Elder Jake Parry

Elder Jake Parry
Arizona Phoenix Mission

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

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.

Monday, August 18, 2014

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

Monday, August 11, 2014

Short Letter :-(

Dear Family, This week was great. Barrio La Joya was funny yesterday. They announced a few times about Elders Arave and Dart leaving and about how elders Johnson and I will need members to help us in our areas. It was Elders Dart and Arave's birthdays this week! It is Elder Johnson's next week so Barrio La Joya threw a huge party for one of our dinners. We had a lot of cake and Mexican food and a lot of fun company. Hermana Menendez made a big cake and for the 3 birthday guys they yelled; "Mordida! Mordida!" which means "bite bite!" And so the three birthday guys bit into it. Elder Dart did it first and Elder Arave did it last and nothing happened to them. Elder Johnson, however, had his face pushed into the cake by Hermana Clemente. It was so hilarious. He had cake all over his face and there was a face imprint in the cake. Haha. I am having so much fun out here. We are still working hard too! It is hard to believe there will be life after the mission because of my life for the past two years. Elder Dart and I have had some deep talks as we have driven around because he is getting ready to move on. It has been a cool transfer. Just so you know, this is one of the first times in the mission I haven't written ya'll first and it sure goes to show. I will write this email first next week.. It will be next monday before we all know it :D Love, Elder Parry. Sam don't die at two-a-days, I still need to come home and beat you up!

Monday, August 4, 2014

It's August!

It is August! This time last year I had already had 4 companions. It is going by fast, right? A lot of cool things happened this week. Saturday we had it planned to go to the Mesa Temple Visitors' Center with a couple investigators, some members, and some returning members. It kind of got destroyed in our face so we didn't go and that stunk. #nocommitmentproblems. The Spirit was at work though! An Elder called us the afternoon that we didn't go and he wanted to come over and talk because he was thinking about going home. We did a split the rest of the day with that companionship to be able to talk to both and shake things up from the regular routine for them. It worked out very well! I went with Elder Yoxtheimer and Elder McFarland went with Elder Dart. It was just what we all needed. It is cool to see the Spirit working through the situation. I have loved being with other missionaries and trying to help them see what they can achieve. I have been working hard on "the triangle" that President taught us before he left. It has to do with helping others create a strong relationship with the Godhead so that I can put myself out of business. O sea, making sure people aren't attached to me or other little things of little importance, but rather that they grow to depend on God. I am working hard on that. I am trying not to get to close with the members of this ward. I want it to be the ward out of the 4 I serve in that I have the least strong relationships with the members. It involves a lot of trying to motivate and inspire through the spirit and celebrating the good they are doing and helping them discover for themselves ways they can repent. A common byproduct of this is loving the missionaries that helped; I just do my best to tell them that it was all them and that they are drawing close to God in the process :) I am trying that with missionaries and members. It worked this week! We are working on getting these members converted because that is a problem in La Joya; so we went and taught a strong member Galarza family the First a Vision and talked about some things they could do while we felt the Spirit strong. It went great and we challenged them to bear testimony in sacrament meeting so they could grow and so the rest of the barrio could get animated about the work of salvation! The mom, dad, and daughter went up and shared their conversion stories and how they feel about missionary work. #trueconversion. I love working with these members. I have definitely grown in love for this people down here. I will never forget how I feel for this people. The nonmembers are a little harder to love, but these saints down here are FAITHFUL. It has been a process. I read a journal entry from last year about loving the people and I feel so happy for how much I love them now. Elders Dart and Arave are holding strong. Elder Arave is from Layton so I am telling him to visit you too! They are so solid. No trunkiness. Puro Trabajo. They are actually great companions for me and very excellent leaders. I love being around them. I am honored to be with them at the end of their service. They will do great things. I have been reflecting a lot with Elder Arave too because he took me on my first exchange and we have served in the same wards all mission. We have a lot in common and we have already decided to be bros after the mission! I have too many bros now and no time to hangout with them haha. I will have to put off marriage a little I guess, but I am super excited to get married! I will be engaged before the end of the semester! Haha just kidding no rush. Am I your baby my whole life mom or do I get to spread my wings? Haha jk. Elder Dart is a boss though. Him and Arave have helped and taught me quite a bit actually. I am certainly soaking in this time I have to learn and follow until I am back to a little more leading at this next transfer :-/ I will be the oldest serving in La Joya, in the apartment, the second oldest elder in the zone, the oldest Spanish in the mission, and elder fife will be out a year. Ay caray. I am hooked to one of the videos on my iPad. I practically have it memorized in Spanish. It is the Elder Christofferson one on the will of god. I feel the Spirit exceptionally strong every time it watch it and I watch it several times a week. It is very powerful for me. I am not exactly sure why. I don't feel like I have had a mountain to climb or a drastic change that I have had to adapt to, in fact, I see that happening a lot to missionaries around me with their families and situations and I feel like I am ministering to a few of them. I surely have been blessed with a great and faithful family. But I feel like I have understood the will of God for me up until now in my life. I have grown to agree with it, but I haven't had an huge challenges with adjusting to it. Anyway, the message is very strong for me. I would just want The Lord to know that I am totally willing to do what he needs done and to accept it. I think that is why the message is so powerful to me. I pray often expressing my acceptance of His will and, more than anything, willingness to do what needs to be done. I love it because it makes me feel like a true instrument in His hands. I will keep doing it. I hope to encounter a mountain to climb or some kind of challenge to face that can shape me. It's what I'm looking for :-) pray that I can have the right challenges and the sufficient faith to endure and conquer it. It will help me! Love, Elder Parry PS--->Hermano Carcamo told us last night that he is in charge of La Joya's participation in the PHX Temple cultural celebration. He is excited but super confused because he doesn't know what to do. We had stake correlation Sunday too and President Griffin came and told us what we will be doing for the temple. The sisters will be doing tours, playing movies, and getting their faces seen (I asked president Griffin if we were pretty enough to do that and he said of course not). Elders will be......... The FIRST people (along with the workers) in the temple after it is dedicated to carry the furniture in to furnish the whole place!! I am pumped. We will be in white and everything. The whole mission will be singing at the cultural celebration too. Called to Serve and one other song. It will be so sweet. I bet President Eyring will come too. He always goes to those! Hermano Carcamo said he's pretty sure the open house will be no earlier than in two months and no later than in 3 months! So November or October :)