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
Friday, August 21, 2009
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.
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