DECEMBER 30, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,
With Christmas being this last week, I feel like it really helped us get into a lot of less active member’s homes. We were blessed to be able to teach so many great members of the ward this week. Even though we don't have very many investigators, I have felt success teaching less active families.
On Monday night we decided that we would go down into the very bottom corner of our area. Because it is so far away we don't usually go down there. But we felt prompted to so we did. We found a few less actives that we hadn't met and decided to stop by them. The first less active family that we stopped by was really nice, they were really busy and didn't have time to have us in, but they gave us their updated number and told us to come by after the holidays. It was great to be able to meet this family and make some progress with them. After we talked to a few of their neighbors we went to a less active couple’s home. Every time we talk to our ward leaders about who is on their minds, this family comes up. We stopped by not knowing what to expect. We knew that they were having trouble having children before they stopped coming, but we weren't really sure how welcoming they would be. When they answered the door they let us right in. They were very happy to see us and we were a little shocked by their hospitality. They were throwing together cookies and things for us to take with us and we were talking about how they have been. It was great. We shared the new bible video on the nativity with them. A special spirit was in the room as we discussed the Savior’s birth. I have never felt the spirit so strongly in that kind of setting. We had caught them at an interesting time, they were just about to call their families to tell them that they were expecting a child, and here we were talking to them about the Savior’s birth. It was humbling to see the Lord’s hand in this work. Something so simple like just deciding that we should stop by, turned into a very spiritual experience for everyone there. It was the beginning to a great week of working with less active members of our ward.

I was able to be on exchanges with Elder Readhead in our area this week. I felt the power of exchanges when we were able to follow the spirit and teach 4 lessons in one night where we didn't have appointments scheduled. I am starting to realize that I need to seek more spiritual promptings in planning and not just when I am out working in our area. I feel greatly blessed to be able to work in this ward and this area.

This is going to one of my most memorable Christmas's I have ever had, not because of the generous gifts I received, but because of the many miracles and blessings that happened this week, the many great people that I have been able to work with and the powerful spiritual experiences that I have been a part of. What a blessing it is to be able to be a missionary this time of year!

Love, Elder Parker

DECEMBER 23, 2013

This week has been really good. We have been pretty busy and have welcomed a new senior couple to our district, Elder and Sister McArthur. They are specifically helping the New Castle ward family with financial stuff and helping them get better jobs and education. They are great missionaries.

It’s been a fairly slow week as far as investigators and lessons go. We were dropped by one of our investigators and the other didn't hold his appointment. We found 5 new investigators. The Dunsmore family we have been working with brought a friend to church who is also going to come next week. Hopefully we can teach him soon.
Susan emailed me back. I shared a link to the nativity that she watched. She has gotten the info for the church in China and said she is going to go next week!
The weather has been pretty strange lately. Saturday and Sunday it was 70! Today it’s about 60 and it’s raining pretty hard. It feels really weird to not have snow at Christmas time. We have quite a few meal appointments this week. We are going to Bishop Fails house on Christmas eve. We are going to the Rodriguez family's house on Christmas and we are also going to the Brandt’s and we will be skyping home. As a District we are going to be caroling tomorrow at the mall which should be fun.

That’s about all we did last week. Thank you to everyone for the letters, cards and packages. If I don't respond this week, I will next week! I love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Love, Elder Parker

DECEMBER 16, 2013

Dear Family,
This week has been really great. For the past couple of weeks we have been trying to work with the less actives in our ward. I think we have enough members to make a stake if everyone would come! It’s crazy. We have been meeting with the Dunsmore family a lot recently, they have come to church now for the last 2 weeks and we meet with them twice a week. They are an amazing family and they are excited to prepare to go to the temple. We have been trying to meet some new less actives. We stopped by a home on Saturday night; the Tozers. Brother Tozer came out and told us he wasn't a member anymore, he was catholic. Not really interested. Then last night we got a call from a sister Tozer. She was asleep when we stopped by and apologized that he didn't let us in. She had no idea there was even a church in Newark and she has lived there for 5 years! She is going to call us today to set up a time when we can come over for dinner.
We have had this thing going on while I have been here that anytime we go on an exchange, nothing good happens in our area. Appointments fall through or investigators drop us. Things like that. This exchange was different. Elder Barker came to our area with me and of course I was nervous. I always feel like I don't know the area well enough. We taught a lesson to a less active in our ward and then to a new investigator. We had a member with us and we had a few minutes so we stopped by a less active that we hadn't seen in a long time. She answered the door and let us in. We invited her to the Christmas party and she came!
The next day we had no appointments in the morning. We stopped by 2 less actives and they both let us in to teach them. It was amazing. At our Christmas party later that night, we had several less active members come including the Woolseys who we haven't seen in weeks. There was also a sister who is deaf that I have never met (she might be teaching a sign language class, soo cool). We had a lot of less actives there and an investigator, Max. He is young single adult age though so we need to hand him off to the other Elders. Overall this week was really good. I was excited to get a package from Grandma and Grandpa Parker! I just got a box right before I left the apartment from Aunt Karen. Everything has been going really well. The new Elders in our district are great, we also got a senior couple in our district this week, I haven't met them but they are in the new castle ward. I love you all! Thank you for all of your love and support!

DECEMBER 9, 2013 -TRANSFERS

Dear Friends and Family,
This week has been crazy. Wednesday we had an exchange with Elder Stuki and Elder Stark. Elder Stuki came to our area with me and we had a good time. We have a little bit of a personality clash and he was really loud, but it was good. We found out some information about our investigators and it really stressed me out. Pray for Rex. Also pray for Mike H., our amazing story from last week. He texted us and told us he didn't want to meet with us and wouldn't respond to our messages. It was a hard day.
We had zone training on Thursday. We talked about testifying when we teach. How every sentence we say should carry our testimony in it. Then we had a really cool lesson about the atonement. We went into the gym and the zone leaders pulled out donuts. They asked who wanted one. Of course everyone raised their hand. They called out an Elder to come get his. Then they asked if Elder Sanchez would do ten push-ups so that this Elder could have his donut. He did them and the Elder got his donut. Then they called out another missionary and repeated. They did this for all the missionaries. Eventually people started saying they didn't want a donut. So they asked Elder Sanchez to do ten push-ups for them to have a donut they don't want. As we continued on we could tell that it was getting hard for Elder Sanchez to keep doing all the push-ups. Eventually everyone was doing them with him to help him along. In the end, he did around 280 push-ups. We talked about how the atonement is there for all of us. How we need to accept it because Christ did it. It was a powerful experience that I will never forget.
Later that day we had another exchange. Elder Sanchez came to our area with me and we taught some good lessons. It was stressful to be in an area that only I know, without Elder Thomas. It shows me how much work I still have to do to be ready to take over an area.
Thursday Mike texted us and told us he would still meet with us! It was so exciting! We are going to meet with him sometime this week. Sunday we had an investigator come to church named Max. He kinda fell asleep during parts of church but it was good and he wants to come back. We haven't really met with him yet. Sister Galagos came to church for the first time since I have been here (she is a less active we are working with). The Dunsmore family also came to church (also a less active family we have been working a lot with) so sacrament was great! They cancelled the rest of church because there were 3 inches of snow outside! It was a pretty crazy storm. It took us an hour and a half to get to our apartment 3 miles away because it was mostly up hill and the roads were closed. We went out to try and shovel people’s driveways but we don't have any shovels and no one would let us help. So it was frustrating but we meet some good people. We went to the church that night and watched the Christmas Devotional. I really enjoyed it.
Tomorrow are transfers and we found out that Elder Thomas and I are both staying here in Newark! We were both so shocked we yelled when we found out. This is the longest Elder Thomas has stayed in one area.
That’s all for this week.
Love ya!
Elder Parker

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Dear Family,
On Sunday we were scheduled to have Rex's confirmation. They called us about a half hour before church and told us they wouldn't be able to make it. We were devastated. Honestly I was slightly relieved because I was so worried about the confirmation. We got to church and told the Bishop, he told us we could do it next week. We sat down and it was about to start, when surprise! There was Rex! We went on with the confirmation. I know that the only way I was able to give the confirmation was by the spirit. I felt inadequacy for giving a blessing. Heavenly Father answered my prayers, when a few members later in the day told me that they appreciated the blessing and the spirit they felt. They said they could hear my testimony in it. That's what I wanted, and it was comforting.
On Sunday we were stopping by some less active members and we kinda burned through our plans and we didn't have much success. We walked back to the car and we were about to go home for dinner when a man came up to our window and asked if we were looking for a Mike H---. We had no idea who Mike H--- was. He told us that he was Mike H--- and he wanted to hear about our church. We got out of the car and went into his house. He told us that he has spent a lot of time seeking out religion. He said he felt like Christianity was what he needed. He also said that he doesn't like to do things halfway and that's why he liked our faith so much, because we live what we believe. He told us he had some Mormon friends and he called someone at the Wilmington building and they were supposed to call us. So he looked out his window and saw us and thought we looked like "good Mormons". As we taught the Restoration using the pamphlet, he kept telling us he was getting "chills." We explained the Holy Ghost to him and he was excited. He told us that everything made sense. He committed to be baptized on the 5th of January, but said he wants to do it as soon as possible. The spirit was so strong in his home. We were in and out in about 25 minutes. This experience strengthened my testimony of fasting and that Heavenly Father does work in mysterious ways.
Love,
Elder Parker

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Dear Family,
Well another week has past. The time is going by faster and faster. On Sunday we had Rex's baptism! It was really great. A lot of the ward showed up to support him. After his baptism, he bore his testimony and I could tell that he knew he was making the right choice. Other than the baptism, this week has been kind of quiet. It’s been hard to get a hold of people and it might be because of the up-coming holiday. The weather has been getting really cold. It was like 30 degrees yesterday and a pretty strong breeze. Luckily we were inside :) Zone Conference was really great. We talked about teaching by the spirit and how we can have the spirit with us. Usually we have 45 min to an hour lessons with people. Now we are trying to be in and out in 20 minutes with the lesson being less than 10. Crazy huh?! It’s sooo cool though! We are trying to use pictures more and cut out all the fluff. It’s interesting because now we teach more like we did in the MTC.  When I came to the mission field we added other stuff; now we are back to what it was like in the MTC.

Cool experience. I was on exchanges with my favorite missionary (Elder Readhead) and we were in his area. We were tracting in an apartment compound. So there were buildings that each held 12 different apartments. Well they were all supposed to be locked. But we got into a lot of them because the locks were broken. We didn't really have a lot of success, but on our last one, we got in and met a boy who was 18 years old. We asked him if he wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ. He said yes, we were unprepared and rambled through half of the restoration then gave him a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment. Cool thing is when we went out, we found out the door actually locks... somehow we got in though. So Cool!  Hopefully he keeps his appointment, his name is Sayvon. Really cool kid.

Hope everything is going well at home! Love you all!
Love, Elder Parker

                                          Elder Thomas, Rex, Elder Parker

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Dear Family,
This week has been really good. We have been focused on building our teaching pool and found 4 new investigators this week! It’s not always easy and for some reason people often don't show up for appointments. We taught Rex 2 times this week. We have finished teaching him and he is ready to be baptized this Sunday Nov. 24th. Elder Thomas is going to do the baptism and I am doing the confirmation the following week. I am soo nervous. I have only given 1 blessing and I always feel like what I say needs to be powerful and worded really well. I have been pondering and praying a lot about what I should include in his blessing. It will be a learning experience.
The New Castle West Elders (Elders Sanchez and Readhead) had another baptism this Sunday! Our district has had over 10 baptisms while I have been here! It’s been crazy.
We had a really cool experience on Saturday. We were doing our weekly planning and got a random text from a number we didn't know that said, "why mormonism?" We started to message him back and eventually found out that he is a former investigator that we have no record of. He lives in our area with his wife and 4 kids and was about to be baptized in January of 2010. He got our number from a pass along card that fell out of one of our investigator's doors... So cool! He says he isn't interested in converting, but I know the spirit can be a powerful tool of conversion.
Something I have learned so far is how I want to be when I get home, what the missionaries really want from members, and how much a ride to save miles means. Little things that members do for missionaries really mean a lot.
The work is progressing and many miracles happen every day. I love you all so much, thank you for your thoughts, cards, packages and prayers. It means the world to me. I am blessed to know you all.
Love, Elder Parker

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Dear Family,
Well this week was a little rough, but the work is still going good. It is starting to get really cold, the high is around 40 tomorrow, and the sun goes down around the time we eat dinner, so the tracting we usually end up doing around 7-9 at night can get pretty chilly. Elder Thomas is always cold though, haha. He wears his winter coat in the apartment and I sweat!
Well I missed our only lesson of the week, which was with Rex, because I was on exchanges with Elder Goates, one of our zone leaders. It was really good. We had zone training this last week and have zone conference in about 2 weeks.
We have been talking with Susan on Facebook a lot and she is going to try to go to church in China. She is going to try and go to Hong Kong to get baptized as well! Hopefully the new tools we get will help us to keep in contact with her. Susan is going to do great things. We decided she is just waiting to be baptized so her and her husband can do it at the same time! lol.
We have been really trying to build our teaching pool recently, hopefully the people we have met will let us come back and teach them. We are having an issue though, with our area being so small. When Elder Thomas came into the area and opened it, the sisters proposed the split. The sister’s area is twice the size of ours and has most of the members in it... But we are working with what we have. I am hoping this week that we can meet all of our goals and find more people! It’s frustrating to have to find people and not have success. I feel like we are working hard, but at the end of the week our numbers don't really show it. But we are here to invite,and people have agency. The work is hastening though, the ward theme is missionary work and we are fasting for missionary work as a ward in December. I have noticed a great change in the ward as they have "caught the wave" of missionary work. Hope everything continues to go well at home.
Love, Elder Parker

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Dear Family,
This week has been really great, we just had transfers and we have a new Sister. Her name is Sister Palmer, from Centerville Utah. She was in marching band so I will have to ask her more about that.
We have been really trying to gain the trust of our ward members out here. Because we are some of the first Elders in this area, they aren't really used to having missionaries. No one would feed us, and it was hard to get members to appointments sometimes. But something has happened and we have a bunch of meal appointments and members who are willing to come with us to appointments almost any time of the day. I love working with the ward here, they are all so amazing.
When I first got here, we met with a less active member. I didn't think much of it at the time but I felt connected with him and talked about video games for a sec (I use that card a little bit lol). But between then and now, the sisters and home teachers can't get a hold of his family and they haven't been to church and are really struggling. So we decided we would try to call him. He answered and we met with him and had a good discussion, then before we left he asked us when we could come back. Not that the home teachers or sisters had done anything wrong, but I felt like it testified of why becoming friends with members, less actives and investigators is so important. They need to like you.
Rex has been progressing really well. He has a baptism date for Nov. 24th. Has read like 25 chapters in the Book of Mormon, which is really good.
We met a man named Mohammed, he is probably 23 or something like that, but he was really interested in talking about our faith. He says he is Muslim, but based on what he tells us he believes, he isn't Muslim. He has just soaked up everything we tell him. We taught him the restoration and talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, he was pumped to read it and learn for himself that it is true. We invited him to be baptized and he said he would be if he got an answer. Dec 1st is his date. He has a lot of free time so we can meet with him often which is good.
Susan has met the Elders and Sisters in Portland. She also met the Mission President out there and a member from Beijing. She is really enjoying it, but we have no idea how it’s going or what the baptism plans are. It’s in the Lords hands now.
This last Wednesday during our weekly conference call, President Anderson announced that every missionary would receive an iPad before December. We will have digital area books and have access to all the gospel library tools. Also every companionship will be getting an iPhone. We will be able to use these to talk to investigators and less actives over Skype or face time. We are going to be having an Elder who is over the tech for missionaries visit all of the missionaries this month and teach us more about how we will use them. President said something about extending online teaching beyond Facebook and that we will have dedicated time every day to talk to people from all over the world. We will be the first mission to use this technology. It’s exciting to think of the possibilities that come with this. I am sure we will be learning more about it this transfer. We have a zone conference this transfer as well as 2 zone training's. I have a feeling that we will be focusing a lot on digital finding and teaching.
The work is progressing, and it is being hastened. The gospel will reach all the corners of the earth, whether it is in person or digitally. I am looking forward to the new week and all the opportunities to share the gospel.
Love, Elder Parker

OCTOBER 28TH, 2013

This week has been great. It hasn't been easy, in fact at some points I felt like my head was going to explode. Susan did not get baptized before she left. It was hard, but she will have the opportunity in Oregon to be baptized. It would probably be next week, so I will keep you updated. Before I left, several people told me that I need to love the people and that it would be hard to say goodbye and to leave. I knew that it would happen; I just didn't think it would happen so quickly. Saying goodbye to Susan was very difficult. It didn't feel right. I know that Heavenly Father has great things in store for her, I can't wait to hear of her baptism and of all the things that she will do later in life. She struggled too. She really wants us to visit her in China, and wants to come live in Utah later in life. It felt good to know that she feels the same about us, as we do about her. When we told her other missionaries would talk to her in Oregon, she said, "I think that Thomas and Parker are the only missionaries for me." It has been amazing to see her progress in the Gospel.
I have been studying charity the past few days and I feel like I understand just a microscopic amount about the love that Heavenly Father and Christ have for us. Just the desire to give us everything we want and need. It’s humbling. I can tell now how vital charity is for all of us. I’ll be honest. At first, this area and the ward weren't for me, but now I don't want to leave. I am glad I get to stay here another transfer with Elder Thomas. We are going to have a baptism before we leave. Rex, a friend of a member is progressing a lot. We teach him every Wednesday and he has come to church twice now. He shares really great experiences and thoughts during our discussion and is really open during the lesson and during class at Church. He has a baptism date for the end of November, but I feel like it could be moved up about 2 weeks. We will just have to see.
Last night we had a great night, we called a bunch of people and set up appointments for the week. This week will definitely be the busiest week we have had as far as appointments and lessons go. We had a ward trunk or treat on Saturday and saw some less actives that came and Sis. Woolsey and her son Camden came. (Bro. Woolsey had work). Hopefully we can meet with them this week. Usually we do it on Thursdays, but it being Halloween we have to be in early. I hope that everything is going well, can't wait to hear from you all.
Love, Elder Parker

                       Elder Thomas, Elder Parker, Susan, and Brother Bradshaw

OCTOBER 21, 2013

                                               Wall of Miracles

Dear Family,
This week has been amazing. It has not been easy, probably the hardest week I have had so far. But the progression I have seen in our investigators and in myself is amazing. We taught Susan 2 times last week on Facebook, which is so cool. Totally different teaching method, but very effective. We also have another new Chinese investigator that we taught last Wednesday, Mrs. Lee. Her English is ROUGH. But it helped us to teach the doctrine really really simply.
We had exchanges. Both times I stayed in our area, which was nerve wracking, but it worked out and we had a really good time. I Learned a lot. Elder Stark was Wed - Thurs. We had a few appointments but did a lot of tracting. Elder Readhead was Thurs- Fri. We had a great time. We got along really well and had a few really good lessons. We taught the Woolseys and 2 kids with the zone leaders. We taught a Jehovah witness man on Wed. It was interesting... Definitely a learning experience. It’s crazy the hold that satan has on some people. He read from an anti book  while talking to us... ya. He wouldn't take a Book of Mormon, but we have a return appointment. We aren't sure if he is serious in investigating.
Friday we taught Susan in person. It went really well. We taught the Word of Wisdom, and as you know tea is really big in China. It turns out that after our 2nd lesson she found out we don't drink tea and coffee, so she got rid of all of hers. Just another Susan Miracle. She has really been encouraging us to visit her after our missions. She is just always cheerful. I will definitely miss teaching her when she leaves.
We taught Yousef on Friday night as well. As always it was interesting, he wanted us to interpret a vision.... and give him advice on marriage.... can’t do either, but it was a good time to invite him to talk to bishop about it. He said he will come to church next week. haha. He makes me laugh.
Saturday, was bad. It was a long day of tracting, most of which wasn't in our area. We doubled in to the sisters’ area for some reason and tracted for 3 hours. Had success, then Elder Thomas wanted to skip dinner, so we did. We tracted until 9 in our area. I was running on empty for several hours. I felt like I was wasting my time. But I know that even though we won't see results when we want to, we will get them when we need them. Like on Sunday... :)
So first, the Woolseys came to church and so did Rex, a new investigator who has a baptism date. Susan wasn't able to make it because she is sick. But just because we didn't see her, doesn't mean the miracles she brings stopped. She leaves on Saturday morning to go to the west coast for a month before she goes back to china. We contacted our zone leaders about getting a hold of missionaries over in Oregon to make sure Susan had a chance to be baptized. They asked if there was any way to have her baptized this week on Friday. We would have to get a hold of President Anderson and the Bishop to get permission to do it. But it was possible. We talked to Susan though. And she said she wouldn't be ready. So we didn't push it and she decided on Nov. 4th in Oregon. Well, we emailed President about it anyway, he called us yesterday, and asked if there was any way we could have her ready to be baptized on Friday. We told him that we could have her ready but it was up to her. So we called Susan. She has physical concerns with a baptism this week. We bore testimony to her about the power of faithful prayer and encouraged her to pray about and work towards being baptized on Friday. She agreed to pray about it. So we hung up the phone and prayed again. We talked to President and he and Sis. Anderson are going to see if there is anything we can do to solve her concern. I know that Heavenly Father is testing Susan's faith before baptism. I look forward to seeing her be baptized this week. She is so special. I know already that I won't meet anyone like her again. The way she can feel the spirit is amazing. We have a lesson with her tonight, and we will know if she wants to test her faith, and continue to work towards baptism this Friday. So many miracles have happened with Susan, I know there can be at least one more.
We also met another Chinese woman that is gonna come to church on Sunday. Man, our little Chinese area is full of people who are willing to listen to the message of the restoration. It’s amazing. It has been such a great experience so far. It’s crazy to think that transfers are next Tuesday! It has gone by so fast. The work is picking up though, I hope that and Elder Thomas and I stay together, we are finally getting in the grove and finding a lot of prepared people.
The church is true, the Gospel changes lives.
Love, Elder Parker

OCTOBER 15 LETTER.

We had Golden Retraining yesterday and I got to see almost all my Zone from the MTC. Elder Harris is in Philly doing great.
Our investigators are doing really well. Especially Susan! She is a miracle investigator. We met her when we were lost and she asked if we needed directions, she asked who we were and was interested. Like you know she came to General Conference with the Bradshaws (who have been AMAZING). She came to church again on Sunday after we taught her on Friday about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bradshaws brought her and Matt Bradshaw was speaking, I could tell it touched her as I saw tears coming down her face. We talked about the restoration in Gospel Principles class and she really loved Relief Society. We invited her to the New Castle ward's baptism after church and the Bradshaws brought her. It answered a lot of her questions about baptism. We found out she is leaving on the 26th, it was devastating. We feel like we have so much to teach her so we prayed about what to do. I felt that we should utilize all the tools we have, so we called her and we are meeting her on facebook tonight, Wednesday night and Thursday night. Then we have a lesson at the Bradshaws on Friday (funny story, we asked if we could meet with her on Friday, and the Bradshaws were right there. She asked if we could have dinner at their house, haha! she got us a Dinner appointment!) The baptism came up in our phone call and I invited her to be baptized. Guess who is being baptized? SUSAN! It won't be Elder Thomas or I, because she is going to the west coast for a month before she goes back to China. So we are gonna arrange with some of the Bradshaws’ family in Oregon where she is staying to have her Baptized and Confirmed before she goes to China! I never thought I would be so happy to see someone I am teaching get baptized by someone else, where I wouldn't be able to attend. But after she said that, I couldn't stop smiling. It was the most amazing feeling, to know that she knew what we told her was true. It was humbling to me, to see how the Lord has worked through us. We are hastening the work of salvation for Susan. And she is a choice spirit. I know it. She has been prepared for a long time before we met her. She has been a blessing in our lives. Just to know her. She is always happy, and is a great example to me.
Yousef is doing good. Still has a few things we need to work out, mostly that God doesn't just answer with visions. But he recognizes that when he was baptized it wasn't with the priesthood and he says he feels good when he reads the Book of Mormon. Hopefully he will have gotten an answer sometime this week. Elder Thomas is doing great. Amazing missionary and very busy as a District Leader. I try to help him out as often as I can.
Exchanges were good. I was with Elder Eddington, forgot a picture, but I will get one eventually with him. We got 2 new gators (investigators) by knocking on 2 doors! He is an amazing missionary and I learned a lot from him. We have 2 more exchanges this week. I get to be with Elder Readhead on Thursday and Friday, and Elder Stark on Wednesday and Thursday. I am looking forward to it.
Got the package! Making cookies today hopefully. Thanks so much! The treats are great! Feels so good to get mail and packages. I know I am loved so much. I will continue to smile and keep my head up during the tough times.
Love you all so much, thank you for your prayers and all of your support!

Elder Parker

OCTOBER 7TH, 2013

Elder Parker and Elder Sanchez

                                      Elder Parker, Sanchez, Thomas and Readhead

Wow. This week has been amazing! We had a hard week. A lot of our appointments fell through and things just weren't working out well Until General Conference. We had exchanges this last week. Elder Readhead came here with Elder Thomas and I went with Elder Sanchez to his area. Elder Sanchez is from California and is 26 years old. Neither of his parents are members. He was baptized when he was 24. We found 2 new investigators and we taught 2 lessons. It was great to see Elder Sanchez's example of door approaches. He is really good at keeping people at the door, even after they say they aren't interested.

While I was gone, Elder Readhead and Elder Thomas taught Yousif. He took a Book of Mormon and prayed. They also taught 2 less active families. It was a great exchange and I learned a lot. 

The weekend was amazing though. I have never felt such a powerful time before in my life. On Friday, right after we exchanged back, we went with the zone leaders and gave service to someone's brother, who was tearing off his roof. Reminded me of the roofs we did in our ward. It was really good to just go work! The humidity makes me sweat like I am working harder than I am, which feels good, lol. After that we went to Sis. McQueen's in our ward. We trimmed her bushes, but we ran out of time and she has more for us to do, so we will probably go back again. It was a great day. Service gives me one of the greatest feelings ever.

Of course you know on Saturday and Sunday we had General Conference, WOW! It was weird to be at the church for all the sessions, but I have never felt such love from my Heavenly Father. Yousif came to the Afternoon session on Sunday. After Elder Holland spoke, he told me that he knew Elder Holland had great faith in Christ, and that he spoke with the power of God. He also said after words that today he "heard the words of God." Yousif lost his wife several years ago, and we were talking with him after in the chapel about various things and then the church news came on. We talked about what they were showing, we were just about to leave when the one about Sis. Monson came on. He intently watched and I could tell he was feeling the spirit. It was such a great moment. We gave him a church tour after and he wants to come back. We will be meeting with him again this week.

Sunday was just amazing. I have told you about Susan, from China, who is at the University of Delaware studying English in business. We have met with her twice and she has been progressing, still no baptism date, but it’s coming. Bro. Bradshaw has been coming with us to the lessons. Bro. Bradshaw offered and invited her to church this last week. He offered her a ride and she has been calling and texting him since then. On Sunday his mother, Sis. Bradshaw picked up Susan with him for the Sunday morning session. When they came in the door Susan and Sis. Bradshaw were talking and laughing, I could tell they had a connection already. Sis. Bradshaw gave her a tour of the church then sat with Susan and us and answered her questions during the session. It felt so good to see Susan connecting with members. Afterwords, Susan told us that she wanted to come to the next session. The Bradshaw's invited us to lunch and we talked more with Susan about conference and answered questions. During lunch, we all shared our favorite moment from the previous session. Susan talked about the story when the boy (?) talked about how baptism made him feel, she said "baptism is magic?"  We explained more about baptism. We were about to head back for the next session when Susan asked for a picture with the Bradshaws. I could tell at that moment, why we need member missionaries. She loved all of conference and is gonna come to church next week as well. We learned she will only be here until December and then she is going home to China. We learned she is the youngest of 4, yes 4 siblings. She told us of the hard times her parents went through to have all of her siblings. China puts heavy fines and workloads on those who have more children. We didn't know how old she was, we thought she could be in the singles ward, which means we would have to pass her off to the sisters who cover that ward, but she is 33. She looks 19! haha I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to know her, let alone share the gospel with her. 

Also, we have a referral from SLC. I am looking forward to our meeting with him. We have exchanges with the other Elders in our District this week, and with the zone leaders. I have to stay in the area for both, so hopefully we have things to do. I am nervous, but I know things will be fine, Heavenly Father will help me. I have grown so much, I am loving every second of it. I thank you for your prayers and everyone's prayer's on the behalf of me and my companion Elder Thomas. Heavenly Father has watched over us and protected us. I am so glad that I have this opportunity to grow. It is going by SO FAST. It is unbelievable. I am thankful for General Conference. I love you all so much! Continue to do what you know is right.

Love, Elder Parker

BONUS LETTER!

                                                                                                                        October 1, 2013

Dear Family,

Well I have a few minutes after getting ready and thought I would share something that happened last night.

We met with a family, the Gerbers, last week. We were excited because Mrs. Gerber knows a lot of members and some return missionaries. We didn’t teach anything because they talked a lot and we just got to know more about them. She is Catholic and he is Jewish. They are a very interesting family. The kids kept running around and interrupting. It felt like a little bit of a waste of time.

We met again last night and the first thing Mr. Gerber pointed out was a spelling error in the pamphlet. It was gonna be “that” type of lesson. As we tried to answer questions and teach as much as we could, interesting things came up. The questions were very well thought out, well worded and deep. (He is a psychologist and she is a teacher.) But every time they started asking a question, I felt like I already knew the answer. It was a surreal experience. Words were truly put in my mouth (D&C 84:85, D&C 100:5). Even though we aren’t meeting with them again in the near future, we left and impression with them and a few things to think about.

My biggest fear about my mission was that I wouldn’t know what to say or how to say it. It’s true, I don’t know what to say, but the spirit does and did tell me what to say.

Firm.

Undaunted.

Obedient.

If ye believe, ye shall receive.

Love, Elder Parker

SEPTEMBER 30TH

This week has been great! We have taught a lot of lessons and found a lot of new investigators.
I have had some really cool experiences and have grown a lot in the gospel. The days are going by really fast. We met a man from Bethlehem, his name is Yousif and is a born again. He loves the Savior and we set up an appointment but it fell through and he wasn't home. We have continued to try to get him when he is home, but he never answered. Then last night as we walked away from his door he pulled in and honked at us and we went in and talked to him. It’s amazing, he called again today just to see how we were doing. I am looking forward to meeting with him this week.
We are also teaching a Chinese woman name Susan. She is keeping commitments and continues to meet with us. She asks questions like "When I am a Murmon (Mormon, the accent makes it sound funny) what do I have to do?” So we feel like she is just on the edge. She says she wants God in her life so she can feel more powerful and she also doesn’t want to be afraid of death anymore. She is soo close to understanding and acting on her faith.
We are also teaching a man named Willburt. He is a pastor at a Baptist church... Scary. He wasn't reading like we invited him to, so for our last lesson we read out of Alma 5 with him. He got sucked in, we asked him to read 3 verses and he read 2 pages, and was looking at the next one, just quietly thinking. I can tell that he was feeling the spirit. He knows it is true and has committed to baptism! He says that everything we tell him makes sense and that God is always the same. We don't think that he realizes what it means for him if he gets baptized.. so that should be fun to explain to him. It’s intimidating to talk about the bible with a pastor, I feel so inadequate, but I know the spirit has told me what to say and that comforts me.
It’s hard when we don't have appointments and have to go tracting. It feels almost like busy work. Members are the best at finding people, because they know non-members and they already have a connection with them. Tracting is inefficient. I wish that all members realized how much help they can be to the missionaries. I know I didn't realize it until now.
We don't get a lot of dinner appointments, but someone took us to lunch at the BEST pizza place I have ever been. Italian pizza. It was so good! After I got my haircut today, we went to a little place and got some Cheese Steaks. Really Really good. Food has been good, I have been feeling good too. Weather is amazing! Never higher than 75, feels good in the morning and at night. It gets dark pretty early too. I have grown so much, I know that as I rely on the Savior that I can be strong. He will help me in every way.

Love,
Elder Parker

Elder Parker in the MTC.

Elder Parker with Elder Thomas.

Elder Parker with President and Sister Anderson

 

FIRST LETTER FROM THE MISSION FIELD!

This week has been crazy! I love it here in Newark, the people are really nice and the weather has been great. It is still weird though that Delaware has like 1 stake... and our ward boundaries for the 1st ward (that is my area) is huge.
We live near that border of Maryland so today we drove to Maryland to go to Walmart. Weird. The members here are great. I met one of the councilors in the bishopric and his brother owns Summerhays Music in Utah! Small world.  My companion, Elder Thomas, is a convert to the church, he joined when he was 15. His dad's side has always been members and his mom and her side are catholic. He says they are really supportive of him and he just turned 21 on Saturday! He is amazing! Everyone I saw at transfers told me how obedient and great he is. It’s true. He is the most obedient missionary I will probably ever meet. He is a great trainer and I learn so much from him.
We have 6 new investigators since I got here and Elder Thomas says that this is the best time he has had in this area. There are Lots, LOTS of foreigners. We are teaching a student who is from China and doesn't speak a lot of English, at least not very well. She is amazing. I know she is prepared by the Lord for baptism.
We met Thiago and his friend Brenda. Both Brazilian, here getting doctorates in molecular biology and they are trying to solve some disease using genomes and DNA. It’s crazy. He also doesn't speak or understand a lot of English and has a HEAVY accent.
We met a woman named Elizabeth Justice. Great name, really nice lady who we are meeting with tonight.  A man who I haven't met that we are teaching is named Gary, committed to baptism a while ago then just dropped off. Turns out he has cancer and he had to go back in for something. Elder Thomas tells me he is a great guy.
Found a man who we are meeting with tomorrow, lives in the closest thing to a ghetto I have ever been in. It’s scary, but I know a lot of those people have been prepared by the Lord. The Sisters in our area had a baptism yesterday. It was great to see. The member of our ward that found the girl that was baptized, is a great Member Missionary. He brought another woman with him who we had a chance to talk to for a while in the parking lot. She reminds me of some family we have.... She broke down and told us about her addiction problems and how she had an aneurysm on her 21st birthday and is now paralyzed on her left side. It was so sad to hear the things she had been through and the choices she had made. She is homeless. And this member saw her limping down the road and picked her up and has been helping her. She came to the baptism and told how out of place she felt. And how she knows that she needs to come unto Christ to get better. It was so touching to see how sincere she felt. I pray for her, that she can come unto Christ.

My apartment is good.. Elder Thomas and his companion were the first ones in there 12 weeks ago. They didn't have anything. We have a stove (gas, be jealous, lol) a fridge, some Ikea furniture, 2 desks and some couches and of course beds. I have some pictures if I can get them to work >:\ Oh Elder Thomas is from Michigan. He is a Michigan football fan, sorta... not really the sporty type. I have a 12 week program that I go through with Elder Thomas, 2 transfers, then if I have done everything, I get more privileges. Like Facebook proselyting and iPods. I am living currently off of mostly peanut butter and those addictive peanuts you sent haha. Got some ramen noodles today and some various other things.
 Elder Thomas drives, for now. I can drive but they said I should wait 2 or 3 weeks so I can be used to the mission. I will have to get a GPS. So I don't get lost haha.
You can send boxes right to me. Most of the people in my building are pretty good. And there is a camera right at my door. So ya... haha. Send the coat and stuff soon. Elder Thomas said he didn't get a lot of snow last winter, but it gets COLD. So ya. Boxes are good to my apartment and so are letters. We are trying to get library cards, but they want bills and we don't get bills... so we need to figure that one out, but for now we use the family history center at the church. Brother Rodeback would be jealous. As Elder Readhead would say (still in my district, so that's cool) it’s very "proper good" lol.
I am loving it here. I know that God loves us. Because he does, he sent Christ to the earth. He created a way for us to be happy. Right now I am happy. I have felt and seen the joy our message brings and it is amazing. Nothing can replace it. Stay safe. I will try to send pictures in a second. Love you all!


--
Love,
Elder Parker

First Area!

It's official! Elder Parker arrived in Pennsylvania yesterday. He got to call us from the airport before his flight left:) He was excited to get to work.
President and Sister Anderson emailed us today to let us know his first area. He is in Newark, Delaware and lives right across the street from the University of Delaware. His companion is Elder Thomas.

His address is: Elder Christopher Grant Parker
                       400 Wollaston Ave Apt. A-1
                       Newark, DE 19711

Elder Parker's Letter September 11, 2013

I saw the character of Christ talk that Elder Bednar gave in the MTC. It's amazing, life changing. I wish that everyone could see it. He talked about how Christ always turned out instead of in. For example, when he asked his disciples to wait for him in Gethsemane and they fell asleep. Then he was betrayed. He had just suffered for all of our sins and no one was there for him. Then he heals the soldier's ear. It's amazing to go throughout the scriptures and find examples of the character of Christ. Elder Bednar compared the natural man to the cookie monster ( I know it's awesome! And his impersonation was even better lol) and we all know in the scriptures when satan was tempting Christ right? Well he said that doing those things were not the temptation. The temptation was when he says, "If thou are the son of God, then do this." He was challenging if he knew who he was. And when talking about how missionaries need to turn out not in, he said, "This mission is not about you. Who cares what you want."

I know why I am here and while I am becoming better because of it, that is not the reason I am here. I am here to invite others to come unto Christ. I know though, that I must be the first conversion of my mission. Conversion is consistently living what you know to be true. I am becoming converted unto Christ. He has helped me so much while I have been here. I have never prayed or studied so much in my life. Ever. About anything. Like Alma, I have "wrestled" in fervent prayer. I challenge those who read this to "Learn of Christ, not about Him."

They told us that after Sunday, time would fly. I was looking forward to it. Haha. But Sunday morning Elder Harris and I got called as zone leaders. The overwhelming feeling of stress and the feeling of being insufficient hit me like a truck. I was so worried about the responsibility. Then on Sunday night like I said I went to the Character of Christ. Right now I can say that the Lord qualifies those he calls. The last two days have gone by in the blink of an eye, and I found out the lesson I have to teach in priesthood to my zone is on enduring to the end. I think I can handle that;) I have been learning faster than I ever have before and it's amazing how much I am able to remember.

Elder Parker's First Letter!

Well I hope you got my letter, I wrote it but I didn't get it to the box until yesterday. Just got your packages, haven't had time to open them yet but i will soon. Thank you sooo much! I Have been so busy its crazy! I love it though, the spirit is so strong here and I love my companion! Elder Harris is my companion, from Nevada, we have been getting along great. I love all of the other elders in my room. Elder Issertell and Elder Readhead are the other Elders in my room, Elder Readhead is from England and I am supposed to find out where grandpa Parker served in England, also he is 6 Foot 8!  Its crazy, he is soo tall! I have been learning so fast and have already taught my first investigator, its humbling to see what the spirit can teach even when you don't feel prepared. I am loving my time here, its busy, really busy, but I am learning so much and am trying to soak up as much as I can. I miss all of you guys so much! Missy, Abby, Grace, and Sam. Especially Mom and Dad. I am going to try to send another email with a picture of my district. Also, Sister Bailey is the Sister from Highland that the Ivins know. Another cool thing is that my teacher, Brother Scherck, saw me and dad when I took out my endowments, he told me he remembered my face and that I was there, he was there because the Provo temple was closed. The spirit I feel while I am here is amazing, the comfort that it has provided me is a great blessing, that I cant put into words.

Housekeeping.... 

My P day while I am here is Wednesday, I will be able to call when I am in the SLC airport and I will try to let you know around when it will be sometime next week. 

Thank you for your prayers and your support, it means so much to me. 

I love this Gospel, and I love the Lord, I know this is where I am supposed to be, and I am grateful to be able serve the Lord.

Love you all,

Elder Parker

{MTC Drop Off ~ Setting Apart}

Time has just flown by.
Elder Parker was set apart last night as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
We are all so very proud of him and the wonderful example he is setting!

Today we said goodbye for two years.
It was SO HARD. Lots of tears...

See you in two!

-MTC Address-

Hey Everyone!

You can send Chris packages and letters at the MTC starting this Wednesday, September 4th. He will leave the MTC on Tuesday September 17th. Here is his address:

Elder Christopher Grant Parker
SEP17 PA-PHIL
2009 N 900 E Unit 174
Provo UT 84602

Thank you for your love and support!

[The Farewell]

Elder Parker had his farewell on August 25, 2013. He did such an incredible job! Much thanks to everyone who came to support! You are all so awesome!

Elder Parker leaves on Wednesday.

Time is flying by.