March 2, 2009

Dear Family,

Wow, it's March already! It sure doesn't feel like March. It is still kind of chilly. I had an amazing week! Let me explain.

This week was Mission Tour and we got to meet Elder Hinckley. He was really cool. He looks just like his Dad and sounds a little bit like him as well. He gave us some "B"'s like his Dad but just for missionaries. It was cool.

We finally had a meeting with a part-member family, the Manskers. Flora (the member) and her husband, Raymond (the non-member) finally meet with us. We gave him the first lesson and told him about it. He said that he would come to church and read from the Book of Mormon.

Well, we were expecting a lot of people to come to church but it snowed Saturday night, like 4 inches! That is a very rare occurrence in Arkansas! So, the Branch President moved church to 3 pm in the afternoon so the ice could melt on the roads. Raymond couldn't make it because he was stuck in Jonesboro. That's ok though.

We had a good lesson with Terrell (Black guy) and Rita (Mexican woman). We kind of just answered there questions and testified with the spirit and they really felt it! So that meeting was on Friday, we set a date with them to get baptized on March 29! They both smoke so we told them that they needed to pray about when they needed to quit. Terrell said, "Can we do it tomorrow?". We were both shocked. So we gave both of them the stop smoking program. They haven't smoked since Saturday so they are doing good. Then both of them show up for church and Terrell brings a friend with him. Now, that is a first time for me as a missionary where an investigator brought a friend with him to church. That was exciting. Then we had fast and testimony meeting and Terrell got up and bore his testimony! That is the second time that has happened. It is a very rare occurrence to have an investigator bare their testimony! That was exciting. Then his friend came up and told the congregation that he was thankful that everyone was saying that God was real. He was trying to find out for himself if he was really and he was thanking everyone for their testimonies. He was pretty cool.

Then we had a baptism after church. One of the members sons turned 8. So Terrell and Rita got to see a baptism so they know what to expect. That was a neat experience.

Tonight, we are having dinner with them at a members house. Things are really going well with them!

Overall, things are going really good here. I am happy and I am so grateful for the Gospel! I love it and know it to be true. Hope y'all had a good week. I love you!

Love,

Elder Parker