What a remarkable week! I've learned so much and my eyes have been opened tremendously! It's amazing what an open heart and a willing mind can do for you!
First off, we spent most of our day Saturday with the family we stay with who's mother passed away last week. We attended her funeral, burial and their family meal afterwards. They really wanted us there to support the family and meet the rest of them as well :) Many stood and shared experiences and as I listened to how this woman impacted the lives of so many people and influenced them to do good I thought to myself, "What do I want to be remembered for or as?" I realized that every aspect of our lives is examined everyday by others around us. How we conduct ourselves, how we react to different situations, the choices we make, etc. We should NOT, however, just do things to put on a show or to get the praise of others around us. Our desire should be to serve God and to obey His commandments regardless of what others are doing around us! As we do so, we not only feel good, but we become an example for righteousness and good. So may each of you take an evaluation of your lives and how you can reallign yourself with the guidelines God has set for each of us to follow to truly be happy :)
We had the wonderful opportunity to teach one of our investigators about the word of wisdom! What an amazing principle we've been given from our Heavenly Father through a modern day prophet! This gentleman had a very rough childhood. Involved in drugs, alcohol and everything you can think of. He has been clean of everything for 17 years except he still smokes and drinks coffee. As we talked about how our bodies are temples and that we should treat them with the most respect and dignity you could see that he had a desire to make changes. He LOVESSSSSS coffee though and said he didn't think he could stop. When we taught about why we've been given the word of wisdom and what it was, we invited him to live the word of wisdom. He said, "I'll try, but I won't make any promises." As we continued to talk about it and the importance of living the word of wisdom at the end, he said himself, "I'm 100% committed!" It was such an awesome experience to see the spirit testify of the truthfulness of this principle to him! We didn't convince him to live it, we simply invited and the spirit taught him. Being an instrument in the Lord's hand is remarkable. I know as i've tried to make certain changes in my life that it hasn't been easy. Changing habits is never a quick and easy process. It takes time and a concise effort! Don't get discouraged if you fail the first time. The best advice I ever received is actually our family motto, "NEVER GIVE UP!"
I know you can do it!
This picture is of my buddy, Elder Morrey, who left this morning, actually, at about 4:15 am to head to Brazil for the rest of his mission! He was just here for a few weeks waiting for his visa! Going to miss that elder!
Today is a BEAUTIFUL DAY! It's about 50 right now with clear and sunny skies :) So excited to get outside and have some fun :)
I sure do love y'all and pray for y'all each and everyday!
-Elder Parr
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