December 4, 2008

Dear Family,

Well, Thanksgiving and stuff like that has come and gone. I hope all went well with Thanksgiving and whatnot. I know I did. In the morning, we went to the Turkey Bowl and played some football. My feet were pretty sore afterwards but we still had a good time. Then we went to Drunita’s house and had some Chitlens. That is pig intestines. They were gross! But now I can say I have had them. Then we went to the Baclawski’s for dinner. We had the traditional thanksgiving dinner. It was awesome. We ate a lot. Then we went to a less-actives house and we had some pie. So overall, it really just felt like a ordinary day. But it was fun!

So this last Tuesday was the “Christmas Zone Conference”! We had a lot of fun. We actually were an hour late. We were following some other missionaries in there car because they had a GPS system. We ended up getting lost and ended up on a dirt road. We eventually found our way to the church but that was so crazy! We watched the Muppet Christmas Carol. We then had some Chili provided by the ward members. It was really good. Then we did our skits. Our skit by far was the best one. We watched it on DVD and I am going to send a copy to you guys so you can see it! We had so much fun. Then we got to open our presents that were given to us by the wards in the mission. It was a bunch of hygiene stuff. That was really nice of them. Then I got to read the letter that Mom, Dad, and Cade sent me. I cried. That was really special to me, thank you very much for that letter!

Now, the reason I didn’t write to you yesterday was because we went out on exchanges with the AP’s (Assistants to the President). We had a really fun time and had really cool miracles happen. The assistant I went with, Elder Corbett, we talked to a less-active lady and she basically told us that she wants to come back to church and we told her how we were going to get her there and she was so excited that she set an appointment with us for dinner tomorrow. So we are really excited for that. Elder Noorda went with the other AP, Elder Alder, and got a new black investigator woman. So yesterday was a good, effective day. So today we are taking our P-day.

This morning though, we had another meeting with Jim Allen. He loves to read the Book of Mormon and Sister Witt gave him a bunch of Ensigns, New Eras, Friends, etc. He was excited about that. Unfortunately, he doesn’t want to meet with us until January because of the Holiday season and how he is so busy with his family and work. But we plan on just dropping by to see how he is doing!

We have been working with a less-active family, the Tadlocks. We are re-teaching the missionary discussions with them so that is really exciting! They are a really cool older couple. They feed us every week now so yeah!

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it to be true with all of my heart, might, mind and strength! I love to be a missionary and being able to tell people about the restored church. I know it to be true! I love you guys very much. Thanks for your prayers and support. Continue to do so, as I need it! You will receive blessings for doing so! Share the gospel to your friends! I promise as you do so, you will be given what to say to people that may not be of our faith. I love you and keep up the good work!

Love,

Elder Parker