THUNDER CLAP!

This week has been one of the finest for sure! I can say everything a missionary could ever dream of while being in Montana happened with Elder White and I!!!!!

 

First off, on Tuesday we had our mission tour which was absolutely AMAZING! Elder Zwich from the quroum of the seventy and his wife came to join us! When they spoke they spoke with such love and in tune with the spirit! He had each of us come up one by one before the meeting began to meet us. I watched carefully how he interacted with each person and smiled the entire time! He connected in some way with each of us which made him so real and personable from the very beginning. For me he actually had the same tie that I was wearing that day. Too bad he didn't decide to wear it though Haha! It was a blessing to be in the presence of one of God's servants and to be instructed by him. He spoke totally for over 4 hours and didn't have a thing written down! It was amazing and was exactly what we needed to hear! His wife gave one of the most profound talks for me! It was right in line with what mom emailed me about last week! She talked about exercising our faith in Christ ALL the time, not just for one act or time only. She related MANY stories (She was a good story teller!) of how she has continued to rely on the Lord and experiences from their mission. All I can say was my well was overflowing as I left the meeting! He said something that hit home to me. He said that we have to dwell on the BEST moments of our mission and forget about all the other times before and starting that day make a determination to make each day forward the BEST! So number one was we got to meet and be taught by a general authority!





This picture is with Elder Fio! He is SOOOO funny! He came on his mission from California but is Samoan! They were taking so long to take the picture Elder Fio was like, "HURRY UP! ELDER PARR IS STARTING TO SHAKE!" hahahahaha!

 

Secondly, we got to brand cows!! We helped out a ranch of one of the members to brand his calves :) It was SOOO much fun and good hard work! Now I can say I can wrestle a calf, rope it, hold it tight, brand it and give it its' immunizations! So now when anyone asks me what I was doing on 11/11/11 at 11:11 I will tell them I was branding cows! Of course afterwards they had some GOOD country cookin' food which you only needed one plate full :) It was quite the experience and SO much fun! The owner of all the cows decided to use the"O" brand because last year I guess he had a problem getting his brand right side up and with the "O" he didn't have to worry about that! haha

 

Third, we went to a pow wow!!! Pretty sure I've mentioned that I'm on the reservation right now. Polson is not the typical reservation because it's a tourist spot but everything else we cover is. Well, they had a pow wow on Saturday and it was the best! I loved talking to so many of the natives and watching them dance and sing and play their drums! Had some fry bread and an indian taco which is sooooo good! I enjoyed taking in their culture and learning so much about what they do and why! Got a sweet war hammer too which you'll have to see when I get home :) THUNDER CLAP is my new native name! haha (**side note from mom...If you have ever heard Justin's 'normal' clap you will laugh at this. He claps too loud!! ;)

 

Lastly, we had another baptism!! One of the young men we've been teaching decided to be baptized which was awesome! His grandpa baptized him and sooo many of his relatives came out to support him as well!! He is one of my favorites out here in Polson :)

 

This week was just tremendous! The Lord's hand is definitely here in our work and I'm forever grateful for the strength and help he gives me! I have a deep love for all those I serve and hope I can continue to be an instrument for the Lord! :) Thank you for ALL your prayers! They are greatly appreciated :)

 

LOVE Y'ALL!

-Elder Parr