Week 65: "I'll crawl in your pocket"‏

Hello! 

Oh man, this week. Was packed. Packed full of exchanges, miracles, and solid investigators! 

Miracle number one: just 30 minutes ago while emailing, the church phone rang and it was a woman who wants to get married in our chuch and thier family is looking for a church!! WHAT. That never happens! I just stood there in shock for a few seconds before I responded! I'll keep you updated on how that goes :)

Miracle number two: while on exchanges, we were invited to go to mutual to help some of the teenagers in the ward answer their friend's questions about the Gospel. One of the girls brought her non-member friend that aparently has been coming for 2 months! 

Miracle number three: We were talking to the elders about how we really needed to find a few more investigators this week. As we were talking, a member called us to tell us that he was with someone right then that wants to meet with us and learn about the Gospel!! We met with her yesterday, and she has definitely been prepared to learn and to live the Gospel, we are meeting with her tonight to discuss and make plans for her baptism at the end of the month. 

Okay, we are working with this awesome investigator named Montie. He has known members of the church very well his entire life. Sometimes, I feel that he knows more about the Gospel than me! He has introduced several people to the Gospel and they were even baptized! I totally think that he is going to be a bishop some day. The only reason that he has not joined yet is because he did not feel ready to live the word of wisdom until now. His prayer was one of my favorite's of my mission. "God, I'm going to put you in my pocket, and you can put me in your pocket." He then promised Heavenly Father that he would be baptized on March 28th. I am so excited to work with him. 

I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I had a moment this week that made me realize me deep love and devotion for the Gospel that the Savior has given us. I have so much to learn about it but I am grateful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father loves me enough to let me stretch and grow. I pray that you all are seeing miracles and feel the love that the Savior has for you! Love you lots! Remember that God answers prayers!

Sister Parry 

Week 64: Salina X2

Mi Famillia! 

Guess what! I'm back in Salina! I still don't know how I pulled that off! Being back in the area that I started is sureal. I was looking around at church yesterday and saw people blessing the sacrament that did not even believe in God a year ago! It's amazing to see how much the ward has grown and how the work has picked up here! The highlight was definitly seeing Shelley Griffeth! She is doing so great! In fact, she is planning on going to the temple for the 1st time in April and I might be able to go! (fingers crossed) 

My companion is Sister Hartung, I've known her a little bit on my mission and she is one of the sweetest people I've ever met! This is her last transfer and she is teaching me so much! I am so lucky to be companions with her! 

So a miracle this week: We called one of our investigators, Noelle, Saturday night making sure she was still planning on coming to church Sunday. When she picked up the phone she told us she was super stressed. We asked what had been going on and she proceeded to tell us that her sister was trying to sell her parents old house in hutch and that she didn't want her to and that her sister can't seem to get past their death. She started sobbing and crying out, "they're gone! And they're not coming back! they're never coming back.." We had never seen her have an emotional outburst like this. We could tell she had been holding her fears and feelings in about her parents death for a while. She told us she just felt alone and had felt alone most of her life. We asked her if she had ever heard that poem "footprints in the sand". She said she loved that story because she felt like this man was her at times. She bore her testimony of how God has never forsaken her (let me remind you this is still a phone conversation, we were not there in person) and that He has always been there. Then she said, "I feel Him right now. I feel so peaceful right now! I have never felt like this before.. I love this feeling." We then testified that when she is baptized and receives the gift of the Holy Ghost she can have that feeling all the time, that He becomes our constant companion. She said she was so excited for that and is preparing to be baptized March 21st! Satan made her son throw up all night so unfortunately she didn't come to church. But she definitely felt a confirming spirit and will be there next week!

Sorry that the letter is a bit short this week, but I am having a blast and growing more that I can keep up with! I hope that you all have a fantastic week and remember that God answers prayers! 

 

Lots of love, 

Sister Parry

Quote of the week: 

"My son was born by C-section so every year instead of telling him "Happy Birthday" we tell him "Happy Removal Day!!"" 

Week 63: Hugs and Kisses

TRANSFER WEEK!!!!!! 

I'm already being kicked out of Manhattan! So sad. The crazy news is that I'm going back to my first area Salina to be an Sister Training Leader(?!).

I hope that you all had a fantastic Valentines Day because we sure did! We were at a baptism for this guy that the elders are teaching and he is SUPER GOLDEN. Ever since I met him a few weeks ago, he already felt like a member! My favorite part of his baptism when he came up out of the water and was grinning from ear to ear! He started laughing and yelled, "YEAH! ALRIGHTTTTTTT!!!!" It was so funny! He already has the Aaronic priesthood and has a calling! I know that I didn't teach him at all, but I'm just as excited because there is another teammate on the Lord's team! 

So, we are teaching this girl from Equador, and she is a thinker. She likes what we teach her, but her thing is that she thinks that EVERY church that talks about Jesus in a good way is true. She told us this week that she wants to help all of the other exchange students come closer to Jesus so she decided to start her own church.  What's even more scary is when she told us that we were the ones that inspired her to do this, in fact, she assured us that she would tell EVERYONE in Equador that Sister Parry and Sister Jensen inspired her to start her own church. That is not exactly what we were going for! 

Miracles are happening in Manhappening! We were really tired from lots of meetings so we decided to walk around and talk to lots of people. We met a girl right outside of the Institute Building, gave her a church tour, and taught her the entire Restoration right on the spot! I really feel like she is a Kingdom Builder. she had amazing questions and is very open to learning! 

I have learned that Heavenly Father has a unique way of teaching me things. The other day, I was not discouraged, but knew that my work was missing something and I couldn't figure it out. We went to eat with some members that night and they started expressing my very same concerns about their own missionary work! Heavenly Father wanted me to help them and help myself at the very same time! As we talked, I think that we all learned what we needed to. As we left them with a commitment, I committed myself to do the same. 

We had Zone Conference this week and I learned SO MUCH! The last week, the Spirit reminded me a few times to prepare myself to receive some revelation and I sure did! The biggest thing that stood out to me was to love as Christ loves. One of the ways that He loves is to go to our level and then to bring us up higher and higher one step at a time. I have dedicated the entire month of February to learning about charity and love. 

I love and miss you all! Have a great week, go share the Gospel, and remember that God answers prayers! 

XOXO

Sister Parry

Happy Valentines Day! XOXOXO

#transfers

Happy Valentines Day <3

Week 62: God is so cool.

Helloooooooo from the Little Apple! AKA Manhappening Kansas! 

Almost every Monday night without fail, I see a miracle that I have to wait an entire week to tell you about! Last week, it was Olivia. We met her on exchanges last week and she is so cool! She opened up to us about how much she is going through right now. It makes my heart hurt to see how hard this last year has been for her. I just want her to realize how much God loves her! She told us that she knows that the Church and the Book of Mormon are true, and she has felt more peace by reading the Book of Mormon than by any other way. 

Another fun miracle happened this week. We were on our way back to the car and Sister Jensen felt impressed that we needed to take the long way back to the car. As we were walking, we stopped to talk to a girl named Taylor. Wow. Taylor told us that she has really been thinking lately that she wants to get baptized this year! Okay, how about this month?! She even asked us for a calender to help her get baptized! 

One of my favorite moments was when one of the STLs came with us for an hour or so. She could not believe how many people there are in Manhattan Kansas! It was a sad moment to her when she realized that there is no possible way to talk to every person you see. It was like watching a kid running up and down in a candy store. The best part was when we turned around to see her run across a busy street to give a man a Book of Mormon. He didn't want it, but he took a pamphlet. That's a start!

Oh man, I wish that I could just bottle all of the cool things that I learned about the Gospel this week and give it to all of you! I learned so much about acting on spiritual promptings ASAP and I also learned a lot about how not to be afraid and just trust God, he has a plan! And a backup plan! This week, I literally could not wrap my mind around how COOL GOD IS. 

Well, food needs to be eaten, an apartment needs to be cleaned, and money needs to be spent. I love and miss you all, Remember how much God loves you and that he answers prayers!! 

Sister Parry

Week 61: Catch-Up!

So, last week I ran out of time to email and I take soooo long to write these things so this week, I am going to START by writing this! 

The last 2 weeks were SO COOL. I learned a ton, and saw a lot of miracles. That's all you need to know, right? haha jokes! 

God's timing just blows my mind every day! He truly can be involved in every aspect of our lives if we let him. I have gotten the chance to meet people who God has been preparing for years to listen to our message now! 

We were able to see an awesome miracle last week. The other sisters were struggling to find people to teach so we decided to help them. I cannot even describe the excitement that we had! After praying about it, Sister Jensen and I decided that there was an elect family in this neighborhood that we were going to find for them within the 45 minutes that we had. It was not just a wish that there was, but we just knew that they were here. We literally talked to everyone that we could to find this family. Our 45 minutes were almost up when we knocked on one last door. The family that lives there turned out to be the sister of someone who is preparing to be baptized! She was really interested and the Spirit told us that these where the ones that we were looking for. 

Thomas S. Monson promises us that "The future is as bright as your faith" Just like our body uses food to give us energy, our faith is what Heavenly Father uses to give us blessings. 

This week, we went on exchanges with the STLs that serve in Salina!(My first area) No, I didn't get to visit, but I heard some great news! A convert that I taught there, is getting ready to go to the temple soon!!!!!!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how happy and at peace that makes me. 14 months ago, I had no idea what kind of adventures, challenges, people, and miracles that God had in store for me that would shape me so much. I know that I still have no idea what God has in store for me and all of us in the future! 

Lately, we have been having some pretty interesting conversations....here are some highlights: 

"I'm not racist, I don't like anyone!"(said by a 60 year-old black lady)

"Thank you for letting us contact so many spirits today. Haha, Heavenly Father, I didn't mean to say that!"(praying can be pretty exhausting)

(A conversation with members during dinner)

Them: "So, Sister Parry, how long have you been on your mission?"

Me: "Not quite 14 months"

Them: "(whistles) Wow, you're almost done! You know, I have a really hot little brother that you can marry! I can give you his email." 

Me: "UHHHH................" 

(The best conversation with an almost-deaf lady)

Her: "The book of what?"

Me: "The book of MORMON."

Her: "The book of WHAT??" 

Me: "The book of MORMON!!!! Do you think that God could give us more scripture?"

Her: "Yes! Over there!(points)" 

Sister Jensen: "What?"

Her: "Didn't you just ask me where I live?"

I hope that you all have a FANTASTIC week full of faith and miracles! I love you! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry 

old comps reunited! 

name tag!

The district.

I looked out the window and what did I see? 2 Indian met smoking hookas. Kansas. 

Week 59: I want to argue with you!‏

Hello!

Happy Monday everyone! 

So, I just realized that I only have 10 minutes left to email and it usually takes me roughly an hour to write this so, sorry!! 

This week was so much fun! We were walking all week long and we were blessed with gorgeous weather! Plus, the new semester is about ready to start up so there are students everywhere!! A few of our leaders gave us different challenges and they got us pumped up! One day, we made a list of all the awkward situations that we would normally avoid talking to someone and did all of them! We talked to groups, people with headphones on, and even crossed the street just to talk to someone! It was so cool to see the miracles that the Lord provided us as we were diligent and talked to everyone in sight! 

So, I have discovered that almost no one in Manhattan is actually from the United States. We have talked to anyone BUT Americans! I love hearing about other people's beliefs and cultures. When we added it all up these are the places where everyone is from: Ecuador, Paraguay, Nigeria, Argentina, China, Bangladesh, India, Srilanka, Mexico, Quaite, Senegal, and a few Muslims! 

So the funniest door of my whole mission happened the other day: 

We were trying to see an investigator and Sister Jensen had an impression to knock on another door. We did, and an ANCIENT lady answered the door! Imagine this: she is about 4 feet tall, her glasses are about a mile wide, and her hair is sticking straight up. Here is a basic run down of our conversation with her:

Her: "I was asleep! Who are you?"

Us: "We're the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!"

Her: "Oh..Latter-Day Saints...."

Us: "Oh! Have you talked to missionaries before?"

Her: "Well I'm not interested, I'm Southern Baptist! But I want you to come back sometime so I can          argue with you!" 

Us: "Uh................"

Her: "Do you have any literature?!"

Us: "Sure do!" I give her a Restoration pamphlet and explain that it talks about Jesus.

Her: "I already know Jesus Christ! He is my Savior and I hope that he is yours too!" 

Maybe you had to be there but it was hilarious! 

Well time is up! I love you all! Have a great week and remember that God answers prayers!! 

Sister Parry

Who can guess the 3 scripture stories??

Sunday is my favorite day

Am I the only one that finds this funny?

"soliciting and/or distribution of literature prohibited"

That's better! P day at the laundromat! 

Self-timer is hard

Week 58: Manhappening!

Happy Monday everyone! 

I don't think that any written form of my past 7 days will do any of it justice, but I will try my hardest for you! 

So getting transferred and closing an area proves to be INSANE. You would be amazed at how much junk builds up after sister missionaries live in an apartment for yearsss. Goodbyes were pretty hard. The investigators, the Lira's, Sister Bringhurst. :'( As we drove into Manhattan, I felt like a country-girl seeing the big city for the 1st time-it is HUGE! Going from the "Cowboy Capital of the World" to College-town is a culture shock. 

Manhattan is amazing, Sister Jensen is amazing, and the 2 wards that we cover are amazing! My first Sunday here describes everything quite nicely! 

First of all, the university branch and the ward both start at the same time, so my companion and I had to go on splits with members to be at both! Then, the elders decided to go to the ward so I was the ONLY missionary at the branch. Lastly, I knew NO ONE there. With all of that in mind, let me tell you a story: 

I was waiting for 2 investigators from Ecuador to come and meeting everyone in the branch. I was super bummed when sacrament meeting started and they still were not there. As the meeting continued, someone told me that there were a few people at the door. Excited, I ran over to meet the investigators! When I got there, I found 4 random men also from Ecuador. They told me that a friend that goes here invited them to church. Confused, I found them a seat and sat back down. A few minutes later, 3 more come in. Then 2 more. This kept happening until 11 NON- MEMBER ECUADORIANS WERE SITTING IN SACRAMENT MEETING literally doubling the size of the branch!!! We could practically make a whole new Ecuadorian Branch if they all get baptized! It turns out, that an girl from Ecuador just returned from a mission and is now going to K-State so she invited EVERYONE. Sheesh. She got more investigators to church than I ever have! :) 

This week, we talked to everyone in our path! It felt so good! Manhattan has lots of people from lots of different backgrounds and stories! I wish that I had the time to tell you every story from this week! I love all of you! Remember that God answers prayers! 

Sister Parry