Dear Family,
Hey y'all. I hope you are doing well. Things in West Memphis are doing good. Things are definitely starting to improve which is good. Let me update you with a couple of things that are going on.
Krystal, one of our investigators, has a baptismal date. It was for the 26th of this month but she didn't show up for church so we have to move it back. She seems pretty interested you just have to ask a lot of questions to make sure that she understands. She understands about her baptism so that is good.
Out of nowhere, this Less-active family came out of the blue and came back to church on Sunday. They are the Taylor family. The Wife is the only member. The Husband and son are non-members and they want to be taught and baptized. We plan on setting a date with them, hopefully by the end of the year.
We have the Branch Christmas Dinner this week. It should be a lot of fun and a lot of food. Yum!
We have made mission history in our mission by setting the highest amount of baptisms in a year. I don't know the exact number and we won't know until the end of the year. But I know we are around 465 baptisms. That is awesome, especially for our mission in the south!
I love this Christmas season. Everyone is closer to Christ and are more receptive to the Message of the Restoration. I love it. I know it to be true. I love and miss y'all. I hope you are doing all well.
Love,
Kyle (Elder Parker)
Friday, December 18, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
December 7, 2009
Dear Family,I am doing good. Things in West Memphis are going good. Let me tell you the highlights of my week.
This week was the Christmas Zone Conference. I got the letter that Dad wrote for me. You wrote it a long time ago in November but it still felt like you were right there talking to me. It really meant a lot. I liked the comment at the end of the letter when Dad said, “We will let them have you one more year and then next Christmas, your ours!” Ha ha. So true. I will miss all y’all this year for Christmas but I know what I am doing is right and I am supposed to be here. It was good. We listened to people talk for 3 hours about things that we talked about during the year. Then we had a Christmas dinner. Then we got to open our presents. I got to read the letter and it was fun! Then we did our Christmas skits. Our Zone did the huka, the Tongan war dance. Our zone leader, Elder Fa, is from Tonga. So that is what we did. We had a lot of fun and I recorded it so I can show you guys when I get home.
West Memphis had a Christmas Parade so we went with some Less-actives the Whites. They are a really neat young couple and they have adopted us into their family quickly. It was an interesting parade. Very cold too because it was at night. A ghetto parade! Haha.
We had a good Sunday too. We had Sister Justice come, an investigator, and we got to meet her and her son who is in a wheelchair and handicapped. They were both very nice. Then there was a “Break the Fast” potluck. It was yummy. I think that is one thing that the churches back west need to adopt. Monthly potlucks. They are so good! Maybe I will suggest that when I get home. Haha.
We are just currently trying to find solid investigators. The problem we seem to be having is when we have a good lesson with someone, and we try to reschedule an appointment, and then we go to the appointment and they aren’t there and then you have to try and find them home the rest of the week. It is frustrating but hey, missionary work wouldn’t be the same with out experiences like this! I enjoyed the Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency. For those that missed it, I suggest you watch on LDS.org. or something like that. I really liked the story President Monson gave about the soldier in the airport trying to get home. Strong spirit!
I have a testimony of this gospel. I love it with all of my heart and I KNOW it is true, without a doubt. I love and miss y’all and hope you have a good week.
Love,
Kyle
December 7, 2009
Dear Family,I am doing good. Things in West Memphis are going good. Let me tell you the highlights of my week.
This week was the Christmas Zone Conference. I got the letter that Dad wrote for me. You wrote it a long time ago in November but it still felt like you were right there talking to me. It really meant a lot. I liked the comment at the end of the letter when Dad said, “We will let them have you one more year and then next Christmas, your ours!” Ha ha. So true. I will miss all y’all this year for Christmas but I know what I am doing is right and I am supposed to be here. It was good. We listened to people talk for 3 hours about things that we talked about during the year. Then we had a Christmas dinner. Then we got to open our presents. I got to read the letter and it was fun! Then we did our Christmas skits. Our Zone did the huka, the Tongan war dance. Our zone leader, Elder Fa, is from Tonga. So that is what we did. We had a lot of fun and I recorded it so I can show you guys when I get home.
West Memphis had a Christmas Parade so we went with some Less-actives the Whites. They are a really neat young couple and they have adopted us into their family quickly. It was an interesting parade. Very cold too because it was at night. A ghetto parade! Haha.
We had a good Sunday too. We had Sister Justice come, an investigator, and we got to meet her and her son who is in a wheelchair and handicapped. They were both very nice. Then there was a “Break the Fast” potluck. It was yummy. I think that is one thing that the churches back west need to adopt. Monthly potlucks. They are so good! Maybe I will suggest that when I get home. Haha.
We are just currently trying to find solid investigators. The problem we seem to be having is when we have a good lesson with someone, and we try to reschedule an appointment, and then we go to the appointment and they aren’t there and then you have to try and find them home the rest of the week. It is frustrating but hey, missionary work wouldn’t be the same with out experiences like this! I enjoyed the Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency. For those that missed it, I suggest you watch on LDS.org. or something like that. I really liked the story President Monson gave about the soldier in the airport trying to get home. Strong spirit!
I have a testimony of this gospel. I love it with all of my heart and I KNOW it is true, without a doubt. I love and miss y’all and hope you have a good week.
Love,
Kyle
December 7, 2009
Dear Family,I am doing good. Things in West Memphis are going good. Let me tell you the highlights of my week.
This week was the Christmas Zone Conference. I got the letter that Dad wrote for me. You wrote it a long time ago in November but it still felt like you were right there talking to me. It really meant a lot. I liked the comment at the end of the letter when Dad said, “We will let them have you one more year and then next Christmas, your ours!” Ha ha. So true. I will miss all y’all this year for Christmas but I know what I am doing is right and I am supposed to be here. It was good. We listened to people talk for 3 hours about things that we talked about during the year. Then we had a Christmas dinner. Then we got to open our presents. I got to read the letter and it was fun! Then we did our Christmas skits. Our Zone did the huka, the Tongan war dance. Our zone leader, Elder Fa, is from Tonga. So that is what we did. We had a lot of fun and I recorded it so I can show you guys when I get home.
West Memphis had a Christmas Parade so we went with some Less-actives the Whites. They are a really neat young couple and they have adopted us into their family quickly. It was an interesting parade. Very cold too because it was at night. A ghetto parade! Haha.
We had a good Sunday too. We had Sister Justice come, an investigator, and we got to meet her and her son who is in a wheelchair and handicapped. They were both very nice. Then there was a “Break the Fast” potluck. It was yummy. I think that is one thing that the churches back west need to adopt. Monthly potlucks. They are so good! Maybe I will suggest that when I get home. Haha.
We are just currently trying to find solid investigators. The problem we seem to be having is when we have a good lesson with someone, and we try to reschedule an appointment, and then we go to the appointment and they aren’t there and then you have to try and find them home the rest of the week. It is frustrating but hey, missionary work wouldn’t be the same with out experiences like this! I enjoyed the Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency. For those that missed it, I suggest you watch on LDS.org. or something like that. I really liked the story President Monson gave about the soldier in the airport trying to get home. Strong spirit!
I have a testimony of this gospel. I love it with all of my heart and I KNOW it is true, without a doubt. I love and miss y’all and hope you have a good week.
Love,
Kyle
Monday, November 30, 2009
November 30, 2009
Dear Family,
Hey, this was a good week because it included Thanksgiving. I had a lot of things to be grateful for including all y’all. I hope your Thanksgiving was fun.
Thanksgiving morning, we had a tiny turkey bowl. We were expecting a lot of people to show up but no one did. So we play a short game with who game but that is about it.
We had Thankgiving dinner at a less-actives house, The Russells. They are an older couple and they can cook good. It was yummy. Only one meal this year, thank goodness because I sure didn’t need any more food in my tummy.
I threw up once this week at the beginning of the week but I am all better now. Thank goodness for the power of prayer!
The investigators are doing fine. We taught a black lady by the name of Brianna. She is pretty solid, we just have to work on getting her to church. We are teaching others but I can’t really think of anyone at this moment.
So this Sunday I forgot that I was speaking. The branch president called my name and I totally forgot that I was speaking so I pulled out my farewell talk that I gave at home and read it. It turned out being really well! I got a lot of compliments.
I hope that all y’all have a good and safe week. I love you and miss you.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Hey, this was a good week because it included Thanksgiving. I had a lot of things to be grateful for including all y’all. I hope your Thanksgiving was fun.
Thanksgiving morning, we had a tiny turkey bowl. We were expecting a lot of people to show up but no one did. So we play a short game with who game but that is about it.
We had Thankgiving dinner at a less-actives house, The Russells. They are an older couple and they can cook good. It was yummy. Only one meal this year, thank goodness because I sure didn’t need any more food in my tummy.
I threw up once this week at the beginning of the week but I am all better now. Thank goodness for the power of prayer!
The investigators are doing fine. We taught a black lady by the name of Brianna. She is pretty solid, we just have to work on getting her to church. We are teaching others but I can’t really think of anyone at this moment.
So this Sunday I forgot that I was speaking. The branch president called my name and I totally forgot that I was speaking so I pulled out my farewell talk that I gave at home and read it. It turned out being really well! I got a lot of compliments.
I hope that all y’all have a good and safe week. I love you and miss you.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
November 23, 2009
Dear Family,
I hope all is well with you. As you know, I am in my new area. West Memphis, Arkansas. I think I will enjoy myself here. A little side note, today is my 16 month birthday. 16 months ago, I went into the MTC. Crazy how fast time goes by.
As I mentioned before, there are a lot of black people. We are teaching a ton of people. My companion, Elder Johnson, knows all of them and I am having a hard time with remembering them all and the names. There names out here are nuts! Laquadius, Lashawnda, Shyanne, etc. They spell there names really crazy and it is hard for me to remember. It will take me a while.
Lets see…There was a Thanksgiving dinner provided by the branch on Saturday. It was neat. I got to meet most of the members there. Most of the members are white. There is one active black family, the Irvins. Unfortunately, Sister Irvin worked her self to the bone on cooking for this Thanksgiving dinner that she ended up having a seizure at the end of the night. Me and Elder Johnson gave her a blessing and we hope and pray that she is improving. Last we heard she is doing better, which is great!
We have been teaching some people. It seems like all of the investigators are at the beginning stages of teaching. The problem we run into is getting people to church. Most of the people we are teaching don’t have cars. The members don’t really want to give them rides because if they end up getting baptized, then they have to give that person a ride every week. I feel so bad for the members because I don’t want them to stain themselves by doing a good deed for people. Sorry, I just get frustrated at people sometimes. But, there is nothing I really can do about that. So we try to get the people that we are teaching to invite there friends who have cars so they have a way of getting to church.
One guy we are teaching is a guy named Steve. He is a black guy that is really into his church. He loves to meet with us, but he is very intellectual in his Bible and faith. He tells us that he is never going to convert, but hey, it’s not my job to convert him, the spirit will do it. Haha. Only if he knew that.
We are teaching a Black lady named Erica Parker. She is also black. She seems pretty interested. And she has a car! The lesson went well and she seemed promising. We see her later this week.
Other than that, I just still need to get my bearings here. I still have a hard time with sense of direction because there are no mountains here. But I will eventually figure it out. Thank goodness for GPS.
I know this gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he can help us in our time of need. I know that the spirit has the converting power to convince these people here in West Memphis. I am grateful that I can be a tool in the Lord’s hands to bring these people unto Him. Thank you for all the love, support and prayers on my behalf. I love y’all and miss y’all. Hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Parker
I hope all is well with you. As you know, I am in my new area. West Memphis, Arkansas. I think I will enjoy myself here. A little side note, today is my 16 month birthday. 16 months ago, I went into the MTC. Crazy how fast time goes by.
As I mentioned before, there are a lot of black people. We are teaching a ton of people. My companion, Elder Johnson, knows all of them and I am having a hard time with remembering them all and the names. There names out here are nuts! Laquadius, Lashawnda, Shyanne, etc. They spell there names really crazy and it is hard for me to remember. It will take me a while.
Lets see…There was a Thanksgiving dinner provided by the branch on Saturday. It was neat. I got to meet most of the members there. Most of the members are white. There is one active black family, the Irvins. Unfortunately, Sister Irvin worked her self to the bone on cooking for this Thanksgiving dinner that she ended up having a seizure at the end of the night. Me and Elder Johnson gave her a blessing and we hope and pray that she is improving. Last we heard she is doing better, which is great!
We have been teaching some people. It seems like all of the investigators are at the beginning stages of teaching. The problem we run into is getting people to church. Most of the people we are teaching don’t have cars. The members don’t really want to give them rides because if they end up getting baptized, then they have to give that person a ride every week. I feel so bad for the members because I don’t want them to stain themselves by doing a good deed for people. Sorry, I just get frustrated at people sometimes. But, there is nothing I really can do about that. So we try to get the people that we are teaching to invite there friends who have cars so they have a way of getting to church.
One guy we are teaching is a guy named Steve. He is a black guy that is really into his church. He loves to meet with us, but he is very intellectual in his Bible and faith. He tells us that he is never going to convert, but hey, it’s not my job to convert him, the spirit will do it. Haha. Only if he knew that.
We are teaching a Black lady named Erica Parker. She is also black. She seems pretty interested. And she has a car! The lesson went well and she seemed promising. We see her later this week.
Other than that, I just still need to get my bearings here. I still have a hard time with sense of direction because there are no mountains here. But I will eventually figure it out. Thank goodness for GPS.
I know this gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he can help us in our time of need. I know that the spirit has the converting power to convince these people here in West Memphis. I am grateful that I can be a tool in the Lord’s hands to bring these people unto Him. Thank you for all the love, support and prayers on my behalf. I love y’all and miss y’all. Hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Parker
November 19, 2009 (Transfer!!)
Dear Family,
Hey, I am just shooting off to y'all a quick e-mail to let you know where I am. I am currently in West Memphis, Arkansas. So it is about an hour west of Jackson, TN. We are right next to the Mississippi River. We can see Memphis from across the river. It is kind of cool! There is a branch here. There are a lot of Black people here and it is going to be cool to serve around them. I am really anxious to get started here. I am kind of nervious as well. I was telling some of the members that I got close to that is was like I was going on a mission all over again because I got so close to them. This transition will be hard but I think I can do it. My companion is Elder Robbie Johnson. He is from Kaysville, UT. Mom, send me a companion questionaire if you want to know more about him. Anyway, thank you for your love, support and prayers that you give me everyday. They are very much needed and appreciated! I love y'all! Everyone, here is my new address:
Elder Kyle Parker
320 N. Rhodes St.
West Memphis, AR 72301
Love,
Elder Parker
PS: Mom, if you could send me stuff about West Memphis, that would be great! Thanks! Love, Kyle
Hey, I am just shooting off to y'all a quick e-mail to let you know where I am. I am currently in West Memphis, Arkansas. So it is about an hour west of Jackson, TN. We are right next to the Mississippi River. We can see Memphis from across the river. It is kind of cool! There is a branch here. There are a lot of Black people here and it is going to be cool to serve around them. I am really anxious to get started here. I am kind of nervious as well. I was telling some of the members that I got close to that is was like I was going on a mission all over again because I got so close to them. This transition will be hard but I think I can do it. My companion is Elder Robbie Johnson. He is from Kaysville, UT. Mom, send me a companion questionaire if you want to know more about him. Anyway, thank you for your love, support and prayers that you give me everyday. They are very much needed and appreciated! I love y'all! Everyone, here is my new address:
Elder Kyle Parker
320 N. Rhodes St.
West Memphis, AR 72301
Love,
Elder Parker
PS: Mom, if you could send me stuff about West Memphis, that would be great! Thanks! Love, Kyle
November 16, 2009
Dear Family,
Well, today is a very sad day. I am getting transferred! I really enjoyed my time here in Jackson, Tennessee. This really is my home away from home. I have been here since June, so that is pretty much 6 months, 1/4 of my mission! It feels really weird because it is like I am going on a mission again because I am leaving loved ones. I have gotten really close to mem
bers, recent converts and investigators. It is going to be hard to leave but I know the Lord needs me elsewhere. I understand that. You just have to look at your situation and ask the Lord what he needs you to do. That goes with everything in life, not just a mission.
As I look back at the memories of Jackson, a couple of things stand out. Ada Green (aka Big Mama) was one of the first investigators that I had met. She loves to talk and she was just the sweetest lady you could ever meet. It was such an honor to baptize her and she will always be remembered.
Deb Dunham was a great one as well. She had a lot of problems financially and since she has joined the church, her life has been blessed immensely. The Lord blesses his children when they keep His commandments and Deb is an excellent example. It has been neat to see her progress in the gospel. I will miss her laughs and the good times we had.
Last of all, I will miss the Yarbrough family. They were probably the most special to me. They treated me like one of there own and for that I am really grateful. Brother and Sister Yarbrough were perfect for each other and there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t laugh when we were around them. They helped me through the hard times and they are really like my second family. That is why I said before, it’s like I am going on a mission again. I am leaving them and they will definitely be missed by me. Thank you Yarbrough Family!
I will miss Jackson. We had our good times and bad but I think that this will forever be my home away from home. Good bye Jackson, Tennessee.
Thank you for your love and support. I love y’all and I will tell you where I go on Wednesday. Thank you.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Pictures included: (Me with Carl Perkins) , (We went to the Yarbrough’s last night and help them set up there Christmas Tree)
Monday, November 9, 2009
November 9, 2009
Dear Family,
Hey y’all! I hope all is well with you. Another good week this has been!
We found some new investigators. There names are William and Chastity. Funny side note, they are boyfriend/girlfriend and they
live together and have kids. Her name is Chastity and she is breaking the law of chastity. Ha ha. Anyway, they were once taught before and I think the lesson went really well. They asked a lot of good questions and want to know more about our church. Hopefully they will go somewhere with it.
Wednesday, we went out to the Snipes (A member family) and did some service for Sis. Snipes (who is less-active). We set up the Christmas lights and a Christmas tree. It made me miss doing that at home surprisingly enough. Sorry I am not there to help this year mom. Maybe next year!
We met with Gary Begin recently and we set a baptismal date for the 28th of November. I am excited about that. All we know is that he is a coffee drinker when it comes to the word of wisdom. Other than that, I really don’t see anything else stopping him. We are definitely praying for his success in hitting that goal. I know he can do it and I know the Lord knows he can do it. All prayers would help because he still hasn’t gotten an answer to his prayers. Thanks!
Other than that, this coming week is the last week of the transfer. I really hope that I stay here for Christmas because I have gotten close to a lot of the investigators and members
here. I will go where the Lord wants me to go as always but what a blessing it would be if I could stay here one more transfer! But you can wish only so far! Haha.
I hope all is well with you. I miss you and my thoughts and prayers are with you. Thanks again for the love, support and prayers you give on my behalf. I know this work is true. Pray and seek for missionary opportunities everyday! The Lord will tell you what to do and say.
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures included: (Two deer that we found, sorry it’s blurry), (Beautiful Tennessee Sunrise.)
Hey y’all! I hope all is well with you. Another good week this has been!
We found some new investigators. There names are William and Chastity. Funny side note, they are boyfriend/girlfriend and they
live together and have kids. Her name is Chastity and she is breaking the law of chastity. Ha ha. Anyway, they were once taught before and I think the lesson went really well. They asked a lot of good questions and want to know more about our church. Hopefully they will go somewhere with it.Wednesday, we went out to the Snipes (A member family) and did some service for Sis. Snipes (who is less-active). We set up the Christmas lights and a Christmas tree. It made me miss doing that at home surprisingly enough. Sorry I am not there to help this year mom. Maybe next year!
We met with Gary Begin recently and we set a baptismal date for the 28th of November. I am excited about that. All we know is that he is a coffee drinker when it comes to the word of wisdom. Other than that, I really don’t see anything else stopping him. We are definitely praying for his success in hitting that goal. I know he can do it and I know the Lord knows he can do it. All prayers would help because he still hasn’t gotten an answer to his prayers. Thanks!
Other than that, this coming week is the last week of the transfer. I really hope that I stay here for Christmas because I have gotten close to a lot of the investigators and members
here. I will go where the Lord wants me to go as always but what a blessing it would be if I could stay here one more transfer! But you can wish only so far! Haha.I hope all is well with you. I miss you and my thoughts and prayers are with you. Thanks again for the love, support and prayers you give on my behalf. I know this work is true. Pray and seek for missionary opportunities everyday! The Lord will tell you what to do and say.
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures included: (Two deer that we found, sorry it’s blurry), (Beautiful Tennessee Sunrise.)
November 2, 2009
Dear Family,
I hope all is well as it is now November! It is crazy to think that in 2 months it is Christmas and I will be talking to most of you soon as well! I hope you had a fun and safe Halloween.
As a missionary, just because of holidays, the work still continues. We are working
with Gary Begin still. He is doing good, he is just worried about how churches are so hypocritical. He has a good point because churches are that way including ours. The church is perfect, the people aren’t. So, he might be a little bit of a challenge. Hopefully the spirit will touch his heart and he will know it is true.
We are also working with Antonia, a lady that lives in Brownsville. She has a little 5 year old girl. She used to be taught by the other missionaries here before they left. She is skeptical and she keeps saying “Beware of False Prophets…” I can understand that but she just needs to pray about it.
Those are the top 2 investigators that we are currently working with. The ward had a Halloween party. It included food and desserts, a cake walk, Animals (Snakes, exotic animals, e
tc.), trunk or treat, etc. It was a lot of fun. As you can see in the pictures included, we wore our proselyting clothes on backwards. We had fun and everyone commented on how it was a good idea.
I love the gospel and I know it can help anyone in any situation. I am grateful for loving family and friends like you. I couldn’t stay out here with out your support so thank you very much! I love y’all! It’s fall, y’all!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Pictures include: (The snake at the halloween party), (Our halloween costumes)
I hope all is well as it is now November! It is crazy to think that in 2 months it is Christmas and I will be talking to most of you soon as well! I hope you had a fun and safe Halloween.
As a missionary, just because of holidays, the work still continues. We are working
with Gary Begin still. He is doing good, he is just worried about how churches are so hypocritical. He has a good point because churches are that way including ours. The church is perfect, the people aren’t. So, he might be a little bit of a challenge. Hopefully the spirit will touch his heart and he will know it is true.We are also working with Antonia, a lady that lives in Brownsville. She has a little 5 year old girl. She used to be taught by the other missionaries here before they left. She is skeptical and she keeps saying “Beware of False Prophets…” I can understand that but she just needs to pray about it.
Those are the top 2 investigators that we are currently working with. The ward had a Halloween party. It included food and desserts, a cake walk, Animals (Snakes, exotic animals, e
tc.), trunk or treat, etc. It was a lot of fun. As you can see in the pictures included, we wore our proselyting clothes on backwards. We had fun and everyone commented on how it was a good idea.I love the gospel and I know it can help anyone in any situation. I am grateful for loving family and friends like you. I couldn’t stay out here with out your support so thank you very much! I love y’all! It’s fall, y’all!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Pictures include: (The snake at the halloween party), (Our halloween costumes)
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 26, 2009
Dear Family,
What a good week. We have gotten a lot of work done and a lot of things are happening again in Jackson. Let me tell you how it went!
We went with a part member family, the Begins, to a pumpkin patch and we made Pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. We are currently teaching Brother Begin who is a non-member. We think things will definitely start to get going with him. He really likes us and we have a good relationship with him. Hopefully, he will get baptized soon!
Natalie Leatherwood was baptized on Saturday! It was an exiting time for her and her family. It was an honor to get to know her and her family. They are all so nice. A member of the ward baptized her because her grandpa has no leg. Her father is Less-active so it was good to see her there. He served a full-time mission and got sealed in the temple and hasn’t been to church for years. That just doesn’t compute.
Sunday was good. Our investigator class was full to the brim almost. It was the fullest I have ever seen it. We had 2 of the 3 main investigators that we were teaching there. It was awesome!
I am grateful for the church! I love to be a missionary. I know that it is true for I have seen it put to the test. Being a missionary is the hardest thing I have ever done but I know that I will be grateful for doing one. Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was his Prophet. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s church back on the earth. What a privileg
e it is to be a part of it. Thank you for your love, support and prayers. Please continue them, they do help. I will continue to do the same for you.
Quick shout out to my aunt Jamie and Sister and Law Cindy. Happy Belated Birthday. Sorry I forgot about it! I hope it was wonderful!
Have a happy halloween!
Love,
Kyle
Pictures include: (Natalie’s Baptism), (Us with our Pumpkins)
What a good week. We have gotten a lot of work done and a lot of things are happening again in Jackson. Let me tell you how it went!
We went with a part member family, the Begins, to a pumpkin patch and we made Pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. We are currently teaching Brother Begin who is a non-member. We think things will definitely start to get going with him. He really likes us and we have a good relationship with him. Hopefully, he will get baptized soon!
Natalie Leatherwood was baptized on Saturday! It was an exiting time for her and her family. It was an honor to get to know her and her family. They are all so nice. A member of the ward baptized her because her grandpa has no leg. Her father is Less-active so it was good to see her there. He served a full-time mission and got sealed in the temple and hasn’t been to church for years. That just doesn’t compute.
Sunday was good. Our investigator class was full to the brim almost. It was the fullest I have ever seen it. We had 2 of the 3 main investigators that we were teaching there. It was awesome!
I am grateful for the church! I love to be a missionary. I know that it is true for I have seen it put to the test. Being a missionary is the hardest thing I have ever done but I know that I will be grateful for doing one. Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was his Prophet. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s church back on the earth. What a privileg
e it is to be a part of it. Thank you for your love, support and prayers. Please continue them, they do help. I will continue to do the same for you.Quick shout out to my aunt Jamie and Sister and Law Cindy. Happy Belated Birthday. Sorry I forgot about it! I hope it was wonderful!
Have a happy halloween!
Love,
Kyle
Pictures include: (Natalie’s Baptism), (Us with our Pumpkins)
October 19, 2009
Dear Family,
What a week. It has been filled with Joy and success. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
Wednesday, Elder Gift, my old mission companion came into town and took me and my companion out to lunch. It was really good to see him. He also brought his girlfriend from Arkansas. Don’t worry, it’s a good thing. It was good to see both of them again. We had a nice visit.
Probably the biggest event of the week was when Darius Gray came into town from SLC. He is a black man that does genealogy for African Americans and others. He gave a great talk to the community and there were 187 people that attended. 60% of them were non-members so it was a huge success. We had a chance to talk to a proclaimed prophet. We in turn, taught him the first vision. We gave him our number and he said it was quite interesting so you never know.
We have been doing a lot of service for this part-member family that had come into the ward. They had moved from Trenton, TN and they just needed some help because they have a lot of physical problems. Anyway, we finally asked the husband, who is a non-member, if he would like to be taught and he said yes so that went well. So we will teach him this coming week.
Saturday we went to Brownsville, TN. It is about 30 minutes west of Jackson. There was a bunch of media that needed to be delivered so that is what we did. We met a lot of peo
ple out there and met this couple that we are coming back on Saturday to teach. They seem pretty promising.
Sunday was good. We had what they call a linger longer and everyone brought some food. It was awesome! A former investigator named Antonia that we were teaching in Brownsville showed up! I had called her to tell her that we were in town on Saturday and were wondering if we could visit with her. She didn’t call us back or anything and yet she just showed up to church. Crazy!
Natalie’s baptism is coming up on Saturday. The family is excited and hopefully more good will come from it.
That was my week. This week looks pretty busy again so I am excited! Thank you for your love, support and prayers on my behalf. May the Lord bless you for your dedication! I love y’all!
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures Include: (Me and Darius Gray), (Me and Parker Gift)
What a week. It has been filled with Joy and success. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
Wednesday, Elder Gift, my old mission companion came into town and took me and my companion out to lunch. It was really good to see him. He also brought his girlfriend from Arkansas. Don’t worry, it’s a good thing. It was good to see both of them again. We had a nice visit.
Probably the biggest event of the week was when Darius Gray came into town from SLC. He is a black man that does genealogy for African Americans and others. He gave a great talk to the community and there were 187 people that attended. 60% of them were non-members so it was a huge success. We had a chance to talk to a proclaimed prophet. We in turn, taught him the first vision. We gave him our number and he said it was quite interesting so you never know.
We have been doing a lot of service for this part-member family that had come into the ward. They had moved from Trenton, TN and they just needed some help because they have a lot of physical problems. Anyway, we finally asked the husband, who is a non-member, if he would like to be taught and he said yes so that went well. So we will teach him this coming week.
Saturday we went to Brownsville, TN. It is about 30 minutes west of Jackson. There was a bunch of media that needed to be delivered so that is what we did. We met a lot of peo
ple out there and met this couple that we are coming back on Saturday to teach. They seem pretty promising.Sunday was good. We had what they call a linger longer and everyone brought some food. It was awesome! A former investigator named Antonia that we were teaching in Brownsville showed up! I had called her to tell her that we were in town on Saturday and were wondering if we could visit with her. She didn’t call us back or anything and yet she just showed up to church. Crazy!
Natalie’s baptism is coming up on Saturday. The family is excited and hopefully more good will come from it.
That was my week. This week looks pretty busy again so I am excited! Thank you for your love, support and prayers on my behalf. May the Lord bless you for your dedication! I love y’all!
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures Include: (Me and Darius Gray), (Me and Parker Gift)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
October 12, 2009
Dear Family,
Hello, hello. I am glad to hear from y’all. Happy Columbus Day. As Always, I hate holiday’s on my mission because there is no mail. :( Oh well. I will get some, hopefully tomorrow.
This week was pretty good. We got a lot done and things are going pretty well. Natalie came to church this Sunday and she is doing well this week. We are going over to her grandparents house to teach her and have a mini party for her. She is sc
heduled for baptism on the 24th. Also, Alicia, a member’s girlfriend came to church again as well. We are excited for her and plan to teach her on Saturday. We are actually very busy this week so I am excited for that.
A man by the name of Darius Gray is coming to Jackson. He is a African American member of the church who is coming to talk on Genealogy. It is happening on Thursday. Over a 100 of black ministers have been invited to come and attend this Genealogy Conference. It will hopefully get people curious enough to find new people to teach. I don’t know what it is about finding new people to teach, we struggle with it. But usually when we do find someone, they are
really good ones.
This weekend, we played Softball as a ward trying to invite all the Less-actives to come. We had a good time. Also, it was Deb Dunham’s birthday so as a gift to her, Me and Elder Cortez gave her a year subscription to the Ensign. The pictures are of both of these events. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the love, support and prayers you have given me. They are much needed and appreciated. I love y’all.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Hello, hello. I am glad to hear from y’all. Happy Columbus Day. As Always, I hate holiday’s on my mission because there is no mail. :( Oh well. I will get some, hopefully tomorrow.
This week was pretty good. We got a lot done and things are going pretty well. Natalie came to church this Sunday and she is doing well this week. We are going over to her grandparents house to teach her and have a mini party for her. She is sc
heduled for baptism on the 24th. Also, Alicia, a member’s girlfriend came to church again as well. We are excited for her and plan to teach her on Saturday. We are actually very busy this week so I am excited for that.A man by the name of Darius Gray is coming to Jackson. He is a African American member of the church who is coming to talk on Genealogy. It is happening on Thursday. Over a 100 of black ministers have been invited to come and attend this Genealogy Conference. It will hopefully get people curious enough to find new people to teach. I don’t know what it is about finding new people to teach, we struggle with it. But usually when we do find someone, they are
really good ones.This weekend, we played Softball as a ward trying to invite all the Less-actives to come. We had a good time. Also, it was Deb Dunham’s birthday so as a gift to her, Me and Elder Cortez gave her a year subscription to the Ensign. The pictures are of both of these events. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the love, support and prayers you have given me. They are much needed and appreciated. I love y’all.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
October 5, 2009
Dear Family,
Hey everyone! I am happy as can be and life is good. I got news about transfers. President called us Sunday Morning. I am staying here in Jackson. That means that I will have spent at least ¼ of my mission here. I really enjoy it because we have a lot going one and I am happy to be here so yeah! I am also staying with Elder Cortez. This will be our 3rd transfer together. That rarely happens so I am excited about that. President said he was really tempted to transfer one of us but he decided not to.
This weekend was Conference and it was neat to hear from the Prophet and Apostles once again. I enjoyed most of them. Some of my favorites would have to be Thomas S. Monson when he talked about Service. It was really neat. Then I enjoy Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk about the Book of Mormon. Way bold and strong testimony.
We have set another baptismal date with a little 9 year old girl. Her name is Natalie. Really sweet and she is way smart. It is for the 17th of this month.
I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that I am His missionary doing His work. I get to see so many miracles and that Lord truly has a hand in this work. He prepares people because he wants them to be truly happy. I love y’all and am so happy to represent you and the Lord. I hope y’all have a good week.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Hey everyone! I am happy as can be and life is good. I got news about transfers. President called us Sunday Morning. I am staying here in Jackson. That means that I will have spent at least ¼ of my mission here. I really enjoy it because we have a lot going one and I am happy to be here so yeah! I am also staying with Elder Cortez. This will be our 3rd transfer together. That rarely happens so I am excited about that. President said he was really tempted to transfer one of us but he decided not to.
This weekend was Conference and it was neat to hear from the Prophet and Apostles once again. I enjoyed most of them. Some of my favorites would have to be Thomas S. Monson when he talked about Service. It was really neat. Then I enjoy Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk about the Book of Mormon. Way bold and strong testimony.
We have set another baptismal date with a little 9 year old girl. Her name is Natalie. Really sweet and she is way smart. It is for the 17th of this month.
I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that I am His missionary doing His work. I get to see so many miracles and that Lord truly has a hand in this work. He prepares people because he wants them to be truly happy. I love y’all and am so happy to represent you and the Lord. I hope y’all have a good week.
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Monday, September 28, 2009
September 28, 2009
Dear Family,
Hello Hello. This week wasn’t a very eventful one so sorry about that. We are trying to find new investigators and it is kind of hard. This coming week is the last week of the transfer. We really don’t know what is going to happen to either of us. President Drewes kind of hinted
that I might be staying but you never know with that man. I have been in Jackson, Tennessee for 4 and ½ months now. I haven’t stayed in an area longer than that so statistics show that the logical choice would be that I get transferred but transfers aren’t supposed to be logical, they are spiritual and it is up to the Lord whether I get transferred or not.
This past week we have been focusing on Less-actives and Part-member families. I guess one of the general authorities have instituted a program where the ward council comes up with 15 names that are either Less-active, Part Member or Non-member. Then one of the ward leader ship are to personally invite them to be taught by the missionaries (receive the discussions). Then they are to tell us and then we are to teach. So far, we haven’t gotten the ok for anybody so hopefully they will get started on it so we can stay more
busy.
I hope all is well with you. Deb and Big Mama are doing great! I am excited for Conference. Be sure to take notes and pay attention. We only get to hear from the Prophet and Apostles twice a year. I am so excited. I feel like I haven’t heard from them in a long time so this will be good. We passed out flyers to the members so they could give them to their non-member friends. I hope it will turn out good. I love you, stay strong and safe.
Love,
Elder Parker
Picture: (The District), (Me and Beau. He goes to the MTC next Wednesday! He goes to Russia)
Hello Hello. This week wasn’t a very eventful one so sorry about that. We are trying to find new investigators and it is kind of hard. This coming week is the last week of the transfer. We really don’t know what is going to happen to either of us. President Drewes kind of hinted
that I might be staying but you never know with that man. I have been in Jackson, Tennessee for 4 and ½ months now. I haven’t stayed in an area longer than that so statistics show that the logical choice would be that I get transferred but transfers aren’t supposed to be logical, they are spiritual and it is up to the Lord whether I get transferred or not.This past week we have been focusing on Less-actives and Part-member families. I guess one of the general authorities have instituted a program where the ward council comes up with 15 names that are either Less-active, Part Member or Non-member. Then one of the ward leader ship are to personally invite them to be taught by the missionaries (receive the discussions). Then they are to tell us and then we are to teach. So far, we haven’t gotten the ok for anybody so hopefully they will get started on it so we can stay more
busy.I hope all is well with you. Deb and Big Mama are doing great! I am excited for Conference. Be sure to take notes and pay attention. We only get to hear from the Prophet and Apostles twice a year. I am so excited. I feel like I haven’t heard from them in a long time so this will be good. We passed out flyers to the members so they could give them to their non-member friends. I hope it will turn out good. I love you, stay strong and safe.
Love,
Elder Parker
Picture: (The District), (Me and Beau. He goes to the MTC next Wednesday! He goes to Russia)
September 21, 2009
Dear Family,
What another great week! I am so happy and it is good to have success once again. The Lord is truly blessing us with miracles and I am very grateful for it.
Debra Dunham was baptized on Saturday, September 19. It was a great baptism. Brother Billy Yarbrough (Her brother) baptized and confirmed her a member of the church. It was a really spiritual meeting and there were some tears. It was really neat to see a brother and a sister be united in the gospel. What a privilege it was to be apart of this wonderful time in there lives.
Billy’s birthday was this week as well so what a wonderful birthday present from his sister.
Ada Green (Big Mama) was confirmed on Sunday. It was good to see her there and now she and Sister Dunham can enjoy the blessings of the Holy Ghost with them always.
Now, we have to work on finding new people. During all of this chaos, we were trying to f
ind new investigators but came up with nothing. Now, that it isn’t so chaotic, we can focus more on that.
One last thing, a birthday shout out to my brother Cade! Happy Birthday Cade and don’t worry I didn’t forget you! I love you Cade! Write me sometime!
That is all, I hope y’all had a good week. May God bless you! Love ya!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Pictures include: (Me, Debra Dunham, Elder Cortez), (Grandpa, Brandon Yarbrough, Aaron Raab, Grandma, Debra Dunham, Billy Yarbrough, Linda Yarbrough, Rachel Raab)
What another great week! I am so happy and it is good to have success once again. The Lord is truly blessing us with miracles and I am very grateful for it.
Debra Dunham was baptized on Saturday, September 19. It was a great baptism. Brother Billy Yarbrough (Her brother) baptized and confirmed her a member of the church. It was a really spiritual meeting and there were some tears. It was really neat to see a brother and a sister be united in the gospel. What a privilege it was to be apart of this wonderful time in there lives.
Billy’s birthday was this week as well so what a wonderful birthday present from his sister.
Ada Green (Big Mama) was confirmed on Sunday. It was good to see her there and now she and Sister Dunham can enjoy the blessings of the Holy Ghost with them always.
Now, we have to work on finding new people. During all of this chaos, we were trying to f
ind new investigators but came up with nothing. Now, that it isn’t so chaotic, we can focus more on that.One last thing, a birthday shout out to my brother Cade! Happy Birthday Cade and don’t worry I didn’t forget you! I love you Cade! Write me sometime!
That is all, I hope y’all had a good week. May God bless you! Love ya!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Pictures include: (Me, Debra Dunham, Elder Cortez), (Grandpa, Brandon Yarbrough, Aaron Raab, Grandma, Debra Dunham, Billy Yarbrough, Linda Yarbrough, Rachel Raab)
September 14, 2009
Dear Family,
Wow, what a great week this has been. It has also been quite busy so that is good as well.
Well, we had Zone Conference on Thursday. It was good to see some of my mission buddies again and of course, President. It was a good, uplifting conference.
Deb Dunham, Brother Yarbrough’s sister, is doing great! She hasn’t smoked since Thursday! Her baptism is on Saturday. She asked her brother to baptize her. That is so awesome! I love to see that happen! It will be another busy and stressful week but it will also be very rewarding.
Ada Green (Big Mama) finally got baptized on Sunday after church. She asked me
to baptize her so I did. It was such an honor and privilege to do that. She is such a neat lady and will always have a special place in my heart. She was hard to teach at times because she sure loves to talk. But when I talk to her, I love every minute of it. I wish y’all could meet her because she is an awesome lady with a strong testimony. She will get confirmed next Sunday.
This coming week is going to be busy which is good. I hope that I can get through it. I am grateful for the many prayers on my behalf. I really don’t think I would have had success without them. Thank you very much!
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures include: (Elder Cortez, Ada Green (Big Mama), Me) (Me, Sister White, Martin, Elder Cortez, Maurice, and Big Mama)
Wow, what a great week this has been. It has also been quite busy so that is good as well.
Well, we had Zone Conference on Thursday. It was good to see some of my mission buddies again and of course, President. It was a good, uplifting conference.
Deb Dunham, Brother Yarbrough’s sister, is doing great! She hasn’t smoked since Thursday! Her baptism is on Saturday. She asked her brother to baptize her. That is so awesome! I love to see that happen! It will be another busy and stressful week but it will also be very rewarding.
Ada Green (Big Mama) finally got baptized on Sunday after church. She asked me
to baptize her so I did. It was such an honor and privilege to do that. She is such a neat lady and will always have a special place in my heart. She was hard to teach at times because she sure loves to talk. But when I talk to her, I love every minute of it. I wish y’all could meet her because she is an awesome lady with a strong testimony. She will get confirmed next Sunday.This coming week is going to be busy which is good. I hope that I can get through it. I am grateful for the many prayers on my behalf. I really don’t think I would have had success without them. Thank you very much!
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures include: (Elder Cortez, Ada Green (Big Mama), Me) (Me, Sister White, Martin, Elder Cortez, Maurice, and Big Mama)
Monday, September 7, 2009
September 7, 2009
Dear Family,
Hello! I am so happy right now. It is great. What a great past week this has been. We set another baptismal date with someone else. Let me explain.
Billy Yarbrough, a member here, has a sister that is a non-member. Well, at the beginning of the transfer, we started telling the members that they might lose us as missionaries because we had nothing going on for a while. Well, Brother Yarbrough said that he wasn’t going to let that happen. Well, he asked his sister if she would take the missionary lessons again (because she had taken them before). She said that she needed a week to think about it. Anyway, she had a week to think about so Billy called her up and asked her if she was going to get baptized and she said yes. So, we taught her on Saturday. We told her about the Word of Wisdom and she has a problem with smoking. She is quitting today and she is getting baptized next Saturday on the 19th. We are so excited for her and I know that she can do it with the Lord’s help.
Big Mama, or Sister Greene, is doing good. We are still hoping that she can get baptized this weekend. It is all dependent on her health. So please pray for her. She needs all the prayers she can get in order to get baptized this weekend.
We have had other good teaching experiences with a woman named Kim. She had a friend in Clarksville, TN that she went to church with. She really enjoyed it. Well, we shared the first lesson with her and she is very skeptical but she is willing to read the Book of Mormon. We are meeting with her tomorrow so let see what happens.
The Lord is truly blessing us as missionaries and the members of the church with missionary opportunities. Thank goodness! I love y’all and thank you for the love, prayers and support in my behalf. I love you!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Hello! I am so happy right now. It is great. What a great past week this has been. We set another baptismal date with someone else. Let me explain.
Billy Yarbrough, a member here, has a sister that is a non-member. Well, at the beginning of the transfer, we started telling the members that they might lose us as missionaries because we had nothing going on for a while. Well, Brother Yarbrough said that he wasn’t going to let that happen. Well, he asked his sister if she would take the missionary lessons again (because she had taken them before). She said that she needed a week to think about it. Anyway, she had a week to think about so Billy called her up and asked her if she was going to get baptized and she said yes. So, we taught her on Saturday. We told her about the Word of Wisdom and she has a problem with smoking. She is quitting today and she is getting baptized next Saturday on the 19th. We are so excited for her and I know that she can do it with the Lord’s help.
Big Mama, or Sister Greene, is doing good. We are still hoping that she can get baptized this weekend. It is all dependent on her health. So please pray for her. She needs all the prayers she can get in order to get baptized this weekend.
We have had other good teaching experiences with a woman named Kim. She had a friend in Clarksville, TN that she went to church with. She really enjoyed it. Well, we shared the first lesson with her and she is very skeptical but she is willing to read the Book of Mormon. We are meeting with her tomorrow so let see what happens.
The Lord is truly blessing us as missionaries and the members of the church with missionary opportunities. Thank goodness! I love y’all and thank you for the love, prayers and support in my behalf. I love you!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Sunday, September 6, 2009
August 31, 2009
Dear Family,
Wow, a matter of fact, this was a good week that we had. A lot has happened, so I will fill you on in the details.
We saw Big Mama and it did well with her. Apparently, she has the occational tea so when we told her about the word of wisdom, she said that she will try and do what we tell her to do so I am super excited about that. It shouldn’t be too hard to overcome.
We found a new investigator this week. His name is Bernard. He is an old retired guy and he order a bible from our church. When we shared the first lesson with him, he enjoyed, so we came back and brought him a book of mormon. It was great. We brought with us, Bro. Yarbrough to one of the lessons and I think that it went great! Bernard has already told us that he believes in the Book of Mormon.
Sunday was a good day as well. The 5th Sunday is a combined meeting with the Priesthood and Relief Society. We were given the 3rd hour by the bishop, so we passed our Preach My Gospel’s and Book of Mormons and asked the people to write there testimony in them. I think the ward is really getting motivated with missionary work and that is great! I am really excited for it!
Other than that, I am pretty happy. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful day and age we live in to enjoy the blessing of the restored Gospel. I challenge all of you to invite your non-member friends to talk to the missionaries. The Lord will bless you, as I have seen it happen before. I love you and thank you for your love and support.
Love,
Elder Parker
Wow, a matter of fact, this was a good week that we had. A lot has happened, so I will fill you on in the details.
We saw Big Mama and it did well with her. Apparently, she has the occational tea so when we told her about the word of wisdom, she said that she will try and do what we tell her to do so I am super excited about that. It shouldn’t be too hard to overcome.
We found a new investigator this week. His name is Bernard. He is an old retired guy and he order a bible from our church. When we shared the first lesson with him, he enjoyed, so we came back and brought him a book of mormon. It was great. We brought with us, Bro. Yarbrough to one of the lessons and I think that it went great! Bernard has already told us that he believes in the Book of Mormon.
Sunday was a good day as well. The 5th Sunday is a combined meeting with the Priesthood and Relief Society. We were given the 3rd hour by the bishop, so we passed our Preach My Gospel’s and Book of Mormons and asked the people to write there testimony in them. I think the ward is really getting motivated with missionary work and that is great! I am really excited for it!
Other than that, I am pretty happy. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful day and age we live in to enjoy the blessing of the restored Gospel. I challenge all of you to invite your non-member friends to talk to the missionaries. The Lord will bless you, as I have seen it happen before. I love you and thank you for your love and support.
Love,
Elder Parker
August 24, 2009
Dear Family,
Wow, yesterday I hit my 13 month mark. 11 to go. That is so crazy how time flies. This week was a good week. Sunday was transfers and neither Elder Cortez or I got transferred so we are staying together for another six weeks. That makes me happy because I think things are starting to pick up here in Jackson.
We set a baptismal date with Sis. Greene, (Big Mama) and it went fairly well. We told her that we had been praying about this date and that we know that she can make it. She has a
lot of health problems and sometimes can’t make it to church. The date is set for September 12. I pray that she will make this date and I feel like she will. I would appreciate all prayers in her behalf. We need all the divine help we can get!
We kind of lost contact with Sarah and we aren’t a hundred percent sure what to do with her. Apparently, members are pushing her too hard and she doesn’t like that at all. She knows it’s true but I don’t think that the members are treating her with love. We have
n’t even asked the members for help and they keep pestering her about baptism. I hope we don’t lost her because of it. She is really solid.
I know that the Lord is blessing us. I really want success again. It is so rewarded and makes missionary work worth it! I am grateful for Christ’s atonement so we can be forgiven of our sins. I love you and hope all is well with you. Until next week!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Wow, yesterday I hit my 13 month mark. 11 to go. That is so crazy how time flies. This week was a good week. Sunday was transfers and neither Elder Cortez or I got transferred so we are staying together for another six weeks. That makes me happy because I think things are starting to pick up here in Jackson.
We set a baptismal date with Sis. Greene, (Big Mama) and it went fairly well. We told her that we had been praying about this date and that we know that she can make it. She has a
lot of health problems and sometimes can’t make it to church. The date is set for September 12. I pray that she will make this date and I feel like she will. I would appreciate all prayers in her behalf. We need all the divine help we can get!We kind of lost contact with Sarah and we aren’t a hundred percent sure what to do with her. Apparently, members are pushing her too hard and she doesn’t like that at all. She knows it’s true but I don’t think that the members are treating her with love. We have
n’t even asked the members for help and they keep pestering her about baptism. I hope we don’t lost her because of it. She is really solid.I know that the Lord is blessing us. I really want success again. It is so rewarded and makes missionary work worth it! I am grateful for Christ’s atonement so we can be forgiven of our sins. I love you and hope all is well with you. Until next week!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Friday, August 21, 2009
August 17, 2009
Dear Family,
Another week gone by. It sure is going fast. It is so crazy when you are working hard how fast the time goes. We had a pretty good week so let me explain just some stuff.
Lots of exchanges this week. First exchange, I went up to Dyersburg to see how they are doing up there. They were explaining to me the troubles that they were having in finding people home. Well, we went with a member to just go drop in on a bunch of their investigators and we found one home but they didn’t let us in because they were busy doing something else. So I definitely feel there pain because I have been there before. But I think things will start to improve there soon! They AP’s came and did exchanges at the same time I was up there so I was with one of the AP’s for about an hour. I didn’t know the area so we just kind of talked about what was going on in Jackson.
Next exchange was with Trenton. They are doing ok. The companionship up there isn’t doing so good so I hope that they relieved some steam by being separated for a day. They are doing ok. They are trying to keep busy and they have a fairly large area so they use a lot of miles. I think that if they planned smarter though, they could easily save some miles. But, they do what they want to do, I won’t stop them. I hope things start to improve there as well.
Things here are starting to improve as well. Sister Green (Big Mama) surprised us at church by coming to church. We had visited her that week and she wasn’t doing good health wise. But after sacrament meeting, we gave her a blessing and I think that really helped her. We had a good session in class as well. She mentioned that she wasn’t a member but she was seriously considering it. Bless her heart, I know the Lord will bless her for coming to church, as he always does.
Continue to pray for me and for our area. I appreciate the prayers that are already being said, we can definitely see the outcome of them. I love you and I hope that you are safe and happy! Until next week!
Love,
Elder Parker
Another week gone by. It sure is going fast. It is so crazy when you are working hard how fast the time goes. We had a pretty good week so let me explain just some stuff.
Lots of exchanges this week. First exchange, I went up to Dyersburg to see how they are doing up there. They were explaining to me the troubles that they were having in finding people home. Well, we went with a member to just go drop in on a bunch of their investigators and we found one home but they didn’t let us in because they were busy doing something else. So I definitely feel there pain because I have been there before. But I think things will start to improve there soon! They AP’s came and did exchanges at the same time I was up there so I was with one of the AP’s for about an hour. I didn’t know the area so we just kind of talked about what was going on in Jackson.
Next exchange was with Trenton. They are doing ok. The companionship up there isn’t doing so good so I hope that they relieved some steam by being separated for a day. They are doing ok. They are trying to keep busy and they have a fairly large area so they use a lot of miles. I think that if they planned smarter though, they could easily save some miles. But, they do what they want to do, I won’t stop them. I hope things start to improve there as well.
Things here are starting to improve as well. Sister Green (Big Mama) surprised us at church by coming to church. We had visited her that week and she wasn’t doing good health wise. But after sacrament meeting, we gave her a blessing and I think that really helped her. We had a good session in class as well. She mentioned that she wasn’t a member but she was seriously considering it. Bless her heart, I know the Lord will bless her for coming to church, as he always does.
Continue to pray for me and for our area. I appreciate the prayers that are already being said, we can definitely see the outcome of them. I love you and I hope that you are safe and happy! Until next week!
Love,
Elder Parker
Monday, August 10, 2009
August 10, 2009
Dear Family,
“I’m going to Jackson! I’m going to mess around!” –Johnny Cash
I hope all y’all are doing great. Sounds to me like everyone is all over the place having a good time so I hope all is well and that you are being safe!
We had a good week. We got to see some of our investigators and give a blessing to a non-member in a hospital. It was great!
We had a Bible study at a apartment complex with some members that lived there. They helped us set this Bible study up and we had a pretty good turn out. About 5-10 people, all non-members showed up. We decided to read out of John 3. We just read the chapter and talked about the verses and let everyone participate. We then ended with our testimonies about Jesus Christ. At the end, some people asked if us “Mormons” believe in Jesus Christ. I then asked the question to everyone “Do Mormons believe in Jesus Christ?” and everyone in the group said yes. So we definitely cleared up some misconceptions and felt the spirit. We are planning on doing this on a monthly basis so I think that eventually after planting some seeds, we will find someone that will be interested.
Adam Moore, a less active, has been coming back to church lately and he has been bringing his girlfriend(who is a non-member) to church with him. We will eventually begin to teach her and him again.
We are still working with Sister Green and Sarah. Sarah went out of town so she couldn’t make it to church and Sister Green wasn’t there because I am assuming that her health wasn’t too good on Sunday. But she is definitely doing better.
Continue to pray for us. We really need to find some more solid investigators and the prayers that you are doing for me are definitely helping! Thank you so much! They mean more than you know!
The gospel is true and I love to feel the spirit. Strive to live worthy of it every single day! Stay strong and be good!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
“I’m going to Jackson! I’m going to mess around!” –Johnny Cash
I hope all y’all are doing great. Sounds to me like everyone is all over the place having a good time so I hope all is well and that you are being safe!
We had a good week. We got to see some of our investigators and give a blessing to a non-member in a hospital. It was great!
We had a Bible study at a apartment complex with some members that lived there. They helped us set this Bible study up and we had a pretty good turn out. About 5-10 people, all non-members showed up. We decided to read out of John 3. We just read the chapter and talked about the verses and let everyone participate. We then ended with our testimonies about Jesus Christ. At the end, some people asked if us “Mormons” believe in Jesus Christ. I then asked the question to everyone “Do Mormons believe in Jesus Christ?” and everyone in the group said yes. So we definitely cleared up some misconceptions and felt the spirit. We are planning on doing this on a monthly basis so I think that eventually after planting some seeds, we will find someone that will be interested.
Adam Moore, a less active, has been coming back to church lately and he has been bringing his girlfriend(who is a non-member) to church with him. We will eventually begin to teach her and him again.
We are still working with Sister Green and Sarah. Sarah went out of town so she couldn’t make it to church and Sister Green wasn’t there because I am assuming that her health wasn’t too good on Sunday. But she is definitely doing better.
Continue to pray for us. We really need to find some more solid investigators and the prayers that you are doing for me are definitely helping! Thank you so much! They mean more than you know!
The gospel is true and I love to feel the spirit. Strive to live worthy of it every single day! Stay strong and be good!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Monday, August 3, 2009
August 3, 2009
Dear Family,
Can you believe that it is already August? It is so weird. I am not to excited though because August is the hottest month in the south. Hurray! Not really… Anyway, we had an awesome week. I think things are definitely going to improve here in Jackson. Some highlights were this:
Thursday was Zone Conference. It was really good. We talked about how we shouldn’t procrastinate things both in missionary work but also things of our lives. He referenced a talk by Henry B. Eyring called “This Day”. It is a good talk and I suggest y’all read it if you are ever bored or want a good read. We had a good talk in our interview, President and I. In the interview, we talked about the work and then closed with prayer. During the prayer, I was thinking about Grandpa Parker and how his funeral was that same day and wanting to talk to President about it. After the prayer, there was a few seconds of silence and he asked how my family was doing. So I got to talk to him about it and it made me feel better.
Well, after the interview, we were the only missionaries left in the building because we were the last ones to get interviewed. Outside it was raining really hard and the tornado sirens were going off. It was bad. So all 4 of us, (President and Sister Drewes, Me and Elder Cortez) stayed in the building for a while. Then we headed out in the crazy rain back to Jackson. It was fun and crazy though. But we made it safely. Then we went to Don Pancho’s with the Yarbrough’s. They had a Mexican band playing some songs all over the restaurant. It was fun!
Sunday was a great day. We had both of our investigators there, “Big Mama” and Sarah. We did a fast over the phone with Sarah to help her parents have an open mind. I hope it touched her and her parents because they aren’t very happy with her desire to join the church.
Thinks are definitely improving here in Jackson. The Lord is really blessing us with more opportunities to share the gospel and find those who have been prepared by the Lord. I know this work is true and I am so grateful to be apart of it. Thank you again for your love and support. I wish you all the best and let’s have a good month of August!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Can you believe that it is already August? It is so weird. I am not to excited though because August is the hottest month in the south. Hurray! Not really… Anyway, we had an awesome week. I think things are definitely going to improve here in Jackson. Some highlights were this:
Thursday was Zone Conference. It was really good. We talked about how we shouldn’t procrastinate things both in missionary work but also things of our lives. He referenced a talk by Henry B. Eyring called “This Day”. It is a good talk and I suggest y’all read it if you are ever bored or want a good read. We had a good talk in our interview, President and I. In the interview, we talked about the work and then closed with prayer. During the prayer, I was thinking about Grandpa Parker and how his funeral was that same day and wanting to talk to President about it. After the prayer, there was a few seconds of silence and he asked how my family was doing. So I got to talk to him about it and it made me feel better.
Well, after the interview, we were the only missionaries left in the building because we were the last ones to get interviewed. Outside it was raining really hard and the tornado sirens were going off. It was bad. So all 4 of us, (President and Sister Drewes, Me and Elder Cortez) stayed in the building for a while. Then we headed out in the crazy rain back to Jackson. It was fun and crazy though. But we made it safely. Then we went to Don Pancho’s with the Yarbrough’s. They had a Mexican band playing some songs all over the restaurant. It was fun!
Sunday was a great day. We had both of our investigators there, “Big Mama” and Sarah. We did a fast over the phone with Sarah to help her parents have an open mind. I hope it touched her and her parents because they aren’t very happy with her desire to join the church.
Thinks are definitely improving here in Jackson. The Lord is really blessing us with more opportunities to share the gospel and find those who have been prepared by the Lord. I know this work is true and I am so grateful to be apart of it. Thank you again for your love and support. I wish you all the best and let’s have a good month of August!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Monday, July 27, 2009
July 27, 2009 (Grandpa Parker passed away)
Dear Family,
What a week! It had it's up and downs. I hit my year mark! It is unbelievable that it has been that long. I really appreciated the note that Katherine sent me from you guys. It really made Grandpa's death more bearable.
When president told me about my grandpa's death, I immediately started to cry. That man was really special to me. I wouldn't be here on my mission with that man for two reasons. First off, he was the first in the Parker family to join the church. I am grateful that he was open minded enough to accept the gospel. I am truly grateful for that. Second, when I was younger, the family went to a camp ground to have a fire dinner and whatnot. Well, I saw Danny and Chad go across a bridge to go somewhere. I wanted to go with them so I tried to go by the river to get to the bridge and I fell into the river. I was getting dragged down stream and I was drowning. Grandpa Parker came into the river and saved me. So, he saved my life. Thank you grandpa Parker, I will miss you!
Nothing to exciting happened this week because we are kind of struggling with fin
ding new people to teach. We had a good lesson with Sarah and she is getting closer. We are excited to get her baptized soon. We are just kind of waiting on her situation with her parents. It's confusing but we will figure it out soon! It was Elder Cortez' birthday on Friday so I took him out to McDonalds for breakfast. So exciting! That is what you can afford as a missionary. Haha.
I appreciate all of you in taking the time to write in that card! It meant more than you know. For those going to the funeral, please pay my respects for me. I love y'all. Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Parker
What a week! It had it's up and downs. I hit my year mark! It is unbelievable that it has been that long. I really appreciated the note that Katherine sent me from you guys. It really made Grandpa's death more bearable.
When president told me about my grandpa's death, I immediately started to cry. That man was really special to me. I wouldn't be here on my mission with that man for two reasons. First off, he was the first in the Parker family to join the church. I am grateful that he was open minded enough to accept the gospel. I am truly grateful for that. Second, when I was younger, the family went to a camp ground to have a fire dinner and whatnot. Well, I saw Danny and Chad go across a bridge to go somewhere. I wanted to go with them so I tried to go by the river to get to the bridge and I fell into the river. I was getting dragged down stream and I was drowning. Grandpa Parker came into the river and saved me. So, he saved my life. Thank you grandpa Parker, I will miss you!
Nothing to exciting happened this week because we are kind of struggling with fin
ding new people to teach. We had a good lesson with Sarah and she is getting closer. We are excited to get her baptized soon. We are just kind of waiting on her situation with her parents. It's confusing but we will figure it out soon! It was Elder Cortez' birthday on Friday so I took him out to McDonalds for breakfast. So exciting! That is what you can afford as a missionary. Haha.I appreciate all of you in taking the time to write in that card! It meant more than you know. For those going to the funeral, please pay my respects for me. I love y'all. Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Parker
Monday, July 20, 2009
July 20, 2009
Dear Family,
Wow, what an interesting week! It has its up and downs but it’s good. But I have a story for you!
So I have always wanted to go to another church other than ours. So we were visiting a Less-active by the name of Sister Triggs. She doesn’t come to church because she has a handicapped daughter
that has to go to the bathroom a lot and she can’t stay in one place for too long, so we come and visit her instead. We began to talk and she brought up the comment, “You know, I feel like the Mormons are going to have more people going to heaven than any other faith.” I then proceeded to ask her why this is. And she didn’t know, so we showed her something we call the “Cup demo”. It shows that our church is Jesus Christ’s church 2000 years ago. Then it clicked with her and it made sense and she was really happy. Then she told us that her daughter has a church that comes over and does services in a room in their house. About 7 to 10 people come to it. She wanted us to show her church the cup demo or basically the 1st lesson that we teach as missionaries. So that is when the fun began.
So, we went over the next day and they began with lunch. There were a lot of black ladies and one white lady. She said the blessing on the food. And there began the prayer talk. So we knew that it was going to be an interesting day. Then came to preaching my “sermon” a
s I would like to call it. :) I got in the room and there was a camcorder. So they were going to record me. What they are going to do with that tape, I don’t know. But it started off pretty well. I began talking about prophets and Jesus Christ. The people started to shout praises every once and a while. “Amen” “Thank you, Jesus” “Hallelujah” “Praise Him!” It was kind of hard not to laugh to be completely honest. Then I got to the part where I talked about Joseph Smith. Then the praises stopped. The spirit was really strong when I talked about Joseph Smith but they were so closed minded that they didn’t feel it. The main preacher of that congregation started to laugh at me. Not very nice. Then when I closed with my testimony, and said amen, they started to clap. Not a normal thing to do at a church service at least at ours.
Then the fun began. They started there church services. They began with a bunch of people singing solos. Then they had like a mini testimony meeting. I bore my testimony and got a couple “Amens”. Haha. Then they started singing again but this time they passed around an offering plate. We didn’t donate at first but then we felt bad because everyone else was donating so we decided to donate. Who knows where that money went, probably into the preacher’s pocket, but we will never know. Then the preacher got up and began her sermon. She read out of 1 Samuel talking about David and Goliath. It was pretty good but you could feel the spirit because she was yelling and everyone was constantly shouting praises, “Come on, come on, come on, tell us!” There was a lot of truth in her sermon. And I learned quite a bit. But the people there confuse the spirit with an adrenaline rush. Then she concluded her sermon. Then another preacher got up and she asked the congregation if anyone wanted to bring a problem to Jesus and to accept him into there lives to come forth. One black lady stood up and she got up. Then the preacher behind her got up and started to chant something along the lines of “Amen, Lord God, Jesus, Thank you, Amen” Etc. She just went on and on. Then the preacher in front of the lady that got up started to anoint her with Olive oil. She put it on her forehead and two palms on her hands. Then she hit her in the head and hit her in the feet and then told her to say something and then she was saved. Yes, it was that easy. Me and my companion had a hard time not laughing but we did respect them. We didn’t make fun of them. So at the end of it, one of the ladies accidently broke the camcorder holder and the preacher got really mad at her. She was like “I don’t believe that you broke this….” “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to.” “I don’t care, you still broke it….” So after this lady preacher had supposedly felt the spirit all of a sudden was really angry at this person.
You know, I didn’t write this to make fun of other religions. I hope you laughed because it was funny. But it really strengthened my testimony of our church and the doctrines that it teaches. They taught truth but they don’t have it all. I hope that the spirit may touch them one day.
Elder Cortez is a good missionary. He has been out for about 5 months. Things should go well with him!
This week, I have been out 1 year! It is amazing because it sure doesn’t feel like I have been out a year. Time is going too fast for me. I have enjoyed my time as a missionary thus far and serving the Lord. I will continue to do this for another year. I love my Lord and Savior and I am nothing with Him.
Sorry this was super long, but I had to tell it. Hope you enjoyed. We have a good week coming up and I am excited! Hope all is well back home. Thanks for the support and love you have given me.
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures include: Elder Lyman’s wall of Mountain Dew. He really likes it. Elder Lyman and I. He is now in Monticello, AR.
Wow, what an interesting week! It has its up and downs but it’s good. But I have a story for you!
So I have always wanted to go to another church other than ours. So we were visiting a Less-active by the name of Sister Triggs. She doesn’t come to church because she has a handicapped daughter
that has to go to the bathroom a lot and she can’t stay in one place for too long, so we come and visit her instead. We began to talk and she brought up the comment, “You know, I feel like the Mormons are going to have more people going to heaven than any other faith.” I then proceeded to ask her why this is. And she didn’t know, so we showed her something we call the “Cup demo”. It shows that our church is Jesus Christ’s church 2000 years ago. Then it clicked with her and it made sense and she was really happy. Then she told us that her daughter has a church that comes over and does services in a room in their house. About 7 to 10 people come to it. She wanted us to show her church the cup demo or basically the 1st lesson that we teach as missionaries. So that is when the fun began.So, we went over the next day and they began with lunch. There were a lot of black ladies and one white lady. She said the blessing on the food. And there began the prayer talk. So we knew that it was going to be an interesting day. Then came to preaching my “sermon” a
s I would like to call it. :) I got in the room and there was a camcorder. So they were going to record me. What they are going to do with that tape, I don’t know. But it started off pretty well. I began talking about prophets and Jesus Christ. The people started to shout praises every once and a while. “Amen” “Thank you, Jesus” “Hallelujah” “Praise Him!” It was kind of hard not to laugh to be completely honest. Then I got to the part where I talked about Joseph Smith. Then the praises stopped. The spirit was really strong when I talked about Joseph Smith but they were so closed minded that they didn’t feel it. The main preacher of that congregation started to laugh at me. Not very nice. Then when I closed with my testimony, and said amen, they started to clap. Not a normal thing to do at a church service at least at ours.Then the fun began. They started there church services. They began with a bunch of people singing solos. Then they had like a mini testimony meeting. I bore my testimony and got a couple “Amens”. Haha. Then they started singing again but this time they passed around an offering plate. We didn’t donate at first but then we felt bad because everyone else was donating so we decided to donate. Who knows where that money went, probably into the preacher’s pocket, but we will never know. Then the preacher got up and began her sermon. She read out of 1 Samuel talking about David and Goliath. It was pretty good but you could feel the spirit because she was yelling and everyone was constantly shouting praises, “Come on, come on, come on, tell us!” There was a lot of truth in her sermon. And I learned quite a bit. But the people there confuse the spirit with an adrenaline rush. Then she concluded her sermon. Then another preacher got up and she asked the congregation if anyone wanted to bring a problem to Jesus and to accept him into there lives to come forth. One black lady stood up and she got up. Then the preacher behind her got up and started to chant something along the lines of “Amen, Lord God, Jesus, Thank you, Amen” Etc. She just went on and on. Then the preacher in front of the lady that got up started to anoint her with Olive oil. She put it on her forehead and two palms on her hands. Then she hit her in the head and hit her in the feet and then told her to say something and then she was saved. Yes, it was that easy. Me and my companion had a hard time not laughing but we did respect them. We didn’t make fun of them. So at the end of it, one of the ladies accidently broke the camcorder holder and the preacher got really mad at her. She was like “I don’t believe that you broke this….” “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to.” “I don’t care, you still broke it….” So after this lady preacher had supposedly felt the spirit all of a sudden was really angry at this person.
You know, I didn’t write this to make fun of other religions. I hope you laughed because it was funny. But it really strengthened my testimony of our church and the doctrines that it teaches. They taught truth but they don’t have it all. I hope that the spirit may touch them one day.
Elder Cortez is a good missionary. He has been out for about 5 months. Things should go well with him!
This week, I have been out 1 year! It is amazing because it sure doesn’t feel like I have been out a year. Time is going too fast for me. I have enjoyed my time as a missionary thus far and serving the Lord. I will continue to do this for another year. I love my Lord and Savior and I am nothing with Him.
Sorry this was super long, but I had to tell it. Hope you enjoyed. We have a good week coming up and I am excited! Hope all is well back home. Thanks for the support and love you have given me.
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures include: Elder Lyman’s wall of Mountain Dew. He really likes it. Elder Lyman and I. He is now in Monticello, AR.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July 15, 2009 (New companion!)
Well y'all, I got a new companion. His name his Elder Cortez. He is from San Diego, California. But, a week ago, his family moved to North Ogden, Utah. I don't know if you guys saw the RM but in the movie, the missionaries family moves. He seems ok with it but to be honest, I would be quite upset if my family moved while I was gone on my mission. So there is a hint mom and dad. Don't move. Ha ha. Anyway, I think I will get a long with him just fine. He has been out about 5 months and Jackson is his 2nd area. Jackson lost a set of missionaries so now we have a huge area. It is probably one of the biggest areas in the mission. 3 or more counties at least! But we are on the border with the Tennessee Nashville Mission, so we are on the outskirts of the mission. I am excited for this transfer and it should go pretty well. I am happy and hope all y'all are doing awesome!
Love, Elder Parker
Love, Elder Parker
July 13, 2009
Dear Family,Well dag-gum! How all yall doing? I hope well. This week is transfer week! And Elder Lyman is getting transferred. I am kind of sad because he was a good missionary and I enjoyed being with him. The Lord needs him elsewhere and I am happy for him. I am just curious who my next companion is. I guess only time will tell. At the start of this new transfer, I am excited to get things going and have success here in Jackson.
From the sounds of it, we will be the only missionaries in Jackson. We will lose a companionship. Not a hundred percent sure on that but pretty sure. At least we will have full car. Elder Wilson and Brand got back from Mountain View and Wilson went home today and Brand is with us until Wednesday at Transfer meeting.
This week was a good week. We had a lot of good lessons and what not. We talked to Sarah and had a good lesson with her. She talked to her dad about her looking into the church and fortunately she said that he is ok with it as long as she really studies it and sticks to it, which she is. So I have a feeling that she will get baptized this transfer. Yay!
Sunday was a special fireside. Brother Dennis Pegues from the Memphis 1st Ward, 2nd Councilor in the Bishopric came up to Jackson and spoke. He is a member of the churches,
Genesis group. It's a group of people that are members of the church that our black. He talked about the unity of the faith and how we are all children of our heavenly father. Really good and the spirit was so strong.I am so grateful for this gospel. What a wonderful opportunity I have to be out here serving the Lord. I love doing it. I love to help people feel the spirit and helping people come to Jesus Christ. I know that he is my savior and redeemer and that he has a plan for all of us. I know this gospel is true and I love being a missionary. I am excited to share many missionary experiences will all of you in a year.
Thanks for the love, support and prayers in my behalf. May the Lord bless you!
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures include: 31 miles an hour. Dead serious. The mayor's wife got pulled over for going 31 miles an hour in a 30 so the mayor raised the speed limit to 31 miles an hour. Funny eh? Then the next one is Me and Elder Wilson, who went home today. Enjoy.
July 6, 2009
Dear Family,
Well, well, I hope that everyone had an amazing 4th of July! Unfortunately, mine wasn't very memorable. Let me explain. So we went to a member's house in the morning. They gave us ribs. It was super yummy, best I have ever had.
Then we went to the Ward party that they had put on. It was pretty good.
They had a big lake and the kids and adults went swimming in it. It made me miss swimming. So Elder Lyman and I stayed on the shore and we played "Bulls-eye Washers" and "Bean-bag Toss". We didn't even get to see fireworks but, eh, that's ok.
We had a great lesson with one of Matt's (guy who just left on his mission) friends, Lacy. It went really good. We had a great lesson but the problem is her family really doesn't want us meeting with her. She really wants to know and she wants a Book of Mormon so we are working on getting her one of those.
We had a good district meeting. It was kind of smaller though due to the East Elders in Jackson were in Mountain View, Arkansas working up there. I really don't know what is going to happen to the district this coming transfer. I can tell you this, there will be a lot of changes. Dyersburg, Trenton and Jackson East are definitely changing up companionships and Elder Lyma
n might leave too. We find out this Sunday. I hope he doesn't leave but who knows, anything can happen.
We went up to a member's house this last week, Brother Snipes. He is a black guy, really nice. We did some service for him and he showed us some of his guns and whatnot. He also has an animal sanctuary for his animals. Tigers, monkeys, etc. I haven't been there yet, but we will probably go up there on Saturday. Should be pretty interesting.
We are excited that Sarah, other one of Matt's friends, is going to meet with her this week. She is so ready but her parents are the hold up. I pray that she will be able to get baptized soon!
Other than that, we have a lot going on this week. I am going on Exchanges tomorrow with Dyersburg then probably on Thursday, do exchanges with Trenton. I had a good week, I hope all y'all had a great week and thanks for the love, support and prayers! Stay safe!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Well, well, I hope that everyone had an amazing 4th of July! Unfortunately, mine wasn't very memorable. Let me explain. So we went to a member's house in the morning. They gave us ribs. It was super yummy, best I have ever had.
Then we went to the Ward party that they had put on. It was pretty good.
They had a big lake and the kids and adults went swimming in it. It made me miss swimming. So Elder Lyman and I stayed on the shore and we played "Bulls-eye Washers" and "Bean-bag Toss". We didn't even get to see fireworks but, eh, that's ok.
We had a great lesson with one of Matt's (guy who just left on his mission) friends, Lacy. It went really good. We had a great lesson but the problem is her family really doesn't want us meeting with her. She really wants to know and she wants a Book of Mormon so we are working on getting her one of those.
We had a good district meeting. It was kind of smaller though due to the East Elders in Jackson were in Mountain View, Arkansas working up there. I really don't know what is going to happen to the district this coming transfer. I can tell you this, there will be a lot of changes. Dyersburg, Trenton and Jackson East are definitely changing up companionships and Elder Lyma
n might leave too. We find out this Sunday. I hope he doesn't leave but who knows, anything can happen.We went up to a member's house this last week, Brother Snipes. He is a black guy, really nice. We did some service for him and he showed us some of his guns and whatnot. He also has an animal sanctuary for his animals. Tigers, monkeys, etc. I haven't been there yet, but we will probably go up there on Saturday. Should be pretty interesting.
We are excited that Sarah, other one of Matt's friends, is going to meet with her this week. She is so ready but her parents are the hold up. I pray that she will be able to get baptized soon!
Other than that, we have a lot going on this week. I am going on Exchanges tomorrow with Dyersburg then probably on Thursday, do exchanges with Trenton. I had a good week, I hope all y'all had a great week and thanks for the love, support and prayers! Stay safe!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Thursday, July 2, 2009
June 29, 2009
Dear Family,
Can you already believe it is July!?!?! Wow, time sure is going by really fast! It is crazy to think that one year ago, I was stressing about getting ready to go on a mission. It’s hard to believe I have almost been out a year. Don’t worry, I am not going to officially say anything until it happens. And yes, I will burn a white shirt! (No, not one I own, I will get it at a goodwill.
Tuesday was District meeting with the whole district. The Zone Leaders were there as well, so we had a big group. We learned a lot from the district and it was a really spiritual meeting. I thought that it went really well. I was very impressed with the outcome of the meeting.
We had a good lesson with Sarah Purcell, a girl that we are teaching. She has a strong testimony but she is still waiting on her parents. I think something is going on with her grandma so I don’t know if that will slow down things or if we will even get to meet her.
Matt Moore, a member here in Jackson, is going on his mission next week. He spoke on Sunday and did a really good job. All I know is that he kind of has a bad past and that people are really surprised at his turn around in his life. I am proud of him, he is a really good kid. We played Frisbee golf this morning with him and his friend. It was fun. I am not really good at that game though. Oh well! They had a big party on Saturday for him that that was neat for him
Other than that, I am excited for 4th of July. This is will be my first one on the mission. We are trying to get some more things going on but things are going just a little slow for now. I hope all is well with y’all, I love ya and thanks for your prayers, love and support. God bless y’all and America!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
P.S.
Here is a picture of Me and Matt Moore, the missionary that is going on his mission. Here is us playing frisbee golf!
June 22, 2009
Dear Family,
What an interesting week. I am happy with it so I will tell you about it! Last Monday after I e-mailed y’all, we went over to the mortuary and stayed there quite a while becaus
e a major storm was coming. The tornado sirens were going off and it was going crazy. I recorded some of it for when I come back but it was creepy. Luckily, no tornado actually came but the fact that the sirens were going off in the town was scary.
Thursday was Zone Conference. It was spiritual and uplifting. I did learn though that we will be getting a car this week for this area so I will have full car once again. Thank you Heavenly Father!
I hope that Whitney, Rachel and Dad had good birthdays. Sorry, I wasn’t there, I am kind of busy, if you know what
I mean. ;) I saw the pictures on Whitney’s blog, looks like you guys are having a great time!
We are just working with some people. Probably the biggest thing right now that we are working with is a girl named Sarah. She is praying about a date to get baptized right now. Matt, her friend, is leaving on a mission is a couple of weeks and I think she wanted him to baptize her so she has to get her answer fast if she wants him to do it. Really strong testimony though, she is one of those “golden people”.
I played basketball this last week and I am fixin’ to play it again tonight. I have been reall
y careful with my feet but I am not that bad at basketball, I made a lot of shots and every game that I have played, I have won so it’s pretty cool. Chad, Dad and Cade, you better watch out when I come back, because I am going to whoop you in basketball. :)
Hope y’all had a great week and thanks again for your love, support and prayers. They are always needed and appreciated. I love ya!
Love,
Elder Parker
P.S.
First one is me in front of Carl Perkins. He is the original person that wrote the song "Blue Swade Shoes" and Various other songs.
Second one is when we went to a Diamond Jaxx game last week. This is the picture of the pitcher "Kyle Parker". I thought that was cool that he had the same exact name as me. :)
Third one is the Diamond Jaxx symbol.
Enjoy!
What an interesting week. I am happy with it so I will tell you about it! Last Monday after I e-mailed y’all, we went over to the mortuary and stayed there quite a while becaus
e a major storm was coming. The tornado sirens were going off and it was going crazy. I recorded some of it for when I come back but it was creepy. Luckily, no tornado actually came but the fact that the sirens were going off in the town was scary.Thursday was Zone Conference. It was spiritual and uplifting. I did learn though that we will be getting a car this week for this area so I will have full car once again. Thank you Heavenly Father!
I hope that Whitney, Rachel and Dad had good birthdays. Sorry, I wasn’t there, I am kind of busy, if you know what
I mean. ;) I saw the pictures on Whitney’s blog, looks like you guys are having a great time!We are just working with some people. Probably the biggest thing right now that we are working with is a girl named Sarah. She is praying about a date to get baptized right now. Matt, her friend, is leaving on a mission is a couple of weeks and I think she wanted him to baptize her so she has to get her answer fast if she wants him to do it. Really strong testimony though, she is one of those “golden people”.
I played basketball this last week and I am fixin’ to play it again tonight. I have been reall
y careful with my feet but I am not that bad at basketball, I made a lot of shots and every game that I have played, I have won so it’s pretty cool. Chad, Dad and Cade, you better watch out when I come back, because I am going to whoop you in basketball. :)Hope y’all had a great week and thanks again for your love, support and prayers. They are always needed and appreciated. I love ya!
Love,
Elder Parker
P.S.
First one is me in front of Carl Perkins. He is the original person that wrote the song "Blue Swade Shoes" and Various other songs.
Second one is when we went to a Diamond Jaxx game last week. This is the picture of the pitcher "Kyle Parker". I thought that was cool that he had the same exact name as me. :)
Third one is the Diamond Jaxx symbol.
Enjoy!
June 15, 2009
Dear Family,
Hello, hello! I hope all of you are having a great week! It is getting more and more humid here. I am not looking forward to another hot and humid summer in the south. Ugh! I had a good week, so I am going to tell you about it.
Tuesday, I had my first district meeting. I was really nervous but that is ok. There was only 4 of us. It went pretty well. But to make things more stressful for me, we have 4 more missionaries in our district, 2 in Dyersburg and 2 in Trenton. Don’t know if I wanted more but I got more anyways.
Thursday, we had the AP’s come over and give me District Leader training. We also had President interviews. It was once again, good to talk to him. We talked about the district and how I was doing. We also talked about my feet and he said he is working on getting full car here because as of now, we have 1 on, 1 off. So we have to ride our bike a lot. I am dying! So out of shape. It’s good for me though.
This week, too, we got to meet a lot of families of the ward due to having dinner at there house. It was great! Sunday was good too, none of our investigators came though, unfortunately. :( We are still working on that.
So, overall, we had a good week. I am hoping that this week will be better because on Thursday because we have Zone Conference on that day. I am excited about that.
Also, happy birthday to Whitney, Rachel and Dad! I hope this week is awesome for y’all and know that someone in Jackson, TN is thinking about you!
Hope you all have a fun and safe week. I love y’all!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Hello, hello! I hope all of you are having a great week! It is getting more and more humid here. I am not looking forward to another hot and humid summer in the south. Ugh! I had a good week, so I am going to tell you about it.
Tuesday, I had my first district meeting. I was really nervous but that is ok. There was only 4 of us. It went pretty well. But to make things more stressful for me, we have 4 more missionaries in our district, 2 in Dyersburg and 2 in Trenton. Don’t know if I wanted more but I got more anyways.
Thursday, we had the AP’s come over and give me District Leader training. We also had President interviews. It was once again, good to talk to him. We talked about the district and how I was doing. We also talked about my feet and he said he is working on getting full car here because as of now, we have 1 on, 1 off. So we have to ride our bike a lot. I am dying! So out of shape. It’s good for me though.
This week, too, we got to meet a lot of families of the ward due to having dinner at there house. It was great! Sunday was good too, none of our investigators came though, unfortunately. :( We are still working on that.
So, overall, we had a good week. I am hoping that this week will be better because on Thursday because we have Zone Conference on that day. I am excited about that.
Also, happy birthday to Whitney, Rachel and Dad! I hope this week is awesome for y’all and know that someone in Jackson, TN is thinking about you!
Hope you all have a fun and safe week. I love y’all!
Love,
Elder Kyle Parker
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
June 8, 2009
Dear Family,
Hello, hello from Jackson, Tennessee. I work in the west part of Jackson so they call our area “Jackson West”. Phew, it is getting hot and humid here. I am not a big fan of sweating and I am doing a lot of it. Our bike week just ended and boy, am I out of shape. It was good f
or me though, but my feet are kind of bothering me, just a little so the Zone Leaders are working on getting us full car. That would be such a blessing. But even if they don’t, it will still be good for me. Even if we do get full car, I will probably still ride my bike places because you can contact people easier outside on your bike, rather than in your car.
My companion is Elder Lyman. He is from Blanding, Utah. He is a nice kid. It might take a while to get used to him but I am not too worried about that. Elder Hansen (my previous companion) is training but he is waiting for his companion to come out of the MTC due to the swine flu outbreak. The missionaries should be coming out next week, I believe. I hope that they do for his sake.
So on the second day I was there, I got the call from the Zone Leaders that I was to be district leader over the missionaries in Jackson. I am kind of nervous because I have never been in leadership before and I don’t know if I really even want to but I will do it because I will do whatever the Lord requires of me. Our district consists of 4 missionaries: Myself, Elder Lyman, Elder Wilson (from Gilbert, AZ), and Elder Brand (Richfield, UT). Good district though
but of course, there is always room for improvement for all of us.
Now, one of the duties of being a district leader is doing baptismal interviews. I have two to do tonight for the Jackson East Elders. I am kind of nervous for that as well because this will be my first time. I pray I do well and follow the spirit.
Sunday was good; I got to meet a lot of new people. This ward is huge. It covers about 3/10’s of Tennessee. It is huge! It covers the small little towns around it too. It has about 500-600 members. But only like 150-200 are active. There are a couple of black members here which is sweet! I actually met a member today in the library. Really nice guy.
This place may take a while to get used to because it is a big adjustment from Pocahontas. I will miss Pocahontas very much but the Lord needs me in Jackson. I am happy to serve here and I hope things go well. Thank you for the love, support and prayers you have given me in my behalf. I love y’all and miss y’all. Hope all is well at home.
Love,
Elder Parker
Hey, here are some pictures from the week. We went fishing and I found this sign in Jackson, Tennessee. It was pretty sweet! Hope you enjoy.
Hello, hello from Jackson, Tennessee. I work in the west part of Jackson so they call our area “Jackson West”. Phew, it is getting hot and humid here. I am not a big fan of sweating and I am doing a lot of it. Our bike week just ended and boy, am I out of shape. It was good f
or me though, but my feet are kind of bothering me, just a little so the Zone Leaders are working on getting us full car. That would be such a blessing. But even if they don’t, it will still be good for me. Even if we do get full car, I will probably still ride my bike places because you can contact people easier outside on your bike, rather than in your car.My companion is Elder Lyman. He is from Blanding, Utah. He is a nice kid. It might take a while to get used to him but I am not too worried about that. Elder Hansen (my previous companion) is training but he is waiting for his companion to come out of the MTC due to the swine flu outbreak. The missionaries should be coming out next week, I believe. I hope that they do for his sake.
So on the second day I was there, I got the call from the Zone Leaders that I was to be district leader over the missionaries in Jackson. I am kind of nervous because I have never been in leadership before and I don’t know if I really even want to but I will do it because I will do whatever the Lord requires of me. Our district consists of 4 missionaries: Myself, Elder Lyman, Elder Wilson (from Gilbert, AZ), and Elder Brand (Richfield, UT). Good district though
but of course, there is always room for improvement for all of us.Now, one of the duties of being a district leader is doing baptismal interviews. I have two to do tonight for the Jackson East Elders. I am kind of nervous for that as well because this will be my first time. I pray I do well and follow the spirit.
Sunday was good; I got to meet a lot of new people. This ward is huge. It covers about 3/10’s of Tennessee. It is huge! It covers the small little towns around it too. It has about 500-600 members. But only like 150-200 are active. There are a couple of black members here which is sweet! I actually met a member today in the library. Really nice guy.
This place may take a while to get used to because it is a big adjustment from Pocahontas. I will miss Pocahontas very much but the Lord needs me in Jackson. I am happy to serve here and I hope things go well. Thank you for the love, support and prayers you have given me in my behalf. I love y’all and miss y’all. Hope all is well at home.
Love,
Elder Parker
Hey, here are some pictures from the week. We went fishing and I found this sign in Jackson, Tennessee. It was pretty sweet! Hope you enjoy.
Monday, June 8, 2009
June 3, 2009 (Transferred to Jackson, TN)
Dear Family,
I am in my new area and I have a new companion. I am in Jackson, TN. It is about an hour east of Memphis. My companion is Elder Lyman. I am his follow-up trainer and they refer to that as “Mom”. I thought that was kind of funny. Anyway, he seems like a nice kind of guy but I am a little worried about the area. It is huge! It is going to be a while until I get my bearings here. But it looks like a good place with good people. We have met a couple of members here and they are pretty cool.
I will send another e-mail on Monday again! Wish me luck.
Love,
Elder Parker
I am in my new area and I have a new companion. I am in Jackson, TN. It is about an hour east of Memphis. My companion is Elder Lyman. I am his follow-up trainer and they refer to that as “Mom”. I thought that was kind of funny. Anyway, he seems like a nice kind of guy but I am a little worried about the area. It is huge! It is going to be a while until I get my bearings here. But it looks like a good place with good people. We have met a couple of members here and they are pretty cool.
I will send another e-mail on Monday again! Wish me luck.
Love,
Elder Parker
June 1, 2009
Dear Family,
Wow, I can not believe that it is already June! Summer is here. It is getting really hot and humid and boy I am not too excited. A lot has happened so I have to report.
District meeting was last week so we took a district picture. Enjoy!
Wednesday was Aspen Lane's baptism. It was a neat experience. That was my first time ever that I actually performed the baptism. I was shaking so hard in the water and while saying the prayer but I luckily, I didn't mess up and did it the first time. Thank goodness!
Sunday was Aspen's confirmation. Elder Hansen did it and he did a great job! And something else happened that I am not happy about. I am getting transferred. I got the call last night. I don't know where I am going until I get there. The Lord needs me elsewhere, that I understand but I will really miss Pocahontas. I saw my first successes here and I made a lot of good friends here as well. I am going miss Pocahontas, Arkansas. Farewell, my good area. :) Elder Hansen was a good companion as well so I hope my next companion is as good as he is or better. :)
I will try and e-mail you guys on Wednesday to let you know where I am. I love you and please pray for me so I can be happy in my next area. I would greatly appreciate it!
Love,
Elder Parker
Pictures include: District Picture, Me, Aspen and Elder Hansen :D
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