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