Christmas 2010

Monday, December 27, 2010
Last email of the year!

**The following is the second-half of an email we received home this week. Elder Parr thought it would be funny to throw his mother into a tizzy by beginning his email with a joke. I will not include that portion of the email. : } The following was at the bottom....WAY at the bottom...of his message. Unfortunately, I did not realize it until after I had made a few phone calls and emails to check on my son. The STINKER!! I think he realized he ought not to play with me like that. ; ] Jason says I taught him that sense of 'trickery'. Humpfh! ; ) **

.........................................................................................................................................

P.S.

I hope you realize everything that I just wrote is NOT THE TRUTH! It is a joke! hahahhaha!! Y'all know that is soo not me! It was such a blessing to be able to talk with y'all on Christmas and to hear all that is going on and how each of y'all are doing! I wouldn't trade that for anything right now! After talking with y'all , it has given me that much more motivation to continue and to work even harder! Knowing that all of you are okay and are doing such great things is wonderful! Of course, I miss y'all and think about y'all always. But knowing that I have a family that loves and cares about me and is so supportive of what I'm doing is just the extra push to DO WORK!

The Lord has blessed me so much already with this wonderful opportunity to serve in his work! There truly is nothing I'd rather be doing right now! Though I'm far away, know that I'm okay and doing AWESOME! No need to worry here! I'm allowing the Lord to lead my path and so far so good ;)

I LOVE it here in Montana! When I get home we're going to take a family vacation up here!

My Christmas after I talked with y'all went like this...We went to a less-active member and wished her a Merry Christmas and gave her some chocolates! Then we went to go see this man. He had a stroke and is now paralyzed on his right side. We got a referral to go see him and he loves us now. We went to say Merry Christmas and before we left I was like, "I brought you a slinky to fill all your time up so you don't have to just watch tv or read!" He laughed so hard and just about started to cry! I love him! He is so sweet and has no one around so me and him connected so much. He loves his slinky! :) haha! We then went back and let Elder Miner Skype home. He took forever so me and Luke worked on some stuff and talked about Hong Kong (his mission) and he taught me how to write some chinese and stuff! He is awesome! He is going into film making and he is SOOOOO GOOD!

Afterwards, we went to a families house and had dinner. They are Hawaiian so we had some good food! Soo delicious! I colored with one of their little girls and played games with the family! It was pretty fun! Then we went to my old man Merlin's house! I worked with him doing genealogy and he showed me how he does it! He has sooooo much done it's amazing! That's what he does to pass time hahaha. So I messed around with him and we cracked jokes back and forth! We had a good time together, haha!


Christmas was fantastic! I hope y'alls was awesome too! What did y'all do?!

I love y'all soooooo much!

love elder parr!

p.s.s. Hopefully I didn't scare you too much mom :l I couldn't resist though. haha!! sorry :/

I LOVE Y'ALL!

Here are a few pictures!

We had 2 dinner appointments on Christmas Eve ;) They call me Elder Tex and gave us new ties! Pretty legit!

A HUGE herd of elk we saw on the side of the street!

We did it because we love you.

Monday December 20, 2010

One story:

We were going to go to someone's house Saturday morning and help a man chop wood for his family and then have lunch and teach a lesson. Well, he called earlier this week and canceled on us and told us not to come by. But y'all know me... I was like, pshh and blew it off. So Saturday morning we called around and found some axes from members to use. After we got 2 axes we went to his house and hid our car where they couldn't see it! haha

So, it just starts to snow and me and Elder Miner are walking to this HUGE pile of wood with axes in our hands, with our face masks and hoodies and stuff on and I was like, "Elder Miner, it feels like we're going to go do something bad! I mean, we're hiding our car, we have gloves on so there are no finger prints and we're going to bury a body in the snow!" hahaha I LOVE IT!

So we went right to work and chopped up SOOOO much wood; for like 4 hours! It was so much fun and so great to provide service! By the time we finished it had snowed like 4 inches! The family is struggling right now and he was very appreciative for us doing that but he kept saying we shouldn't have. I explained to him that that is what the gospel is all about. Each and every single one of us helping each other and making sure we are all taken care of. We didn't do it because someone told us to. We did it because we love you and desire for you to see the gospel in action!

We had so much fun and I'm a legit Paul Bunyan now! ;)

I love being out here on my mission and sharing the gospel with others! This week will be crazy!!

I LOVE Y'ALL!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ELDER PARR!!!!

Short and Sweet

So this week was amazing! I think the highlight was when I butchered 2 lambs!! My first time ever and so much fun! I loved it and got so into it! The Howard's were making fun of me because I was so excited and pumped the ENTIRE time I was doing it! haha
(** side note from mom - I debated not adding this part because I found it a bit disturbing, but to know Justin is to know that he enjoys learning ALL sorts of things! So.... it remains.)

Also we had the other ward party for Blodgett Canyon this week! It was pretty good too! Had a HUGE dinner and then Santa came! Me and Elder Miner were his little helpers and gave the kids cookies after they told Santa what they wanted and got a picture. Don't worry, we took a picture with him too ;) I will send my other memory card home soon!!!

Our baptism fell through this week :/ The man said he felt pressured and said he wanted to wait a little longer. We're still meeting with him and he is going to get baptized just not sure when. Another family will be getting baptized soon! The father is a member and has been inactive for a long time. Since we started meeting with them his daughter, who's 10, wants to get baptized SOOOO bad! His wife as well! So they have come back to church the last 2 weeks and we sat with them this last Sunday and I sat with their 2 girls (the other is 7) and we had fun and they learned so much! The man met with the bishop and he said he is good to go to baptize them but wants to get the spirit fully back before he does it. So hopefully in the next 2 weeks they will be baptized too! It's so much fun and brings so much happiness to me when I get to see families come into the gospel and how it blesses their lives! So awesome!

So I will be moving this next Monday, more than likely! We will then be with the W's. Our new address will start next week on about Monday or Tuesday. If anyone sends stuff to my address it's no big deal, they will just call me and let me know I have something and I will go get it! But here is the address where we will be next week!

336 Lorraine Lane

Hamilton, Montana

59840

Also, we got us a car!!!!!! A 2008 Chevy Malibu! So no more biking! Except I will still make Elder Miner break out our bikes and ride! :) It's like 45 degrees now! It feels awesome! Still waiting for a bit more snow to melt so I can play golf here! Their course is beautiful!!

I love you all and hope all is going well! Miss and LOVE you!

I will call home Christmas day sometime. Not positive when though. I will know next week for sure. I will know where I will be, time and that sort of stuff. So excited to talk to y'all!!! :)

Love,
elder parr



What we do FORE free time! :)

Yeahhhhh Buddy!

Family and Friends!!!!

Ahhhhh the mission is the BEST place to be! So much going on and good things happening! Here was my week:

Monday

• For P-Day the whole district got together up at the Stevensville stake center for some district olympics!!! Sooo much fun! They decided to do senior companions vs. junior companions. I figured so because in our district 3 of us are greenies and the other Elder Sherwood has been out about 8 months so I figure they thought they would win. But I don't think they remembered I was from Texas and never give up! We played arena football, arena ultimate frisbee, indoor soccer, obstacle course, poison (crazy mix of dodgeball of some sort), 3 pointer shoot out, tug of war and some other things. Let's just say us "junior companions" whooped up on them! haha More like slaughtered them like lambs, ha jk ;)
  

Tuesday

• District Meetings

Wednesday

• First time for team ups! District leader Elder Vroom and his companion Elder Greco came out to Hamilton. I was paired up with Elder Greco while Elder Vroom and Elder Miner went to do a baptismal interview. Well, me and Elder Greco went to go see an elderly woman who hasn't been to church in quite some time. We got to know her very well and taught a great lesson about scripture reading and attending church. She didn't come though, so Sunday night we went back and I chewed her out! haha jk But she will be there next week for sure, hopefully! I'm going to find her a ride so she doesn't have that excuse to use anymore ;)
• After that we went to a home to do some service! Best time ever! I got to slaughter some chickens without knives! Probably don't want to know this but...you grab them by the neck and swing them around and the head comes right off. Pretty wild experience! But we got a bunch of chickens done so they could have some fresh chicken that night and moved some trailer tops around for the ducks they have to sleep under. (there will be pictures home with the next sd card I send)
• Later that night me and Elder Miner teamed back up and saw a family. The father is less active and his wife and daughter want to get baptized. They haven't been coming to church because the dad goes hunting on Sundays but hunting season is over, I guess, and they committed to come for sure and they did! We had a baptism date for them on Dec 18 and we asked the dad if he wanted to baptize them and he said yes. So he is meeting with the bishop on Wednesday to find out what he needs to do to baptize them!!! SOOOO awesome to see a family coming together in the gospel and partaking of all the blessing the Lord has in store!
• After that we went and knocked on a man's door and he let us in. We talked to his wife, who makes jewelry which is amazing! They didn't want to hear much but B. went out and showed us all his cars! He is quite the collector! He has a midget (which is some European car, I guess) and all these old cars he fixes up and stuff. Pretty cool!

Thursday

• Saw J! Awesome lesson! We got him to turn off the tv, gave him a Book of Mormon and read Alma 22! https://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/22?lang=eng Haha! We challenged him and he committed to pray as the king did, and he said "Boyyyy, if I pass out y'all are in trouble!" hahaha So I'm pretty sure he is going to pray this time!
• After that we went to the church for the Christmas party! It was so legit! They have this whole show planned out and people singing. It was awesome! To start they gave you a bag of "sheckles", gold coins, and you went around and had to pay for your food and if you weren't dressed in ole' time attire they wouldn't let you in (except us as missionaries of course) haha! But it was so cool! A lot of work was put into it; which was awesome!

Friday

• Met with a family. Learned how to make homemade eggnog, which was AMAZING!!! We studied the story of Job and are trying to get the father back active again. His wife and her 3 kids come every week and he is right there!

Saturday

• Learned a lesson to call for a ride, for sure! haha We walked about 3 miles on ice and snow to see this family and it took us 1 1/2 hours to get there! haha :) And of course it was freezing! But had a pretty good lesson about the plan of salvation! Hopefully he is baptized soon!

Sunday

• No one can complain how long church is because for lucky me, I spend about 9 hours on average at church now! haha Longest I've ever had church but I love it! 7 o'clock early meetings with ward mission leader and bishops, then Hamilton ward, which starts at 10. We stay for sacrament and then either go teach gospel principles or go to Blodgett Canyons meetings and then go to sacrament with them at 12:30. Then go to gospel principles or leave and go find the people who were supposed to be at church and didn't come! Then elders quorum or young mens. So we are here at the church from 7 to 3:30 just about every sunday :) haha

I'm absolutely LOVING it out here in Montana! Getting to know more and more people every day and remembering names and teaching the gospel! Nothing else I would rather be doing!

I'm doing AWESOME! :)

I love to hear how things are going so keep the letters coming! I miss and love you all!

:) I realized I will get to call home in about 2 weeks!!! How exciting!!

love,

elder parr

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Here is a random sampling of the mission experience so far,
through Justin's eyes!
These were taken while he was in the Provo Mission Training Center.



Love the scriptures, C.hoose T.he R.ight (and send more cookies)! ;)


Give them roots, especially if they're in TEXAS and they will have joy!


Provo, Utah Temple



Always having a good time!





Good friends meet up in all the right places! :)
Elder Parr and Vanhin Weaver (AKA Justin and Bryce)






The MONTANA BILLINGS GROUP

"...my challenge to anyone who reads this!"

Monday, November 29, 2010

So this week was amazing but HARD too! Lots of appointments were canceled since the holiday season but we went and saw a bunch of less-active families which was awesome!

The socks you got are amazing! And someone here bought me the BEST pair of gloves! So my toes and fingers are warm :)

Highlights of the week (sorry I had a paper of everything I was going to write home about but forgot it at the house :/ so here is what I remember)

• I learned the proper way to chop wood! haha I chopped wood for about 4 hours for a man named Joe. A part member family and he is gettin' older so we went to help him out! Elder Miner was like, "Man! I'm surprised you learned so fast being from Texas!" And I was like, "Psh. You just got to show me how to do it and I'll master it Elder!" Haahaa I still got my Paul Bunyan in me from high adventure ;) haha it was so much fun! Then we fixed a flat on his car he couldn't do. In return he made us the BEST deer steaks I've ever had so far (only had them 2 times) and they were so good! He is taking the lessons and so is his son! His wife and son are members so hopefully we will have 2 baptisms and 2 re-activations soon! He is such a great guy. He is so interested in the gospel. He shaved his HUGE beard and came to church with the whole family 2 weeks ago and told us he will be coming a lot more often which is great!
• We received 4 duck eggs from Sean, a recent convert, and made omelets out of them Saturday morning after our fast on Friday! SOOOO good! Duck eggs are the bomb! Soo much more protein and they thicken and fluff up a lot more! Except they are a dozen for $9! hahah Soo worth it though. Just like the extra .25 cents for whole milk mom ;) haha
• I played in the turkey bowl while it was 20 degrees and there was 5 inches of snow on the ground! SOOO much fun! I showed them how Texans play football! haha We had 12 people. 6 on 6. And I was all time quarter back pretty much. Those in Montana don't play football too great haha! So I was throwing touchdowns left and right and driving the field! It was so much fun! Then when I became all-time defender they made me go back because no one was scoring and I was just intercepting the ball. haha I think that game meant more to me than anyone else since I never get to play anymore! So I went all out! SOO much fun!
• I had Thanksgiving at the Howard's house! It took me right back home! They had sooo many people there! Just like at home! And I fit right in and had a blast!! Soo much food! Except we didn't get to eat goat :/ since it was in the negatives leading up to Thanksgiving they didn't butcher it because it would have frozen and they weren't about to do it in their house! haha But we played a bunch of games and got to know everyone better!
• Sunday was a CRAZY day! haha Well, we cover 2 wards so we had early morning meetings, was asked to speak in sacrament, taught sharing time twice, taught gospel principles and tried to talk to all our investigators at church! What an awesome Sunday! It was SOOOO nice to teach sharing time and be with some younger kids! I miss being around the kids! I'm really a kid at heart so we got along great and taught an awesome lesson about when we serve our neighbors we serve God! Elder Miner was like, "Elder Parr, it sounds like you have a pretty set plan for this so I'm going to let you head this one up!" Haha, so I did and the kids loved it so I think it was a success! I ALMOST have everyone's name down here pretty close.

Saved the best news for last!

• Well, with all the Thanksgiving turkey and pies that have been given to us (and I've eaten) I have officially dropped a belt hole! I'm getting in such good shape out here having to run/walk everywhere and being active. It's awesome!!
• But BEST news of all is yesterday Elder Miner and I set 2 baptismal dates! One for Dec 4 and one on Dec 11!!! SOOO awesome! One man has been here for 6 months, broke his foot, and wants to get back to Salt Lake City to take care of his mom, daughter and find work. Funny how we found him. He called the church and Elder Miner answered before I got here to Montana. He was calling for some help and that's how we got to teaching him. Well the entire time he has wanted to leave he keeps saying the only reason he is staying is because we keep coming by and visiting him. He is coming to church and accepting the lessons! The last lesson we had we told him to really think and ponder about his decision before he leaves. We explained that he called for a reason, that we answered, and are with him to teach him the gospel. As he accepts the gospel all the temporal matters will fall into place. He said he would and he called me last night and was like, "Elder Parr, my daughter has bought me a ticket to go back to Salt Lake," (at that moment I was like noooooo. You can't leave. You're so close!), "but I told her I won't be leaving here 'til after the 6th. So how long will this baptism take?" It was SO awesome to hear he wanted to be baptized! So, we then had a great conversation about how it will all take place and so on. Another man drives a truck but is out right now because someone ran into the back of him. He comes to church every week and accepts what we teach and just doesn't feel that he can support his family and he feels he is letting everyone down. So we taught about the atonement and about baptism and asked him to be baptized and he said he will try. I talked about setting goals and how when we put the Lord first the rest falls into place. He said he would be baptized and prepare.

It's a true pleasure and joy to see the gospel change lives! As I have watched these 2 individuals and all the people we teach accept and do the things the Lord desires for them to do, their countenance, attitude, words, EVERYTHING changes about them! They become a whole new and wonderful person! That is the beauty of the gospel! In sacrament I was asked to speak on being grateful for the gospel and sharing it through missionary work. When I looked up gospel in the bible dictionary it says that gospel means good news. The good news is that Jesus Christ has made a perfect atonement for mankind that will redeem all mankind from the grave and reward each individual according to his/her works. Our message is just that! It is good news! That wherever we are in our journey in life; the Lord knows each and every single one of us. He knows our desires, worries, dreams, hopes, inadequacies, he knows everything. And through His great and infinite atonement, as we lean on Him for strength and guidance, and not only our own, we can become strong and overcome anything in life! We can change our lives for good. Let go of something that has held us down. Become a new person! That is my challenge to anyone who reads this! To rely on our Savior and Redeemer for strength through daily prayer and scripture reading and learn more about HIS gospel! I promise you will find the greatest joy and happiness one can have!

love,

elder parr

Freezing cold, Broken chain, Butchering a goat and Listening to the Spirit. The work is AWESOME!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Montana is FREEZING!!! It's colder than I've EVER been here! Thursday it started snowing here and hasn't stopped since! We have about 6 inches now! Last night it was a whoppin' 12 degrees! I never knew earth could get this cold! haha

Friday night I will never forget! We were going down Golf Course Street on our bikes (of course) headed to dinner going slow so we didn't crash...well when Elder Miner went to turn down the street of the hill he TOTALLY wiped out! I was laughing soo hard but there were 2 cars behind us and I got in the street and stopped them so they wouldn't run him over! haha They turned on their brights to make sure he could see. It was funny. But he jumped up so fast and got back on his bike and we continued on! The roads are so slick with all this snow it's so much fun! When you hit the brakes you start to fish tail. Haha, it's quite the experience!

BUT Saturday we were riding up this street and and it was so cold and I was pedaling so fast I guess my chain snapped in half! I was like, ummm Elder I'm pedaling and I'm not moving! I snapped my chain! Sooo we don't not have a car...but no more bikes at this point in time either! hahaha SO now we GET to walk everywhere or try to hitch a ride! haha But we don't walk, I make Elder Miner run with me. So just picture these 2 men bundled up in jackets, scarfs, hats, gloves, like the Michelin tire man just all black running down the side of the road! hahaha! Some guy last night as we were running back home for the night was like "YOU IDIOTS!" We were laughing so hard! The weather is harsh and freezing but we're out here to take the gospel to people and we're not letting ANYTHING stop us from doing just that!

THANK YOU so much for the package and letters! The socks are PERFECT! I haven't had a problem with cold feet since! Those dress socks just weren't cutting it for me and the hoodie is AMAZING! I haven't really had a jacket like that so thank you SO much! Definitely needed and grateful for all of it! I'm going to take the can of cranberry over to the Howard family! We're going to their house for Thanksgiving almost all day! Wer'e going to have GOAT! hahaha! We're going over some time earlier this week to help butcher it and to bury it to cook it! I'm so excited! The last time I had goat was with my soulja boy, Bernard from Africa, at his house with fufu! Awesome! It will be a little different this time though. haha But the Howards are awesome! Such a missionary oriented family! They have 3 daughters, 13, 14 and 16. They are CRAZY! haha They are very movie lined as well and when they found out my last name was Parr they were like "You're Mr. Incredible!" and I was like, "Woman! Get me my super suit!" But Thanksgiving is taken care of and I will be fed great!

The work here is amazing! It's just hard to get with people this time of year as family comes in town and people leave for the holidays! But we have set up 4 baptismal dates and just waiting for them to decide to go through with it! They are SO close! Also this week, we had 6 investigators come to church!

We had an appointment for the next Friday night when the weather wasn't bad and for some reason felt we needed to go see them the next day. So Saturday morning there was like 4 inches of snow and still snowing and was freezing but we still decided to go see them! They live about 2 miles away and we rode all the way there! I made a video you will get soon about it! haha First ride in the snow. We got there and found out he got laid off and was having a hard time. His wife and son are members. So we taught him and invited him and his whole family to church and he was like pshhh, "No, I'll never get my son to come with us!" So I was like "What if I asked him?!" And he said, "Pssh, he'll just say no!". So I was like, "J- COME OUT HERE!" He came out of his room and was like "Yeah?". I asked him if he would come to church with his family tomorrow and he was like, "Yeah. Sure. I don't have anything to do anyways." His dad freaked out and was like, "WOW! Did you really just say yes? You never want to go." hahaha It was so funny how easy it was. So they came to church and he had shaved off his HUGE beard and after sacrament said "You will be seeing me here more often!"

My testimony has grown so much about listening to the spirit! We could have not gone to visit him that morning because he is a truck driver and didn't even think he would be home. BUT listening to that prompting to go see him has made a HUGE impact in his life already! The spirit is real! If we listen to the promptings we have and act on them only good things will happen!!

The work is AWESOME here, though! I LOVE hearing from y'all! Thank you for all the support and love you give me!

Miss and love you all!

Elder Parr

Things that matter most.

Monday, November 15th.

First off Montana is, I must say, the second best state! Texas, of course, is the best but Montana is growing on me and is SOOO beautiful!

We're at...

852 Ponderosa

Hamilton, Montana

59840

So send stuff here if you're going to send anything! Thanks :) If it went to the other place no biggie we just get to ride our bikes over there because we're on bikes!!! President Gardner told us in the mission home that everyone has a car and I got here and we're like the only ones WITHOUT a car! Actually, we get a car on Thursday but just one day of the week! heehee. So I guess we do have a car! :)

Funny story ... so we're on our bikes. And in Montana at night it gets PITCH BLACK! Y'all haven't seen dark yet, I'm telling you! Well, we were on bikes and of course and it gets dark outside at about 6 here. And of course were still out working and teaching lessons but we were on our way home from our last lesson and were pretty much riding braile on this road! We can't see a thing! But once you go off the road a bit it goes to gravel so we just stayed on the right side and followed the flat blacktop! haha, it was so crazy and fun! Then Bro Laraway, the family were living with, was driving down the road and saw us and stopped and was like "what are y'all thinking?!" haha and we just told him we were going home of course and thanked him for picking us up! haha he was like, "y'all are going to get run over out here like this! I'm going to take y'all to the bike shop tomorrow and buy y'all lights for your bikes"! So the next day he took us to the shop and got us these sweet lights! They stay solid or flash and TOTALLY make it a ton easier to see the road to get home at night and I guess so people can see us! hahaha. Guess not best story to tell you about my safety but were set now!

The Laraways are awesome! Such a nice couple! They have kids but they are all moved out or at college! We will be staying with them til about Dec 14 probably and then her daughters are coming in town for Christmas and we have to get our hineys out of there quick! But we stay in the bottom in their basement! Soo AWESOME! It's like our own place pretty much! It has a wood burning stove; which is soo cool! I never had to make my own heat like that before. It's pretty fun! Every morning we wake up and throw wood in and fire it up! It's just a REALLY nice place to stay! Lots of land and BEAUTIFUL view! Every morning I eat breakfast and I just gaze at 2 mountain ranges out the window :) You will see pictures soon enough! But yes very nice people who feed and shelter us well!

My first Sunday here was AMAZING! The people here are SO nice! I fit in just well! I have so much in common with so many people here! Almost remember the hundreds of people i've met so far! They are so sweet here! We get fed like EVERY day, no joke! And there are 2 restaurants in town owned by members that let us eat for free! Greek Gyro's is owned by Sister Horsely where we can eat once a day for free and Moose Creek where we can eat once a week for dinner so we get fed SO much here! But don't worry. I haven't gained a pound! Actually, I found a bench and barbell and weights in Bro Laraways barn so in the morning I go lift weights or go outside and jump my rope in like the 20's!! It's what I call dedication!

My first Sunday (we actually cover 2 wards) we had 5 investigators come to church with us! The work here is ON FIRE, no joke! Might have a baptism this weekend and at least 2 baptismal dates set up! We teach so much and the members are so active and willing to help with whatever which helps us out tremendously!

I'm just loving getting to know everyone here and talking to everyone! We were riding our bikes and this older man was cutting his grass on his john deer and I rode over to him and asked him if he wanted help and he said no but I picked up a few leafs and stuck them in a bag and told him to have a nice day! haha I love talking to everyone! Today I took my watch to some pawn shop for a new battery and we ended up talking for like an hour haha great stuff!

After church they had what they call a "linger longer" and I was like what in the world is that! That's what they call a potluck! hahaha! It was delicious and I met so many more people there! They are much more casual here with dress church it's so funny to see what people will wear. It's a lot easier on our investigators though because they don't feel so out of place.

This one kid, though his dad was just baptized last week, he is inactive. And I've got to know him. We bribed him to come to church by 2 root beers! :) The Laraways got ALL this soda for us in boxes (or that they had) and we don't drink it so we bribe him with it! I'm doing everything to get him active again.

OH! My companion and trainer is Elder Miner! He is soo awesome! JUST like me! Everything I do he does too! It's so crazy! We're so close already and finishing each others sentences! So good to have a great trainer! I don't have to worry about learning the ways because he is teaching me for sure! Soo awesome!

I'm learning so much about hunting and stuff here! haha Last night we went with Bro Hawks to his gas station he owns, which is awesome, and in the car wash he pulled out a hot dog cooker and filled it up and one of the young men and his dad came over and we put this frozen deer head in it to boil the meat and fur off to do a European mount with is just the skull on the wall. Nothing else. haha That's every ones favorite up here pretty much! Brother Hawks doesn't go hunting on Sundays. I told him i'm going to come back up to go hunting! He traps mountain lions and I told him I'm going to come back and trap one with him so I can have the fur in my den! hahaha!

Basically, Montana is AMAZING and I'm loving EVERY second of it! I've learned so much since I've been here and already seen how the gospel blesses people's lives even more! It's such a joy to see the change in peoples lives! do me a favor and look up the conference talk of things that matter most by Dieter Uchtdorf! Apply it to each of your lives! I've learned so much from that talk as I've applied it in my life!

Of Things That Matter Most - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Tell everyone thanks for their support!

Love, Elder Parr

1st area and an adventure to get there!

President and Sister Gardner ---->


I'm here in Montana now!

My flight was pretty wild here. First, it was the smallest jet ever! Second, the weather in Billings was bad so we had to pack extra fuel (in case we had to make an emergency stop in Bozeman, MT) which means less room for luggage! So we were packing bags in empty seats, under seats, between people, etc. All while trying not to exceed the maximum weight for lift off! So some bags got left behind and we finally got here to Montana and President Gardner and his wife and the Assistants, Elder King and Elder Heywood, met us at baggage claim.

We came to the mission home, which is AMAZING! So cool! Only mission home like it! And Sister Gardner and this other Sister made these AWESOME burritos with sweet pulled pork, homemade lime and cilantro rice and all the other good stuff!! AND their pink stuff is AMAZING! They use cream cheese instead of cottage cheese and it was AMAZING! Soo good to have real food and not that cafeteria food, for sure!

We've had interviews, watched videos about the cars, etc, and learned more about Montana. It's so beautiful here! I can't wait to get to work! We went to the temple tonight and it's so beautiful! Look it up! Also look up the bear video by Jean Jacques Annaud! HA! Funny and weird at first but great symbolism at the end with us and Christ!

We're now just waiting for dinner and to find out where we're going and who our trainer's will be in the next few hours....



I'm going to the MISSOULA ZONE in Montana with Elder Miner! We will cover the Hamilton and Blodgett Canyon Wards!

My address is:
852 Ponderosa, Hamilton, MT 59840

So, hopefully, I'll be able to hit some golf balls on p-day, which is Monday. President Gardner said the drive is 7 hours on their bus from the mission home! So long drive in the morning!

I'M SO PUMPED!! Elder Heywood, one of the Assistant's to the President, said where I am going is one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL parts of the mission!

Love Y'ALL!
-Elder Parr

"Greenie" Dinner

Elder Parr and Elder Miner

Hi, My name is Jill Revelli. We live in Hamilton, Montana. ( A very small town by Missoula ) We were blessed to be your sons first dinner appointment tonight. We decided to make everything Green, including rolls, pasta, butter, etc. He came in and started dishing up his plate never mentioning the strange color, when all of a sudden he said, "So I take it y'all like the color green" We all laughed and explained that we usually don't eat green food, and that the color was in honor of him. We had such a great night. It ended with him sharing a spiritual message with our family. It appears that he has two brothers exactly the same age of two of our boys. He was so great with the little kids, and so relaxed. You would never guess this was his first day out. He bore a very sweet and sincere testimony before they left. He was so well mannered and polite. I just thought you might enjoy hearing of his first night here, I am also including some pictures.

The Revelli Family
Dave, Jill, Nate, Ben, Jon and Sarah

Me and Elder Kofoed on the snow covered bench enjoyin' it!

He thinks it's funny I flip out with snow because he see's it all the time coming from Preston, ID. HA!

I always call him "SPUD" because I tell him he is really a potato farmer...he just won't admit it. HA! :)

God knows your mission

So I have one more day left in the MTC! I leave Tuesday morning bright and early. SOO EXCITED!

I'm doing great! Loving every second of the mission so far! Have to say good bye to all the Elders and Elder Weaver, especially. :(

I will meet many more in Montana.

Temple walk today was awesome! I took some great pictures and Sheri Dew came and talked to us for the devotional tonight. AWESOME MESSAGE...God knows your mission in life!!
LOVE Y'ALL!!

GOD SPEED FAMILY!!

Nov. 7, 2010

It's sad to see everyone sick :/

The District is strugglin'. Just about everyone is still sick. Two Elders asked for blessings this morning which was pretty sweet to do! But I'm having them all sleep in and go to the doctor again. They all seem to be getting worse :/ Hopefully they start to feel better, though. It's sad to see everyone sick. Especially when I'm full of energy and all over the place! HA! :)

Me and Elder Trujillo are still going to the gym because we have a throw down with Vanem Bassett and Elder Fleming! We skunked them two days ago and they wanted a rematch. So we're going to go school them again!

Miss and Love everyone!

-Elder Parr

Only 6 more days until I head to MONTANA! I'm so excited!

Nov.3, 2010

Sick As A Dog

Thanks so much for the Halloween box! It was awesome and made my day! It's great to hear from everyone!

OH! I got my travel plans yesterday! I leave for Montana November 9, 2010 at 9:51 a.m. and arrive at 11:15 a.m. So pumped!

This week has been pretty tough. One, because everyone is pretty much sick as a dog and I'm not. And I'm like the only one answering questions and participating in class.

I've made everyone go to the doctor and get medicine and called a District Meeting this morning (definitely needed) and talked to them as a whole and set district goals and really made sure they knew the purpose of being here. I think we're all back on track and good to go. Just a lot of sickness still. Glad I take care of my body and don't get sick. Hope y'all are all feelin' good!

Work here is going great! Awesome experience for me and my companion, Elder Kofoed last night. Been learning how to ask better questions and to really find out someone's concerns or problems. Well, we had an awesome roll play and through the spirit were able to know EXACTLY what to ask! We just found the spirit and he guided us with the words to say. Great testimony builder that the spirit IS real and can guide you to say the right things!

If I can say anything, pray for the spirit to be with you each day and don't be afraid to say what comes to you when it's the right time! I will promise you in times where you feel you don't know what to say to someone, if you're living worthy, he will give you the words to speak! I know he will!

Thanks again for the package!

Love Y'all!

-Elder Parr

"BADAHHHH!!!"

The blog sounds AWESOME!

My companion now is Elder Kofoed! He reminds me exactly of Bro. Anderson in our ward! Like no joke! He is soooo funny now! I finally got him to open up and he gave us our district saying BADAHHHHHH! hahah! We drive everyone crazy with it! He will be my companion for the 3 weeks, yes! haha! It's funny because he is the senior companion but I'm the district leader. We were like, how is that supposed to work?? haha

I did get a coat so I have something to work with. I might need something better later. We shall see. I also tried on boots so if I find out I need them when I get there I will let y'all know!

My schedule is CRAZY!! Packed every day! Wake up at 6:15 then usually personal study for an hour, breakfast, gym time, companion study, class time, lunch, class time, devotionals, then planning and all sorts of stuff! So crazy and busy! Bum is getting tired of sitting in a chair all day though! NOT used to that for sure!

Miss y'all like crazy! My time is about to be up but I love y'all and keep in touch!

OHHHHH!! Bryce got here today and is in the room right next to mine! We're in the same zone :) He is with the cool Finish elders we have! One just got here yesterday from Sweden! But yeah, it's AWESOME!!!!!!

love and miss y'all tons!

Elder Parr!

A Quick Note Home - First day in the MTC

Hello!

First day was crazy! So much material and lots of classrooms but the food is good and it's been an awesome day! With the zone leaders now and they wanted us to send home an email letting y'all know that we're here and safe! I love and miss y'all so much! Let the kids know I'm thinking about them!

Ready to DO WORK!

Love,

Elder Justin Allen Parr

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A send off of love......

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Thank you so much to everyone who came by to wish Justin well, sent gifts, wrote words of encouragement and to all our family and friends who have supported and aided Justin in countless ways. We love you, all!

Justin Reads His Call To Serve July 2010

Yes, the video is sideways. Just turn your head to the side, let your lips smile.....and enjoy his enthusiasm!