Day After Christmas

Ohhhh it was SOOO wonderful calling and talking to y'all yesterday! I LOVE y'all so much I can't even describe it! I think the one who surprised me the most was Preston! Boy! Has his voice got DEEP! Haha! I thought it was awesome, especially when I said when I got home I was going to take him and he said, "NO! I'm going to destroy you!" Haha; and it scared me ;) j/k  I'm glad to hear all is well and y'all have a sweet road trip towards Idaho! I sure do miss road trips with y'all, but I think I get plenty of opportunities for road trips here in Montana because everything is so far away! Haha I'm sure y'all will have more room in the car though, without my large tail in the way ;)

So I told you alot about what happened this week with the highlight being R's baptism which was awesome! I thought about what I might send to y'all today and I thought I would focus now on New Year's! As y'all know, New Year's resolutions drive me crazy because so many people focus so much on making them and then 3 months down the road completely forget about them and have gone no where with their goals. Not EVERYONE, but a bunch of them for sure. It's very important to make goals but it's important to make goals throughout the year and NOT just on New Year's! Write them down and look at them often and be sure you're doing something each day to help you accomplish whatever your goal may be!

I hope and pray that as y'all set goals at this time and throughout your life that you will remember to rely on the Lord with whatever your goals may be and remember that ALL good things come from God :) Once we begin to rely on Him we find success and achievement and happiness comes into our lives. Sure, we can try to do it on our own, but it's much easier and longer lasting when we rely on Him!

I love y'all so much and pray for y'all often! Have a Happy New Year and be sure to keep the spirit of Christmas, which is the spirit of Christ, with you ALL the time!

LOVE Y'ALL!

-Elder Parr

attached a few pictures



-dressed in my christmas gear

   
 

 
  

 




-Elder Scott opening the present I got him

 
  

 



-Rick's Baptism



-tracting out in the boonies

CHRISTMAS TIME!!

This week has been a suberb one for sure! So much has gone on I have no idea where to begin!

  

This weekend, on Christmas Eve, one of our investigators is getting baptized!! What an AWESOME way to begin Christmas Eve with someone entering the waters of baptism to follow Jesus Christ! Don't know a better present I could ask for than for that! Along with that I can testify that prayers ARE answered! This gentleman about 3 months ago didn't even believe in God let alone like LDS missionaries! The Lord has truly touched his life and softened his heart in so smany ways that has drawn him to a true knowledge and testimony of Him! So awesome!

 

This morning was a blast as we helped Bishop T put up his Christmas lights :) Reminded me of the many times dad was too chicken to get up on the roof and I would get up there! Especially the time when Dmitry came and helped :) I will definitely miss going to Interlocken and seeing all the lights and all the other Christmas celebrations we do each year! I'm sure y'all will have a blast and MATTIE, YOU BETTER ENJOY YOUR LAST CHRISTMAS HOME WHILE YOU CAN!! You will miss it; trust me! Hahaha

 

I'm just filled with happiness right now as so much is going on and I have the wonderful opportunity to truly bring the Christmas spirit to the hearts and homes of many:) Best thing I would want to be doing at this time!!!

 

Heard a song on one of the cd's I have here this morning I hadn't heard before! He sang about how each day is a battle that's hard to win, which made me think for a second. I can agree that each day is a battle and we need to fight for what's right!

 

LOVE Y'ALL!!

-Elder Parr

Yeeeehawwww!

This week has been WONDERFUL as every week on the mission is :) I wish all of you could be out here with me but hopefully y'all can feel the joy and happiness that comes from serving the Lord through my emails home!

A few things we were able to do this week truly opened my eyes. One is that we've been practicing with the community choir here to perform for the city. Well, our performance was yesterday afternoon amongst a crowd of about 200! Our choir consisted of members from multiple churches and faiths and we sang loud and proud for all those who attended! The lesson I learned is still the one I learned when I was younger but one step further this time. I still LOVE to sing but I have no good voice and the addition is that I would rather sit and enjoy those who CAN sing and congratulate them afterwards ;) Haha! None the less I had a great time and we definitely brought the Christmas spirit to Polson.

Last night we were invited to come up to Kalispell to attend mission prep for the youngmen here in the valley. We had 6 elders who attended and we made a panel where the young men asked us questions and we answered them all :) It was a blast and I put myself in their shoes just before I left on a mission. It was tons of fun!

One thing I wanted to share with you is how grateful I am for y'all! We met with a young lady at a members home and she expressed how her family is a mess and her parents are always fighting and her passion, horses, are going to be taken from her and she lives everyday regreting she was alive. It opened my eyes to how blessed I am with each of you by my side :) Family means everything to me! NEVER take for granted what we have in our lives because many others don't! I love y'all and I'm doing GREAT!

-Elder Parr

p.s. we had our ward christmas party here and we fed over 250 people and the church was PACKED!!! It was so much fun though! :)

You got served!

So this week has been a busy and crazy one! My subject definitely became our motto this week and we had a blast with it! I think we did more service this week, than I've EVER done in a week and it was totally SWEET! We branded cows, helped insulate an attic, moved a couple families and prepare for our nativity for the ward this week! It's been so much fun and an eventful week!

 

Tuesday was spent branding cattle which Elder Scott was pumped about until he saw how big they were. It's amazing how much a calf can grow in 2 weeks because they were MUCH bigger than last time we helped out! Haha I love helping them brand because you're around a bunch of cowboys. They are respectful, work hard and ALWAYS eat good afterwards! It was a great opportunity to lend a helping hand and often times a whole body as I had to jump on top of a few to hold them down! Haha

 

Wednesday was interesting as it was time to go to Helena for some leadership training. We had spent the night in Kalispell the night before and there would be 5 of us going to that meeting. Well, we heard a winter storm was going to come in and lay down 8 inches of snow. So with that they chose me, the Texan with hardly ANY driving in the snow experience, to drive. They also said it was because our vehicle is a 4x4 pickup. :) Haha Anyways, we woke up the next morning with no sight of snow at all! Well as we embarked on the 3 and a half hour drive at 5:30 am everyone fell asleep and I was the only one awake driving. Well there was definitely snow later on in the ride! I can tell you I said multiple prayers along the way as everyone laid asleep and the truck would slide or fishtail! Haha I'm thankful for God's protection that allowed all of us to arrive safely! We returned home in even a worse storm but none the less made it safely and I totaled 10 hours of driving in one day! Haha I did learn something very valuable in that meeting, though! I was reminded that this is the Lord's work. Not mine, not yours, nobody else's. That I'm not the one inviting people to do things but the Lord is! I'm just grateful I can be an instrument in his hand :)

 

The ward here had their annual nativity where we had over 200 nativities displayed and invited the entire public to come and to share the spirit of Christmas with us :) It was an incredible display and left many with tears in their eyes. We also hosted the first presidency message after and what a wonderful treat that was to watch! I pray that we will all find the true spirit of Christmas this year :)

 

I love y'all and hope the best for each of you! May God continue to bless and watch over you my dear family and friends :)

 

Love,

-Elder Parr