We actually heard from President Taylor about President Griffin. He is related to the assistant that was here when I got in and he owns a cattle ranch in Billings Montana. I am going to ask President this wednesday if he speaks Spanish or not haha. President Taylor got choked up when he announced it to us after the Tri-conference, and he said good things about him. Not much though. He also warned us and warned us to warn our families to not facebook stalk him or anything like that haha (he told us he had already done it for us).
The Tri-mission conference was fantastic. Unfortunately, Elder Holland CANCELED. Elder Wright from the 70 took his place. His wife introduced him at the conference; she said that he got the call from Salt Lake while heading to lunch with a member coworker and several nonmember coworkers. Elder Wright got off the phone to try to explain things and his member friend butted in to say "imagine getting tickets to see the Beatles, going, and then seeing the Dixie Chicks onstage." It was funny. And the conference was good nonetheless. I had a lot of APM pride when he talked because he talked about things President Taylor is already trying to ingrain into our souls. He talked about Becoming rather than doing, not losing good habits off the mission, and stuff like that. BECOMING if the only way we can naturally keep the good things going and stop the bad things. We can't just run through the motions or do things just because we know we are supposed to. The conversion needs to be a little deeper. I want to be as dependent on prayer as I am on food. I want to become someone who trusts in the Lord in every moment and goes to him in prayer no matter the time, place, or purpose. Anyway, it was all very good. President and Sister Taylor said great things too. I saw a friend from the MTC, and someone I knew, Scott Obray, from Bountiful but the best part was seeing the rest of the APM. I talked with Elders Dodd, Miller, Cardoso, Hughes, Arave, and my other pals. It was nice to see the Brazilian againn. He is doing well and goes home in 10 weeks which is crazy. Can you believe I go home in a year? Crazy stuff! I promise myself I won't get trunky like our roommate. Man, oh man! He has 10 weeks left too. After the conference we went to the PHX temple to get a mission picture. It was COOL! All 280 of us. I haven't seen the temple since I got here in FEbruary so it was really nice. It is looking good. A few windows, inside stuff, and the grounds is all it looks to have left. It is in a beautiful place--right as you go around one of the mountains on one of the main roads it just jumps out at you! It will look great lit up at night. I feel like the church does that a lot with its temples- Draper, St. George, DC, SAN diego, and others. I am sure that is one of the best missionary tools in the valley because so many people pass it and it is breathtaking no matter what religion you are. I can't wait to go inside!
I honestly can't think of much else to say. Elder Fife and I are looking to re-evaluate or investigators and see where we should be spending our time. They are all great people, but some need to take a step back and see if they are willing to change. I also learned from the conference that I need to pray with all the energy of miy heart for a love for this people. I love them, but It has got to be stronger. I am praying for that so I can genuinely reflect it to them. I will tell you about an experience in a lesson this week! We taught Lala, she lives WAAAAY out on 185, we do most of our work on 130th so we trekked out there and she was home so it was good. I feel like we have taught the Apostasy 4 times with her so it is hard to help her understand why there is only one church so we kept trying, going by the Spirit of course. But it was tough. This week and transfer I have been working on not being so apologetic, being more bold, and saying the truth how it is. Yes, our investigators need to read from the Book of Mormon EVERY DAY, not just between visits. Stuff like that. So, when Elder Fife was looking for a scripture in his ipad, I told her. I told her, in response to her question: "why would God give his authority to only one church and why would he pick yours?" I said because it is His only true church and and no other church has the same power to provide ordinances of salvation than this one. This church is not another church it is the ONLY one that is HIS. I felt the Spirit as I testified-- in a different way though. I felt like my voice was stronger and my whole appearance too. I felt like the Spirit backed up my courage to be bold and tell the truth to help her see what our stance is so we wouldn't have to repeat it and she could think of it, or something like that. It felt good to get out of the comfort zone.
Elder Fife is doing so well. This weekend especially, he has kind of 'showed me how it is done.' He shared a scripture in an unlikely moment, which worked out really nice because we committed the friends to church this week. He is keeping us obedient and on-time to things. He has really taught me through example how to be himself in missionary work. His analogies that he uses in lessons are thoughtful and heartfelt. He teaches from his life and does it sincerely. Whether it is straight out of PMG or it makes perfect sense to the lesson or not, he has shown me how to teach to people's needs and desires. It is something I can try to emulate. One thing I always have in mind when teaching and contacting is to look for ways to highlight and testify of principles of the Gospel in the things that they say. That is already a part of him. We have had a fruitful 10 weeks together. Pretty soon he will be finished with training. And don't worry about me getting transferred--I won't! Haha.
Go Caroline! I forgot to say this a few weeks ago... But I had a dream. It wasn't anything serious, but Caroline got her call to Taiwan! How cool is that!? You will be a great missionary and will find great eternal joy for serving the Lord. Thanks for always being so tough Mom! You are good at teaching me to stand up for myself!
I know God loves us, I know there is a mansion prepared for us all in a far better and more eternal world. Endure to the End!
Love, Elder Parry
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