LAST LETTER FROM PHOENIX: #perfectionpending

What a miraculous week. So basically the West Maricopa zone has had a
month baptism record of 14 for 37 months and this month, December
2014, 18 people made a covenant with God and were baptized. NEW
RECORD!!! This weekend 12 people were baptized. We are on pace to
tying the mission record, in a month in any zone, next week (19) AND,
if we see a BIG MIRACLE, we can do something no zone has done in the
Arizona Phoenix Mission before: 20 baptisms in a month. It is
definitely possible; we have some ideas. Pray that our faith is
sufficient as this next weekend comes around.

Angel was confirmed this week, interviewed, and given the Aaronic
Priesthood. It was really cool. He is a quick worker! He is excited to
share the Gospel with his family in Cuba when they meet again. La Joya
was such a blast! The two twins we baptized needed the Holy Ghost too,
but their dad is super Mexican so he is late to a lot of important
things. Bishop Menchaka was folding up the chair after Angel's
confirmation--saying that we will do the confirmations later when
their dad, Peregrino, got there--but as he was doing that, Peregrino
walked through the double doors and just soared right on up to the
stand, out of the blue. It was pretty funny. He cruised right on up
past the congregation to do those saving ordinances while finishing to
adjust his clothes. The Primary gave us very large Christmas boxes! I
got 19 toothbrushes and a bunch of stuff like that. I will probably
take a lot of it to college. This ward loves missionaries so much, it
is such a blessing to be here with them.

Well, I guess I will make a little more purpose to this letter than
most others. It has been an extremely awesome ride. I think the past
two years are much more easily described as joyful and happy rather
than fun. It has been very fulfilling; I couldn't possibly trade it
for anything. It hasn't been too tough--I'm looking forward to life's
challenges when I get back, with a little experience and a strong
foundation to build off of--but it indeed has been downright tough at
times. I have made some eternal relationships with some pretty darn
awesome people. I loved my first six weeks in Peoria--everything I
learned, everyone I met, the people that helped me--but each transfer
since has been better and better. I am looking forward to the same
kind of pattern in my life. They were probably the best two years so
far but I look forward to even more joyful times ahead.

I have learned how to apply the Atonement better to my life.
I have learned how to live the Doctrine of Christ on a daily basis.
I have learned more about myself, who I am and who I can become as I
stay strong.
I learned that I need to get my butt to the temple more (I learned
that before the mission haha).
Despite limited written and spoken communication, I feel a much
stronger love for all of my family; on both sides of the veil.
I have learned that the work is hastening and that, despite our
weaknesses, we are all needed.
I have learned that there is not a more fulfilling work than trying to
be like Christ as we serve and help all others to draw closer to him.
I have learned about the strengthening power of the Atonement and how
we can be transformed as we strive with faith, enlisting the Lord's
help.
I haven't learned tidiness yet.
But I'm still working on that one and a bunch of others, and I will
have them down so well one day. #perfectionpending

See you Tuesday.

With much love, Elder Jacob Parry

#whitechristmas

Dearest Family,

Angel got baptized yesterday!!! He is a walking miracle of a
conversion. That man embraced the Gospel so very fast. He is our
friend from Cuba. He was one of the most prepared people I have been
able to teach on the mission, but at the same time, it took some good
skilled teaching in order to be able to let the Spirit get to him. So
he was a fun challenge. We also can't understand his thick Cuban
dialect so that was a challenge. Anyway, he will continue to grow in
the Gospel the rest of his life, and bring it back to his family in
Cuba! I thought of a part of my Patriarchal Blessing as I talk him
with Elder McCuch and imagining his family finding the gospel one day
soon too. He was a humble man last night after the baptism. Pretty
exciting times.

Speaking of exciting, last saturday we did EIGHT BAPTISMAL INTERVIEWS.
It was legit. The FAmily of 6 is good to go (and they are getting
baptized in a ward with a 4-year convert baptism drought). Next
weekend, if all 11 (and they are solid investigators) make it to their
baptisms then we will have beat the record by 3 with one week left! I
know we can do it (BTW: We were talking to Brother Gonzales about this
at Red Lobster two weeks ago and he said 'I don't want to deflate your
balloons or anything but according to the mission indicators you will
have six baptisms in December.' A few miracles have happened and we are
teaching some legit people, so we are going to break the record. I was
sharing our projected success with Elder McCuch quietly in Gospel
Principles yesterday and he whispered; "Brother Gonzales, you were wrong!"
Haha. We are on pace.) #whitechristmas

Tomorrow we have Christmas conferences. I am super excited. Our
Montana friend is paying for us all to eat at the Old Country Buffett.
Should be delicious. I will also be doing a session. That will warm me
up for the bi-weekly visits at home.

Love elder parry

PS:  The Galarza family is driving up to Utah for New Years and they said
they would take my bike!! Oh Yeah!!! They said they would drop it off
at our house haha.

My Favorite Letter Yet (Becky)

Dear Family,

WOW!! This week was mind-blowing. Seriously. I will tell you why.

Monday night we got a call from the beloved Elder Bryant (Assistant)
and he said that we were going to go out for lessons with Brother John
Gonzales from the Missionary Department for the night. We frantically
called a bunch of people so we had appointments the next day for sure
haha. It was so cool though. Hermano Gonzales knows his stuff and he
really really helped us out. We were coming back from the mission home
with him and he told us to pick somewhere to eat. Elder McCuch and I
agreed on Subway. He says, "SUBWAY!!! I am going to have to veto that.
Sounds sissy." So I proclaimed on impulse; "Red Lobster!!" And he
loved the idea, so we dined like gentlemen that evening. It was a
blast. All night he was talking with us about the mission; what is
going well, what is going bad, key indicators, how the zone is doing,
how to get more baptisms, planning, and some very specific things we
could apply to our area after he was with us for the night. We
actually got quite the chastisement all night. It was very loving and
very wise counsel so we didn't take any of it as 'chastisement' as you
might think it sounds like when you read the word. He had a lot to
say. He had been a Stake President, Mission President, CIA agent, and
has worked in the Misionary Dept. It was a privilege and a very rare
opportunity to be with him. It was cool. We had a meeting with the
Mission leadership the next day. We got lovingly put on the spot for
the good and the bad the next day. It was fun. He taught us a lot
about precision planning and really using key indicators to help us
improve and set our vision high for the future. President Griffin
really wants this mission to baptize more and he is really trying to
make it happen. Things are going well in the zone and in the La Joya
ward in that aspect. This week we FINALLY figured out a problem the
ward has been having for years; the Gutierrez twins (members---kindof.
I will explain!) have been going to church with their family for 5+
years. They are 13 and were baptized, but all proof of the baptism was
lost so we are doing the baptism again. Ay ay ay. Obispo Menchaca
joked about taking a picture at their baptism with them holding a sign
up of the date the ordinance was effectuated so we would have proof
haha. So they will be baptized with Angel, our Cuban friend, this
Sunday. I am so pumped!!! Things look good. Anyway, John Gonzales, and
his friend from the Mission Dept. came and changed the face of the
mission in a one-day one 8 hour meeting. I am very sad to have come
across this training so close to the end of my service here. I asked
him what I could do to apply it after my mission and he said that a
promise was given in the Mission Dept. when PMG came out that if any
of them mastered Chapter 8 of PMG they would triple their income. I
will try to apply it.

I drove to the mission home this week with Elder Anderson from our
apartment. He has diabetes and feels real sick. It was a fun visit. I
got a temple recommend and just soaked up the time with President and
Sister Griffin. He is one hilarious President. He is so Montana. They
told funny stories of him chewing out missionaries over the phone
while Sister Griffin asked for the phone from him to say loving things
to them. An new Elder called, sad that his only sister was getting
married and he wasn't there, and President said "Quit being a sissy,
she got married, she didn't die!" It was hilarious. He is one good
mission President and he really trusts me. He is without doubt the
most honest person I have ever met. I corrected him in something minor
that I noticed through an email last week and he thanked me for it and
wished that everyone would just be honest with him because he knows he
is trying. It is cool to see the differences in PT and PG
#polaropposites

This week was just another spectacularly awesome weeks in the books.
There is a lot going on. We are still on track to breaking the West
Maricopa baptism record this month!!!! 23 on date and we need 15 of
them to follow through. Pray for Angel and the rest of the gang this
month. OH!! And pray for Anah Toledo. We need to get her MARRIED!! SI
SE PUEDE!!! WE CAN DO IT!! We are going to pray like it all depends on
God and it would be up to us to allow him to steer her.

The very strongest I felt the Spirit this week was in zone meeting. I
was leading a discussion on faith and miracles. WOW. My sense of
"feeling" was so strong it almost overcame my sight. I felt it so
strong. We talked about how powerful our faith can be as it is coupled
with diligence to do everything we can. Miracles do happen. A lot of
the time, it is up to us. God always has final say, but we need to use
our resources and tap into his power. It is not his will that only X
number of people are baptized or found in an area or in a mission. His
will is that they are all found and baptized. We can make it happen in
our prayers and action. I have learned a lot with Elder McCuch about
communicating with God all day long through action, word, thoughts,
and deed. We can show him a lot through our plans and diligence in
carrying out the plans then through confirming all that we do with Him
through our prayers. That way He will "consecrate our performance."
Two people can do ANYTHING if one of those people is God.

Love, Elder Parry

Thanksgiving

Wuzup family!?

Thanksgiving was a blast! We got a new apartment this week and we
wanted to take advantage of the free time so we spent the first five
hours of the day carrying furniture in the truck across the apartment
complex. It was actually really efficient. The new apartment was
trashed haha. We have hardwood instead of carpet in the new place
because of the toll missionaries have put on the carpet haha. It was a
unique thanksgiving activity though for sure! We ate dinner with the
Garcia and Toledo families. They were both so awesome. The Garcias run
a sushi business so we had delicious Mexican sushi and a lot of the
Thanksgiving usuals at both places. The Toledos went all out for us four
Elders. They folded some napkins in the shapes of white shirts and
ties and they fed us full. Elder McCuch is super healthy so him
"falling hard" was fun to see. I am glad they all added you on Facebook
so you could see what we were up to!

Alexa and Sebby Toledo got baptized yesterday!!! Like always, it was a
very special experience. Anah will be next! All her friends in the
ward are working on her too, so she will get there... Once they are
married!!!! Ay caray. It was so sweet though. Sebby might have ADD and
he is crazy. So things are always interesting. When he got in the
water he was freaking out about how cold it was. It was funny. Alexa
is very spiritual so she really took the cold water strongly. It was
special for the whole Toledo family and Elder McCuch and I have known
them the whole time we have been together so it was sweet. I told
Elder McCuch that it is great that we can draw so close to such a cool
family like theirs, but it is even cooler to do it with a companion
you like. And I really think I have drawn closer to him as we have
enjoyed so much with other families since we got together. He is a
good man.

I was reading a lot of family history this week! I was listening to
the David Archuleta Christmas album and it brought the Spirit into the
apartment really strong. It sparked a bunch of interest so I read the
stuff Dad sent about Alvarus Hanks and John Parry. It was so neat! If
we just take some effort to learn from and about our ancestors then we
would all see and feel the purpose! The Spirit of Elijah is strong. I
was inspired by not just the stories of achievement and adventure, but
also of their personalities, attributes, and every day behaviors that
made them the people that they were. It was fun to hear about the
hand-waving tradition of Grandma and Grandpa Parry when we leave their
place has lived on. Alvarus was a lot like Grandpa Davis from what the
stories read. John's story is inspiring too. I liked reading about
(his sister?) who, on her deathbead, told John and someone else about
how their religion was a joke and that it couldn't save them! Haha.
Great stories. Thanks for being so on top of the family history
family!

That package was SO AWESOME! I do declare it was the best package of
my mission. Thank you very much. I am going to be enjoying it all
month long. It will be a lot of fun for the members and investigators
I have been working with. I have already given out 5 ties to them. I
have plenty more!

Love, Elder Parry

100 New Investigators

Hello Family!

 

This week was wild! My last rodeo was on Wednesday and let me tell you how cool it was! It was very anti-climactic haha. It was about and hour shorter than usual (60 minutes exactly). There were 1-2 transfers per zone. I have also decided that I don't know like 80% of the missionaries in the mission now. Time to go I guess!

 

This area, and the zone, are absolutely exploding for this upcoming month. I remember writing a letter home about how I was disillusioned about numbers and key indicators. Well, I have learned a lot about them out here and I finally feel like I am getting a grasp on how to use them for our good. We set a goal as a zone to find 100 new investigators in the month of November and we have found 82 so far!!! We need to find 18 by the end of this Sunday and we should be able to do it. Our zone is the highest populated geographical area so we have been going crazy talking with everyone. Elder McCuch and I contacted in a park for an hour yesterday and we talked to 4 families! I was feeling off before we left the car so we prayed to have a little confidence to talk with strangers and it worked! Kind of cool. A New Christmas initiative just started called "He is the Gift." It is very legit. They are doing more NYC advertising and they are "taking over" Youtube for a day on December 7th. Keep your eyes peeled and watch the video when it comes out the day after thanksgiving. Currently, we have 19 people set to be baptized in December. WOW! The West Maricopa record is 14. WE CAN DO IT!!! We are working hard, staying consecrated, making sacrifices, and praying like it all depends on how fervent we pray! I am excited. It should happen. Our area absolutely exploded this week. Sebby and Alexa passed their interview and are very excited for Sunday. I think the entire La Joya ward will be going. They are ward favorites. Yahira, Jennifer, and Angel all accepted to be baptized in December too this past week! Actually 2 of them were yesterday. Angel is from Cuba; he doesn't know anything about Christianity, He hasn't heard about the church, and communication will be limited between him and his family while he is here. HE called his wife and she was very excited to hear about the church and what he is learning here. It is cool to see. I feel like ANgel is bringing back eternal life to his family who have, and forever would, live in darkness if it weren't for him coming here and finding the Gospel. The Restoration makes perfect sense to him. HE is prepared and guided by the Spirit. We really hope he gets baptized the 14th or at least some day in December. Anah (Sebby and Alexa's mom) really wants to get married and should this month! Then she will be baptized. Big things are happening and we are going to do everything we can to see it all happen!

The La Joya ward is awesome. I am having so much fun in it too. These members are sooo cool.

Well that might be it for today. I am eating Turkey dinner with the Garcia family (they own a Mexican sushi restaurant) and the Toledo family. Hopefully don't get too stuffed! We are staying super busy so the time is flying. Love you all very much.

 

PS it is freezing down here! Have you seen the temperature in the mornings?

 

Love, Elder Parry

Phoenix Temple Cultural Celebration & Dedication: Epic!

Dear Family,

Definitely one of the best weeks of my mission. WOW. It was
incredible. I will start with the not-as-cool (but still really cool).
Last week we had our first WebEx meeting. It was a revolutionary
moment in missionary work! President Griffin, the Assistants, and 16
other companionships in the mission met together wherever we had wifi
to be in an internet chatroom. We had an hour long meeting and saved
much time and miles. It was epic.

So.. My last rodeo is tomorrow! Thankfully, I am going to the rodeo
and will be coming back to the same area with Elder McCuch. He is only
my second companion of 3 transfers and I am most definitely excited
for it. He is an incredible example to me and the work that we can get
done in 6 weeks to bring souls to Christ and prepare for future
reaping. Alexa y Sebby are getting baptized in 2 weeks! We have a few
others that are pretty hesitant. Angel (Our friend who is visiting
from Cuba) said he moved from 31% sure to 50% sure. He said he got his
answer about the Book of Mormon. He is LEGIT. Hermano Carcamo, his
friend, is the man. If he doesn't get his endowments before I go, I
want to come back and do it with him! This transfer will be WILD!
Tomorrow is my last transfer meeting, then Thanksgiving in a week,
then the last meeting with PResident and zone meetings, then Christmas
Conferences in Mesa again, then Christmas, then the Berrellezas go
through the temple, then I come home. All about a week apart from each
other. I am very excited for this transfer. Most of all, and this may
sound cliche, I am just excited to get to work. There is a lot to do
and a lot of potential during the Holiday season. Elder McCuch and I
have a lot of momentum having been together for 2 learning the ward
together. Yesterday we had a slight wake-up call haha.. We woke up to
exercise in FREEZING wheather (55 degrees; who knew that was freezing!
haha). It was so cold. Our jog made us super sick so we were inside
most of the day for like the first times in our missions. We got
better after sleeping, but don't want to have that happen again. It
felt very raro! Lots of work to get done. For the second time in a row
our zone only transferred one person out of 28. And I thought
President Taylor didn't transfer people very often. Speaking of that
man. WE SAW HIM AT THE CELEBRATION!!! He is looking good. He gave us
all hugs with tears streaming down. President Griffin convinced him to
just say hi to all of us #clashofstyles. He said that he is a Branch
President in the MTC. I love that man so much. It was good to see him.

The Spirit was very very strong at the Cultural Celebration. It
definitely fired me and all of us up when we began marching on the
track singing Called to Serve. The Sign Language/Be a Light was also
very powerful. The strongest impression I got all day was that of
happiness for a new temple. I truly felt like I was part of the
celebration of a new temple closeby. Even though I am not an Arizona
native I felt legitimately part of the group 0f 4300 youth and their
leaders. I felt like I have grown close to the wards and people out
here that I could legitimately be a part of the celebration. It really
was a sweet feeling to be there. We were there like 9 hours practicing
and doing a lot of hanging around too. I hung with Elders Fife, Jones,
Nelson, Ramos, Miller, a bunch of other missionary friends and I swung
by the Estrella, Estrellita, and La Joya ward tents to see all the
members. It was such a memorable day. President Uchtdorf had some
great things to say to us and all the General Authorities seemed to
love it. I was high-fiving every youth I could after the celebration.
Needless to say, I was elated all weekend long. The dedication was
powerful. So, keep this on the DL, but our Obispo gave Alexa, sebby,
and Anah tickets to the dedication. They were probably the only
investigators in the mission who ended up seeing it haha. They
absolutely loved it. The Prophet spoke. Our Stake President gave a
prayer and the Temple President (from our stake) spoke. I think I will
move to this stake so they can give me a more permanent calling here
haha (by Dec 30 it will be 11 months here). The meeting was very
spiritual. They talked about dedicating our lives to the temple. I
don't ever need to hear that more than once to know it though! I think
I want to get married in this temple. I feel very attached to it,
especially the past few weeks.

We did temple service! TWICE! It really is quite a blessing to be a
part of this whole thing. My appreciation has really grown for those
preparing a new temple. There was a lot of work put in; a lot of
behind-the-scenes work. Thursday we went up with 8 buddies from the
zone to create a platform and put down carpet for the dedication. The
platform was up against the edifice so that the Prophet and others
could walk right up to the cornerstone and put the mortar in. So we
saw the platform we made on TV during the broadcast! That service was
a whole lot of fun! The members in charge really trusted us so we just
cut carpet, stapled it in, painted, and did random chores on our own
together as missionaries. It was fun. Sunday night after the
dedication we PUT IN THE FURNITURE! There was a gigantic concrete
wharehouse in the basement just stuffed full of very nice temple
furniture. We would go to it to grab pieces then we distributed them
to the various parts of the temple. My contributions to the Celestial
room were a really nice lamp and one really flowery armchair haha. It
was truly something I will not forget. I was roaming around the temple
for a couple hours, carrying stuff and seeing all the features of it
over and over again. That is one exceptionally beautiful temple. We
got to sneak in the bride's room. It was very pretty too. The whole
weekend was a neat experience. INOLVIDABLE! I am very happy for all
the wonderful members of the church here in the Phoenix Valley. They
will enjoy very much the blessings of a temple nearby.

I love you all! Keep going to the temple!!!

Love, Elder Parry

Momma's Boy :-)

Another great week in the work of The Lord! So, don't get me wrong, I
miss you all very, very much. Especially mom, cause I think I am a
momma's boy. But I don't feel like I have been out here that long. I
feel like I should be out here a year longer to have a mission as hard
those of other missionaries in the mission that share their struggles
with me. Anyway, I will be home December 30th. I am excited for my
Christmas present! Can you not put candy in it? I ate ice cream for
the first time today in weeks and it made me sick. I am eating well.
It must be that Montana rancher and his steel-cut oats that is helping
me eat better.

Life in La Joya is pretty chill. Once again, I was wrong to think that
I wouldn't love another ward as much as I loved the previous wards.
This place is awesome! It might've been my last Sunday in the ward
considering that it is the temple dedication next sunday in place of
the regular service. Saturday is the Cultural Celebration!!! It will
probably be a day I never forget. Should be pretty exciting. Do you
have the broadcast information? If I am one of the lucky ones, I will
be going directly to the temple after the celebration to move
furniture into the building until 2 AM!! I went on exchanges into the
Estrella Ward finally. Can you believe it has been 4 months since I
was serving there!? Anyway, I love it there. I talked to the Berelleza
and Noris families again. Get this, the Berellezas are the legit
Recent convert family we were working with. They have been trying to
get to the temple for like 6 months. They FINALLY got all their
interviews and picked the date: DECEMBER 27th!!! I am Totally going
haha. I am really, really excited. Speaking of saving ordinances,
Alexa and Sebby (the kids of Gerardo and Anah) are REALLY excited to
be baptized. We decided it is not worth it to wait for them to get
married. So we are baptizing the cute little nine-yearolds. It was
such a sweet lesson with Hermano Ruiz last night. He is one of the
most converted men I have ever met. He went with us to the Toledos
(Gerardo and Anah). Alexa said she is so excited to get baptized that
she felt like a "chiva loca" (crazy goat). It was the cutest thing. It
was actually a full house at church today. Many people came. Many
people came that hadn't been in awhile. The Temple does miracles. When
you involve the temple in the work it will work mighty miracles. It
has been instant re-activation for many people who weren't presently
attending. It has been a fun week. Elder Johnson (my roommate and
former companion)'s girlfriend and her sister are getting baptized in
a month!! It was pretty exciting news for us today in emails. I don't
know how she hid from the missionaries in Logan for 19 years of her
life, but oh well. The work is hastening.

WOW. What a work for you all! I can't say that it would be better for
us that Caroline stays home because blessings will flood into our
family and her posterity because of her decision to serve. She will do
so well. I love her attitude in that little letter I read: something
about not worrying about me, I am happy and not worrying about
anything. That makes me feel like a really chump and baby as I
remember my first week in the MTC hahahaha. That is so vintage
Caroline. She is such a strong person. The Lord is going to put her
with spiritually challenged and emotionally unstable companions her
whole mission because she will help them so much! Sounds like football
has been a whirlwind too. You can never get enough Coach Wall! I can't tell you how often in my mission his cheesy, repetitive, yet very true and inspiring quotes have popped in
my head since I have been out here. Lately I have been hearing a lot
of; "let it all hang out (his always-inspiring line for the last brave
quarter of the day)!"

This past week I am seeing and feeling the fruits of studying the
doctrine very thoroughly. President Griffin is turning this mission
upside-down in how we do things. We are all focusing really hard on
the doctrine in our studies. He wants us to spend an hour of our 3
studies studying nothing but the lessons and the scriptures listed. He
wants us to take a month a lesson until we have it just locked in. I
have had the best studies of my mission the last week. Him and Elder
Corbridge, and the writers of PMG are right about putting the doctrine
in their exactly how it should be taught (with one exception/trump
card: The guidance of the Spirit). The only sin or mistake we ever
could make is one made because of misunderstanding of the doctrine we
know and strive to live and love.

I can't really think of anything else. Just feel like chatting with
y'all today. Peace out!

Love Elder Parry

More Temple Visits

It was as splendid week! For Halloween me and 5 other Elders just
worked out in our apartment complex haha. I didn't really want to so I
just took pictures of all of them. But I am still working out okay. I
am running three miles and Hermana Zelaya (missionary) told me today
that I look skinnier in the face and I feel skinnier so I am going to
keep working on that! Elder McCuch is a ruthless trainer. We went to
the temple twice more this week! I got to go at night with Lupita so
that was neat. She is the bomb. She asked many many questions and had
a memorable experience. I think I went the busiest night of the month.
It was a 40 minute line to get on the bus and it was start and stop
inside the temple. A lot of people. The Temple President is in our
stake and he said that 170,000 people visited it in three weeks. Elder
McCuch and I went Saturday morning with our cuban friend, Angel, and
the Peruvian member, Carcamo, who feeds us a lot of food. Some
miracles really came to past this last weekend so three less-active
members came with us too. One of them I had never met before after
having passed by her house 8 or 9 times. We just messaged her randomly
on facebook and she came the next day! It was a sweet ending to a
frustrating three weeks because we organized a lot, but a lot fell
through. But a few very wonderful experiences were had at the temple
:) We should be hearing plans soon about moving furniture into the
building.

Stake conference was a blast. I love the West Maricopa zone. It was
kind of funny too. I feel like I know half the stake just from
exchanges and getting to know the missionaries and their members and
investigators. I said hi to a lot of random Spanish and English
people. I joked around about how they were going to extend me a stake
calling at the conference. They didn't. But they probably will when I
move back. It got me excited to maybe getting transferring. I imagine
it will happen actually. We will see in 2 weeks! The Temple Dedication
is in 13 days and the celebration is in 12! It is coming fast.
yesterday for Stake Conference President Uchtdorf and Elder
Christofferson spoke to us and 96 other Arizona Stakes by broadcast.
We are getting a lot of prophetic instruction lately. They talked a
lot about being great parents and families. Elder Christofferson said
some cool things about how the Gospel needs to be an interior
influence and not an exterior one. President Uchtdorf said he got his
endowments taken out at the Mesa Temple! He also talked about the new
temple and reminded us that "the temple is not for perfect people; if
that were so, not only would no one be able to come in, there wouldn't
be anyone on the other side of the door to open it!" Elder Foster of
the 70 said that every time we say brother or sister to one another it
is testifying to that person of the eternal nature of the family of
God and that He is our Father. Good stuff! As always, the Work of
Salvation night session was phenomenal. Our stake leaders are very in
tune with the Spirit and give very captivating talks. I enjoy this
place.

So Elder McCuch's and I's hearts were hit hard last night when Anah
told us that she won't know if she can be married or not until two
months from now because of her citizen stuff. I feel like I have met
and worked with so many prepared people out here but this whole
marriage mess is changing everything up for the worse! Oh well, I know
they will be married and baptized. I just wish we could all have a
little more faith! Elder McCuch and I were talking this week; none of
us really have faith anymore. People don't take steps into the dark
like they used to. We DON'T TRUST GOD. If we had a little more
knowledge of what He is like and what He is willing to help us with,
or even just a belief in that, or even just a DESIRE to believe, then
we would be able to see so many more miracles. Oh well, we all fall
short of the glory of God and we are all working on it. Caution:
Perfection Pending for all of us. Gerardo is staying very close to the
Spirit though and is drawing closer and closer to God.

Other than that, our area has had a tough week. A lot of meetings,
temple visits, Elder McCuch was a little sick, Halloween and other
stuff. It is getting freezing down here! Maybe Elder McCuch and I will
bike a little this week. His Dad is doing great by the way. He will be
finishing tests soon then he will just be on medication for a bit.
Thanks for all the prayers.

I love you all! T-minus less-than-24-hours until Caroline is off! I
promise it will only be about 8 weeks of having more than one child
away from home! Only 7 more emails I will be sending you! Say hi to
Troy, Dallin, Alec, and Brit for me too please. And pray that I can
make some progression out here, lest I return home the same goof I
left out as.

Love you! Elder Jacob Parry

Standoff Lesson

Another great week!

Elder McCuch has ran me ragged this week. Literally too! We went on
exchanges and I was biking. The freezing mornings and hot, sunny days,
and some violent allergies made me sick for a couple days. That stunk.
My allergies are bad down here! But please don't worry; I am still
using all the meds you gave me last year. I have been running A LOT
since Elder McCuch got here. We typically run 3 miles 3-4 days a week.
Saturday we ran it in 20:10 and today we ran it in 20:42!!! It is
insane!!! But I am not losing any weight. Probably because a still
load up on frijoles and carne every night. We are running each other
ragged though. I have noticed that it does us well to plan out what we
should do when we have 10-minute drives to do. Haha. Lots to do. I
like it though.

President Griffin is doing work! He is helping us to become
laser-focused on the doctrine that we teach in the Church. He says
that if we have the 4 lessons locked in and we can teach them just how
they are written using scriptures, then that will be how we find new
people and teach them to baptism. Along with what Elder Corbridge
brought to the mission, he is creating a vision for us to know the
doctrine and become converted to it. It was pretty boss at Transfers
when he repeated to us D&C 11:21 about obtaining the word first. Then
he said "Let's bind the Lord to His promise and make Him put so many
people in our path because He trusts us and because we know the
doctrine so well." If things go as planned, this mission will get a
lot of work done, and just like President Taylor, President Griffin
will go down in history as a LEGEND. This 1-2 punch goes down first in
my all-time 1-2 punches in history (barely ahead of Ortiz-Ramirez).
So, we have put aside Conference talks, Book of Mormon reading,
Patriarchal Blessings, and anything not saturated in doctrine for our
study time and have 30 minutes of personal and 2 1/2 hours of comp
study for practice teaching and studying the doctrine. It is rad!

The Temple work is still moving forward with great momentum, and
frustration sometimes haha. It is tough getting people up there and it
takes all our efforts sometimes, but it is all worth it! We sent a
couple investigators up this week and went with a less-active lady,
Dora, to help her understand a little more about baptisms for the
dead. It was sweet. We plan on going twice more this next week before
it closes (fingers crossed that Jim follows-through with me and we go;
I told him anytime of any day!!) Tomorrow we are going with our
Peruvian friend and his Cuban friend, Angel. Angel has read first
Nephi. We taught him last week and I mentioned how Nephi began
building the boat in chapter 17. He corrected me and told me it was
18. It was funny. He is doing great. We hope to get a few other people
up to the temple. Last night we had a STANDOFF lesson with Anah and
Gerardo. It was a powerfully fragile evening. Haha I will explain. The
Spirit was very strong. We taught Moroni Chapter 10 Verses 3-5 to help
Anah pray specifically because she is to Cactholic. Then we told them
that we need to take a short break from them. It was one of the
hardest breaks ever made! But it will work. We need them to read a
little more on their own and get the marriage process moved on their
own. We are praying that the Light of Christ can help Anah's lawyer
see it necessary that they get married and the Anah gets a specific
answer to her specific questions. When Gerardo heard what we want to
do he was saying. "I get it, I get it! They are going to see if we can
progress on their own." And they will. We will see them at church
sunday and set something up then. We are by no means done with them.
They will be fine. We got ties from them and Elder McCuch wanted to
get his tie signed by all of them. It sounded so barbaric because it
made us look like we werent coming back haha. So I told them they
would all need to sign mine when I got back. They are fine.

So be thinking and praying about Anah, her lawyer, and Gerardo! Also I
will be excited to tell you next week about those temple visits and
Saturday night we have Stake Conference again. I am pumped because it
is the Stake Leadership I have worked with for 10 months... And
President and Sister Griffin will come. Who knows, maybe I might just
finally leave this place in 3 weeks!

Lots of experiences out here about following the Spirit and seeing the
Hand of God directing His very own work that He lets us be a part of.
We are not in the work of salvation as much for the work we give
ourselves, but for the growth we get from participating :) If that
were not the case than the Lord would put robots or some much more
capable group of people to get this work done. I am excited for
Caroline to go out and study about, pray for, expect, recognize, and
experiences miracles every day. In following these steps, we will
become one with God in the work. Like Nephi (Helaman 10) we should be
able to do ANYTHING for the Lord's work according to our faith. It is
strung throughout the standard works that we are to ask God anything
that is righteous, in Christ's name, and it is given to us. Humbly ask
for and expect miracles. Moroni (7:37) tells us that the only time we
aren't seeing them is when we are being "wicked." We were made to work
miracles in the service of God and His children. My faith is growing
out here. At the same time, faith is not grown in seeing miracles, but
in obedience to the Gospel. Obedience, faith, then miracles, then more
miracles. I think that is the formula. Miracles should be a daily
occurrence for us all. I love you all and have been glad to hear so
many good tidings from all of you. Way to beat Highland!!!

Love, Elder Parry

The Atonement

I have been learning a lot about the Doctrine of Christ out here! This
week I learned some cool things about the Atonement that I want to
share. I read 1 Nephi 19:9 where it says that the Lord will [did]
suffer so much for us "because of his loving kindness and his
longsuffering towards the children of men." I think that what Christ
went through was hard not because of the effects of physical pain and
torture as much as it was hard because He loves us and knew that the
pain He was feeling was literally what WE would go through in the form
of temptations, afflictions, physical pain, unfairness, sin, and any
other inequality we experience. Being God, I don't think the Atonement
he performed made Him suffer because of any physical implications, it
was because He loves us. This leads me to something else I learned;
The more you care, the harder it gets. Like I have said before, my
mission has given me a lot of challenges, but nothing that hasn't been
too hard to overcome. In some ways, I have made the mission hard
myself. I noticed this week that on many occasions it is only hard
because I care so much. I (and Elder McCuch) am (are) trying SO HARD
to love, serve, listen to, care about, and sacrifice for others. I
LOVE the feelings I get as I do it. Other than the doctrine I am
learning and the hastening of the work, I have felt the Spirit the
most as I have strived to forget myself, take up my cross, and try to
minister to others. It is downright hard too. I have had to exert
myself harder than I have before (barely more than Brave Quarters
haha) as I have tried to serve others out here. It makes things hard
to work on others' behalf. Sometimes they let you down, sometimes you
let yourself down.

I am sure the Atonement was a hard burden for the Savior to bear
because He cared so much. The last thing I learned about it this week
(thanks to the Norwegian guy in conference) was that the Atonement is
infinite, it can be used 24/7 and it literally never runs out. If we
commit sins or need a little strengthening then we need to get our
heads out of the bucket and move on instead of dwelling on the past.
The Atonement has already happened. Any extra sinning will not add
more on to the Atonement because it has already been performed. We
should feel godly sorrow so that we are driven to repent! The
Atonement provides never-ending forgiveness and strengthening so we
might as well use it! We could waste the Atonement by sinning with
intentions to make amends and repent (not good), or by not using it.
We might as well use it. I am learning a lot more about these things
as I see it in real life rather than just reading about it!

The Temple was very Celestial! We went with Anah, Gerardo, Alexa,
Mariana, and Sebastian. Alexa was shaking the hands of EVERY SINGLE
worker in the temple as she walked through. It was way cute. A bunch
of them wanted to hug her back too. They all loved it. The neighbor
they brought loved it too! I know that they will be back in the temple
to be sealed one day. Anah wasn't feeling well spiritually and
emotionally, but Gerardo threw on his white shirt, came alone and
brought the three girls with with him. Never have I seen someone
return to church with such motivation and spirit. Yesterday we taught
a lesson to them. It was powerful. We talked about Anah's mom needing
her temple work done. She asked "Do I need to be baptized for her in
the temple then?" "Yes." "Do I need to be baptized first before I can
do that?" "Yes." "Okay, do I need to be married before I get
baptized?" "Yes." Haha. She is talking to her lawyer today and we will
see what happens. She is just having kind of a hard time letting go of
the traditions her mother raised her with. Gerardo really wants to get
married! It will happen soon. We are finding a lot of other cool
people. This is actually the most alive an area has been in that I
have ever served in. A lot of fun right now with the temple and
everything. A family of 4 that we somehow miraculously sent to the
temple last week came to church yesterday and enjoyed it. We are still
teaching Lupita who has had some pretty spiritual experiences with the
Book of Mormon. She is soo cool. It is a great time to be serving
where we are. This past week was frustrating because we are trying to
get everyone to the temple but it takes SO MUCH coordination. It is
awfully frustrating. Twice we were ready to go but had to cancel right
before because an investigator or our ride cancelled. It hurts to care
so much! We are definitely going to keep trying though with all these
people. Only 14 more days! We have a couple trips planned this week.
Pray for them!

Meeting with Caroline was so nice. She will make a fantastic
missionary. No doubt about it. I kept getting the impression while we
were talking that she would be a spiritual anchor for her companions,
other missionaries, members, and investigators as their ships of
testimony go through turbulent winds and waves. I say that in the
importance I think it is to try to touch others' lives. Overall, she
will be able to minister to so many others because her own spiritual
foundation is so strong. Go get 'em!

We are excited to see the prophet and do our dancing and singing in 4
weeks! Look for me on TV 😎

Love, Elder Parry

Buzz in the Air

All week there has been a crazy-cool buzz in the air because the
temple opened!!! It is the best time to be a missionary. More than
anything, it is the best time to be a MEMBER of this great church and
Kingdom of God. It is becoming so easy to contact people. They know
about Meet the Mormons, they have heard about the temple. There are so
many missionaries in this area that we are getting seen often! It is
cool. We contacted our Walmart cashier. We showed him the card of the
temple and he started asking a bunch of questions and asking if he
could go. This place is BUZZING! Friday, the day it opened, I was just
feeling the Spirit all day thinking about the temple. I am excited to
go in a few hours! I have so much to tell you about the temple. There
are a lot of people going! Saturday was a wreck, but a bunch of
miracles turned things around. After a lot of coordinating and praying
6 people we were teaching made it to the temple with Hermana Galarza.
We couldn't go because it was too late, but we sent them off! One of
the lady's sons, who is 7, said that he felt something really warm run
up his arms then his mom heard him say, "God is really close." La Joya
is on fire too. Everyone is inviting their friends to the open house
and we are even seeing some new faces at church. The lady that found
Gerardo and Anah took her cousin to the temple and he told us at
church that he wants to be baptized. So we sent the Tuscon
missionaries to him! Oh my goodness Gerardo bore his testimony this
week! He got up there with his chest puffed out (he is a body builder)
and just stood majestically at the pulpit, soaking up the limelight.
He bore a powerful testimony about how he knows the church is true
even after 14 years of inactivity. Then he bore his testimony in the
name of our Heavenly Father. Then he forgot to say amen before pulling
away, so he walked back to say it. Then the meeting ended. Haha. It
was epic. We are going to the temple with them in about an hour! And
Anah is inviting two of her friends. We sent up a temple trip last
night for a couple of investigators for thursday and the Barrio
Estrella friend that is giving us a ride is inviting three of her
friends. We are trying to set another up for thursday afternoon for
Lupita. She came to church finally and the doctrine of baptisms for
the dead really caught her attention so she said she wants to go. It
really is amazing me how alive it is over here. Great place to be.
Like Coach Wall always said "Great day to be a [missionary]!"

Leo Becerra got baptized yesterday!!!!!!! He is Jessica Patino's
boyfriend who Elder Ramos and I met in February. I had a lot of fun
teaching him with Elders Ramos and Castro. I have fond memories of
watching April conference with them, of sending Elder Ramos off to the
Gilbert temple with them, and of praying with him and Jessica in the
chapel of the new Tolleson Building. He had the biggest smile on
yesterday at the baptism. He was SO HAPPY. It was a sweet sight and a
wonderful day for such a great family. Once again, good to be back
with Barrio Estrella.

We had a meeting with President Waldron yesterday. I was with 8 of my
great missionary friends and President Juchau. So a year ago President
Waldron and the missionaries didn't have a good relationship but now,
it is very strong! We had five minutes left in the meeting but PW
wanted to talk a little doctrine so he expounded the Atonement to us
from the book of Mosiah for 30 minutes. We are getting JUSTSERVE
started real soon and 140 of the APM valley missionaries will be
painting houses in two weeks.

I went on an exchange with Elder Castro last week. I didn;t realize
how much I loved him until I was 13 weeks with other companions and
back with him for a day. He has really grown the past two transfers
and is even more loving. I learned a lot from him in such a short
time. I have plans to go to his homecoming soon and make it to his
wedding to when he has it. He needs some support and friends in life
and I am excited to be one of his friends.

Man, if I had more time I would tell you more about all the great
things going on and how I feel the Spirit every single day. This place
is bumping. I love La Joya, I love Elder McCuch, I loooooooooove it
out here. Great day to be a member of the Lord's Kingdom here on
earth.

Not Transferred!

Not transferred!!!

I might be stuck here until the end. That sounds negative though;
Elder McCuch is one of my favorite companions. I have grown to love
this ward the more I have worked with them. President Griffin actually
called us yesterday morning to give us the entire scoop and because he
couldn't hold it in haha. His style is so different! He continues to
prove himself a loose cannon haha. He turned 11 zones into 14 zones
and I think he is splitting up every zone leader companionship but us
to do it. Our zone is now the biggest in the mission! Only one person
changed. It was Elder Reid. I got to the zone with him in the same car
9 months ago and we lived together for 6 of those months. He is one of
my best friends out here. He is way cool. I am pumped though.
President has a lot of trust in us. And there are 7 people being
trained in the zone so I feel like Grandpa Parry among all these
younglings haha. President Griffin is definitely inspired though. I
have not doubted that so far.

Enough with the laundry business. This week was fabulous! It is weird
to think that I am nearing single-digit weeks. But there is still a
lot of work to get done! I feel like everything we are doing out here
is speeding up and accelerating. It is hard to keep the pace with what
is going on haha. The Sisters in the APM are in the Temple 36 hours a
week starting last week. Everyone in the mission is playing with the
new apps we have and making all these electronic tools to use for
proselyting. It is giving me a headache haha. WE WATCHED MEET THE
MORMONS!!! It was EPIC. Very inspiring. I predict (actually guarantee)
that mom will cry! Heck, I cried. It was so good! We actually have it
on our ipad too #APM. It had some wonderful messages. Very well-made
movie. The church is doing a lot of cool things right now.

Gerardo and Anah came to 2 conference sessions and enjoyed them very
much. We had dinner with them after. Gerardo listens to Lds.org on his
headphones at work. Anah was feeling sad one day about her mom dying
so she searched on the internet for "Spanish Catholic movies" and it
came up with The Other Side of Heaven. So she watched it and cried
even more when she found out it was a Mormon movie. They are moving
but want to find a home within La Joya because they have made so many
friends. They are doing great, they just aren't married which is
starting to worry me a little...

Conference was wonderful. We watched all 5 sessions at the stake
center. After the Sunday morning session, we had a luncheon with the
La Joya AND the Estrella Hermanos! It was greaet! It was a reunion!!!
(Elder McCuch served in Estrella Tambien). I hate 9 tostadas of
seviche mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 🍤🍤🍤🍤🍤 I got a lot out of conference and
could go on about it. But I won't. The biggest learning I had was that
of making decisions. Elders Christofferson, Scott, Godoy, and Ballard
all shared talks about that which I loved. My two favorite talks were
both President Uchtdorf's!!!! "Is it I?" and the one about finding
truth from God. The latter was something that I have been studying for
the last month off and on. I can't wait for it to come in print/ipad.

It was Gerardo's, Elder Anderson's, and Elder McCuch's Dad's Birthday
all on thursday! We had a lot of partying. We pushed E. Anderson's
face in cake a bunch, ate seviche with Gerardo, and Elder McCuch
called his Dad. He is doing fine! The first week of treatment went
really well!!! Only like 3 weeks more. :D

Love you, Keep the faith, Endure to the endowment every week with a
renewel in the temple :D

Love, Elder Parry

JustServe

Helloo Family!!!

So, Gerardo, Anah, Mariana, Sebastian, and Alexa have most definitely rebounded from their setback. Everyone in the ward has been inviting them for Family Home Evenings (Noches de Hogar) and everyone wants to visit them! This may not be that uncommon for a lot of people to experience, but it has been so cool for Elder McCuch and me to see such great growth so we are having a lot of fun :) We went to the temple with them and the Morales family Saturday night. It was a blast. We saw a lot of good all-star resources-for-producing-the-spirit haha. They came to church late. The two girls were actually crying because they really wanted to participate in the Primary program. It was kind of sad. But they came to an Estrella Baptism that night and Alexa said she really wants to get baptized. It was fun to see a bunch of Estrella friends, members and missionaries, again. I kind of paused for a moment at the baptism to look around and see all the wonderful people I have met and worked with. I was also talking with Hermano Morales, who is a spiritual GIANT, on the way home from Mesa. It was cool to hear how enormous and how rapid the Hispanic church has grown here in Phoenix. He was the counselor (along with Bishop Cid of Estrella) to Bishop Zayas (former counselor in the APM) less than 20 years ago when there were only two Spanish wards in the city. Now there are over a dozen. It is so cool to learn about!!! It has been really fun for me (as you might have gathered from introducing who the Bishopric was 20 years ago) to get to know great families and leaders in the church all over the valley. I have truly been blessed to serve in 4 outstanding units out here and to get to know and work with such a sacrificing people. Hermano Morales said this is partly due to the way the Hispanic races have baby explosions in their families haha. He said that the only commandment they really stay fully committed to is the one to multiply and replenish the earth. Haha. I have been blessed to have been sent down here and I don't take it for granted! There is a lot to learn from the members down here and even more work to be done alongside with them.

I mentioned last week and several times in my emails that the work is hastening. More arrows to the quivers! This week, in a meeting with President Frost of the 70 and a bunch of other dudes in pinstripe suits, JustServe was kicked off in the Phoenix valley!! It is the 4th city (Denver, San Diego, and one other place) in the church to get it going. They said that because of the high number of Mormons here it is testing grounds here in Phoenix for what they will need to do with the resource in Utah when it gets started there soon. It is SO COOL!!!!! The church has put a lot of money into it somehow, and from some of the things we have been told, it is flawless. Basically, members in their stakes look locally within their boundaries for service opportunities. Them, along with any other people interested in service, post the opportunities on the website, then members and missionaries just hop on the website and go do service! We wear helpinghands shirts and we cannot proselyte. It is a very powerful way for great people, members, nonmembers, prepared nonmembers, to get together and strive to be Christlike. It can be up to 2.5 hours a day of service. It has increased missionary morale and decreased anxiety dramatically too. It will be so cool. Elder Frost bore testimony to close the meeting on how it will be pivotal for us to be in partnership with interfaith groups and other church organizations through JustServe as we near the final days and religious freedom because one of the most precious things we could fight for. I got the chills all through the meeting hearing stuff like this. The work is hastening!

I hope it hastens quick too because it sounds like it will get going for the missionary force in the valley by December 7th haha. But all 140 missionaries in the valley are already signed up to paint 6 houses on October 25th in one of my old areas! It all may not sound that cool, but it is, and it is a sign of the times! Tomorrow we have a meeting with President Griffin. I wasn't excited for the last 2 but I really am for this one because I anticipate PG will be pulling all his "cats out of the hat" and we can see what he and the brethren are up to. #DC8873 It will be cool.

I DOUBT that anything will change in 8 days when I write you again. I am 80% it will stay the same. Who knows though... PG is a #loosecannon. We will see. Elder McCuch is one of the most Christlike people I know and has helped me more than he knows so I am hoping the Spirit lets me squeeze some more time out of Elder Nomad (McCuch). Then again, the "boss" companionships I have been a part of have always been pretty fleeting because they're just too rough on Satan haha.

The studying is going great too! I continue to learn a lot. Today I read Section 84 and learned about how the Lord wants to be our friend and about how if we stay faithful to the power and authority He has given us we can inherit all that He has. And why be any other way? He is a perfectly loving, fair, giving being so He would want to let us enjoy all that He enjoys. Only His justice will keep Him from giving all of His children all of that stuff--so we have to prove we are worthy. It is important that we create a stronger relationship with Him as we have conversations in prayer. We need to learn to trust Him and trust ourselves. Get excited for conference! Bring an inspired question or two. I will be thinking of you all when I see all those white, Utah Mormons on TV. Love you! Happy Birthday Caroline! I have been thinking about you all day and how much fun and growth you are going to have on your mission.

Love, Elder Parry

Familes are Eternal

MAAAN! I have decided I have been slothful of telling you about some
things going over in the APM and my part of the vineyard so I will see
how this goes.

Well, we went to the temple on Saturday with Mario, Glenda, and
Cassandra, and another family I visited in Surprise got sealed at the
same time too. It was one of the sweetest experiences I have ever been
a part of. Mario, Glenda, and Hermana Hammond (other family that went
through) had really smooth endowment sessions. They were really
comfortable because they are so spiritually mature. They were all
emotional in the Celestial room. We then went to the sealing room to
do both sealings. I saw A LOT of Estrellita there. It was the best. I
had a blast with all them again. Mario is still fun as ever. He wants
me to go over and eat again soon, but I told him I couldn't until I
get home so we will need to stop by! Anyway--I wasn't
overly-emotional, other than feeling the Spirit strong all
morning--UNTIL Mario and Glenda were sealed and Cassandra came in all
dressed in white and the officiator asked her who they were (pointing
at Mario and Glenda) and she said "mis papas" and then the 3 got
sealed and had "un abrazo familiar" (family hug). I totally lost it
for those 3 minutes. The Spirit was exceptionally strong. IT was funny
too because the entire room was crying hard core when Cassandra came
in. Man, I thought I died and went to Heaven! We thought of Gerardo
and Anah in the Celestial room with their 3 kids sometime soon too.
Man, it was a beautiful imagination! :D

Well, all in all, I became very much more converted to the fact that
families can be eternal. That moment in the sealing room during the
ordinances I had not the slimmest sliver of a doubt that it is true. I
was completely reassured that families can be together forever. It was
such a wonderful testimony builder for me. Death isn't the end at all.

The mission tour was phenomenal. I wish I would've heard it like 20
months ago too haha. It was a combo of mind-opening and mind-blowing!
He talked to us for 4 hours about how to improve our teaching
basically. We talked about "The Most Important Thing" and about how
that is what we need to teach every single lesson and contact to. It
is basically receiving the Restored Gospel. He added in that we need
to help others see that NOW (i.e. in this life) we can receive a
remission of sins, the Holy Ghost as a guide, and power from God
through the Gospel. He said that just about EVERY disobedience,
mistake, or sin happens because of misunderstanding of doctrine. We
read that if we commit adultery then our souls are destroyed or
something harsh like that. Well, if we understood doctrine we wouldn't
do "stupid" things like that (The General Authorities that have been
teaching us say words like that it is funny haha). He told us that any
disagreement in the church or in our lessons happens because doctrine
is misunderstood. President Griffin has been teaching us A LOT about
preserving doctrine and teaching it the right way lately. I feel like
the Church is doing a follow-up on PMG lately; we have it to guide us
rather than memorizing lessons, but maybe the church is seeing that
missionaries are straying from the meat of the doctrine too much. Kind
of interesting. Anyway, Elder Corbridge seems strict and rigid, but he
knows the scriptures like a boss and it was cool to be with him. He
said that the Sermon on the Mount is actually not an eclectic group of
fun Ghandi teachings, but rather a Chiasm-style-written sermon with
one single overall thesis: "By your fruits ye shall know them." Kind
of interesting, read it with that overarching thesis in mind. He was
very insightful.

So, The Phoenix Temple!!!! We are really getting close!!!!!! This week
we began Sign Language practice!!!!! We are singing "Called to Serve"
and " Keepers of His Light" in the celebration and for the second song
we are doing two minutes of sign language. I am pretty sure it will be
the spiritually strongest night of my mission to be singing with 280
missionaries in front of the temple just a short month before I go
home. So we have that, conference the week before, Meet the Mormons
hits theaters the day the PHX temple opens, then the holidays, then I
am home 😳 To fill you in on everything between this: we went on
exchanges with Elder Bryant this week and the only commitment he left
with us was to be cool and calm and accepting with everything
President Griffin wants to do in the coming 2 transfers. He said that
we are going to really start to see his "vision unfold." He also said
that he has no idea where President Griffin is getting all this cats
pulled out of the same hat haha. So yeah, PG is a little bit of a
loose cannon. Don't get me wrong, he is very inspired and what he is
teaching is working (both general authorities that have come repeated
lessons that he has already taught us), but things will keep changing.
It will be exciting! This mission has grown quite a bit since he has
got here. We are excited. Last week we got three new apps "Pages,
Numbers, and Dropbox." I know they might seem a lot lamer to you than
Temple Run or Angry Birds, but for missionary work these additions
will change the work. It will start by making us more organized and
efficient :) I already started with "Pages" by making business cards
with my name, picture, Mormon.org account, a scripture, and my
facebook name too. Fun missionary work 😅 If anything that I mentioned
didn't get you thinking that the work is really hastening, then you
need to wakeup and stop sleeping through the Restoration!!!! #DC8873

Anah and Gerardo had a mini-setback this week. They didn't come to
church or the baptism that the Estrella ward had right after so we
called them. Gerardo said that Anah had been getting A LOT of
opposition from her sister. She felt super bad, couldn't sleep, and
even got physically sick  so they didn't come. Gerardo was completely
fine, but Anah was a little rattled. Her mom died recently so now she
feels like she has no blood family. Bottom line: Satan definitely gets
down to business when good things are about to happen. The closer we
get to making covenants and getting back on the path the harder and
harder el gran chamuko tries to get people miserable. My testimony of
Priesthood Ordinances and of the truthfulness of this work has grown
immensely on the mission just from seeing how hard Satan works on
people. Seeing the opposition is enough for me to know that this work
is true. Also, I know that our Heavenly Father lets these things
happen (like Job) to measure our strength. Gerardo and Anah will be
fine. They are getting stronger and stronger. Sunday night, Hermano
Cid, Elder McCuch and I went by and expounded scriptures with them for
about an hour. The Spirit was strong.

Life has been exceptionally great out here. Aside from all those big
events, all my studies this week have been super spiritual. I am
reading the Book of Mormon while studying only the Strengthening Power
of the Atonement and I am pulling a lot out of it. I am in Mosiah
right now and have actually got more from this book than any other so
far. Something I learned today in chapter 26 is that we are powered
from on high when we can forgive others. We have no right to pass
judgments because the Savior is the only one to have experienced it
all, so we must forgive all to be able to be forgiven of all. It is a
good thing to study. Well, sorry I wrote a lot, it has been kind of a
boring P-Day. This week we will be biking a little bit! We are going
to the Mesa Temple with Anah, Gerardo, and the Morales family. It will
be a great week. Time is flying with Elder McCuch. We can't believe
that transfers are in 14 days!!!😁 Good stuff, love you all!

Doctrine of Christ

Dear Family,

President Griffin came and did interviews with West Maricopa this
week. They were awesome! He is hitting VIRTUE hard in all his
interviews. That is definitely what we need as a mission. He is
working on making sure we have a steady, spiritual foundation so we
can help others. He is talking about things like making sure our 3
hour studies have ample breaks, we are eating healthy (he said that as
long as the mission wants to eat his "steel cut oats" he won't stop
buying them for us), we have more miles in our cars (President Taylor
kept a 20,000 mile breathing room each month, and PG just distributed
all of them), and stuff like that. Style changes!

We had a Spanish training meeting! It was a blast. I got to see all my
buds. Elders Miller, Nelson, Ramos, Giron, Jones, Fife, Munoz, Salas,
Cordero, and a bunch of Hermanas! It was a good group, like always. I
love the Spanish missionary culture out here. We have a pretty
tight-knit group.

La Joya is doing well. Our Bishop came to church yesterday. He spoke
about a few experiences that he has had as a member in the church
about seeing his church leaders make dumb mistakes between Sundays and
how they still shouldn't be criticized. He has been having a tough
time coming to church because of work. But he is a great guy. Gerardo,
Anah, Mariana, Alexa, and Sebastian came to church yesterday. The eggs
are doing well in this basket! I am not worried. They cancelled the
lesson on Saturday because they all needed to go shopping to buy nice
church clothes. They all came in super cute clothes! The first thing
the 3 kids do after Sacrament ends is come find Elder McCuch and I,
run over to us, and shake our hands with big ole smiles! We have been
talking to them A LOT lately about temples and having an eternal
family. They understand that baptism is how they will get there so we
set a tentative date for baptism for October 18th. They are so cool. I
am not worried at all. Even if they don't get baptized for 6 months,
they are still on track and will be an eternal family. After thousands
of people talked to, taught, and contacted, it really does make the
ONE that much sweeter.

I want to bear my testimony on the Doctrine of Christ a little bit
today. Elder McCuch and I are seeing it applied every single day.
Elder Nistler asked me what I had learned about it after on exchange
with him this weekend and I told him that I had been thinking about
all the reasons as to why our Savior would choose to perform the
Atonement for us. First and foremost, it was out of His perfect love
for the Father and for us, but also, I think it was because He knew
how hard life would be and is for each and every one of us because of
the Fall. He knew exactly everything that we would pass through and He
knew that we would need His help. I bet He imagined that as he
suffered in agony for all of us; how individually hard it must've been
for each of us. He knew that the only way to help us would be to have
went through it before. I am eternally indebted to Him for what He
did. I guess the mission is a good start, but it won't quite add up to
all the work there is after the mission!

So something that I have learned being with Elder McCuch is how
insanely fun it is to work to uplift others! I love it. Everyone needs
uplifting :) I am working on helping everyone we see and work with see
how they can improve then be inspired by the Spirit to do it! You can
do it!

Going to the Temple this week!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Love, Elder Parry

PS--We are going to the Temple this coming Saturday with Glenda and
Mario. I bet I see a lot of people from Rama Estrella and some
missionary friends so I am excited.

Granola bars and salsa please would be great! Also-- anything healthy
like dried fruit, nuts etc. Love you.

I am ecstatic about that BYU roommate lineup. Thanks for all that you
are doing to get that setup. I might take the "menace to society"
route, chill with my homies for 5 years and not get married after all!

Wettest Day in Phoenix History

 

 

Hola Familia--

This week was kind of insane. I am happy it is over! But it went well :) Just long. First off, yesterday Hermana Galarza invited us over for dinner and she said that she had a "Surprise" for us. They are friends with a lot of members over in that area (perks of serving in Spanish!) so when we walked in the door we saw Mario y Glenda Sanchez and the Bustillos family from Rama Estrella! It was a blast! Mario brought one of my favorite foods that I ate over there with him to eat with us yesterday. It was Manta Ray and I ate 8 tacos so they were delicious. But it was most absolutely wonderful because Mario and Glenda said they are GOING THROUGH THE TEMPLE ON SEP 20!!!! Finally. The time came. They have been facing many, many trials as of late. But they are ready and staying strong. Elder McCuch and I will be going with them next saturday :) 

All leadership/conversion problems aside, Barrio La Joya is a pretty boss missionary ward. We had a bunch of fun this week going out with members and Gerardo, Anah, Sebastian, Mariana, and Lexa all came to church on Sunday and they were swallowed up by wardmembers talking to them. The ward is loving getting to know them. We have a Family night about the temple and eternal families (we need to get them married!) tonight with Hermano Morales so we will be seeing some progression soon. They are one of the coolest families I have ever taught. We will keep meeting with them! 

A member at the stake center here just told us that it is the official #1 wettest day in Phoenix history! Kind of exciting huh? I took some pictures of the flooded Walmart parking lot this morning and I will try to get one of the baseball field too; it legitimately looks like a giant pond. Anyway, it canceled the zone kickball game :( haha. Please don't worry mom, I am fine. Everyone is fine. Just wet.

The reason this week was so long was because we had 3 meetings and a bunch of other "stuff" that we just had to do. I absolutely love President Griffin and the things he is doing here in the mission. He is doing an excellent job. He is following the Spirit and leading is in what we need to do. Something that is very exhausting about it is that he is really emphasizing governing ourselves and so it is leaving a lot of chore kind of things that we are going to do as missionaries rather than having the Assistants, Mission President, or the office staff do. Tomorrow we are inspecting cars! Yay. 

So I am super exhausted, but that is okay, I have so much left in the tank! Things are picking up in our area and I am really loving all the missionaries in the great West Maricopa Zone. It is a blast here. 

I know that the Doctrine of Christ is the best way to live our lives! I am seeing the small and simple fruits of living it add up each day making me who I am and helping me become a better person. I know that the Lord trusts and loves us for who we are, and even though we are never perfect out here in this life, he accepts us for our weaknesses and all. I know that we are His friends too and that He wants us to be happy. I am happy :D

Love, Elder Jacob Parry 

New (Last?) Companion

 

 

I kept the same subject line because it was fast over here too! Super long days, but fast week. The transfers/training ended at like 1:00 and we were running around all over our part of the Phoenix vineyard delivering bikes, missionaries, and luggage until like 5:30. Paradoxically, it went by fast because we had to hurry our behinds with everything that we had! I don't know why you thought I was getting transferred? Elder Dart went home early and left me home in my area for 8 days so I knew that I had to stay. Anyways, Elder McCuch is my new companion! He is from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (cerca de Philadelphia), so he will be fun to visit after the mission! He thinks he is going to BYU which is cool because I like him a lot. He is super cool. He graduated in 2010. He eats super healthy, which is encouraging me to eat better too which has been helpful, and he works out A LOT. He is a pretty big guy. He has been following me around all mission haha. He was trained in Agua Fria (where I was trained), came to Surprise to be with Elder Fife when I left, and just got transferred from Barrio Estrella where he was with Elder Castro. Small Spanish mission huh? Haha. He has actually had 8 different areas. He is pretty tired of getting switched around. He hopes he stays. I hope we are companions for the rest of my mission. He is really helping me. He goes home one transfer after I do. I am sorry if a lot of this bores you, it is really interesting to me as I reflect on the week. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Elder McCuch wants to play baseball at BYU when he gets back so we have talked about that a bunch! I told him that my 3 brothers are basically pro.

So last week in the crazy 3-missionary 3-area week we found a family: Gerardo, Ana, Alexa, Mariana, and Sebastian. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but they are probably the most legitimate family I have had the blessing of teaching and visiting on my whole mission. They are SOOOO COOOL. I already love them a lot. Alexa and Mariana are 8 and 6 and they came to church in cute matching white dresses and Gerardo and Ana loved it too! Gerardo was baptized 14 years ago but wants to come back. Ana cried in the second hour because her mom just barely died. Elder McCuch and I were talking, if they, as well as anyone else, need to be prepared before they find the church, then there is no better time in their lives for them to embrace the Gospel. I guess we will see how it goes. They are soaking in what we are teaching. Elder McCuch and I have felt the Spirit and had a lot of fun preparing to teach them! They have outstanding member support (dysfunctional ward, but they are all converts so they love missionary work!). My only fear (and it is a very little one) is that we put all or hope, love, and eggs in one basket and then the basket breaks. They are just too cool for it not to work out! I think it will though. Ana said that she would be baptized and we are going to the Mesa temple to see the stuff soon. The Spirit is definitely in the works with them. Pure and complete guidance to this family! 

It has been a wild week. This next week is wild too. Tomorrow we have the nerdy meeting that I don't really like (council meeting), then wednesday we have my FAVORITE meeting! Mission leadership meeting. It will be the bomb. It is a bigger group and a lot of my friends will be there. Then thursday we have to plan and then friday is a meeting for our zone. All this stuff just makes us have to work harder in the less time we have to proselyte. I love this area! Like every area I have been in. I love it. I have loved each one of my companions too. #spoiled. It has been an easy mission in a lot of aspects. I keep getting the Spiritual impression that the mission wasn't meant to be super hard for me. Maybe I am not working hard enough? I don't think so. I feel that life will be harder for me in other phases. It has and will continue to be a fantastic two years (in what feels like 6 months). This past week was wild too. Lots of driving around. 

This is a boss companionship. At least for me and my work-style. We are following the Spirit to trey and serve others and we write 20 things on our to-do list every day and come home at the end of the night with almost every single thing crossed off. I know Mom likes that kind of thing. Hey, you have got to find joy in different kinds of things in the mission haha. We are teaching and working well together too. And I am eating healthier haha. We ran three miles Saturday morning and I wanted to die haha. If I actively try, I could lose a lot of weight with him! #215lbs.

Transfers were great. President Griffin is receiving some good revelation for us! He wants us to relax, take breaks, take some time after meetings to actually talk rather then to run away to work, and to plan better, more effectively, and more calmly. It is cool to see how I have changed in that way in my mission too. President Griffin would definitely not be okay with Elder Pollmeier's work ethic haha. It was good though. 3 Bountiful missionaries came in. One graduated from WX just barely. Elder Tevin Byington came in. They sent him up north haha. Elder Oliphant came in! I don't know if you know him, I faintly remember him. He has a sister my age and they used to live in the condos. They currently live in the wheeler's basement. Small world. 

Well I can't really remember if anything else happened this week! Something probably did. Love you! Elder Parry 

Transfers!

Dear Family,

It is all agreed in our apartment that this past week was verrrrrry
looooooong. It was a blast, but we were all running our own areas for
8 days. I feel like each day was 36 hours. We did an okay job at
having members coming out with us each night so we could have splits,
and we were together during the day visiting people from all three
areas. We taught a lot this week. There were a lot of people to visit
in the areas so that was fun :) Elders Yoxtheimer and Johnson are a
blast. We had a companionship theme song in the car, and Elder's
Yoxtheimer car was temporary so it had unlimited miles and we used it
a lot! We saved a lot of miles for the frontier 😂 Anyway, there were
just a lot of fun things that happened this week that I had never
experienced before in the mission. Elder Dart left 6 shirts so now I
have 13 white shirts!!!!   Haha. It is my first tripanionship and it was pretty fun. Way to exhausting to be longer than 8 days, but fun while it lasted. The coolest part; the
Lord blessed all three areas with miracles this week. Elder Yox had a
baptism in his ward on Saturday for Anna Tarango. I had the privilege
of baptizing her. She is PREPARED. One of the coolest girls I have met
out here in the mission. It has been unforgettable to see people like
her embrace the Gospel and make the Baptismal covenant with the end
goals of the temple and the eternities in mind. We found 6 new
investigators last week in La Joya Norte as a part of our miracles. 3
of them are Gerardo's wife, Ana, and their 3 kids. This family is SO
COOL! We gave a blessing to Hermana Lupita's friend (Ana) and she felt
the Spirit. That night, Gerardo told her that he is Mormon (less
active for a long time). She was like WHAT!? We need to go to church!
So the parents and the three kids; Mariana, Sebastian, and Alexa will
come to church :) Pure miracles brought us to them. The areas are fun
though. La Joya is the toughest ward I have served in, but it is all
good, the next missionary coming should be good. I think it is Elder
McCuch, but I am not sure. Whoever it is, if he is with me for 3
transfers, then he will be my last 😳. We shall see tomorrow. Elders
Yoxtheimer and Johnson are training in their areas. They will do
great. We will figure it all out tomorrow. I wouldn't go as far as to
say that President Griffin is off his rocker, but he is definitely
different than President T. THE WHOLE MISSION is going to the meeting
tomorrow for extra training. We will probably all get lunch too and
not be gone until like 5 ay caray. His style is so interesting. He is
very inspired though. I didn't get the chance to talk to him this
week, but we will be seeing him more in the coming weeks.

I learned a lot of interesting things this week. We taught someone who
is less-active, Mari, yesterday and she wants to come back to church
more than anything but she says that SHE CAN'T. Something always comes
up. She said that it is so hard for her to go to church, but she wants
to and she is trying. For the majority of my mission, I would be
pretty frustrated and just tell her a bunch of reasons why she needs
to go. I am trying to be more empathetic though, and it is SO HARD to
put myself in others' shoes. It is so hard! I have realized that it
really can be hard to make it back to church. I don't know the other
side of things and I may have a norrow-minded perspective. I am just
not sure. I know that Christ knows them and what they go through so I
need to help them trust in Him, and I know that being inspired by God
through the Spirit to return or to come to church is the best thing
that could happen so I rely on that too. But I feel like I am coming
to understand just how hard things may be in real-life. We have
"strong" and "active" members missing church 2 out of 3 weeks for
work, not having a car, not being ready on time, etc. etc. These
people are counselors in quorums and Young mens' presidents. We visit
them and tell them why they need to go to church and it may not come
off as loving to them, but we do our best. It is hard for these
people! Only God can decide who is giving their best efforts to go
despite all the opposition, but we need to go and show the LOVE so
that they can feel God's love. I don't know how hard it is for these
people, I don't even know how hard life is in general because mine was
so easy before the mission! I realized that too; life was pretty swell
for me growing up. The future looks swell too, but ya never know. I
have this false pretext that everything will come out smelling like a
rose if I just keep living like I did before the mission but who
knows! It has been good for me to take a step back this week and be
real with myself about how the rest of my life will be. The challenges
and mountains to climb that we have are what help us to grow and to
become, so I guess they will be good! So I know they will come, I just
don't want to spend 2 years judging others for their poor (or what I
judge as poor) efforts and then get home, live life, and realize that
they were really having a hard time. There is nothing trunky about
this either; but I have also been trying to learn how to apply all
this stuff I am learning. A simple question makes me look at anything
on the mission differently; "how would this look to me after the
mission?" Because it is true, we all know how and when to study the
scriptures, to bear testimony, to go to church, and to do the right
thing in general, but if we don't know how it will fit in when we get
home, we are going to get home and have trouble applying! And we would
waste some time and make some mistakes as we try to "get used" to
normal life. I think I will just take President and Sister Taylor's
advice and choose now to be weird and to stay that way :) I hope that
all made sense... I learned a lot about life!

I had a Baptismal Interview this weekend. It was TOUGH. The boy wasn't
showing a lot of excitement. He is kind of rebellious too. I couldn't
decide the whole interview whether he should pass or not. I was
praying and trying to discern the whole time, but nothing. I took a
little extra time in the closing prayer as I sought for an answer from
the Spirit. Nothing. I think nothing, but I went with the answer that
I thought was best and I followed through confidently with it. He
wasn't ready to be baptized. I learned a little there about how the
Lord answers our prayers. It was tough because I never got a "real"
answer. But I think the Lord trusted me enough to let me make the
decision I felt to be right. Whole new meaning to the scripture that
the Lord says that He will "consecrate our performance."

Well, I think there was a lot more I wanted to say. But I forgo

Love, Elder Parry

Oh yeah, mentioning to you about the weather this week isn't worth
more than 2 minutes of typing for me. I was in the rain for about 20
minutes and there were puddles in the gutters for a couple days.
Nothing special at all. Overall, this summer has been very wimpy in
heat.

Covering Three Areas

This week was wild! So on wednesday we actually went to the airport to drop off Elder McFarland who had to go home early for medical reasons. Let me tell you, it was one WEIRD experience being in the airport (see photo). Elder Dart was pretty chill though. It had been a while since I was there and I will be back there probably before I even know it. Now his companion, Elder Yoxtheimer, Elder Johnson, and I are left here to cover THREE areas until transfers on Wednesday. It is going to be stressful, but we will manage somehow. We are trying to all go out with members during the night to visit people in our own areas. It will be some lonely work over the next eight days, but we will be together as a tri-panionship at nights, and we are working with the La Joya Hermanos and the Spirit so we will be all right :) I am sitting on the yellow couch in our apartment next to Elders Arave and Dart. They get picked up in 20 minutes and will be eating bien rico tonight with Mr. Steak man. They will be great. Elder Arave is going to Weber and Elder Dart is going to USU. I actually got an email from Elder Cardoso for the first time and he is currently at LDSBC--working to make it in to the Y. You should try to meet him somehow! He said he will see me at my homecoming. It is a ways away but I am excited to see all these great friends at home and go to the temple with them and such! There is still a lot of work to do out here. I have actually set some goals for this new transfer and one is to dig a little deeper into the energy I have; see what more I can pull out. We had a meeting with Elder Foster of the Seventy this week and President Griffin gave us zone conferences on thursday. Basically, I love President Griffin. He is extremely inspired and exactly what our mission needs. My testimony has grown that President Taylor was perfect for the time he was here for this mission and now President Griffin can do some new things. PG is not strict at all. He wants us to use all the resources we have (cars, miles, food money, P-day time etc.) so he is allowing us to "govern ourselves" in a lot of things. President Taylor hit us hard with obedience so we were ready to receive freedoms and allowances with PG. He has a lot of trust in us. Elder Foster gave a great class on saturday! We talked about seeing others for what they can become and inspiring them to become that. We talked about a lot of things that have helped me to know how I can better inspire and love others. Being a leader has probably been one of the funnest things I have done out in the mission. Not as much leadership assignments as the opportunities I have had here and there to be there for someone when they need it. A lot of what Elder Foster said President Griffin had already gone over, and a lot of that still I felt like I was trying to apply as I look for others to serve and look to help others draw closer to their Savior, their Father, and the Spirit. It is all a work in progress though. We had a great experience on Wednesday. Elder Dart and I were doing facebook on the couch in the Stake Center foyer. A teenager walked up to the door and asked what church this is. She then asked for Holy water because she was too sinful to bless her own. We said a prayer with her and called the YSA sisters. They were 30 seconds away from the building at the time and they gave the lady a church tour. It was a miracle. It is fun to see and recognize the miracles that we see every day. The whole valley is getting pumped for the PHX temple open house! I have already invited a few friends in the valley and plan to invite a couple more so I would like to ask your help to reserve a few tickets September the 29th because they are going to go FAST! Well we shall see how this week goes. It will probably be crazy. Every week has been though. It is Elder Johnson's birthday this friday and we are eating Peruvian buffet so that will be exciting. Yesterday we had goodbye Sopes for dinner, a meat-fest at the Waldo's (The waldos that you met that own the taco shack actually live in La Joya so we went there to pig out), and a gigantic El Salvadorian Omelette this morning for breakfast. I am gaining weight and going to the bathroom a lot haha. If I were to make a guess as to how my mission will end I think that my companion that I meet on Wednesday is the last one. It could be Elder Miller, Taylor, Salas, or someone else. We shall see! It may not sound like I am having a lot of spiritual experiences out here but I am having A LOT. Every day. I love them. They sustain me, and they inspire me to have many more when I return home and have different roles and responsibilities. I love it out here. I still hope to learn LOTs lots more.

Love, Elder Parry