Christmas!

Como estan familia?

Just hanging out in basketball shorts at the Dysart/Greenway building sending you emails with my District and the Lord's iPad! Pretty cool. We just got word that we can go to the Gilbert Temple Open House with recent converts or investigators so Hermano Covarrubias said he would take us before transfers (Jan. 29). We are excited for that. Christmas was way fun. We studied, opened presents, did the Skype call--you all look great! Sam hulked it and has grown up a lot since I last saw him. I think I would have more fun with the old immature Sam I know so don't mature too much please :D-- we then went and had lunch with HErmano Handley. He is the coolest guy and made us a fantastic meal even though he isn't very well off and sells cacti for a living so it was really nice. We were the 8 missionaries who visited from Surprise. We drove our district up and our roommates drove ahead of us. We sang some Christmas songs, ate Taco soup, and talked with President and Sister Taylor. I love them! Then we came back and played basketball for a few hours to end the night. That was awesome. Elders Hancock, Nelson, Jones, McMillan, Fife and I just shot (I have been out longer than anyone in the District! It is weird) for a couple hours. I felt like I was back in High School for an evening. It was pretty relaxing. Then our whole apartment got sick the next day. It was actually kind of funny. Everyone coughed, sneezed, grumbled, had trouble sleeping and the whole spectrum. Elder Fife was actually fine and I wasn't too bad--I had to stay in to do a 3 hour nap but I was good other than that afternoon--so it was fun being with the suffering Elders. We don't know what we are doing for New Years. I just want to hang around the apartment. I think the last time I hung around a whole day and did nothing was with Big Rich at BYU. That is what I want to do. We will be inside at 6 on tuesday and all day wednesday. I am not very focused at all emailing like this so I will try to scrounge some more out... Saturday was a great day. The Rama Estrella has really continued with their missionary work. I have seen this place transform since I have been here. Yesterday Rosa, friend invited by Ignacio and Luz, enjoyed all three hours and told us to come over to Ignacio's house to watch and explain the Restoration DVD with her. She enjoyed it and committed to praying and truly searching! It was sweet. We knocked on Hermana Lopez' house and she took us to her next-door neighbor's house and we talked to him, Edebeto for an hour. The Dominguez family who is "less-active" have handed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon this Christmas. People are catching the wave and seeing the vision of the Hastening of the Work of Salvation here! We hope to keep that going. The Rama was also very very giving and loving for the 4 Elders in the Branch. We got like 5 pounds of cookies from the relief society president. There is a lot of food and sweets in the apartment so we are going to ENGORDAR.

I am learning and progressing a lot. I really feel the influence of the Spirit out here. I feel like I am getting better at communicating with my HEavenly Father out here. Following the Spirit is something I have been working hard all Mission. It takes courage to follow most the time, but I feel like I am. I feel like the first half of my mission was a very successful one. I was looking back on it today :/ I am usually pretty hard on myself, but I feel like I have worked as hard as I can in every aspect. I feel like I have put my whole effort into what I have done and learned so far and The Lord as sure filled in on what I need specifically to grown and learn. I have already learned so much to apply to the rest of my life. I love this work and want to be a part of it in whatever way I can for the rest of my life. I love Arizona and I love this people, no matter how frustrating some people can be at times! I love them and want them to learn how they can feel their Savior's love. See you in a year!

Love, Elder Parry

Find Your Role However Small

Things are going really well in Surprise! One thing that I have noticed about Christmas so far this month is that we are teaching a lot of lessons, the other Elders are teaching a lot of lessons too, and we are teaching a lot of FAMILIES! It is something that I hold near and dear to my heart this month. I am very grateful for this special opportunity. The Lord has put genuine, loving, sweet, interested, prepared families into the area that we are being 100% led to. Mainly by members! We got 2 Mesa Temple light referrals this week of families that signed up to learn more. We taught one (Jorge, Armando, and Patti) yesterday. We taught them about prayer and committed them to doing a family prayer every night. They said yes! They also fed us dinner on the spot, sent us home with more, and used a plant in their yard to help with some blisters I have one my hand! You will hear more about them soon. A LOT MORE! They are cool. Yesterday we taught the Restoration to Lala, her daughter, and her granddaughter. A family found by Hermano Puente. We SPIRITUALLY PLOWED through that lesson--I say that because the Spirit was there, we covered every point, we helped her with a lot of doubts, we did our best to teach to understanding, and we taught PEOPLE and not lessons. When I say we I say Elder Fife and I did out best to follow the lead of our senior companion THE SPIRIT. My testimony of the Spirit grew very large this week. I KNOW for a fact that the missionaries can't do it without the Spirit. The Spirit helps them keep commitments, listen, ask questions, be taught, understand what is in it for them with this Gospel, and to feel the love of God. I have been in lessons where I have felt like everything is on my shoulders and it is up to me. They were bad lessons... Bad. When we go in, with confidence and faith in the Spirit, and do our best, and LOVE these people. Things go well. I need to work on not trying to change the whole world in one lesson. God knows how to help these people. We must enlist His help. We also taught Madai, Genado, and their 3 kids this week. They missed church which was sad but they said yes to baptism--just not soon. Hermana Armida bore powerful testimony of her own baptism and how they need not fear or worry. The Lord provides the preparation they need. They are the sweetest family. They may not be the best and doing the things we invite them to do but I love them so much! They are so sincere and grateful and willing to change. They have a lot of those "unchecked" baptism qualities that will really get them there. I say unchecked because it is the stuff written in DandC 20 and Mosiah 18 that we can't check off in an interview, but things that will take them to baptism and eternity with our Heavenly Father. They are humble and have the broken heart and a contrite spirit. The Covos family is kind of dragging along. We are not giving up. The Spirit isn't either because I feel it when we are there. We had a great lesson on Monday with them. Hermano Handley was bold. I followed his lead. He bore strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and why they need to be more diligent in reading. I learned a lot about being bold, loving, and reflecting the seriousness of these things we need to be doing to learn and grow. It has been a great blessing in my mission to see so many families. The Lord is preparing hearts. Another family (Virginia) finally got home from Mexico and said they would come to church, but didn't. We are going to keep teaching them. They live in Waddell so it is a 20 minute road trip every time. How fun! Alejandra and her two kids didn't come to church either but we will see them there soon. They are a prepared family.

 

I have seen some of the most growth in Elder Fife as we have taught together. I am doing better at not being such a chatterbox in the lessons and he has more opportunities to teach--especially in English when we have them. We had 3 invitations from the 12-week program for him to take the lead in a certain part of the teaching and he did ALL 3 TIMES. He did it twice yesterday! He is becoming a great missionary and his potencial is through the roof. I want him to keep pushing himself--and he can get little pushes from me too :) 

 

We taught a lesson to a less active couple that got baptized in Mexico 45 years ago. My testimony in teaching less-actives is weaker than I thought... She said stuff like "It shouldn't be the church of Joseph Smith," "there are just too many hypocrites at church," and "I am fine worshipping God how I am." I thought of a billion things to say to her, not many of them were very nice though. The lesson with them just sent me on a giant mind race as I was thinking about everything to be done and what could possibly be done to help them. I know that love is the answer. I know they love us because they love missionaries and we love them too and they know that. So we just need to keep inviting and visiting. In the lesson I got out of my comfortable, apologetic sphere to tell them that they need to go to Church because they are losing blessings of the Priesthood and the Sacrament. We told them it wasn't okay not to go because it was a commandment to go. I wanted to tell them that it really shouldn't matter if they have been offended (See Elder Bednar "and none shall offend them" EPIC TALK. I think that talk made him close to my favorite apostle....) but I did not. We left with our love. Hay que tener PACIENCIA!

 

Yesterday in my journal I was writing about all that I have learned from the Rama Estrella members. Hermanos Zayas, and Covarrubias, and President Aguirre have taught me more than anyone else in my life about how the church should be run (how it should be lived? No, of course not because of the home I grew up in where I learned that; but as I have paid attention to callings, administration, working together, and all the good church stuff there is to learn on the mission that blesses us for the rest of our lives, I have learned how it should be done by watching their examples.) This branch may be small in numbers, and even smaller in willingness to help at times, but the leaders want to get it done right, and it took until my mission to actually see the sacrifice and 24/7 work put into callings and running a branch down here. The Surprise, Arizona Saints have taught me so much about the church and the work of Salvation! I really admire them. These Saints have such strong faith and diligence here in the Estrella Branch! Brother Hammond ("returning-member") spoke on God's physical nature and the Spirit really hit me; I never really understood the importance of explaining that. That means that we are like God? We have the same physical characteristics as our all-knowing God? How could we compare? It was some interesting thinking.

 

Jennifer and Janet (Jocelyn's sisters) were baptized this weekend! It was very special and it went really well. The Spirit was strong there and at their confirmations. Elderes Jones y Nelson finished up the teaching and did the baptizing. It was a great team (Spirit, Missionaries, family) effort for it to happen. Jocelyn spoke (2 month recent convert) and gave a great talk. Seeing growth; now that is one of the most fun parts of the mission!!!

 

I love you and know you are all doing great things. Mother- Hang in there! You are doing a great work for the family.   Thanks for the mail--in all its forms. I am really feeling the love and support of my family from all over as I enjoy the time here on my mission thank you. PS-Stacey's letter was very very funny. I have loved them all. Does Grandpa know his was the longest? Haha I joke, but really thank you Grandpa-- it was inspiring and informative. Brought the Spirit. I have had some very nice things sent my way. Tell Grandma I have worn the Red and Green Tie she got me 4 or 5 days in the past two weeks! 

 

The Lord is opening up the hearts and preparing millions! Find your place in this great Work of Salvation. Did you know it is not even called missionary work anymore? This is the Lord's great work that is only speeding up because there is a lot to do before it is done. I know it is real because I feel it every day. It is so much bigger than each one of us, but we all play key roles. Families are becoming more united and the cream of the crop is raising to the top! All the Success in baptisms we are seeing are coming because of members' efforts, the hastening, and families being open to the Gospel. This work is so much bigger than Elder Fife and I and everyone else. Find your role however small :) Love you. Merry Christmas.

 

Elder Parry

Staying in Surprise

Dear Family,

 

I will be hanging out with the Surprise buddies for six more weeks! Elder Elliot is getting transferred out of out apartment and Elders Fife and Bangerter are staying. We all kind of guessed it would happen like this so we are doing great. After this transfer it will be nine months for me here, Oh nelly!

 

This week went super great. Going to Mesa was the time of my life! I didn't see any former companions at my conference but it was a really special day. I really enjoyed what Sister Taylor was saying about angels. I got pretty choked up when she talked about guardian angels. Actually, I felt the Spirit really strong as my whole body was tingling then the tingling really converted into a powerful heat. I don't know how to describe it--just that it didn't make me sweat or too hot but it heated up my whole body. Anyway--at that moment I pretty much knew that I have had guardian angels out here--living and past. I know they are all-around me to bear me up. I don't owe it to any specific event other than that moment at conferences and that I just know people are looking out for me on the other side of the veil. It was very special. The Spirit works! The conferences were so awesome. The Mesa Temple was beautiful. The session was really powerful. We got to hug Sister Taylor in the Celestial Room. I felt like we were one big family. I get some major motivation and love kicks whenever I do sessions! I know my Heavenly Father is looking out for me. The Commandments rock. Oh, and I got to drive out to Mesa too! :)

 

The investigators are doing okay. Yesterday Elder Fife and I did splits for the first time so he is getting more opportunities to take the lead. I went with Brother Handley to the Covos. Hermano Covos is a tough man. He wants to know everything before baptism and, like most of the mexican investigators, seems to keep asking questions about stuff we have already taught and repeated. Maybe I am not a great teacher? We read Jacob 4 with him. We were going to teach Word of Wisdom but they just need the BOM in their lives. We both testified of the BOM and the Spirit came strong. It was a good moment to feel the Spirit. That is when I know I am doing my job :) Madai, Genaro, and their 3 kids came to church! Their kids love mutual too! If anything, those kids are keeping the parents coming to church. It is perfect. Hermana Guzman was leaving the chapel and inviting the kids to primary as she went and they jumped and cheered. It was such an OHYEAH moment for us. We had a family night with the Hammond family last night too! They are a couple (RM that went to Peru and Peruvian wife) that started at the Estrella Branch 4 weeks ago. They said they want to be active again and go through the temple. We invited Chilo (invesstigator) to the family night and he brought his brother in law, girlfriend, and two of his kids. It was fantastic. We have been teaching some fun lessons these past few weeks. We taught Hermano Puente's friends on Sunday too! She has come to lots of activities and we shared a Christmas message. We have taught over a dozen Christmas lessons the past week so it has been a lot of fun. People may be busier during the holidays, but the Spirit is touching the hearts of many as they strive to remember the birth of the SAvior. This thursday and Friday we are having two 3-hour tri-ward Christmas parties that are VERY missionary-oriented. We will be singing in Spanish at them and many other things so we are excited. The member-missionary work is really moving forward in the EStrella Branch. The Calendar is serving its purpose. Did I tell you that Jocelyn's two younger sisters will be baptized this Saturday too! I love serving in this branch. I think if I keep saying that though I will serve here all mission! 

 

We had a cool activity in District Meeting this week. We read 2 nephi 31 together and the best way to be able to know how to teach a concept or a principle is to be able to understand it as if you were a 9-year-old. We read it together and all acted like investigators that had never read the BOM before as we went. We all asked basic questions and raised our hands when we didn't understand and taught it to each other. It was a cool experience. Remember that true intelligience is to be able to understand even the most profound of subjects then to break it down so that a nino could understand.

 

All the stuff from home is great. I commend you on the Christmas card. It was very classy. Just wait until I send home my sun-stained clothes! Thank you for all the letters and the packages. I opened the one you sent, and Grandma's too! Christmas in the apartment will be fun. I am sure the new Elder will be fun too. Elder BAngerter has a special assignment with him so it should be a tight-knit group. We will be picking up the other Spanish Elders and Skyping at the Church then bringing them back to play some cards probably. I will probably call between 10 and 2 haha. I will let you know.

 

I am happy things are going well at home. I haven't been homesick for a while so I am happy out here. I miss a lot of stuff at home and occasionally stuff comes into my head, but I am enjoying it out here. It is going too fast to really long for home too much. I miss you all and wish I could be there for all the band-thieving, car-driving, snow-plowing, and church-goeing fun with the whole family. BUt I know I need to be here and I need to be with President Taylor and I need to be serving. I don't feel obligated about any of this either. I feel like I am on vacation from the world but working hard at the same time. I have seen so many connections as I have learned what Heavenly Father has taught me through members, investigators, missionaries, my studies, experiences, areas, my Patriarchal blessing, President Taylor and so many more things. I love it here.

 

Merry Christmas! Love you all very much!

 

Love,

Elder Jacob Parry

SUPER COLD

This week has been great. We had three meetings this week. I love meetings but I think for the first time in my mission I got kind of sick of them! It threw me off a little, but I learned a lot from them and am excited to apply what I learned. In the first one, we did an obedience activity. Everyone filled out a simple obedience evaluation on note cards and turned in the cards anonymously. For one of the questions President asked how many of us had stayed up after 11:00 in the past week. Elder Brothers (standing up for someone else who had filled out a card that he had) was the only one standing. President asked him why he was up--he gave about the best response he could possibly muster. Then President told us that Elder Brothers was actually standing up for someone else in that room who had been disobedient and he tied that in with the Savior. Think of the Savior standing up for us and being accountable for our wrongs. Our Heavenly Father loves us infinitely but he could not provide mercy if it weren't for His Only Begotten's Atonement. What if the Savior wasn't willing to pay the price or if His Father did take the cup from Him? The fact remains, Christ did perform the Atonement, but what can we do to accept it? To show gratitude and see that we haven't added unnecessary weight to His cross when He carried it. It was powerful. President Taylor also cried twice. It was really powerful and the first time I have seen him do that and testify and talk about experiences he's had in His life with a trembling chin. He is the man. 

 

We had a trainer/trainee meeting too. Very useful! the 12-week program is inspired. Zone meeting was the third one. That one was sketchy! I felt very uncomfortable for part of it. The conversation during the accountability portion deviated to a very "number-dominated" discussion. Missionaries said some things that I disagreed with. Openly too! Success numbers  is not a result of obedience. Our areas are not directly blessed by our obedience or faith as missionaries. If this were so then missionaries would go home and only pay their tithing because they know the Lord will help them make ends meet financially every time! Missionaries would go home and keep the Word of Wisdom so they could train to be star athletes! These are extreme examples, but the fact is that obedience and faith DO NOT BRING INVESTIGATORS, LESSONS, OR BAPTISMS. That is what I have learned. Obedience and faith cultivate within you a love for your Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ if you put your Faith in the right things (people) and are obedient for the right reasons! Success as a missionary is based on your COMMITMENT to find, teach, and baptize. I try not to judge unrighteously, but I feel like I see false perspectives on the mission that are going to get people in trouble for after. The meeting helped me to remember to put my faith, hope, love, commitment, obedience, and diligence in the right things. What are our motives? Why are we obedient to the Gospel? Why SHOULD we be? Do we keep the commandments for "blessings" or even actual, heavenly, and deserved blessings, or do we keep them because we are converted and love our Heavenly Father? Sounds like an Alma 5 exam haha.

 

This week... We taught a lesson to a deaf man using the Ipad! It was so LEGIT!!! It was a referral from an investigator of his "inactive/nonmember" family. We knocked (later realizing that we had no idea how he heard us knock on the door; unless he was moved by the Spirit to do so!) and he let us in and sat down with us. We exchanged a conversation together typing on my Ipad. We talked about Heavenly Father; copy and pasting the monthly scripture to the lesson dialogue, asking him questions and receiving answers, and later acting out a bible story (Noah's Ark) with Elder Fife before we left. We had a blast teaching and getting to know Emmanuel. He is a very cool guy. He is a actually already attending church in a deaf ward but he needed a lift that night. Technology rules!

 

Saturday was fantastic! You know why? I went on exchanges to ESTRELLA SUR! It felt good to be back home. I was with Robin (Elder Nelson). We realized that we lived about 100 yards away from each other for one semester at BYU and that he was one of 4 non-Budge3200 guests who came to our hall slip'n'slide! Go figure! Him and I get a long well. We will have a boss companionship when we are together one of these days. Anyway, I probably street contacted more that day than I have all transfer since I was back on bike for the day. It was awesome--and SUPER COLD! Very cold. This week has been cold. Right now it is like 56. cold huh? Haha. I honestly feel used to the heat because it wasn't that hot at the end of the summer (accustomed) and now it is very cold. The area was fun though. Elders Jones and Nelson are doing some great things and the Lord is blessing the people in their area in new and different ways. I saw Clemente at the Ward Christmas Party over the weekend. It was the first time in over a month. I hugged that man so hard! That family is still progressing little by little... Until the perfect day! They will get there. I saw Melina again too. I taught the Valadez family, the Torres, Hermana Jenkins' mother, and some others again. It was fun to be back. The Sun Valley Apartments are good too. They have Wifi. That is the new "must" in the mission: wifi. If you have that, your life is fun. We don't have it in the Reems apartment. The other 2 Elders have been trying to get me to ask all our neighbors for their passwords. No luck. One of the Elders is exactly like Richard haha. I wouldn't say they are openly distracting but they may make things hard to get done at times whether on purpose or on accidente haha. By the way- I am going to get a Skype account. We can have a 40-minute call/conversation on Christmas Day. It can't be any longer though. I don't really know when. I can imagine we will just have a couple dinners on Christmas and nothing else. If there is a time that works best for you, just let me know and we can plan ahead. If not, I will just tell you when we have dinners and we can do it in between, before, or after. Elder Fife (feefay) took over the area on Saturday with Elder Jones (very young). Elder Fife did a very good job! I have a lot of confidence and faith in him. He knows how to do things. I need to let him do things rather than doing things myself. I would like to learn more from him than let him learn from me. Sounds selfish huh? Haha. He is doing well and loves being a missionary. Friday at the party we shared a Christmas thought, us 4 together, to all the members and nonmembers (a lot!) it went very well. Elder Fife is fearless and shared wonderful things. The Branch is still fun as ever. I very very much admire President Aguirre. He is such an example of humility to me. He lets everyone teach him. He takes suggestions from us as missionaries as if we were sent from the Stake President or the General Authorities. God sure was thinking when he put him here in this spot with these people. I really feel like we are all working hard together in the rama Estrella. 

 

Christmas conferences this week! I am soooooooooo pumped. It will be good to get my big behind back in the temple! I have heard nothing but 10 star reviews of the Mesa Temple lights. 1 of 5 temples in the world that does lights! I got both packages so far. They are very nice. I love them. I have opened a couple letters and the package. I know that must've taken a lot of time and thought from a lot of people. Thank you all very much. Last night: I got the Santa Beard from Aunt Sara, the hat and glasses from the package, and sang some old songs off of Matt and Celeste's letter and the other Elders filmed it on the Ipad. Elder Bangerter, who has been out 21 months, said it was the most he had laughed his mission. It was a blast. Things are going well and you don't have to worry! Just keep scolding me so I can stay on track :) Love you all very much. The Church is true.

 

Love, Elder Jacob Parry

Thanksgiving

 

 

Dear Family,

 

The cops getting called was kind of a normal thing for J. and C.  and their family. They were investigating the church for three years and J. was finally baptized two months ago. We are still teaching C.. They could not make it to church yesterday because apparently C. robbed a house so they had to go to court. President bringing the invitations was perfect timing. Just more tools in the calendar tool belt for the members!

 

The Jenkins are crazy! I love them though. They came by on Friday night to give me a "present." It was a picture of them in front of the house. I had seen them like three days earlier so it didn't make sense. Apparently, they wanted to go to Flagstaff to see some snow before the holiday then come back. They decided to drive north up to Utah. So they went to Temple Square--no lights, and looked up my address in the white pages--no family. They took a picture and left haha. I asked if they said the same creepy things to all of you that they say to me and they said no because they don't want you to know what they're all about! I said that you wouldn't care haha. They are great.

 

Thanksgiving was fantastic. Kind of hectic and busy--but it was nice. We had dinner with the Matas, Sanchez family, and the Covos family. We had lots and lots of meat and food at both places. I overate big time but it was fun to be with everybody. It was kind of a dinner tour because we took the other Elders with us. We did weekly planning and studies in the morning then we played phase10 for a couple hours at night. The other Elders are so funny so it was great. One leaves this transfer so I will miss him. He is obsessed with baseball and is going to play college when he gets home and he came out to the field with me so we are good friends. He is the one eating the Donut haha. We had two turkey leftover dinners the next day too. EL DIA DE PAVO!

 

The Area is doing fantastic. I still feel like we don't have our feet completely under us, but we are trying to work effectively. We are getting a lot of member help and a lot of member excitement for the holidays, calendar, and other things. I have handed out a few BAM ties in the branch and people keep asking for them but they can't have them yet until they do something missionary! --Thanks Sister Perkins!!--We were expecting four families at church yesterday. The Covos couldn't come, among their friends (two of the other families)-- but Alejandra came and brought her two kids. She loved it. Her kids loved it too. We gave them copies of the Book of Mormon including a kids' copy before they left. They will be baptized soon!

 

I might send more. I will see. Today is busy and trying to send pictures with the Ipad is a pain lol

Christmas Project for the Branch

Dear FAmily, Lots to tell you this week!

 

I got a note from Becky and Ryan! It was totally cool. It made me laugh. I missed them, but it is crazy how close we can be at times!

 

We deployed our Christmas Branch project yesterday! It went seamlessly well. I will try to send you a copy, either in English or Spanish when I get the chance. It is sooooo cool. Elders Fife, Nelson, Jones, and I came up with it. It is a calendar with a little thing to do every day starting the day after Thanksgiving and ending the Sunday after Christmas. It is packed with little things to do daily to build faith in Missionary work, the Savior, and the Church. We put the calendar in a packet and included an explanation page, pamphlets to read and hand out, BAM stickers, pictures of Christ, invitations for the Christmas activities coming up, conference talks, and a bunch of other stuff I am forgetting haha. It was so fun to do. Yesterday morning I was writing every member family's name on the 50 folders. I remembered them all and we didn't miss anyone's name. I have been here too long haha.. Yesterday morning when we were presenting them in Ward Council, President Aguirre read the introduction that he had profread the night before and he started crying when he read "we testify as representatives of Jesus Christ" because he knew what our calling meant. He said that he could not put Christ's name in his direct title like we could. So he endorsed our project very enthusiastically and reverently. The Spirit was very strong in the room for me when he spoke. The Branch seems really excited. It is all set up for them. Luz and Ignacio brought a friend to church yesterday. Hermano P. brought his friend for the third week in a row. The C. family came again and participated in both the Tithing and the WOW lesson. The C. family's friends from working at Sonic came too. We called the Giles Family's friend, Alejandra, and she said she wants to come to church every Sunday and bring her kids and have them go to class and mutual weekly too. She was sick otherwise we would've seen her too. Things are really falling into place. The goal of these folders is to have every member bring a friend to church before Christmas this season. The Elder Ballard challenge. It is going to happen. Did I mention church was fantastic? Aside from handing out 50 missionary packets and a dozen nonmembers coming Hermana Guzman wanted the missionaries to sing in the choir. It was fantastic. I love singing. I wish I were better! Ether 12:27. It was a program so we sang the whole time. This branch is really putting missionaries on a pedestal. Sometimes it is just too much because we are not that special but I have really grown to know what members, especially converts, think about missionaries. For them, missionaries are the first impression for their life-changing conversions. We bore our testimonies at the stand to end the program. Elder Fife spoke from his heart and bore a soft, powerful, well-spanish-said testimony. It was cool. The Spirit was strong during the program.

 

The holidays are going to be fun! We have dinner with the Castros at 4 then with the Matas at 5:00. We are excited. We will go to those dinners then come home and play cards with our roommates! We are looking forward to it all. We just got an email from President Taylor: We are going to see the Mesa lights and doing a session at the temple on the 13th of December. I am so excited. I miss the temple. We are going as 1/3 of the mission, however, none of my past three companions are scheduled with me! Boo. AND..... We are doing Skype for Xmas!! it will still be a 40 minute call so remember that. We can do facetime too I guess. Through facebook or the ipad or something. Well, we will just plan ahead on that. Thanks for all the stuff you have been sending me. It is all useful and nice. Last P-day I ate almost all the chocolate Grandma and Grandpa gave me while we played Phase 10. It was delicious. I used Joyce's money to buy some In 'n Out too! Today after emailing, us four Elders are going to play racquetball with the Jenkins! I am excited.

 

There is a new focus. I am not sure if it is just for the mission or for what the church will start doing everywhere. We got a new "key indicator," or, statistic, this week: Lessons taught to members. So we are going around scheduling visits with members and teaching them lessons from PMG. Elder Perry skyped President Taylor and others a few weeks ago and said that missionaries should be teaching 20 lessons a week. So that is the goal. Our district has the goal to teach 80 lessons this week so we are excited! Lots of work to do. The investigator scene looks good. The Cobos are feeding us three times a week and we have lessons three times a week too. I almost forgot!!! We had a lesson with them on Friday. Mario, Glenda, and Cassandra came. They hadn't read in the LdM so we opened up 3 Nefi 11. WOW. It was a good pick. The Spirit bore powerful witness to everyone, Sanchez family included, missionaries too, of the Book of Mormon. Celia, who is a very serious person, read on while we talked and said the book was very pretty. Hansel, 20 year old guy, got teary-eyed. I was like WHAT THE? But the Spirit was strong so it was no surprise. Madai brought her two kids to church and they seemed to like it. We are finding some new people here and there. Elder Fife and I are working hard and getting rewarded for our obedience (not that new investigators is a reward to us).

 

Elder Fife is still #1 priority. I am working on being more of a sacrifice to him. I need to sacrifice time spent for members, investigators, missionary roommate, my self, my own thoughts and desires, and other things and give of myself freely to him. The immersion is going great because he is learning a lot. I am still working on trusting him too; letting him take the lead in things and believeing in him. It is funny, he does a few, typical new -missionary things. Stuff that I did and that anyone does. He falls asleep at random times and he's just fun to be along with as he gets used to missionary life. He is doing very well and doesn't have any problems unless he is hiding them very well from me. I pray for him every night and strive to help him be the best missionary in the APM! Well I probably forgot the other half of what I wanted to tell you. I'll try to do better next week LOL. PS-Richard and I were wondering if you could call the Roof and make a reservation for when we get back.

 

Love, Elder Parry

Elder Teh

Hello Family,

 

Elder Teh and the mission tour was awesome! I learned so much. He broke down the story of Ammon for all of us. I had never thought before that turning down the marriage of the King's daughter would most definitely mean death, but King Lamoni spared him!Also- Ammon could've said yes to Marraige, and remained on his mission, but come home to a mansion every night! It is all different when you put it through the good-better-best filter and beside that- Ammon was converted. How converted are we to our own personal life missions? What would it take to pull us of course for even a little bit? Are we willing to stay the course? He also talked about staying out of the "current." A lot of good missionaries/Latter-Day Saints ride the current. It just kind of takes you where it goes, and we let it take us sometimes! If we are not actively changing and improving than we are falling into the current! There is no such thing as the plateau. It is much easier to lose spiritual knowledge than it is to gain it. The way to gain it is through experience! I have learned that out here. Studying is important but we have to apply and do. That is why I love our Mission Statement: "We love and live the Book of Mormon!" I took that to heart last week and made a BOM application journal. I am reading a random chapter at a time and then writing an application page of the chapter. I have 11 chapters done! I hope to finish before the mission ends (it is sneaking up on me! Haha). Elder Teh was a really neat person. He was a very sweet and spiritual guy. It was a pleasure to learn from him. By the way- the day you will be flying out I will be in a meeting with all the Spanish missionaries in the mission to talk about all our #Hispanicprobs--that will be fun. Did I tell you that Elder Cardoso got sent to Flagstaff and he got switched over to English-speaking? It will be more great growth for him,. Anyways, probably won't see him soon haha. The weather is great here but for some reason it is still really warm some days. I feel like Winter won't really come until January then it will be back to the heat I miss! Bike was such a blast. It used to be so that Sisters weren't on bike in the valley (at least in our mission), but so many are coming in that some are going straight into bike areas. I bet Katelyn is excited for the Gilbert temple! Biggest temple in 17 years!

 

We taught the C. family a little bit more this week. We had a little setback when Hermana C. said that she didn't like the church service. Hermano sure comforted us though! He said that she just needs to come on time next time and be more involved in the classes. The only person I can compare Silvio C. to is Mario. They are like twins. Silvio is so excited and so into everything Mormon now. Just like Mario! He loves us and everything we teach him so he wants us over every Monday Wednesday and Saturday night! Tonight we are going over with Mario and Glenda S. and Silvio and Celia are making sure all their three kids and son-in-law will be there. Full house Pressure is on! I love teaching under pressure! I feel the Spirit stronger that way. They are awesome. We taught the Plan of Salvation and Temple Marriage to them last week and the 20-year-old son got SO EXCITED when we talked about the Open houses coming up. It was cool! I wasn't expecting it. They will be going. We hope to have a baptismal date for hopefully 4 or all 5 of them soon. We had dinner with them yesterday. Baby Shower. Here on my mission when Non-member mexicans have parties and invite lots of friends and family and the missionaries and make lots of food and meat it means... Contacting!!! Food is the best way to these people's hearts at times so I just eat lots of food and get to know people and then offer to have a prayer with their families. We got three families' contact info yesterday there! It was key. Silvio was talking us up to all his friends and family. He is basically Mormon.

 

Elder Fife is doing great. I have realized that every missionary is different and that--even though we have great things like the Adjusting to MissionaryLife booklet, the 12-week Program, and PMG--each missionary needs to be TRAINED differently too. I decided this week, as a trainer, that the best way for Elder Fife to be trained is by immersion! It is exactly what Elder Pollmeier did for me and it turned out to be exactly what I needed. Elder Fife knows a lot and he has the willingness to learn, change, and do his best. I am working on helping him to learn from his own actions and experiences. He has a lot of faith and excitement. I want him to be able to learn from himself. I believe that will make him the best missionary he can possibly be. I am doing a lot less teaching and a lot more pushing him into situations. Or, giving him opportunities to act and take the lead. So I am pulling out the famed Pollmeier question; "I don't know, what do you think?" and "Sure, I will support you (in response to questions of 'should I' or 'can I')." I think it is helping us both! I will not let him get into embarassing or disobedient situations and I can lead and step in of course but I think this is the best learning. Through it I am learning patience, humility and trust in my companion. That is exactly what I need! I am working on being fine with his decisions and ideas and not so set on my own. Can somebody say marriage prep!? Speaking of that, I have seen a lot of parallels between the mission and life since I have come out here. Side note- I don't think there is any other Mission President in the world that is so focused on our personal conversion and what we can be capable of doing after the mission rather than all the 'success' we are acheiving on the mission than PResident Taylor. He is the best of the best. Ask President Eyring how good he is! (I bet he says best of the best). The connections though: I see them daily! The other day I thought of everything that needed to be done out of the 5 or 6 responsibilites/stewardships I had and wondered why I couldn't just do what I wanted and do my best at it and not sign up for all the challenges and responsilbities I have. Then I relaized that I didn't sign up for any of it myself, it was given by the Lord, and that this is probably exactly how Dad, Mom, and Saints everywhere feel all the time! the missionary life is the new normal rest of the life!

 

Are you helping people get Mormon.org profiles? You didn't need to launch any campaign in doing it, but if people ask or are looking for something to do, encourage them to make theirs! Has the family made those profiles? They are fun and easy to make. Do it for FHE the Monday you get back from Hawaii! Or take a 3 hour break from the pool and beach to do it in the Hotel room hahaha just kidding. But try it!

 

Life is treating me well! We are having a lot of fun in Surprise and Elders Jones, Fife, and Nelson, and I came up with a HUGE idea for the holidays for the Branch. It will be big. We have high expectations and a whole lot of faith. We are so pumped. At least I am haha. We will be preparing it all this week so that each member has it this Sunday. I will tell you what it is and how it goes next week :)

 

Thanks for the bag and keyboard! I understand that those are pretty expensive and took great sacrifices from you but I want you to know that they will be very useful for the 14 months I have left and more time even after the mission (what if we keep the Ipads!?) They are really great so thank you. The keyboard draws much envy too. Eso no es bueno. But I like it a lot thanks. I am doing great and don't think I need anything else right now. Three dinners set up so far for Thanksgiving so don't worry about Elder Parry (Jake)!

 

Love, Elder Parry

Estrella Norte

So I can start with the update of how things went and how they are going. Elder Dodd went off to Glendale and Elder Miller went up to Prescott (burr). Elder Jones (Elder Miller's trainee) stayed in the branch and went down to the South (my old area). His new companion is Elder Nelson from New York. He is a stud and looks EXACTLY like Joseph Gordan Leavitt so we get a kick out of that. Elder Fife is indeed my new companion and he is great (I will talk about him more)! I went up to the North where Elder Miller was. He was here six transfers and I am on my sixth. If I stay two more transfers here to fully train Elder Fife (likely) then I will be Surprise King! Haha. Essentially, both companionships doubled into the areas and Elder Jones and I straight-up switched investigators. I am in a car and worry about my weight more than ever haha. I pass the Rangers stadium everytime I go to the church. It looks really fancy. I can't wait to come back and watch games there! We are staying with two other Elders. They are really fun and great missionaries; Elders Bangerter and Elliot. Elder Elliot wants to play pro baseball so he is fun/interesting to talk to. Elder Bangerter went to Bingham. It is a different culture than staying alone. Some days I miss Sun Valley apartments, so it will take some getting used to.

We had a Thanksgiving party on Friday. Lots of Mexican food again. It was good. AND.. five members invited their friends! There were like four nonmember families there!! It was fantastic. We had some great opportunities to help the newcomers understand that we also worship and learn about the Gospel here rather then just eat food and dance. The members are really catching fire I think. The past two weeks here have been something special. There is a huge multi-ward community Christmas party coming up in a few weeks and everyone was challenged to bring a friend to it. That will be exciting. We talked to President Aguirre for a bit yesterday and he was really excited and hopeful about the future. Everyone is doing well in the Branch. We met our first investigators in the area on Friday! The C. family came to the party, futbol the next day, and church the day after. They loved all of it. All four of them came to church and they were SWALLOWED up by the branch. They learned a lot and met everyone. Mario, Hermano Covarubbias, Hermano Soriano, and many others were great friends to them. Ignacio got a calling which was cool and the Sanchez family are new ward missionaries! Other than the C. family we don't really know any of our people. We are kind of blind here (Deja Vu) with the exception of me knowing the members and some investigators and the directions in driving. I miss my bike too haha. Things are going well too. We are starting up all the work together. It is kind of frustrating though. The other Elders are doing the same thing. All the investigators that I had 2-3-4-5 month tabs on are kind of getting shuffled around as the other Elders are getting their feet under them. Maybe the same is happening here. Well, we are doing our best. I trust President and the Spirit in this decision. I am excited.

 

Elder Fife is a great missionary. I am sponging off of his faith, energy, excitement, and obedience. I already have figured out several reasons why I was paired with him and for what I will get to experience and learn. Hopefully I don't selfishly do all the learning and he gets the chance to learn a little from me too. We are working hard together. I have been working on being positive this week. It would be easy to throw my hands in the air and say how negative everything is going and all the hard things that are happening to us. But how horrible would it be if that was his first impression of missionary work? I want him to have fun and enjoy this as we are exploring this new transfer together! We have a few leads in what we can do, so we will build off those and keep getting our feet under us together and if the Lord blesses Estrella Norte like he did with the Sur in the seven months I was there, then I am in for some more fun!

 

Online work is going great too. We are getting our ancient area books digitilized, which is boring and long, but we are finding a lot of people we can visit! It is pretty neat. Facebook is good too. So I think the Spirit has been telling me something this week; MP5 members keep popping up in my suggested friends list. It is happening consistently all of a sudden. So I keep adding them and adding them to the group thing so hopefully people can keep getting excited! Motivation is key. We need to motivate each other to be missionaries. That way obligation isn't involved. I was meaning to ask you--we still do email at the library but even messaging on the ipads for Facebook can get long--could you send a keyboard sometime when you get the chance? It would be a great help and I can pay you back when I get a job haha. Also- can you look for deals on sidebags or see if you find a nice black one for like $20? I am starting to feel left out with everyone getting one and now that I am off bike, backpacks don't have much use. 

 

Suggestion--If anyone asks about online missionary work. My NUMBER ONE suggestion is MORMON.ORG PROFILE! Everyone: get them! Take 25 minutes to make one and use it. It helps make Mormons look normal to those who don't think they are normal and it can really help people see real-life applications of the Gospel. They are so great and I have already used mine a few times online. They are invaluable tools for sharing the Gospel with friends, and even random people too. Family: I commit you all to taking some time this week to make the profiles. They will bless and strengthen your testimony as you realize all that you believe and know to be true and they will bless the lives of many others the Lord is working on preparing right now. Every Mormon should have one.

 

It has been fun! Can you believe how close to coming home I am!?

 

Love, Elder Parry

Going On Nine Months in the Same Ward

 

Dear Family:

 

So today has already been super wild. For the third time in a row for me, somewhere along the communication lines the information of my transfer status gets mixed up!! Elder Dodd packed, then unpacked, and we were just told that he should pack. It sounds like he will be going. As for ME: I got the training call on Saturday! It is going to be crazy to turn around and do it again. I am super excited to meet the new Elder and begin it all over again because I loved the last 12 weeks! I am excited to grow even more for this time that I have ahead of me. I have been praying for the new missionary the past few days--I know we will have a great time and do work. Currently, I am packing my clothes, but will be staying in the zone. Or in other words, I am moving apartments to the Estrella NORTH area. Elder Miller is getting transferred and his companion is going to Estrella Sur. Basically, we are both going into new areas [Elder Jones and I (Estrella North and Estrella South)] with new companions, but in the same Estrella Branch we have been serving in. So we are both "shotgunning"-- as some would call it--areas that didn't need to be, but will be because of the direction of the Spirit! I will be in car with my trainee and Elder Jones will be in the area where I have been for seven months with his new companion on bike. We are excited! Confused too. I have full faith and confidence in President Taylor and in the Spirit. I have no problems at all. I guessed--though am not disappointed--that I would be leaving for another part. But I have learned that things are very unpredictable. There are a lot of unique logistics that President Taylor is dealing with. He has a surplus of Spanish Missionaries, and of missionaries in general, so his mind is probably as mixed up as this information that is not really getting to us haha. I have all trust in him though. I guess we will find out for sure tomorrow everything, but this is looking to be what will turn out! I'm pumped.

 

The rest of the week was good. Very good. Halloween day the Surprise Zone was digitilized! We had a four hour meeting about the new crazy iPad minis we got. This is so different. It is so so different. It will take getting used to. Man I don't know where to start!!! Supposedly, those who have them now who aren't going home for a relatively long time (like me) can take them home at the end of the mission. The missionaries before us turn them back in and the ones behind us and here on out will need to buy them upon receiving a mission call. Supposedly. All in all, we are doing Facebook in the apartments, basically anytime in the day and we are planning our days and reporting lessons and weekly key indicators in the iPad. The perks are outstanding! I have been watching 2-3 conference talks a day!! This week--this is funny--I practiced language study for a half hour talking to Siri in Spanish hahaha. It was great. The Gospel Library has EVERYTHING in it for both languages. So I use that for a lot of things. I plan to kick against the pricks for as long as I can in a few aspects- I will still be writing notes in my notebook for meetings, I CANNOT STAND pulling that out to get someone's information on the street or in their homes so I will be carrying around a planner to do that, and I need to use real scriptures and mark them. I am not ready to move on there. I read PMG with the iPad and do all sorts of cool things on it. It is crazy. They are the newest technology. The church is trusting us with quite a bit here. The Hastening continues!!!

 

Yesterday- I had one of the most powerful spiritual experiences of my mission. I may have said it a lot haha; they just keep building off each other. I went to the Mission office in Glendale after the trainer meeting with Elders Miller, Davies, Hancock, and Mason [By the way, I had a blast with them all yesterday. They are all fun and great elders and Elder Davies was my first zone leader (The one who reminds me exactly of Butters) and we talked and had a good time!] and I realized that Elder Dodd and I needed English BOMs. I grabbed two and left with the crew. As Elder Dodd and I were getting ready to leave I threw one in my backpack. For the FIRST TIME in over two transfers I was carrying an English copy of the BOM in my backpack. We stopped by an English street contact and he was finally home. He had questions so we wanted to stop by to answer some before we passed him off to the sisters. He had questions about the "new scriptures" that we have. We caught him on day five of his 10-day fast and we taught him the whole restoration! Seamlessly!!! It was spectacular. He is a religious studier so he knew exactly what happened during the time of the apostasy and all that. He committed himself to reading the introduction and praying about the BOM. He has ALL the signs of being prepared by the Lord. He is good to go. He is honestly and might I add diligently seeking the truth. He is actively seeking it and ready to accept it. He will get an answer. No doubt. The craziest part was the Spirit that hit Elder Dodd and me. I could never for as long as I live deny the Spirit that we felt (at the exact same moment too). And I have always wanted to feel it strong like that. And I did! After we finished up apostasy as I introduced the Joseph Smith story; immediately the spirit hit me. It started in my brow and moved into my whole body. I hadn't really said much. But it got stronger as we got farther into the story. Elder Dodd felt it too. We felt the exact Spirit when I said to Rex that the reason we have the Book of Mormon is because God knew what would happen to the Bible and He knew He would need to bring us the Gospel to us in its fullness. That is the bottom line. So it hit us again there! I know that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ. Therefore, I believe EVERYTHING that has stemmed from that Spring Morning. I know the Book of Mormon was given to us to clear up a lot of confusion that the world is dealing with. If I ever denied the testimony that I have which was strengthened so powerfully yesterday that would be, to me, denying the Holy Ghost. For me, that is how real that was and how real and foundationed my testimony is. It stops just short of a knowledge for me. We went back and got the other English Book of Mormon and gave it to Jocelyn's sister who wants to read it. It was a solid day of going 2-for-2 on the office BOMs :)

 

I will try to think of what else happened this week.... The iPads are wild. They are frustrating and I am trying to get used to them. I am leaving my 7-month Sun Valley apartments :( That place is my second home behind Bountiful! I am super excited to train and looking forward to the new challenge and plan to work harder with this fella. I have had very very fruitful studies this past week. I started a Book Of Mormon application journal so I am learning so much more about why Mormon writes this things for us today. Who would've known you could apply the first two chapters of Helaman to today! Give it a try, interesting stuff. My mind is all over the place--try to remember more next week!

Love, Elder Parry

PS  We have the Mission tour next week so I am pumped for that Elder Teh of the General Authorities will be here. We get to go to a session at the Mesa Temple in about a month too!! Sounds like home is going great. I can only imagine how fun the day was for Mom by herself in CA :) Go Red Sox!!

They Just Kept On Coming In!

Dear Family,

 

So my mail is going to make it to Disneyland this week! Muy bien. I think that is closer to me than Bountiful. Did I tell you that the road I jog to in the mornings stretches all the way to Las Vegas! It has been the route for over six months. Change or no change, I am super excited for whatever is in store for me. There are pros and cons to leaving and going and--POR SI LAS MOSCAS--I have some fun things set up this week with friends in the area. Four dinners with some great people :) what can that hurt? I love it here and will miss it whenever I leave. I guess you will be hearing from me on Tuesday what happens!

 

This week was probably the quickest week of the whole mission. No clue why--maybe all the weeks here on out will be like that. It was a fantastic week. It started off slow but really picked up. Facebook was kind of slow. Thanks for the pick-up in the email, that was nice. I just feel like nothing ever gets through on there. Nothing. I absolutely loathe the newsfeed and other stuff that crosses my gaze. It is nothing like knocking on a door without knowing who is on the other side. Not as fun and rewarding. I also think I have that a lot more figured out than the Facebook garbage. I am trying hard and thinking hard and following the Spirit. We see a few small miracles every now and then on FB that keep us going in our companionship. It is just another phase of the work that we need to adapt to and apply the principles we already know to be useful. Nothing really happened at the beginning of the week and I kind of don't remember anything before yesterday because that was the craziest Sunday of the mission. It tops the one two weeks ago by a lot! I will give the beginning of the week a try though--We had dinner with the J. Family. Hermano J. still has a beard and hasn't left his house for about a month. We had homemade pizza and joked around a little like times of old. He says the peppermint oil feels good on his head and that he goes back to work soon. We talked to President Aguirre for an hour and a half on Wednesday. He has the drive, sacrifice, responsibilities, and expectations that any missionary would have it's just that he has a normal life, family, and work. So that makes him super amazing. He is very humble and a very outward person. He sacrifices countless hours a week to strengthen the members of the ward and take many repsonsibilities for himself. We talked about strengthening members so that they can be better missionaries and we agreed to a plan. We are going to teach a few active members every now and then and really help with their conversion and sacrifice so they help with the effort. It was a great plan. Friday we had three great lessons--Jose P., Jose H., and the R. family. Great member help too. When we invite them and they come out, I feel so backed up in lessons. The Spirit they bring is so genuine and simple too. It feels good. I wish I knew how people felt about the two 19-year-old awkward dudes and what they feel with them haha. Jose H. told us he had two dreams this week- One really bad and the other really good. There are countless posibilities. We are going back Tuesday to figure out what they were! That man is so close! Saturday we had a fantastic lesson! We went over to Cezar's house for Homemade chilean fish tacos and a lesson with the S. family. The C. family was there too so it was a really nice member packed night. Very necessary too-- for the retention and recent convert effort. We read from section 138 and talked about baptisms for the dead. I bore testimony about how I know that there are soldiers in the army on the other side of the veil preparing our ancestors and friends for the Gospel that they cannot embrace without our help. I shared a little about cousin Monte and about how him passing has really strengthened my testimony that there are people up there that need, want, and accept the Restored Gospel. Hermano C. felt 'chastened' so he committed to going through the temple with names and taking the S. family with him too by Christmas. It was a lovely night. Sunday was wild! I experienced the most investigators at church (aside from the first week in July when it was two areas in one) in my mission. They just KEPT ON COMING IN. Clemente stayed all three hours for the first time since I have been here. Jose came and heard a lesson on fasting and a talk on Patriarchal blessings which was perfect. The G. family keeps on coming and participating in everything. Jocelyn loves the classes and always participates. The S. family is still soaking in all learning. Jose P. finally came!!!! He is the wallet guy and we have been inviting him for a month but he came and 8 or 9 members talked with him after the meeting. Cristina C. finally started coming again. Gospel Principles was packed and everybody was listening and commenting. That has been one of the most fun parts about my mission so far. I love being around everyone when they are learning. All these new members and investigators with their questions and insights. And of course, Hermanos Zayas, Covarubbias, Miranda, and Cervantes were all in the class so they all used their high priest wisdom to help teach haha. It is just so fun for me to hear people ask simple questions that I have taken for granted my whole life. All these people want to learn and are so open to what is being taught about the Gospel every week. That is why I love Sundays and that is why I love lessons during the week--especially when members come out. As it says in D and C (50?)- we are all edified by the spirit and rejoice together. That is how I feel in these learning environments. It is so fun for me. It is also very different being one of the people who knows the most about the Gospel in a room. Most being returning members, recent converts, and investigators, I get to answer questions simply and the Spirit helps carry my answers, just as much as anyone else's, to the hearts of those that learn--which is all of us. Just to toot my own horn, in Gospel principles I said a few things that made everyone else laugh-- I said that I like to fast for certain people and think about them during the day because, if i didn't, I would be thinking about food all day which, for those of you who know me, know that I really love food. Haha. And I asked President Miranda if we could have certificates of graduation when we finish Gospel Principles.  Everyone laughed and agreed we should. I think he seriously might do that one haha.

Did you see the dates release for the Gilbert temple? Stake President Allen said that with these dates we can fully expect Phoenix temple dates to come out soon. It should open before President and Sister Taylor leave!

 

I learned something cool in my personal study this morning. I ordered the Book of Mormon Liahona--which I highly recommend!--and was reading what all the prophets have said about the Book. It includes President Benson's famous talk on the keystone. I was impressed by the great amount of application the prophets and normal people have made from the book to life itself. It honestly was written for our day and our time. It wasn't written for the lamanites or nephites to read it later down the line. It is for us. All the prophets who wrote it said they did it for us. There is so much to be applied. I absolutely love this book and am fascinated by everything that happens in it but I realized I can do better at applying it. That is the difference between conversion and testimony. I now begin to deepen my conversion by making that book applicable to me. In there we can read how people can prepare for the coming of the Savior, how to deal with pride(as if there wasn't enough of that in the book), how to give and accept correction, how to repent, what to repent for, what good advice would be to give to a son or receive from a parent, and, of course, anything Mormon or Moroni say is just rad.

 

At our last trainer/trainee meeting I realized something. The past transfer I felt like I have really had things figured out in the area. With contacts, investigators, and members. This has kind of made me run too fast and think less about Elder Dodd. I am thinking hard core 24/7 about the people in the area and just kind of accepting Elder Dodd to follow, understand everything, and agree with everything. That is not okay! I have repented and committed to including him more on everything, letting him decide, and paying more attention to his wants and needs. Together, we need to forget ourselves and invest ourselves in Estrella Sur, but my responisilbity as his companion is to help him to be the best missionary he can be and I can do a better job at that from here on out. He is a great Elder and I believe we have both learned a lot from each other. We are very tired at nights because we are biking and working A LOT. Dad- Remember that two weeks we had in Europe and how we felt at the end of each day? I bet that is how you felt on your mission too. I am so exhausted, and I just roll out of bed ready to go. It is nice.

 

Love you all. Elder Parry

 

PS  The Series sounds intense. I get goosebumps jsut reading about the play and everything that is happening. I have noticed people talking about Big Papi every now and then and all the work he is doing as an old man. That is a big deal to hear among the Mexicans!

All Weeks are Great

This week was great. All weeks are great. They are just kind of moving along now. One by one. I am working hard not to fall into any bad rhythyms or slumps. I am taking things one day at a time and putting 100% in every little thing I have going.

 

Yesterday was the Primary Program. It was actually really spiritual and special to me. I enjoyed listening to good singing and basic doctrines of the Gospel explained by primary kids. That is how it all should be! We need to focus on families, our roles as children of God, and our love for the Savior. No mas. It was a very spiritual meeting with some awesome testimonies at the end as well. A lot of members got emotional. I felt the Spirit the strongest I had in weeks when the whole congregation stood up to sing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives!" It was very powerful. I just kind of sang and scanned the chapel every now and then to look at all the members who I admire and really trust. There are a lot of great people in this branch and a lot of people that are just flat-out awesome.  I came to a realization that we are all sons and daughters of God (I know, I am a little slow). Members, non-members, less-actives, yada yada. It really doesn't matter if other people aren't doing what I may think they should be doing. That is selfish and judgmental of me. Everyone is trying their hardest and we are ALL children of our Heavenly Father and we ALL need help, nurturing, love, attention, and the Gospel. I felt an outpouring of love from the Spirit in that Chapel and an outpouring of love for all the members in there. I just want to love everyone! Life is easier that way. Hermano J. said to us last week that wouldn't life just be so much easier and better if people went around saying nice things about others or pointing out something good about them? Asi es la lucha de la vida!

 

The S. family is doing great. I have always thought how cool it would've been for me to be one of the two first missionaries there praying with him when he felt the Spirit move up his arms to his chest but it certainly has been a giant blessing to be a part of there lives for the six months after baptism. They are so much fun. We stop by just to talk about church things a lot and they love learning about anything. I taught them a little about the Abrahamic Covenant yesterday because they asked. We gave a kids' BOM to Cassandra for her to give to her neighbor and she gave it. Mario and Glenda taught the second hour at church. They are not very outgoing so they were nervous but they asked me a lot of questions and invited all to participate and it went super well. They are so awesome. We also taught Jocelyn another lesson on temples. She wants to get married there one day and be able to go inside soon. All things are in the right direction for both of them! It has been nice to focus on recent convert work as of late. Real-growth is the best part of teaching!

 

Recently I have found myself with less motivation than what my normal levels usually are. It may be because of all this talk of 'changing' within the mission and without haha. I am working on just living and working now. Yesterday I decided that I just need to work. I don't really think breaks are for me. That is just how I am. I work better without them. So when I find myself having a tough time starting something, I will just try harder and push myself harder to doing it and then I will start enjoying it :) Don't worry- I am not pushing muself too hard. I love working :) But the thought of transfers has crossed my mind. I love the Rama Estrella and I feel emotionally connected with it after being here 6+ months!  It's not worth anticipating anything though- I could be here until Sam's birthday, or until my MTC-entrance date!

 

Love you family!

Elder Parry

Jocelyn is Baptized!

I do not know where to begin this week!!!!!!! I guess the Red Sox winning like that was super cool. I wish I could say I thought about them yesterday but not really because yesterday was the craziest and best Sunday of my mission! The Red Sox winning does add on to yesterday!

 

Interviews. Not going to lie, these kind of stressed me out. Me, and the other three Estrella Elders kind of released some of our frustration about it. A little bit in the meeting, but mostly just after on our way to dinner and correlation meeting. I will be blunt--I am pretty tired of hearing "white-people" problems (This is what we have called people serving in English wards--maybe you want to edit that before posting it). People serving in Spanish could complain so much but there's no point to that because it doesn't help, build or faith, and no one wants to hear it. We talked a lot about member/missionary coordination and frankly, there are just a lot of extra things we have to work through such as a ward full of new converts to the church, sharing members, working more in unity as missionaries, and just expectations of each other and understanding roles of callings and assignments and all that in general. Plus just a new culture in general. I have felt worlds apart from 90% of the missionaries in the mission my whole mission but it was just kind of amplified this week. We even felt really separated from President and Sister Taylor at interviews. Us four Elders talked about it Wednesday and Elder Dodd and I even talked to three guys in the branch presidency of some of our branch frustrations and they are all in full support. We decided as missionaries to apply what the Prophets and apostles do at conference! It was a genius idea! They are full of love; yes. But they really know how to use directness and boldness to get people motivated. They focused in several talks on fulfilling priesthood duties. They did it so tactfully. We have decided to be a little more up front of what we can use help with, what the prophet has asked us to do, and what we know to be our responsibilites so it is not just a branch presidency and four missionaries trying to run things. That's it for my rant. I love how things are going. I am doing my best and seeing miracles I wouldn't want to compare to miracles happening anywhere else.

 

A good thing is that the Church came out with a "dealing with stress" book for incoming missionaries! Truth is that it works for all missionaries and is so genius that it can be applied to anything in life that gives us stress. It is actually brilliant. The Church is making some big missionary strides with the 12-week program, other resources, and now this. We have been studying and reading it and it is pretty neat. It has honestly helped me with some stress I have had. I haven't been overly-stressed or experienced anything I can't handle however I have felt more stressed than normal the past couple weeks. I don't really know why; I think my best explanation is that I feel like a "high-risk" person. The way for me to describe that is this: I feel like I have so many things going in so many different places at so many different times and that my perfectionist brain wants it all to happen! Does that sound familiar? I still have A LOT to learn when it comes to working as a team and in a companionship. I have felt like kind of a lone ranger on the mission and I need to be more of a follower and an agree-er if things are going to go great. Anyway, "high-risk" has its ups. I feel like we are getting so much done. Some days I feel like a machine and we just keep hitting successes with planning, coordinating, and working. This is not how Elder Dodd works haha. I have needed to call myself to repentance several times. I have learned a lot about patience and humility as we work together. He is more effective if we have lunch and dinner breaks and if we relax when necessary. Overall, things are going really well and we are planning and executing things right and following the Spirit, however, sometimes we just need to check our "dashboard" as the booklet says, in order to see when we need to get fuel or check the vitals.

 

I have learned a lot more about faith as it pertains to diligence. In the Gospel according to Jake Parry I think Faith can be replaced with diligence at times, and if not replaced than at least overshadowed. Of course, faith has to be there first before work is put forth or miracles and goals are acheived. However, work work work do do do is so much more important than any planning, faith-studying, positive attitude, or wishing. Granted, those things are important too, and working effectively is different than just going out and working like dogs. But I feel like all your spare time, all your doubts, and everywhere that you lack in faith can just be replaced by WORK. Some days I feel like a machine, but it feels so good because it is all about working hard. That is how faith is put into action. To me, that is faith, period. If you really do believe something can, should, and will happen then you are going to stop thinking about it and do everything you possibly can to make it happen. Faith can play a little more of a role when we have to pray/hope for a little divine intervention and grace to do the rest. This has helped me to understand faith. With whatever you want to have faith in, see what you can do to change it or make it happen. Then go and do it. Something I learned.   

 

We had a baptism on Saturday! It wasn't without its rocky moments, but it was a special experience for Jocelyn and that was 100% the reason why we even put forth any effort. Not many came, which was perfect for her, just enough. She asked me to baptize her. I wasn't all for that one but I guess if that is what she wanted. It all went well though. (I forgot extra clothes to change into and a towel so I was a little wet even after my paper-towel drying. Doesn't sound like I have changed too much?) Jocelyn is a very committed woman. She has stayed strong at school and among her friends and very hopeful and steadfast into the future. She said the number one thing she has felt since the baptism is calmness. She knows why she did it and she did it confidently. It would be sooooo cool if she went on a mission. That'd be the day! I grew in testimony of inviting! INVITE invite invite! We invited her to be baptized and get a less-than-favorable response and after some deep thinking about it she told us a few days later that she wanted to be baptized. This applies not just to the mission too. Invite, promise blessings, testify, follow-up. You can do that ANYWHERE if you want to get things done.

 

Back to Sunday: it was soooo good. To start off, our boldness and calling to repentance plans were kind of thwarted because the relief society surprised us four with HUGE gift bags of stuff like toothpaste, shaving cream, peanuts, and granola bars, and fruit. It was really helpful and super nice. For some reason we felt like the branch was really loving us yesterday! Maybe they sensed something haha. It was nice of them and I am sure they felt awesome being our moms for a day and seeing us happy. We got a lot of random items yesterday. Also- Jose came to church. He stayed all three hours. He listened to a lesson on the Sacrament and on the Balance between the BOM and the biblia and how to receive revelation from them both. He also fasted until 4:00. It all went amazing. I talked to him after and asked him how he felt about the 26th to being baptized. He said he wants to talk about that a little more. It sounded positive and I was confident. I sense good news there! Pretty cool stuff. Jose is super ready. We have taught him this week about taking leaps of faith and promising the Lord your commitment and getting everything you lack--as it pertains to knowledge and testimony--in return. Mario bore his testimony for the first time yesterday! He wrote it down because he is a super timid guy. It was so tight! He got up there and basically told "his story" from when Elders Lemon and Hughes first had a prayer with him and he felt "something" move up his arms to his chest. There really wasn't any testifying, just his awesome story. It was good to see him up there. One of our investigators, Maria C., randomly came back to church. Oh and Jocelyn was confirmed too! That was super special. Presidente Miranda did it. He mentioned in there something about serving a mission and I want to talk about that with him more because if she went that would be so cool it would blow me away. Presidente Miranda is the most in-tune with the Spirit people I have met out here so that was neat. She is a strong person. She will make a great member and as her mom is active now, maybe we can teach and baptize more girls in that family. I wish I could remember everything that happened yesterday-- it was just so wild and successful.  

 

Love, Elder Jacob Parry

 

"Specialized training" this Halloween with president for three hours in the Surprise zone! I smell apple!  {iphones and ipad}).

 

PS  I forgot to tell you! On our way back from interviews and correlation meeting; we were hurrying to get home on time and for like the 4th night in a row we didn't have time to check on Rene. He saw us biking and stopped his truck in a parking lot so he could catch us as we passed. He told us he was moving. He wasn't really sure where but that it was to another state. We found out from Mario yesterday that it is Nebraska. It was kind of sad! Elder Cardoso and I found him in early June and he has progressed since. He is still reading and marking his Book of Mormon and he came to church several times, he loved everybody at church and even stayed all three hours each time. He doesn't know where exactly he is going and his phone doesn't work so it's all up to the Lord now. I have loved teaching and getting to know him. He was so close! I trust the Lord on this one. Family problems and moving won't get in the way. He will find us way back to the "Brothers!" (missionaries haha). What a joy it was to know him!

Conference

Dear Family;

 

Today was a good week. It was a great week! We are working hard still and, of course, General Conference was a big highlight. Just for your information I was thinking about the family/Davis clan a lot as Elder Holland's talk moved a long. I thought that was interesting that he was the speaker. I can't imagine Jeffrey could've written that talk without thinking about Karl several times. I go with what the Spirit was telling me during that talk and what someone said in a later conference talk--"no righteous person has to be worry about getting taken before his time"--and say that we will all be reunited with Grandpa Karl one day and that we need not worry about the vicissitudes of mortal life and just carry on as the Prophet emphasized in his talk! Mom- thanks for always being such a strong example to me. The whole conference was great! You get what you put into it and it seems to "theme" around what you got out of it and for me it was about rescuing, love, and compassion. I felt like everyone was so bold (Bednar, Uchtdorf, Oaks, Anderson) and loving (Eyring, the Prophet, Scott, and most others). I feel like the Prophet, the church and the Lord are REALLY focusing on rescuing. In everything! This was an answer to my prayers as I have been working hard on developing unconditional love for "non-actives" and church members in general. Learning not to judge plays a huge role in that. And of course, Charity. Because without it we are nothing. That was one of the questions in my head all weekend and it was answered numerous times. I think President Uchtdorf's first talk was my favorite. That one or Elder Scott's. Do you remember the Prophet talking about the most inspiring conference he'd ever been to? I think that was owed to Elder Scott. It was phenomenal. Repentance and the Atonement. Simple stuff. And the powerful hymn right after that. President Uchtdorf was the bomb though. If one doesn't follow the doctrine perfectly and you condemn them for it then you might as well call us all hypocrites! Or something like that. We come to church to be nourished, not for anything social! And President Eyring is always fantastic. I don't know about you but over the years he seems to always be about Spiritual Refinement and Enduring; (Mountains to Climb, Where is the Pavilion? and this conference.) I especially loved Elder Bednar's too. I think I tend to love boldness. When he invited us to repent I was loving that! I just knew he would drop something like that at the end haha. Elder Anderson called a lot of rioters to repentance too. Women don't have the Priesthood because God said so! I am tired of trying to promise blessings and tell people why they need to keep the commandments when they should just understand that 'Because God said so.' nothing more! I think I am turning into Elder Cut and Dry, that's why love needs to play a bigger role. Conference was so great though. It was at the stake center--8 miles from our house (we are SO isolated in our zone. I think out of 28 missionaries we bring the median center of population in the zone to the right like 4 miles.) So we had to bumb rides. But we had a great ward lunch on Sunday there and after priesthood we had lots and lots of CARNE! It was a blast. Lots of Mexican food. Mexicans love making food a part of everything. It is great. Conference was very inspiring.

 

I have some major ingrown toenails! Stay-tuned- I am getting them pulled out today so I am excited for that! Other than that-no health concerns. PS- Hermano Jenkins said the oil has helped more than anything else has! They were so happy and excited. So was I! Thank you so much. Hermana Jenkins wants to meet you know and say thanks and wants advice on how to raise children or something like that. I told her that you will be able to get great advice. Also- I got both packages! They are great thank you. The Halloween one was a blast. I ate and shared the pumpkins during conference so that was great. The Reese's are like half-gone too. I love the baseball tape that you are always rocking. Very classy. I think you would be proud of my cooking/eating in the apartment! I made an Italian salad this week! I cut up some tomatoes, crushed ritz crackers and put italian dressing. It was very good. I am also eating oatmeal on my mission. crazy huh? I remember one Monday morning many years ago where I sat in front of my bowl for 45 minutes and finally tried to sneak out off the deck cause I hated it so much. So Elder Dodd gets SO TIRED at the end of the day. I do too, but he goes to sleep like at 9:45 after planning and he drops out cold. It is interesting haha. I have been doing some fun things the past couple weeks though- clean the baseboards in the apt, wipe the shower down, make brownies, write more in my journal, sing Spanish hymns, etc. Fun stuff right?

 

Second-to-last update on the Digital Devices (Ipads and Ipods)- The Mission leaders were told at a leadership meeting that two missions in the world already have them (in Virginia and CA) and that 50 are getting them by February. That includes us. President Taylor shared that since we were one of five testing missions in the world and that we got Facebook real quick we should be one of the first 50 to get them. It will be crazy. The iPhones are brand new versions and so many things are going to be so much easier now. We will be doing two hours of online work instead of one hour now too. Facebook is getting to be pretty normal now. It is our every day thing that we do. Kind of frustrating to help members try to share the Gospel but we are doing everything we can poco por poco.

 

Did you hear about the effective immediately announcement about Stake Conference adult sessions? Every single one of them from here on out will be devoted to the work of salvation. Man things are really getting prepped up aren't they!? \

 

The investigators are moving well. Very well. We had a very great lesson with Jose and Hermano Mata about prophets and conference. We invited him to bring questions to conference, He said he already had two- Book of Mormon and Baoptism. We were chill with that! He watched two sessions at home with his wife and came out to priesthood with the whole gang. It was fantastic. I basically watched Priesthood for two hours from his shoes. President Eyring especially caught my attention; when he bore testimony of Joseph Smith in the Sacrad grove. I think it worked out very well. He said he loved it. Clemente was pretty lazy this weekend. Dezirae kind of was too. But they are coming along. Jocelyn is still super STRONG! She scared us a little last week but rebounded yesterday. She ignores her friends and classmates about what they say. She reads the BOM and we taught her the word of wisdom, plan of salvation, and law of chastity yesterday. No problems. She is still good, her mom is becoming pretty active, their dad still makes meat for us once a week, and her sister, Jennifer, wants to get baptized sometime too. Rene is moving soon. I am REALLY going to miss that man. He doesn't speak English but he always calls us; "brothers!" Very sweet guy. Mafia Lou watched conference. All good stuff I am running out of time though. Glad to hear things are going well. I got some really good laughs and nostalgia out of the last email. The Priesthood thing sounds sooooo funny. Keep it up! Love you all.

 

Love, Elder Jacob Parry