Week 6 - Hannah email

Yelm is...interesting haha. It's such a strange place. I really like the people I talk to on a regular basis tho. They are all super cool. I knock 5-7 pm every day but pday and usually more throughout the day. We knock a lot here. Everybody knows who we are hahaha. Yelm is right next to a military base and basically, every person here is in the military. It's kind of crazy honestly.

Week 6 - Dad email

Hello!!! The pain was gone! I thought I passed it. I worked normally most of the week, and then yesterday it came back really bad. Apparently it just decided to take a break on its way out haha.

I got to play modern with Matt on Tuesday last week! His decks were really cool. I used a green red hydra dragon deck. It had full playsets of green red fetches and shocks in it as well as lightning bolts and birds of paradise, all to help support handy hydras. It was really fun. He played a blue black mill deck with a good landbase, a playset of jaces phantasms mind funeral and a full set of surgical extractions. He also had a mono old border orc/dwarf tribal deck from fallen empires and friends. That was super cool. I look forward to seeing how missionary tribal plays out.

I enjoy hearing about what's going on back home! I'll try and keep you updated about mission life as best as I can as well.

Love, 

Elder Parker

Week 6 - Mom email

I'm doing pretty okay. I was at the doctor again yesterday, it is about halfway out. They gave me more medicine and then I slept basically all day yesterday. The pain comes kind of sporadically, it is annoying. I just want it to stop, but that's okay. It should be able to pass on its own. It is on the bigger side at 0.5 (an airsoft bb is 0.6) and they said any bigger they would have to intervene. Hopefully it passes soon. My companion is doing good! I feel bad making him come to the doctors and stuff with me.

I am up in the town of Lacey today for pday. I won't get back till late tonight. I will send pictures of my apartment next week.

The temple was super cool! It was like 4 stories tall. The celestial room was really cool too. The escalators were neat. It was fun to ride them while wearing slippers haha. 

Lessons with Brandon are going well. I haven't talked with him in a bit tho. His dad just had surgery. I did give his dad a blessing tho! That was cool! First blessing ever! I am glad it was him too. He is such a cool guy. His name is Shawn, he is a less active member. He hurt his back bad a while ago and can't drive anymore. He loves reloading (bullets) and makes his own instruction books. He is the one that made all of the bbq sauces and is super insightful. His faith is really strong and he called us his "secret weapon" to blow his physical therapy people's mind for his speedy recovery after his blessing. He really wants to go to the temple so we are going to try and help him with that. Also, his wife's name is Shawna and I think it's funny that their names are almost the same. We visit him and his neighbor (a nonmember family interested in the gospel going through a lot of hardships including having no job and a suspended license so they can't get a new one) at least 2-3 days a week.

The address to the apartment is 10175 Terra Valley St. apt 5 in Yelm Washington. I think you can send letters there. You just have to be careful that I don't get transferred out of there before the mail gets here. That would be awkward. Transfers are every 6 weeks. Today is the start of week 4. I could stay in Yelm, I could leave. I'm not sure yet.

Anyways, time is now up for me! I'll talk to you later! I love you!

Elder Parker

Week 6: Temple Trip

Hello all! This week was quite an eventful one! I got to go to the temple this week which was super awesome. We had to drive almost 2 hours (half ourselves and half on a bus) to get there. It was cool to go through a session with only missionaries in it. The temple here is super pretty and tall. It was weird going up and down escalators there. I've never done that before! After the temple, we had zone conference with everyone in the south part of my mission. It was pretty cool. After all of that, we journeyed back home. 

The next day was super cool too tho! Me and my companion were out knocking in the middle of nowhere (we talked to 5 people in 2 hours) and were kind of feeling down and sleepy. As we were pushing on I said a prayer for us to find a way to make it through our allotted knocking time. The very next house we came across the guy was outside with his family washing his car. He invited us to help him out! So we came and washed his car with his family and got to talk to them and ended up discussing our different religious beliefs. It was super cool and I got to bear my testimony to them. That whole experience just showed me how much God cares for each and every one of us. Not only did it help cheer us up, it also helped a family in need of assistance and support through a particularly rough day they were having as well. I know that he will help everyone that is humble enough to turn to Him in times of need. All you have to do is ask. 

Anyways, that's all for this week

Love

Elder Parker

ps, Bryson (investigators son) in sunglasses....Oh! and some train tracks we found whilst out and about. 

Kidney Stone Update #4

Oh how handsome all the Elders are in their whites; all I could think of when I looked at them in the Celestial room was how their wives will fall more in love with them each time they are together in the Temple. There was Zone Conference afterward with lunch and I asked him how he was doing and he said no pain and was fine. I am thinking it has slipped out already. I gave him lemonade mix to drink twice a day for the next 20 days. It is an old remedy for kidney stones, so I hope it works to help prevent further stones. I sure do love your Elder Parker

Yours in Christ, 

Sister Kevan

Mission Temple/Zone Conference Day

Kidney stone update #3

Elder Parker is no longer having pain. He could have passed the stone when at the church or when at members homes as he did not have his strainer with him. He has been pain-free for 3 days now. I will continue to check on him, but not as frequently as I have been (every day). He is in good spirits and tomorrow will be going on the yearly temple trip of missionaries here in the WA-TAC. I will have the blessing to be with them to experience an intense feeling of the Spirit.

Your's in Christ, 

Sister Kevan

Week 5 - Dad email

Sorry about the phone call. I bet it was not a fun call to get. Luckily, the pain hasn't been as bad and I've been pushing through it. They gave me hydrocodone and it's been working. I haven't passed it yet but the pain isn't too bad. I was out knocking the same day I was at the doctor.

There are so many dogs out here. It's insane! I feel like everyone has like 4.

That missionary Magic deck would be really awesome to have, haha;) Literally the people I teach on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday all play!! Monday and Friday are investigators and the Tuesday guy is a less active. He plays commander every week at the store! It's crazy. He only has one deck though, it's a green red agro one. It sounded pretty cool. If I remember right Ruric Thar was the name of it. I'm not sure. It's been a whole 6 days since I've seen him. I told one of the families we were eating dinner with that I had worked at a tabletop game store and the dad got really excited and showed me all his X-wing stuff (remember when we were at Gigabytes and they had all those star wars models and were playing games with them??) It was really cool. He had like a big millennium falcon and a bunch of tie fighters and stuff. He tried to explain it but I had no idea what he was saying. Oh well. Nerd culture is pretty big here. I have other people too, but those are the only ones we have set in stone repeating lessons with. For some reason, working where I worked has been a huge help in connecting with people. 

Things are progressing well! We have 4 new investigators this week! Some of them seemed really promising! I'm super excited to teach more. I like teaching. It gives me a break from knocking on doors. Knocking is fun, sometimes it can be a bit tedious but you meet a lot of cool people! 

Love

Nathan

Week 5 - Mom email

This stone has been a lot kinder to me than others. The medicine has been working well. They just make me a little sleepy sometimes which is kind of annoying, but that's okay. I've been able to go out and work every day still! Being trapped in an apartment would not be fun. We had a guy attend church for the first time and the class was all about the word of wisdom. Hopefully, it didn't scare him away, haha. I get to go to the temple this week! I think I am going on Thursday! I am super pumped.

Love Nathan

Week 5

Hello all!

This week was a lot of fun! We had a thing last night called a Why I Believe fireside where some of the recent converts came and shared their testimonies about the gospel and how they know that it is true. It was really powerful to hear and see how firm their foundations are, especially those who had only known about the church for a few weeks. It definitely helped motivate me and makes me want to work harder.

This week me and my companion also knocked into a man who has apparently been working with the missionaries for about 8 years. He is the pastor at a local Pentecostal church and used to drive the missionaries around when they didn't have a car here in Yelm. He invited us to his bible study class and said he used to do deep bible study with the missionaries before they stopped showing up. Me and my companion are going to start meeting with him soon and are super excited to learn more and discuss the different viewpoints.

We also got to talk to Brandon (the boy afraid of water) and taught him some of the lessons again. He was absorbing everything super well and hopefully it will motivate him to overcome his fear. He is a super cool kid. He cooked us ramen and set up the appointment and everything. It blows my mind that he is only 9.

I also found an amazing talk about missionary work this week by Holland. In it he says "Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn't it go better? Why can't our success be more rapid? Why aren't there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angles. We trust in miracles. Why don't people just flock to the font? Why isn't the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking well all day and night in the baptismal font? Why isn't the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and night in the baptismal font? You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never easy for him?"

This talk has motived me so much these last few days. I had been feeling under the weather, going to the doctor a few days ago, but this shows that Christ suffered so much more than any of us ever will, and if he can suffer all of what he did, a little sickness should not stop me. As we press forward through our trials and our hardships we will be blessed. No matter how hard things get, God is always on our side helping us. If we turn to Him, our burdens will be lightened and we will find hope in times of despair, happiness in times of sadness and joy in times of darkness.

Love

Elder Parker

Ps, this is probably the best door sign I have seen yet.

Kidney stone update #2

Elder Parker is not in pain but he has not passed the stone yet. It is probably in the bladder. He is still drinking a lot of water to flush it out along with taking the Flowmax.

I wish you could have been at the fireside to hear the missionaries sing. In one word, it was FANTASTIC. The sound must be like what the angels sound like.

Sister Kevan (Mission nurse)

Emma email

Ramtha is a crazy place!!!! I've had the privilege of meeting a few and they all seem really nice, which is funny. They even gave me a water bottle (people that give me water are my favorite kind of people).

Why I Believe Fireside

Kidney stones update!

Nathan is still having pain off and on but pain med is doing a good job. He is following my instructions and drinking an equal amount and more of water to the amount he peed out to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. Besides being sweet, he is obedient by following instructions. The pain now is just on his side and he said he feels it lower than yesterday which is an indication that it is headed towards the bladder. Drinking lemonade every morning and evening for about two months will help his body dissolve whatever residual is still in his kidneys. I am going to pick him up a package of lemonade mix and wrap it in a bow for a present:). 

Even though he has this challenge, he doesn't complain or use it as an excuse why not to do mission work. What a strong testimony he has. What a perfect example of endurance. What a way to start a mission! President Leishman called and checked up on him too and he told him, "I'm doing fine President."

Sister Kevan (Mission nurse)

Kidney stone!

Just to let you know we finished at the urgent care and they gave him Flomax to flush the stone. They saw the stone and it is not in the kidney anymore. It is in the ureter so it's starting its way on the way out. It is a stone that has points on it so it is really going to scratch as he is going to be getting rid of it. They gave him a prescription for Flomax and for Zofran for nausea and they also gave him a prescription for hydrocodone with Tylenol. They suspect that he is going to have more pain when the stone starts moving. He is on his way home and doing fine. He is cheerful. His companion was a bit nervous. He told his companion, "I've done this before and I can do it again, I'll be fine," so they were comforting each other. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call me. I have my phone with me all the time. Thank you for your help. He sends back your love. I gave him your message. You should have seen the smile that came on his face. He's going to go home and drink lots of fluids and flush this stone out. He is doing ok.

Sister Kevan (Mission nurse)

Week 4 - Dad email

I found a street sign for you, maybe you have it but I thought I'd try.

I knock doors here a lot! And because of it, literally everyone knows who we are. This is also one of the highest baptizing missions in the US. It's crazy. We currently have 144 with baptismal dates with a goal of 700 for the year. That's like multiple wards!! Also, I thought you might think this street name was funny.

Week 4 - Mom email

Me and my companion are in a fairly nice apartment with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, a kitchen and an office. I have a washer in my apartment so I can do laundry whenever I want/need which is nice, especially for those muddy days. It is a lot bigger than I was expecting to get. I have a car, but every other week we have what are called park days where we don't use the car for that day as a whole mission, so I have to bike then. One of the guys here has been out 20 months and has never ridden a bike. I was going to be sad if I spent so much money on it and never used it!

The picture is where they took us the first day. It was beautiful.

 It was funny because everyone at the MTC was always talking about how they just throw you into the work when you get there but when I got here they took us to Cafe Rio, bought us food, took us to their house, fed us ice cream, told us stories and let us decompress for a day. That was super awesome. I stayed at what's called "the mansion". It's the biggest place you can live at in the whole mission; the place was really nice and on the sound. It was a little packed with 20 of us tho. Also, this is the mansion. Basically, every apartment has a weight bench in it, so that's neat.

Apparently, it's a member's house that they don't use anymore?? I believe the Samoan elders are in it now. That reminds me! I got to use my Arabic! We were knocking apartments yesterday and this lady answered in her headdress thingy and said I don't speak English. So, my companion was about to leave and then I said "hello, we are the missionaries, Jesus Christ Book of Mormon!" In Arabic! That's all I knew. She then shook her head so I said goodbye and we left. It was super neat. I never thought I would use it but Hey! I already have.

Today I went grocery shopping and got the oil changed in my car. I'm currently at the stake center waiting for the other missionaries to show up. It is like 90s here which is uncharacteristically hot, which isn't that bad, but nobody here has a.c. so it is hot even inside which isn't fun.

My time is about up, so have a good week! I look forward to hearing about how everything goes. I get to go to the temple here in a week or two too! That's super cool! Also, the Prophet is coming in September!!! Andy I also just found out one of the elders that came in with me already went home:/

Anyways, Have a good week! Don't die! I'll talk to you soon.

Oh, my tie set off the metal detector in the airport and they had to pat me down. Fun fact, it is 3 percent metal, haha.

Nafen

Week 4: The Real World

Hello all!

It's been a wild week! That's for sure. I finally made it out to the field! I am in a tiny town called Yelm with my new companion Elder Brown. He is from Utah and has been out for 10 months. He's pretty cool so far! He follows the rules and is helping me step up and take the lead. Yelm is a strange place, that's for sure. It's a small town and it has a lot of houses way out in the middle of nowhere so I have a car. There is also apparently a fairly big cult out here called the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. From what I have heard, they all believe that Mt. Ranier is going to explode and lizard people are going to kill everyone but the "ramsters". It's really funny. They all have like copper plates on their house and wear copper on their bodies because that's apparently how to protect yourself. I haven't met a ramster yet, but I think it would be fun to.

I also got stopped this week by a guy named Raymond. He came up to us with alien swim trunks and a leather vest on and started talking about how God can make weak things become strong and claiming to be a missionary too. He offered to pray with us so we agreed and in it he said "might these missionaries have the strength of eagles that they may soar in their faith". What a guy haha. He also showed us his dentures and his part in the local Shakespeare play. It was the highlight of the day.

Something else cool was one of the people we are teaching, a less active. He is really nice and makes us food every time we visit. He made me sample like 8 different barbecue sauces he had made from scratch. He really wants to go to the temple, so me and my companion have been trying to help him go. He also has a 9 year old son that wants to be baptized but is deathly afraid of water, to the point where he has to be forced to shower. We are trying our best to help them and grow their faith and help them overcome the obstacles in their path. It's a really neat opportunity I have been able to do this, and I've been enjoying it a lot.

Anyways, till next time

Elder Parker

Ps the pictures are from when I have been out knocking on doors. As you can see, some days doors are hard to come by haha.

Ice Cream Gathering After Adult Session of Stake Conference

Trainer Assignments and Lunch

First trainer is Elder Brown!

New Missionaries at Pugget Sound

Arriving in the mission!

Your missionary has arrived safe and sound. We are thrilled to have Elder Parker here with us. We will send out an email with more information to you and a picture we take from our favorite spot and with our new missionaries. We love Elder parker!

Thank you

Sister Leishman

Week 3 - Mom email

The food here isn't that bad, some days are better than others. The only day that wasn't that great is when all the options were fish:/ Luckily, there is a leftovers area. I'm not super nervous to get to Washington. In fact, I'm thinking the change of pace might be nice. One of my companions had to pick up medicine so we got to go on a field trip to Walmart!!! It was a lot of fun and I got to explore the outside world a bit. It was kinda nice but weird. I wore my new BYU shirt Sara sent me to play sand volleyball yesterday. It was either that or basketball. Sand volleyball is just more fun, especially when you don't have to worry about sharing a hoop with like 20 people. I've been going to the weight room for 30 minutes each day to bike. Also, I went on my family tree and found Adam and Eve!

Love,

Nathan

MTC Week 3

Hello all!

This week has been an interesting one. My zone has almost tripled in size since I got here. The first Wednesday we lost 6 elders and got 16 back and this week was about the same as well. Apparently, this is happening to everyone because the food line is now insanely long haha. Classes this week have turned into less class and more teaching. It's amazing to see people progress and it's cool to see their faces light up when they get what I am explaining to them. I also sang in the choir this week! It was super cool too. My whole district went and did it (partially to get good seats for the devotional) and the choir director ended up sharing super cool stories about the pioneers and the early members. Tuesday devotional ended up being really good too as it talked a lot about how "words are forgotten but feelings are enduring". Through teaching this week I've really seen just how true that statement is. When we teach someone, they might not always remember us or exactly what we said, but as the Holy Ghost confirms what we are saying, they never forget what we teach.

I also got to go to the temple for the first time in a long while today! That was super sweet. It's a lot different looking than the Georgia one inside but still really beautiful.

I leave the MTC here on Tuesday and head out to the real world! It is so crazy to think I have already been out for 3 weeks. Time really does fly.

Elder Parker 

Week 3 - Dad email

Three weeks went way fast. Singing here was super awesome. Where did you stay/have classes at? I found some of the old facilities they aren't using and explored a little bit and it was cool. I wonder if I found where you had class!

That's a sign I found way back up in there.

The mission has been a blast and I can't wait to see what's in store!

Nathan