July 5, 2010

Dear Family,

Hello! Happy 4th of July yesterday! I hope that all y’all had a wonderful holiday weekend. Let me tell you about my week.

We are still working with Lisa and we finally got to meet with her on Thursday. She is Jehovah Witness. She has a hard time believing that Jesus Christ is Jehovah so we committed her to pray about it and read part of the Book of Mormon. She is progressing well and hopefully we will be able to set a baptismal date with her soon!

We were working with Gary Begin but he doesn’t seem to be progressing very well. I actually got a call from President Drewes (The mission president) and he told me that we shouldn’t go see him that much anymore because he isn’t progressing at all and he knows him personally. He said that he isn’t ready yet, which is totally understandable. So other missionaries will look him up.

As we have been visiting Big Mama, she has a great grandson that has moved in with her and he is 9 years old. His name is Makaylynn(sp). It is pronounced like that, I know that much. So we are meeting with him on Tuesday for the first time so we are going to strive to set a date with him on that day because he has already been to church and has expressed the desire to be baptized! So we are excited there.

Our weekend was good. We went to a cookout with a whole hog! It was actually pretty good. Everything was good this holiday weekend, despite the fact that I have been coughing for several days. But, don’t worry, I have already talked to Sister Drewes and a doctor who is a member in Jackson who helps me get better, ok mom? I love you!

Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers in my behalf. I love y’all and have a good week.

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

Pictures Include: (The whole hog BBQ) , (A band that they had, sang gospel, Johnny Cash, etc)

June 29, 2010

Dear Family,

I am doing well! Things are doing good. Sorry I didn’t e-mail yesterday, we had a lot going on and we just ran out of time. Sorry! We had a lot of good things happen to us.

We are going to start working with a part-member family that has a lot of potential, the Kimbrells. We shall see when we meet with them on Thursday

So, we changed our mission goal. It used to be 712 baptisms for the year. But, we decided to change it to 505 baptisms with a 85% retention rate of new converts. We are working on following the council of President Monson of “going to the rescue” of the new converts, part-members, less-actives and non-members. It seems to be working and we are having a lot of success and finding more people to teach.

We have Zone Conference this week, which includes giving my farewell testimony. That will be really weird for me because I am so used to seeing other missionaries giving their testimony and now it will be me. Time has flown by. I don’t believe that I will see y’all in less than a month. I hear that Ryan is coming home already. That is exciting. I hope that he adjusted well back home.

Thank you for your support, love and prayers. I know that you think about me a lot and for that I am grateful. A person couldn’t ask for a nicer family. I am working hard and enjoy doing it. I love y’all and talk to you next week.

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

June 21, 2010

Dear Family,

I hope all is well with you. I am going to be brief because I am not feeling too hot right now. We went a played Frisbee Golf and about the 4th hole, I needed to cool off and sit down. So, someone came with me to the car and sat in the car with me while I was cooling off. While traveling to the car, I threw up. It was yucky. I think it was because I felt like I had a cold and so I took some Day-quil. Well, I forgot to eat something with it. So I think that is why I threw up. I feel much better now, now that I have food in my belly. So if y’all could, could you pray for me to get better? I would really appreciate it! Now, an update on the week.

So, Lisa Kimbrell, an investigator fell off the face of the earth when we tried to get in contact with her. She had a baptismal date at one time so she was very promising. Well, she came to church on Sunday and introduced herself to me and told us that she wanted to continue the discussions, which is great news! Hopefully, we will be able to set another baptismal date with her this week.

Other than that, we are trying to find more people to teach. That is always the hard part. Thank you for all the prayers and support you are giving me. Thank you and May the Lord bless you!

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

June 16, 2010

Dear Family,

Sorry, it has taken so long; we had to wait for Elder Peinamalie to get a library card. This past week went well, so let me tell you a little bit about it.

Angela Bishop did get baptized this weekend. I was so happy. She asked Elder Peinamalie to baptized her and me to confirm her. They both went really well. I am so happy for my companion because he has already got 2 baptisms in his first transfer! And he baptized both of them himself! That is great! I know that he is going to be a great missionary.

Transfer calls didn’t come on Monday so that means that I will spend the rest of my mission in Jackson, Tennessee. I am so happy about that. I sure do love it here and I plan on working very hard this transfer as it is my last.

Other than that, now that this baptism happened, we got to get some more things going again. Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers you are giving me in my behalf. May the Lord bless you!

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

June 7, 2010

Dear Family,

Hello y'all. Time is sure flying fast. I will be home before you know it. I am super excited, scared, etc. I will miss being a missionary so I am cherishing my time I have left and working hard.

Update on Angela. We had a good meeting with her. There is a CD out here among the missionaries and its about a guy named Bill Carpenter who had opposition from his parents. She listened to it and seemed to enjoy it. This week, she is still planning on getting baptized this Saturday. We are trying to set up a meeting with a guy in the ward who had opposition from his parents so that will be good.

We are still working with Gary but no real update with him. Shane, we plan on meeting with him this week.

This is the last week of this transfer. Transfer calls will be next Monday. I hope that I don't get transferred! I want to stay here my last transfer in Jackson. I think I will because I am training someone and they don't like to separate that soon.

I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the miracles that it can do. I am grateful for the Atonement and how we can be forgiven of our sins.

Thank you for all the love, support, and prayers on my behalf. I love y'all!

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

June 2, 2010

Dear Family,

It is already June! Next month I am home. That is super weird. The time is flying by so fast, I am getting whiplash when I look back at the time that has pasted. Things are going good. Let me give you an update.

Due to Memorial day, I couldn’t e-mail you on Monday. Blast holidays on your mission. That also means that you don’t get any mail which is also a bummer. I realized what it is like to train a greenie. He got 7 letters from home, 4 of them from his girlfriend. Unfair! But, we live in a world where lots of things are unfair. Oh well, we just move on and are happy about it. :) We did have hamburgers and chips on Memorial Day. Yay!

Angela Bishop is progressing well. She is going out of town this week so she is going to read while she is gone and do a lot of praying and fasting on how she should approach her parents when it comes to telling them that she is joining the church. We continue to pray for her because she really wants to be baptized on the 12th.

On Saturday, we taught a guy named Shane. He seems really interested in the gospel but I question his sexually preference. He asked a lot of “Gay” questions but I don’t know. I will not judge him and I will definitely follow the spirit in this situation. I thought it was funny when he asked if me and my companion were married to each other.

Gary Begin is still working on stopping Coffee. We are trying an experiment on Friday where he is going to go without Coffee for a whole Day and write down the good things and bad things that happen to him during the day and what blessing he received after trying the experiment. Hopefully, everything will go as planned.

That is pretty much an update on what is going on here in Jackson. I love you so much and thank you for your support. I am really enjoying the pictures of Logan. Congrats to Chad and Cindy for making a nephew for me to come home to. Thank you. Talk to you next week.

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

May 24, 2010

Dear Family,

Hello and greeting from Jackson. I hope that all y’all are doing well. I have less than 2 months left. That is so crazy! Things in Jackson are doing quite well so let me give you a little update.

Jeremy Weathers, a man who got baptized two weeks ago finally made it to church this last Sunday and was able to get confirmed, which is great. So it is finally official.

A referral was given to us by a family named the Van Weys in Jackson. The referrals name is Angela Bishop. She is so ready to accept the gospel. Apparently, she had taken the missionary discussions in the past but for whatever reason, she stopped. She has a baptismal date for June 12. Her family is very against joining this church but the Van Weys are using her has a helper around the house. Pray for her as I hope that her family will at least soften up to her decision to be baptized.

We had Zone Conference. It was good. We talked about attitude. The interview with President was also a good one. I felt like good friends with him and he is happy with me.

I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings that not only bless my life but the blessings of others. I love y’all and hope that you have a good week. Love ya!

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

May 17, 2010

Dear Family,

Hello, I am doing well. We are getting it done in Jackson. Things are going well and I am enjoying training my new companion. Not only it is a learning experience for him but for me as well. I would like to thank all of those who thought of me on my birthday. It made me happy and loved. Thank you!

We had a very unique opportunity to go to a special stake conference with Elder Holland. It was really cool. We got there like 2 hours before it started and got front row seats, it was great. While he was giving his talk, he saw us and stopped his talk and said, “Oh, hey Elders, how are you doing?” We nod our heads. “You Elders working hard?” We nod our heads again. “Good.” He then turns to the mission president who was up on the stand as well and asked “They working hard?” The mission president nods his head. “Good. You Elders keep it up.” It was so crazy because that was in front of the whole stake. He would look at us a lot during his talk too. It was really cool. He is very funny and a lot different when he isn’t in Conference.

We are trying in get in contact with a lot of our investigators. My comp is learning about “dogged” appointments but that is something you will always run into as a missionary. Good for him though. :)

Other than that, we are just working hard, not a whole lot to update you on. I love you very much and thank you for your love, support and prayers in my behalf.

Love,

Kyle
(Elder Parker)

May 10, 2010 (Day after Mothers Day)

Dear Family,

Well, it was good to talk to you this weekend. I hope all the mothers had a great Mother's day. It was a pleasure to talk to y'all! Next time we talk, it will be in person! I am excited to work as hard as I can these last 2 1/2 months! Thank you for all of the love and support that you have given me. Y'all are awesome! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

May 5, 2010 ("I'm goin' to Jackson")

Dear Family,

I am back in Jackson, TN. I am so happy too! I have a new companion and I mean new. He is fresh from the MTC. He is a greenie. So that makes me a trainer. I am kind of anxious but it should be good. His name is Elder Peinamalie. Elder "Peay" for short. (Like "Pay") He is from Hanksville, UT. He is not Samoan, but his Dad is. He seems like a really cool guy. I am excited to get to know him better. Well, I love y'all and talk to you on Sunday.

Love,

Kyle

May 3, 2010

Dear Family,

First of all, Happy Birthday Chad! I hope that your birthday is awesome. I hope you liked the present I got you! You may have a hard time wearing it but just suck it up for me. :)

So this week was pretty crazy. We had a lot happen and so much to update you on. So anyways, there were some crazy Storms this week. Tornados, luckily, none came near us but there were a lot in Shelby County (Memphis). So, Sunday was a good day, we are teaching a lot more people and Member missionary work is doing great!

So, I am getting transferred! I am also getting released as Zone Leader at my request because I am going back to Jackson, TN! I am so excited! I love it there and it was by far my favorite area. There is a lot going on, including some Baptisms so that will be fun. They are working on investigators that I was working on when I was there so hopefully they will get baptized before I leave. I will confirm that I am in Jackson on Wednesday if it happens.

So, it was a very good learning experience as Zone Leader. I had a lot of reasonability and it was a lot of hard work but it was definitely a good experience for me and I am grateful for it.

So that was pretty much my week. I love you and am grateful for your love, prayers and support in my behalf. Love y’all and talk to you on Sunday! Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

Pictures include: (Me and Elder Parker, who actually went home today.) (A T-shirt that some missioaries made of a missionary named Elder Fjerstad. It is so cool. I served with Elder Fjerstad and there is a saying in the mission that goes "Keep it Fjerstad" or basically, "Keep it Cool or Real". I want one so bad. Elder Fjerstad is now famous!)

April 26, 2010

Dear Family,

This week was good. We had a mission council to start the week off. That is when all the Zone Leaders get together with the assistants and President and talk about how the mission is doing. It was a good, uplifting experience. We talked about how we can invite the spirit into our lessons and how to maintain the spirit while teaching. It was great.

Later that day, we went to Dyersburg on exchanges. It was good to see how they are doing. They definitely need more going on but they are doing better than before.

Well, we have good news with Katie. She got baptized and confirmed on April 24, 2010! It was a stressful week making sure that she went through but she did. She is so solid and is doing really good. She came to the new convert meeting we had on Sunday because it was Stake Conference for the Memphis North Stake. It was fun; I got to see people from West Memphis, Pocahontas and Jackson. It was a fun little reunion for me. :)

Now, we have to working on finding more people this week. That is always the tricky part. But we will be doing well, I can feel it. It is already the last week of the transfer. Time is flying by. Friday was my 21 month mark. It’s so hard for me to believe that I have that long. I will work until the end.

I know that this gospel is true. Jesus Christ lives and loves us. If we do what He asks of us, He will bless us! I love y’all and thank you for your support.

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

Pictures include: (Elder Grigg, Brother Jared Ivie, Katie Newman, Me) , (Sister Ivie, Emma (There daughter with Cancer.), and Katie)

April 19, 2010

Dear Family,

Hey, things are going well here in Bartlett, TN! A lot of things happened so I thought I would update you on them.

So the beginning of the week, we met a new person. We met a less active named Steven Irwin. He was really nice. He had us over for dinner on Saturday. We went to his old address and found out that it was his wife’s house and

he was fixin’ to have a divorce so he moved out. Found out that he is our next door neighbor and we never saw him or he never saw us. Really good guy and he wants to get back into church. He wants to raise his teenage kids in church and in Jesus Christ. We are willing to help but we told him he needs to start to set the example and start coming to church. So, we are working on reactivating him.

We had another meeting with the missionary squad, a group of youth in both the Bartlett 1^st and 2^nd wards. It went well, we just discussed with them friends who are non-members who they want to invite to church and give a Book of Mormon to. They are sweet!

Katie is doing good. She still plans on getting baptized this weekend. She has a Word of Wisdom problem that she is working on so hopefully she will be able to stay clean for the rest of the week. Last night we found out that she was on probation for keying someone’s car. Well, she got a call from her probation officer today and told her that she was off probation. How awesome is that! She was so happy and told us that she knows that God is there and is answering her prayers! The timing is perfect! Please pray that she won’t mess up on her word of wisdom problem. Thanks!

The Russells, a member couple in West Memphis, was in Bartlett in the hospital. Bro. Russell was getting surgery on his artery so he could get it unclogged. We gave him a blessing before his surgery and he is now home and fine!

We have been contacting a lot of places and finding more people to teach, which is good! So things are going well there!

Saturday was called the day of service. We did a service project in Memphis and cleaned up the side of the road. Enjoy the pictures. Katie was there as well, so that was good for her. She is loving church so much!

Satan is working hard on Katie but also on Karyn and Nycole. We haven’t been in contact with them for a while now. They just “Don’t have time” to meet with us. We have tried everything. We even dropped off cookies but to no avail, it didn’t work. So, this week we are going to strive to get in contact with them.

So that was my week, it was good. Thank you for your love, support and prayers in my behalf! I sure do love you! Thanks again.

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

Pictures include: (The side that we cleaned up for our service project) , (The lunch we had after the service) , (Me and a member called Charles that went out with us. It was great!)

April 12, 2010

Dear Family,

Wow, I am definitely on a spiritual high right now. This morning we went to the temple. I haven’t been to the temple in almost 2 years, so that was very informative for me and I enjoyed very much feeling the spirit of the temple.

Thinks are definitely going good when it comes to the work of the Lord. He has blessed us with new people to teach and plenty of other good things.

Well, we found probably the most golden investigator I have ever taught on my mission. Her name is Katie Newman. She is 17 years old and she is way smart. She came to church with some members (The Ivies) who have a daughter who is battling cancer. Sweet family! Anyway, she came to church and she ate everything up. She is very out going and she asks tons of questions which is great because she wants answers. She feels like this church has the answers she is looking for. She is going to get baptized in no time. I am so excited for her!

Karyn and Nycole are doing good. Karyn is currently on the Stop smoking program and hopefully she is still clean. Nycole has been sick the last couple of days but we will see them tomorrow evening which I am excited about. If everything will go as planned, they will get baptized this weekend, which would be awesome! Yay!

We are doing good so far. We are trying to find more investigators and what not so things are going good. We had a Zone Conference last Thursday and that was good. It was weird to be one of the missionaries that everyone was receiving instruction from. It was a humbling experience. I learned a lot from the other missionaries in the audience so that was good.

I know that this gospel is true and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I am so grateful for eternal families and I am grateful to know that I have a family that loves me! Thank you all for your love, support and prayers in my behalf. May the Lord bless you!

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

April 6, 2010

Dear Family,

Sorry I didn’t e-mail yesterday. I noticed that the South really likes to celebrate Christian holidays like Good Friday and Easter. So, they decided to close the library yesterday so I couldn’t e-mail yesterday so, alas, I am here today.

We had a pretty good week. We did some service for a guy that is not a member and he is actually moving to Salt Lake. He works for discover and so he got transferred out there. So as we were moving him, he had two memory foam beds that he couldn’t pack with him so he offered them to us. Well, we had a truck so we took them. I haven’t slept so good my whole mission. It is fantastic. It is the first time I have slept in a bed on my mission where when I wake up, my back doesn’t hurt. Yay for that!

We are working with Karyn and Nycole Nostrud. They have a baptismal date for the 17^th of April. We are pretty excited. The story there is that we found an ex-communicated member who came back to church who wants to come back. Well, he has a wife and daughter who aren’t members so we are currently teaching them! Hope all goes well, this coming week.

General Conference was great. I really enjoyed it this year. The common theme that I saw this year was about the Family and how you should raise your kids in the gospel and make sure that you teach them about Jesus Christ and stuff. My thoughts were towards Whitney, Brandon, Chad, Cindy, Danny and June. I know that all y’all have kids and that you are getting ready to have kids and so I know that a lot of that applied to you. It is so important that we raise our kids in the gospel because as the prophet and Apostles say, they are indeed the “rising generation”.

Roy Bullington did get baptized on Sunday in between sessions of Conference. It was a good baptism and he had a lot of support there which is good. It always is a good feeling to see someone get baptized.

I know that this is Christ’s true church on the earth. What a great time to live here when it is here. I am grateful that I am a missionary and am able to share the gospel. I love y’all and thanks for the love, support and prayers y’all have given me. Love you!

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

Pictures include: (Me, Roy Bullington, Brother Richard Floyd, Elder Grigg) , (Easter Dinner at the Stewards)

March 29, 2010

Dear Family,

Hello! The First week of the transfer is gone. Wow, that is crazy. So this week was pretty good. Let me tell you about it.

So, we are still working with Kyle. He still has a date for this weekend on Saturday. We are hoping that it will still go through. He went on a band trip to Florida this weekend and he called us and told us he brought his Book of Mormon and that he was going to read it.

Roy is still planning on getting baptized on Sunday as well. He went to the Collierville ward this last Sunday and seemed to enjoy it but he wants to be baptized up in Bartlett because he has a lot of friends up here. So we are going to baptize him up in Bartlett, which is good. He will transfer his records in the future to the Collierville ward.

We got in contact with an old investigator of Elder Murdock’s named Glenda. She is a Spanish person. So we got the Carnahan’s, some members that know her, to come and talk with her in Spanish. She can speak English really well but she prefers to speak in Spanish which isn’t really a problem.

A lot of ward activities went down this weekend. The Ward had a ward talent show which was quit

e fun. A lot of the kids from the families in the ward did stuff, like play the piano or sing. A lot of funny skits where included as well. Then on the weekend, there was an Easter egg hunt activity. There were a lot of Non-members around so we mingled around and talked to people.

This mission is definitely changing. We are trying to achieve the goal of 712 baptisms for the year 2010. I hope that we will be able to make it. I won’t be here for all of it but I will do all that I can with the rest of the time I have left. I love this gospel, I know that it is true. It brings happiness to all those who embrace it and live it. What a great honor that we have to have a living prophet on the earth today and we get to hear from him this weekend! Jesus Christ lives and loves us. We must strive to follow his example. I love you guys so much, thank you for the support and love. God bless you.

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

Pictures include: Me and the Easter Bunny, Me and Elder Grigg

March 24, 2010 (New Companion)

Dear Family,

I just thought I would send you a quick e-mail to update you on my situation. Elder Murdock has gone to Walnut Grove area. That was actually my greenie area so I hope that he will have some fun there.

I have a new companion. His name is Elder Bryce Grigg. He is from Boice, Idaho. He has actually served with Elder Cortez in Jackson at one point so that is cool. I think that we will get a long. I have learned that it is all about attitude. You have to decide for yourself whether or not you are going to get along with a companion. I am sure that we will do good, I will make the best of it. Come what may, and love it!

Well, I love you and hope that you are doing well. Talk to you next week!

Love,

Kyle

(Elder Parker)

March 22, 2010

Dear Family,

Hey hey hey! How are all y’all doing? I hope well, I love you so much and had a good week so let me tell you what is going on.

First of all, I have 4 more months left. I know, I shouldn’t count but it is so hard when everyone else around is and they are constantly asking you how long you have been out so that doesn’t help either. Elder Murdock is getting transferred. So I will get a new companion on Wednesday. I have a good guess on who I am getting. I think I am getting someone by the name of Elder Grigg. He is currently serving in Jackson and I just think that I am going to get him. We shall see if I am right on Wednesday. I will miss Elder Murdock. We had a lot in common and we taught well together. I hope that he is happy where ever he goes. Random mission news update. I don’t know if you ever new Elder Prete who came out in this mission about over a year ago who I went to High school with, but he just got made Assistant to the President. The really weird thing is that we are now going to have 3 assistants. It will be interesting to see how that works this transfer!

This week was a really good week. We had a lot going on and things of that nature so yeah! It was full of exchanges. I went to Lakeland and did exchanges with Elder Ulrich. That was good to see how the other missionaries in the Zone are doing. Later in the week, I got to go on exchanges in Jackson. I got to see Big Mama, the lady that I baptized while I was there. That was really neat and we set up a bunch of missionary activities, like a bible study, while we were there. We gave Jackson a jump start, which was much needed. I was happy with that.

Kyle has a baptismal date once again which is awesome. It is actually for Conference weekend. So if everything goes as planned, we should have 2 baptisms that day, one for Kyle and one for Roy Bullington. We are excited about that.

We have been teaching new people as well, like one we met at a Christian bookstore. He is an Ex-marine who is now a Christian. He actually gave us his website: Marine4christ.com. Check it out, if you ever get the chance so you can see who we are teaching. He is well versed in the bible so it is very interesting to talk to him. Good guy though, really powerful testimony on his website, we looked at it with a member.

Well, that is all that I have for this week. I will try to update you on Wednesday so you know who my new companion is. Thanks.

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

Picture included: Our District for this last transfer

March 15, 2010

Dear Family,

Hello, hello! Good to hear from y’all this week. We had interesting week so let me tell you about it.

We had the chance to see Zach Taylor, one of my recent converts. We had President’s interviews and I talked to President about Zach. He is in St. Jude’s fighting cancer. Bless his heart. We went down on Tuesday and we read the Book of Mormon to him about the Stripling Warriors. Then he went to sleep. The Spirit is so strong at St. Jude’s. There are tons of kids battling cancer and so there is just a great peace and respect for the people there. You feel it as soon as you walk into the building, you feel the spirit.

Kyle is not doing so well. He is very discouraged. He doesn’t feel ready and his Brother seems to be giving him a hard time. But, we really think the problem is his Dad that he goes and visits every other week. For some reason, he has to go to his dad’s this week as well. I hope that he isn’t feeding him anti. He is such a good kid and he knows that it is true. So we will continue to work with him this week.

We have started to work with a new family. An ex-communicated member started to come back to church. Well, his wife and daughter are not members of the church so we are working with them. They are pretty solid so we are excited to see them progress in the next couple of weeks!

Saturday was a day full of service. We helped a part-member family move into a house so that was fun. Then we tried to remove a stump in a recent converts backyard. His name is Benji Sawyer. We had some fun and got really muddy.

We have also started to teach a marine dude that is interested in what we believe. We had a lesson with him on Saturday and he had a sheet of paper that was full of anti. We will see if he will go anywhere in the future.

I am saddened by the death of Alex Amundson. I did know him when we would visit with the Amundsons. My prayers go out to the Amundson family.

Thank you for all the prayers, love, and support you have given me, I love y’all! Talk to you next week.

Love

Kyle (Elder Parker)

Pictures included: (The Stump!), (Brandon Yarbrough came and visited and we all played Frisbee golf last p-day), (Elder Wilson had come back to the mission with his family and Girlfriend (I knew Elder Wilson when I was in Jackson, TN))

March 8, 2010

Dear Family,

Well, this week was a good week so let me explain.

On Wednesday, we went down to Little Rock and went to a meeting for all the leadership in the mission. It was kind of cool because I got to see the majority of my companions that I had served with so it was kind of a mini reunion. (Elder Cortez, Lyman, Hansen and Murdock.) It was really educational. Some people from Salt Lake from the missionary department came and showed us how to be better teachers and how to follow the spirit when you teach. Really powerful and it was fun to learn that and it has been working really well, when we teach investigators.

We have been focusing right now on a less-active list that we got from the Bishop. We have been trying and going around to the less-actives and seeing if there are any part-member families. Kyle is going to be baptized on the 20^th. I guess we have to wait because this weekend he is going to his Dads so he can’t get baptized this week. Roy Bullington, a man that was going to get baptized at the beginning of February, came to church on Sunday and told us that he wants to get baptized Conference weekend, which is way exciting! So we are excited for that.

Matthew and Madison White, a family in West Memphis, came up on Friday and took us out to lunch. That was really neat to see them and very nice of them to do that. We were grateful. Not only that, we were visited by Brandon Yarbrough, from Jackson, and we played Frisbee Golf today and he took us out to lunch too. So, overall, it was a fun day. We had a lot of fun.

So, that was my week. Thank you for all the prayers in my behalf. Hopefully we will get some new investigators soon! I love you and hope that you have a good week.

Love,

Kyle

March 1, 2010

Dear Family,

Oh my gosh, it is already March! Time is just speeding by. I realized the other day that I only have 3 zone conferences left and then I go home. Scary! Don’t know if I am ready yet. I will definitely cherish the time I have left.

This week was good. We had Zone conference and Me and Murdock were conducting. Well, we must have eating something the day before because both me and Murdock got food poisoning. After we gave the announcements and stuff, we b-lined to the bathroom. We spent the entire Zone conference in the bathroom on the toilet. We were both just dying. When lunch came around, we got permission to go home and just rest so that is what we did. We were better the next day so that was the good part.

We talked to Kyle about his baptism. We were going to have it this weekend but his mom wasn’t going to be in town so we moved it the 12^th because he will be available that week. We are excited for him and he is excited for himself. We had a good lesson with him yesterday about the “Armor of God”. It was fun.

This weekend as well, we went to a member’s (Brother Rayman) birthday party. We have done some service for him the past couple of weeks so we got invited. It was way fun and made me think of y’all and all the good times we have as a family. I sure do love y’all and you mean so much to me. Family is really what God wants us to have. We find happiness in knowing that families can be together forever in the Temple. I am grateful to have parents that are faithful to their covenants so our family can be together forever.

Speaking of temples, we had a neat opportunity to help clean the temple. We did about an hours work vacuuming and stuff. It was cool because you get to go into every room in the temple. Even when you are cleaning t

he temple, you can still feel the spirit. I loved the chance we had to do that.

I know this gospel is true and I know that it brings happiness. I know Christ is my savior and that he is the Savior of everyone. Love y’all and hope you have a good week.

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

Pictures Included are of Sherry Kasaitis' baptism (picture coming soon!)

February 22, 2010

Dear Family,

Hey hey hey! I hope that all y’all had a good week like I did. We had a pretty good week, let me tell you about it.

Well, we had a baptism this weekend. Her name is Sherry Kasitis. Really nice lady. The baptism was great. Her son, Conner did the ordinance. He was a little nervous and had to do it right because he said “holy spirit” instead of “holy ghost”. But he played it cool! It was just really cool to be a part of that even though I have only known them for a couple of weeks now.

We have Zone Conference this week and it is at our building so that means that we are what they call the “host Zone Leaders”. Either me or Elder Murdock will conduct and then we have to do like a 15 minute presentation to the Zones about effective commitments and how to ask good questions. I hope that I do well, and I will definitely ask the Lord for help on this one.

Kyle is doing good. He wants to get baptized sooner but he has only been to church once. He has to go to his Dad’s every other weekend. He couldn’t come to Sherry’s baptism because he had to go to his dads. Oh well, he will get baptized close to the beginning of March.

We are working on finding people. It is really hard in a rich area because tracting really gets you nowhere. The missionary squad is doing good. Still working with there people that they want to convert. We should have another ‘squad’ meeting soon!

Other than that, things are going good. I am happy and I hope y’all are too! Stay safe and thanks for the Love, support and Prayers in my behalf!

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

February 16, 2010

Dear Family,

Well, the reason I am writing today is because it was Presidents day yesterday so all the Libraries were closed so yeah. Things are going good. I have made a couple of observations.

So, first of all, I heard that Arthur Wing and Zach Taylor went to the temple on last Wednesday to do baptisms for the dead. What a great experience for them. I am so excited for them.

Bartlett, Tennessee is a very rich suburb of Memphis. The city is mostly white people. It kind of reminds me of my first area. I hope that I will do well here.

We cover two wards here. Our church building that we attend is in the same parking lot as the temple so I get to see the temple very frequently. We attend the Bartlett 2^nd ward. We have in the ward, what we call the missionary squad. They are a group of kids in High school who are working on some of there friends to come to church, give them a Book of Mormon or have them be taught by the missionaries. We had a meeting with them on Saturday and they gave us 16 names for us to start to work with. It is great! Solid group of kids. Never seen anything like it in any of my areas.

We are working with a couple of people. One is by the name of Sherry. She is getting baptized on Saturday, which is awesome! She is a really nice, older lady who had a son (Conner) who was baptized in December. Apparently she was impressed with her sons change that the church had made on him, that she started to come every Sunday so she has finally decided to be baptized!

Another investigator that we are working with has the name of Kyle. Kyle is also another son to Sherry and brother of Connor (The Member). He has a date for the 6^th of March. He used to be an atheist but has felt the spirit to the point that he knows that God exsists and that he wants to be baptized. He is so dedicated that he bought an app on the iPod of LDS scriptures, which is great news. He is a good kid and even has my name so that makes him twice as cool!

I am enjoying my time here thus far. This will be an interesting transfer and hopefully we will find a little bit more people to teach. But we are having success which is always a good thing and I am so grateful that the Lord is able to help us with them. I love you and hope that all y’all are doing good.

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

February 11, 2010 (Transfer/Zone Leader!!)

Well, I am here to shot off a quick e-mail. I have been called to labor as a Zone Leader in Bartlett, Tennessee. A lot of responsibility but I think with the Lord's help, I can do it.

Thank you for your love and support. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I will do the same for y'all!

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

February 11, 2010 (Transfer/Zone Leader!!)

Well, I am here to shot off a quick e-mail. I have been called to labor as a Zone Leader in Bartlett, Tennessee. A lot of responsibility but I think with the Lord's help, I can do it.

Thank you for your love and support. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I will do the same for y'all!

Love,

Kyle (Elder Parker)

February 8, 2010

Dear Family,

Wow, what an amazing week. So much has happened and I have so much to tell you! So lets get started!

The baptisms of Zach Taylor and Arthur Wing both went through. They both asked me to baptize them so I did. It was such a humbling experience to do that. The baptisms went well and I didn’t have to dunk either of them twice. Phew. I would hate to do that. So I decided with the Lord’s help, that I would do it the first time. :) I thank Him very much for that. The Confirmations were done on Sunday as well. Arthur asked me to give it to him and Zach asked the Branch President, President Soto to do it. Later in the day and don’t ask me how, but both of them got the Aaronic Priesthood and they are going to the Temple this Wednesday to do Baptisms for the dead! How awesome is that! They are so solid, especially Arthur. I gave him an extra Bible that I had and he really likes it because of the footnotes to the Book of Mormon and the other books of scripture! On fire, baby!

Well, this morning, I got a call from my Mission President about 6:50 in the morning to inform me that I am getting transferred. So I am leaving West Memphis. I will miss that area, because of the members, the work and the recent converts. Later around 7:40, President Drewes called again and said that he forgot to inform me that I was going Zone Leader. So, that was a very big shock to me. I never thought I would ever be good enough to be a Zone Leader, I still don’t think that. But I trust the Lord and know that he can get me and help me through anything. I know and it already is starting to become a very humbling experience.

I am really happy right now. I am so grateful to be apart of the Lord’s soldiers. This is a tough spiritual war we are fighting, but with the Lord on our side, we already know who is going to win the battle. I love and miss y’all. I will e-mail again on Wednesday to let you know where I am and who I am serving with. Hope y’all have a good week!

Love,

Elder Parker

Pictures include: (Elder Fjerstad, Zach Taylor, Me) , (Elder Fjerstad, Arthur Wing, Me) , (Zach Taylor, Steve Taylor, Arthur Wing)

February 1, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, can you already believe it is February! This month will go by fast too because there is only 28 days. Well, this week is the last week of the transfer. We have 2 scheduled baptismal dates for this weekend on the 6^th! I am so excited and it should turn out great. Let me tell you about them.

Zach is doing good. He is excited to get baptized on the 6^th. We are hoping that the mom, Sister Taylor will be able to make it. If she doesn’t, then we will have to move the date back because Zach and Arthur want her to be able to attend which is totally understandable. I just hope that I am here when Zach and Arthur get baptized. I think I am getting transferred next week. I guess we will find out next week!

Arthur is doing good. He is quitting smoking and doing really good. He is excited to be baptized.

So, there was a bad ice storm on Friday, the day of our mission tour. Elder Packer, a member of the seventy and President Packer’s son, was our general authority. He really isn’t like his dad. Very calm and very soft and nice. Not saying that President Packer isn’t like that but you know what I mean. But the storm was pretty bad, we were going to get stuck if they hadn’t of ended the meeting early. We went over the Mississippi bridge on Thursday before the storm hit, because otherwise, the bridge would have froze over in the morning, which it did, so if we would have left in the morning, we wouldn’t have been able to go to mission tour, which would have been a bummer. But, it was good nonetheless. The Blytheville Elders area got iced out so they didn’t go back to their area until Sunday afternoon. They stayed with us in the meantime. It was fun to have them around for a couple of days. They cancelled church, which hasn't happened on my mission before, it might of happened once when I was in Pocahontas but yeah. I really don't think they should have cancelled church because by sunday morning, the roads were clear of ice. Oh well, they all need to live in Utah and experience the weather there. Ha ha :)

Other interesting stories and experiences happened this week, but I will tell you them when I get home! :) I love y’all and hope that you have a good week. Pray for me and I will also do the same for you! Thanks!

Love,

Elder Kyle Parker