:)

So this week was AMAZING! Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I
start every email out this way. Hahaa! Well, I would say the highlight of the week was on Saturday when we left at dark thirty to drive to
Helena! Luckily I didn't have to drive and got to take a little head
nod for a bit ;) Anyways we had half of our mission together in
Helena; which is always an amazing sight. What gets even better is
that Elder Neil L. Andersen, one of the apostles, came to speak to us!
Along with Elder Gonzalez and Elder Smith of the Seventy and Bishop
Cose, of the Presiding Bishopric (just newly called). What a
remarkable experience that was! To have an apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ and others who live and serve Him in your presence. I tell you
there is nothing like it! He talked about how we need to deepen our
conversion and conviction in the Savior, Jesus Christ and begin to
"know" Him. To study His words, read about His life, memorize words He
spoke, practice what He taught, speak how He would speak, serve as He
would serve. Let me just say it was remarkable and that it made me
want to go see conference live that much more!

Elder Gonzalez talked about the important role that the Book of Mormon
should be in our lives and in sharing the gospel with others. He
brought up an interesting point. He said, "In 3 Nephi when Christ
appears to the people in America, He asks for their records and
reviews them. What other book can you say has been reviewed by the
Savior Himself? I don't know of any other." What a remarkable book!
That was witnessed to me as we met with a gentleman we had got to know
just a week previously. In our latest visit with him as we asked if He
had read the pamphlet we left him he replied, "Nawww. I don't need to
read that. I just want to talk and lift each other up and hear what
you have to share." He went on talking most of the time and showin' us
his preacher tapes he enjoys listening to and what not. Then I said,
"We would love to share something with you, for the Lord Himself. May
we read it with you?" I handed him the Book of Mormon to a specific
section and asked him if he wouldn't mind reading 2 verses. Well what
happened next was pretty neat. He read the 2 verses then paused. Then
read the rest of the column. He continued to just read until he had
finished 2 pages! We told him he could keep the Book of Mormon and he
responded, "Good, because I want to do some homework!" WHAT?!!! Just
before he had told us he didn't want to read anything from us. I
testify that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God and that one
can really strengthen their faith and conviction of the Savior through
reading its pages, along with gaining a testimony that Joseph Smith
restored Christ's original church! I LOVE reading it every day :)

I love y’all SOOO much and love hearing about the kids first day of
school and what not! I can't wait to go to their games and practices
and have them teach me all they know from school because I've lost
EVERYTHING it seems like! Haha!

Love y’all!
-Elder Parr

p.s. Off to hike in the bitter root again!

YAY!

Let me just tell you that I can't get enough of this work! Even when weeks
are tough or feel super long, by the end of the day, I can't help but
lay down at night and think to myself, "Wow! This work is hard but
it's soo much fun!" I absolutely LOVE being out among people making
them smile and sharing the most remarkable message that has brought me
so much happiness and joy. I JUST LOVE IT :)

We've had a ton of sweet experiences this week but I would like to
just share 2 thoughts with y'all today!

This first is about the names that we represent throughout our lives.
Everyone has a name and that's who they are known by for the rest of
their lives, unless they decide to legally change it, like one guy we
met a few weeks ago named Dancing Bear! HAA! Well, you may think your name
doesn't mean too much, but it means a lot to everyone else; that's for
sure. I can't tell you how many people I've met that I've asked if
they've known someone and they either get super excited because they
are a great person or get ticked because of something they did to
them. Haha! I think anyone who is ticked is hilarious, though ;)
Anyways, I feel it is important that we remember who we are and that we
represent ourselves and our families ALL the time! A name we often
forget that we represent though, is that of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Each of us, when we were baptized, covenanted with God to take upon
ourselves the name of Christ and to be a witness of Him. It's
especially important to remember that our actions should represent and
be in line with the things the Savior would do. So always remember
that you represent Jesus Christ and your family in all that you do!

The second thing I wanted to share kind of goes along with the whole
name thing and that is about our family motto, "Parr's Never Quit!"
I've thought a lot about this motto of ours this week and received
some added insight, besides that we finish all that we do and we never
give up. I think one of the major things with this is that...

Parr's never quit on each other!

We're a family and will always be one;
regardless of what happens. I've seen so many families who are broken
or split up and who fight and bicker and all that lame stuff. We're
not like that. We support each other. We lift each other. We're
patient with one another and most of all we love each other. Families
are ordained of God. If they are to be successful we must keep God in
them and do what will allow us to receive the spiritual strength that
we need. So know that I'm never givin' up on any one of y'all :) I love
y'all so much!

So I'm sure y'all are countin' down the days and it's just drivin' y'all
bonkers that I'm almost finished but you'll just have to be patient a
little bit longer ;) hehe Trust me, I can't wait to see y'all again
though! As I haven't thought much about what I will do when I get
home, besides start back school in January, I wanted each of y'all to
start making a list of things I need to do or places I need to go
with y'all, or really just ANYTHING you think I need to do when I get
home. The reason is so I don't get into trouble when I get back! haha
I'm gonna' need things to do so if all of y'all want to make a big list
that would be awesome! :) Then y'all can give me them when I get back
sometime, if I ever do ;) JK

Well, we're going to go hike up some of these sweet mountains here
today, so I hope all is well and that y'all are having an AWESOME day!

-Elder Justin Parr

HALLELUJAH!!

Anyone who says they don't believe in miracles...get out of town! haha
I've seen SOOOO many miracles in the past few weeks it has been
incredible :)

1. A young lady from Mexico City, Mexico was visiting her Uncle and
Aunt here in Hamilton and had gone to church for the past 4 weeks
previous to our arrival here in Hamilton. Well, after church last week
on Sunday we set up a time to visit her. What an experience it was!
She has SOOO many questions and was so sincere about seeking truth.
She was raised in the Catholic church along with her entire family and
she said that there were just so many questions that she had that were
never answered, so as we taught her, her eyes would just light up and
she was just soakin' it all in. Short story, she was reading the Book
of Mormon like crazy and left to go back home and has the missionaries set
up to visit her when she gets home to Mexico!

2. Visited a young man who you could say was off the path big time
when I was here last time. He has cut all his hair off and sat there
and talked to us for about an hour. He opened up and told us how he
had never prayed personally in his life and didn't really even believe
in God. We had one of the greatest lessons ever (I think partly
because I had to relate the gospel to video games) because you could
see things begin to make sense to him. He said that he was going to
read the Book of Mormon and that he would think about praying this
week! That would have NEVER happened when I was here last!

3. Knockin' on doors early last week and got to the point where I was
like, "It's blazin' hot out here, no one is answering and I want a
sandwich," when I got the impression to go to the other side of the
street. Teenage boy answered and said, "Everyone is out back, go
there." So we walked to the back and guess who it was?! It was a
member of the church who had just moved back and hadn't been to church
in years!

4. Had 2 meetings in Helena so we were there, Wednesday and Thursday.
The Helena 2nd Ward fed, housed, and had people to teach for 20
missionaries!

5. A youngman, who hasn't met with the missionaries for about 5 months,

started meeting with us. We unexpectedly met him previously in
the week and he shared how anytime something bad happens or things
aren't going well, the missionaries would always show up. He said the
day we just showed up was probably one of his worst days ever. What
he didn't know was we had NO IDEA why we stopped at where he was at,
until we met him!

6. A family who moved away shortly after I left just moved back and
found out their daughter we had been teaching got baptized in
Washington and that her dad said that he would like to meet with us.

7. A family who hasn't been to church recently much at all, we visited
and he wants to baptize his daughter and son next month and is willing
to do what he needs to do to become worthy again!

8. Got a call from Bishop yesterday after church who said 2 young
gals ran up to him after church and asked, "We want to be baptized!
What do we need to do?" That desire came after their sunday school
class, that was on baptism. Primary teachers, NEVER give up! You make
a difference in each child's life :)

9. I've made it as long as I have ;) Jk! hahaha

I could go on and on but this week has truly been such a blessing!
It's taught me that as we believe in Christ and are choosing the right
that we should expect to see miracles in our lives and around us, that
we truly are instruments in His hands to lift, inspire and help those
around us! I know I'm back in Hamilton for a reason and each day a get
a little glimpse of why :) I love this work! I love y'all!

-Elder Parr

To any and all who wonder why I do what I do, I tell you it's because
I have come to an understanding that this is the Church of Jesus
Christ. That He leads me in all I do. He invites each of us to "come
follow me." An invitation that is so simple. I would invite each of
you to take the opportunity to learn about what has brought me so much
happiness :)    mormon.org

Home

To answer some of your questions, here you go...

   -I did get my release date. It's October 25, 2013.

   -My new address is 248 1/2 Main St. Hamilton, Montana  59840. We live right on main street in an appartment; which is a blast! haha

    

This week has got to be the best week I've had on my mission :) Welcoming in all the new missionaries for the last time for me was such a blast, especially knowing that one of them was going to be mine. I told President that we were both in tune with the spirit because 2 weeks previous, as I was looking at their pictures, I told Elder Steinicke, "I'm going to train Elder Thawley, watch!" And as each of them opened their assignments, I got Elder Thawley!! It was such a blast to bring them all in, especially with President Mecham, and seeing how 2 mission presidents did the whole thing. It was a sad goodbye as I left Billings but super exciting as I left for Hamilton with 4 new missionaries in our truck! haha Dropped a few off along the way and finished the rest off in Missoula where a family feeds all the new missionaries their first meal. So it was a party for sure! :) haha Eventually, got down to Hamilton Wednesday evening and got to work! Met with the ward mission leader right off the bat and then saw the Shepherd's, my first baptisms on my mission! Brother Shepherd busted down the door practically and picked me off the ground and was just as stoked as I was!  :)

 

I must say the reunion I've had these past few days with so many people here has been incredible. I believe every missionary wonders if they've made an impact or a difference in the areas they served in but really never fully know if they did. I have been SO blessed to return to Hamilton and work with so many people I came to love so many months ago. It's hard not to talk or write about it without tearin' up or smilin' so big :D Church just topped it all off for me yesterday :) I just LOVE the people here in Hamilton and LOVE that I'm with Elder Thawley!

 

It feels so great to be a "real missionary" again and not have so many responsibilities, and merely be able to focus on the work and training. Been ridin' bikes, hittin' up main street and talkin' to everyone :) It's everything I hoped it would be! Excited for what this next week entails :) I love y'all so much and think about y'all often!

 

-Elder Parr

 

p.s. You're probably freakin' out that I said my release date was in 2013. Probably thought I just typed it wrong or something, but I did it on purpose ;) hehe Only have so much longer I can do that. It's October 25, 2012 this year! ;) You should be gettin' a letter soon with my flight plans and things like that shortly.