 1st toilet

-Sister Bringhurst got her driving privileges this week so now I get to rock it in the passenger seat

I hope that you are all seeing miracles too! I love you and and miss you! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Love, 

Sister Parry

Sister Bringhurst gets to drive now!!!! This is just as exciting for me as it is for her! 

Ugly sweater contest! This work of art won a gift card to Subway!

And then Gonzalo got baptized?! #christmasmiracle

Surprise!! Gonzalo got baptized!!! 

Small acts of service make me so happy

Week 53: Christmas has Struck Dodge!

Hi!

So much happened this week but I am having another writer's block moment! Can I just forward you my companion's email and call it good?? Hold on tight while I explode this week at you!

Last Pday there was a parade to light up Dodge City with Christmas lights! Why doesn't Sandy do that?!  There was tons of people everywhere which made it all the better! We went over to have a Family Home Evening with the Lira's and played Mexican Bingo. I must be really great at speaking Spanish because they kept asking me to pronounce everything. Jokes, jokes.

Tuesday was probably one of the best days of my mission. We had a fantastic district meeting and we walked out of there even more dedicated and stoked to go work! We did things that we have been scared to do, saw miracles left and right, and had a blast! I have been obsessed with keeping up this momentum for the rest of my mission.

I hit my year mark on Thursday.......oh my gosh..........so weird! I'm a mix of emotions right now!!

I got really temple-trunky this week as well. I realized that I haven't been to or even looked at a temple in a year and then some! When I was praying that night, I felt like a 4 year-old crying to a parent about being homesick(home sick for the house of the Lord that is!) I realized that it is so worth it to miss it so much to now see the Lira family and others prepare to go to the temple soon! I feel so blessed! So the next time that you see or go to the temple, say hi for me!

One of my favorite moments of the week was when we got a text from the ward asking all of the missionaries to do a live nativity at the ward party that night! I don't mean to brag but I had the main role! Yes, I was the donkey. One of the highlights was watching Mary try to deliver Jesus AKA try to get the basketball out of her shirt. It took a solid 2 minutes and help from her mom but the show must go on!!

Did anyone watch the Christmas Devotional?? It was amazing! Just so you know! How are you spreading the Christmas love??

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

Sister Parry

Maliegh wants to play the piano when her dad is baptized

1 year.....Can anyone believe that?!?!

Week 52: Grateful

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!! 

I have come to find that Thanksgiving is one of the best and the worst holidays as a missionary! It's the best because people's hearts are softened as they think about what they are grateful for, and there is tons of delicious food. It's also the worst because no one is home, and you always eat way too much. #stretchyskirts

We were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving with one of the most missionary-minded members that I have ever met. There was TONS of food....TONS. Before we even left the apartment, I challenged Sister Bringhust to see which one of us could gain the most weight by the end of the day, we were too scared to weigh in! :) The best moment of the whole day was probably when Sister Dameron opened the HUGE pot of stuffing and sang "HALLALUJAH!" as stuffing came pouring out! The house turned into a rampage as everyone grabbed something to put stuffing in until Sister Dameron poked it and it all deflated. Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. 

Naturally, there is a controversy about when it is appropriate to celebrate CHRISTmas. Sister Bringhurst and I have been celebrating it full force for a month and a half now but now there is no shame! It is after Thanksgiving now and it's only going to get better! One of our plans is to text a Christ-centered scripture to everyone that we are working with up until CHRISTmas. We are also super excited to do a secret twelve days of CHRISTmas for 2 families that we are working with. The whole thing if focused on remembering Christ and how we can follow his example in our own lives. 

Speaking of Christ, have any of you seen the new video that the church just launched? It's called "He is the Gift" and you ALL need to go watch it and show it to everyone that you know! Here is the link:

http://www.mormon.org/

So this week, I have been doing a study focused on charity and I realize that I need more of it big time! So, I'm coming to all of you for advice. What are stories, scriptures, and examples of Charity?

This is the best time of the year! First, we all focus of Gratitude, then Christ/giving, next we all get a fresh start, and finally we finish it all off with love! I love you all, I hope that you had a fantastic week!

Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

The sky is on fire!

 CHRISTmas is here!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is how it has been since Halloween! 

Week 51: Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

So, right now, I am sitting in a kid-size chair, using a kid-size keyboard, and a kid-size mouse at the library, so forgive me for any typos! 

First thing: WE ALL SURVIVED TRANSFERS!!!! Sister Bringhurst and I get another transfer together in Dodge City! Plus, I get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas here. I am in a dream. By the end of this transfer, I will have been in Dodge for 6 months! Woah!! A whole third of my entire mission. I just sat down, and realized that my entire scale of thinking has been completely focused on the Lira's baptism and transfers this week! But now both are over. :) 

So the baptism was easily, one of the most powerful baptism services that I have ever been to. It was standing room only, Gonzalo prayed, the entire thing was focused on the temple and the family, the Spirit was so strong, and the whole room was filled with love and support for this dear family. My favorite part was right before they went into the font, I suggested that we all say a prayer together. I have rarely felt the Spirit this strongly as I did in a tiny bathroom in Dodge City Kansas. Beatriz said that even though there was a lot of people there, all she could see was her family. 

Because it's Thanksgiving week, I wanted you to know just a portion of what I am grateful for:

The Atonement

My family that supports me

Kansas, that has given me an opportunity to change my entire life

The Book of Mormon that gives me strength every single day

Alright, so the library computer is kicking me off now! I love you all! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry

The Dodge City District

Sisters: Bringhurst, Parry, Hymas, Judy

Elders: Cole, Maisey, Grow, Banderez

Little Maleigh will only give us handshakes whenever we leave

Sister Starks is like having a grandma right here in Dodge. She always has cookies and soda for us to eat, and gives us a hug that will make your eyeballs fall out!

Just chillin

The day of the baptism, we "decorated" the Lira's car :)

A dream come true!

Jasmine was nervous out of her mind! 

The Lira's Christmas tree. The top is the first pass-along card that we gave them, and all of the pictures that we have given them over time. They have the Temple, Jesus, their baptism photos, the scriptures, etc. It's the best Christmas tree that I have ever seen!