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