Week 10: Dad email

Hello! 

Indeed it has been a good week. Every week feels faster than the last, it's crazy.

Thank you so much for sending music. They will be nice to have. I love how I can listen to semi-decent music out here haha. R.M. soundtrack is my current favorite. I only have two songs by them tho. In the Hollow of Thy Hand is fun, you should listen to it haha.

I went to the open house for like 3 minutes and got all 4 of us welcome decks. They are fun, suuuper simple tho. It kinda doesn't feel like Magic! (no counterspells, really!) but they are fun. We have been playing every night during decomp time. 2 of the missionaries already knew how to play. There are 3 zones in the mission that just play Magic every pday as a zone instead of sports haha. I got sent to the right mission! I'm super excited for you to send the missionary deck. It's gunna be awesome. I don't care if it's good or not. It will be fun to have for decomp time and for playing with Matt and his friends. It has been awesome. I tell them I'll play if they listen to a gospel message and so now Matt (the less active member) and his nonmember friends are learning more about the gospel because of cards. It's awesome!

The service was hard and really dirty but it was fun, never thought I would be doing that kind of work on my mission, that's for sure.

Teaching is going well. Our most solid person is on vacation right now but should be back soon. We have a lot of people who seemed solid this week but have been very challenging to talk to again since the doorstep which is slightly frustrating but hopefully we can keep working with them. Less active work is going well too. It's pretty important here given the huge amount of less actives. In October we are going to go on a bunch of splits with the elder's quorum and visit every member on LDS tools to see their status and try and reactive some.

I miss you and the family as well.

Love

Nathan

Week 10: Mom email

It was 40 this morning when I was grocery shopping and I about died hahaha. I should have brought my jacket. I miss the rain. It has only rained 4 times since I've got here!! And for a very short amount of time! I might buy a sweater here soonish, depending on how things keep going. It would be nice to have. 

The guys said that he built the old house. It looked kind of mobile home-y though. I didn't get any insulation in my eyes. I had glasses to wear and they helped out. I just wasn't wearing them in the pictures. I think I could use more contacts? I haven't changed them since the MTC haha. I should probably do that.

I like hearing from everyone every week. It's cool to hear all of you guys different views on the same events. It's kinda neat.

Have you seen the new Saints book that came out? I have been reading it for a while now. It's super awesome! It's super cheap to get in paper too if I remember right. You could probably order the book through the church somehow. It's an awesome book. It's worth it.

Well, my time is about up for today. I'll talk to you next week! I love you!

Have a good week.

Week 10: Home Extreme Makover - Service Addition

Hello All!

This week was a really good one. It was transfers this week. Me and my companion both stayed in Yelm, but the companionship living with us lost Elder Pike and was replaced with a brand new kid right out of the MTC! It's crazy to think I am not the youngest bunch of missionaries anymore. It's kinda funny to see how clueless he acts every now and then, but I know for a fact I was probably the same way as well.

This week we also had the opportunity to do some pretty crazy service. A recent convert is working on building himself a new house and asked if we could help out. He warned us about how gross it would be and all that but we still went for it. We rolled up the next day and ended up under his house cutting out the insulation from the bottom of it. It was crazy! After that, he cooked us all burgers and went through his fridge and gave us a whole bunch of stuff including cereal, milk, eggs, and lunch meat, which was super convenient because the new elder was going to need all of that!

This week church was really cool as well. They had 4 people speak at sacrament meeting, most of which had been members all of their lives, all share their personal conversion stories. It was amazing to see how the gospel brought them all light in different ways, whether through hardships or answering prayers, and revitalized or formed all of their testimonies. I think it was really cool for the people we have been working with to hear and for them to know that they are not alone in this conversion process. Changing anything big in your life can be a hard thing to do, and seeing other people going through it and coming out as much stronger and more spiritual people is a really comforting and powerful thing, even for those who already have a testimony.

Anyways, that's all for this week!

Love

Elder Parker

Emma email

That is 100% true. You can be happy and still miss things. Me and the lack of waffle houses here is a perfect testament to that hahaha. Boy, I wish they were here!

Week 9: Dad email

Hey dad! How have you been??? Is work and everything still going well? I have a couple questions to ask ya: Are the new little guild decks coming out any good? I saw deathrite shaman was getting reprinted, which is kinda funny seeing how it is banned everywhere. Are any of them worth picking up?

How cheap do you think shocks will get??
How is the missionary deck coming?
Do you still have those like church hymn covers by that band you used to play forever ago? They were more rocky I think? The music standard is a lot less strict than the list we got in the mail and those would be awesome to have.

I heard last week was break too, did the family do anything?
Sorry that's a lot of questions haha. Hope everything is going well!

Love Nathan

Hey Nathan,

Sorry I didn't send an email earlier. I was traveling yesterday and lost track of the days. Things have been good here. The weather is starting to cool off. The Marks family from our old Vail ward was here this week and it was nice to visit with Seth. I'm sure you remember him. He helped with your Eagle Project.

I think the new guild decks look awesome. They are not Standard legal but are meant to play against each other. I think I'm going to pre-order one of each. I think they will be fun. I'm not sure of the price yet. I need to look.

I haven't worked on the missionary deck for awhile. I didn't realize you could use it so quickly. I'll pick up the pace. Sorry for the delay. I think shocks will drop to $5-7 each depending on the color.

Yes, I have those church cover songs still. I'll send them to you. Break is actually this week. I'm traveling so no real family plans. Other than that, all is well. I love your weekly updates.

Love always,
Dad

Week 9: Mom email

Hello! I didn't know how big Safeco field would be! It was really neat and super awesome. The family we have been working with is doing okay. They are trying to rebuild trust right now with family dinner and FHE. Their neighbor came to church yesterday for the first time since I've been here tho! My companion is in the picture on the right. The other two missionaries are the ones that moved in with us this week as well. Also! I finished my puzzle!

Week 9: 49,089

Hello all! This week was awesome! Quite a lot ended up happening. The elders in the McKenna ward ended up getting kicked out of their apartment (some agreement ended and the apartments didn't want to renew it or something like that) and ended up moving in with us! This Thursday we helped them empty out their apartment and bring all their stuff to ours. Our little apartment is pretty crowded now and it's kinda rough with 4 of us and 1 bathroom, but we make it work. Luckily they are both really awesome people and it has been a blast so far.

The Prophet also came to Seattle this week and talked to us at the Mariner's stadium. It was really cool! Turns out that it was the biggest non-sporting event ever held there, and just barely behind some WWE event. There were 49,089 people there! How cool is that? It sure was different being in a crowded sporting venue and having everyone singing church hymns and being reverent. It was cool. The prophet, his wife, and Henry B. Eyring all spoke and it was super powerful. One point, in particular, that really stood out to me was their emphasis on blind faith. They talked about how when they council the church to do things, we should all turn to God and ask prayerfully about the council. The church is built upon personal relationships with our Heavenly Father and we should always remember that. He will confirm the Prophet's words and bless you for your willingness to obey Him and his servants. I thought that was a really interesting message coming from the church leaders themselves. It was cool how they focused on building our testimonies on the gospel rather than other people's testimonies. The gospel is true and will never falter, but people are human and are bound to slip up and make mistakes. If our testimony is on people instead of the gospel, when they mess up it could ruin our testimony, but if it is on the gospel itself, it will never falter.

Anyways, that is all for this week. Till next time.

Elder Parker

ps. I got my transfer call this weekend. At least 6 more weeks in Yelm.

All of the missionaries were in the box office suite thingies with all the food and stuff. It was really cool. All the priests and laurels got to sit out in the field tho. That would have been really neat too. 

 They gave these hats to all of the missionaries after the event as a gift from Safeco field. It was awesome!

Week 8: Hannah email

I meet with one guy every Monday and Friday and we are just waiting for his divorce papers to go through so he can be baptized. We meet with a lot of less active members here and work with them trying to reactivate them. There are about 253 people at church each week but 750 members in the ward boundaries, which is kinda nuts.

Week 8: Dad email

I am doing well. I'm not dead! So that's something right?

My birthday was good! I didn't really do anything but another elder in my district, Elder Pike, had a birthday this week and we are going to the mall today. I will probably use the money you sent on new pants and maybe some cologne. I don't know yet. It should be fun.

I'm not sure where the stone is hahaha.

Update: They didn't have any of the jeans everyone wears here. They are apparently at Tillys and there isn't one close enough to us. I'll have to wait till when I move to a different area. Although, I don't really need them. I found some gray pants in the apartment that were exactly my size (33 x 30) and I have been wearing them as well as the slacks I brought. I just had to sew the leg a little and now they are basically brand new. I did find cologne tho! Mont Blonc! It's pretty awesome.

Week 8: Mom email

Hello! The labor Day Activity was a lot of fun. We had food and different games like capture the flag and stuff. Elder Keetch is serving somewhat close to me, I am in the Lacey stake and he is in South Hill, which are both in the same section of the mission. Borsky is in Keetch's zone and they see each other all of the time. He was there too. I talked to him for a while. He seems to be doing good as well.

I haven't got to the urologist yet. I called them and they said they would call me when the referral comes from the ER then I called them and tried to speak to the referral people and there wasn't going to be any in for a long while! It was frustrating. 

I did get the package! Thank you! All of the presents were awesome, lots of snacks, which was good. I liked the tie too. It is different from all my other ones. This is the last week of the transfer, so on Saturday I will get a call and find out if I am staying or leaving Yelm. I think I will probably stay. Trainers typically stay with the new missionary for their first two transfers, but you never know!

I have ridden my bike all of 1 time, it was nice!

Aww man, I forgot to take pictures of the apartment! Oh well, I will try for next week.

Love

Nathan

Week 8: Birthdays

Hello all! This week was a fun one! Not a whole lot out of the ordinary happened this week, but 2 of the missionaries (including me) had a birthday! We didn't do anything for them, but still, it was kinda neat I guess. It is weird to think birthday number 1 of 2 of missionary birthdays has already happened for me. Time sure does seem to be flying.

If there was one scripture to describe this week, it would probably be Helaman 5:12.

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

One of the people I have been teaching was progressing really well and working hard to turn his life around. His whole family was coming to church and their faith was all growing, but then he went out and did some things that were really not good. The family is now worried about losing custody of some of the kids and may not be able to pay rent for a long while. Despite all of this, the first thing the wife said was that she wanted to come to church. To me, this just shows how true that scripture is. No matter how hard the world tries to get ahold of you and pull you down if you rely on your faith and turn to God in times of trouble, there is no challenge too big, no trial you cannot conquer. It was really amazing to me to see someone so new to religion in general already grasp onto and apply that concept into her life. Anyways, that's all for this week, till next time!

Love 

Elder Parker

Southern Conference Labor Day Activity

Week 7: Dad email

Hello! The weeks are going by really fast, no matter how long some days seem to be haha. 

I haven't passed the stone, either that or it broke down and passed in sand form. It hasn't hurt at all since last Sunday.

The ward is really nice. The bishop is awesome. There are multiple less active families that I get along super well with which is awesome.

Being a missionary is a lot of fun. Believe it or not, I think the Magic shop really helped me be a good missionary. It helped with my ability to just walk up and talk to people.

Love, 

Nathan

Week 7: Hannah email

I have been able to meet a few "Ramsters". They are really nice. One of them gave us a grand tour of her house. the floor was made out of pennies!

Week 7: Mom email

The stone hasn't passed yet, at least not that I have seen. I haven't been in any pain all week though. When pain comes, it lasts for like a day and then goes away for a while.

The ward currently has 4 missionaries out and one with a call to Santiago Chile North!! One is in Zambia! I don't really know how many youth there are. The average sacrament meeting attendance is 253 though. 

Fun story time! Last night I had dinner at the Strasser's house. A little bit about them, they grew up in Meridian, Idaho and went to Boise State. They moved to Cumming, Georgia for 3 years and are now in Yelm Washington. Sound familiar??? Also, the Weezer concert me and dad went to a few years ago, the Strassers were there too! in the same seating section as us! How crazy is that! Also, the wife is a product tester so she has a bunch of weird products and sent us home with a bunch of poop emoji stuff. Also, the dad has a YouTube channel (joelnert) and holds the Guinness world record for most toothpicks stuck in a beard (3500). They also fed us fried rice with barbeque pork, instead of the typical Asian chicken and it was really tasty. Oh! Also, they had a butt massage machine in their garage. It was awesome. Anyways, I thought you and the family might think that was cool. 

Love, 

Nathan

Butt massage machine above. Poop emoji smile and poop emoji fidget spinner.

Week 7: Service

Hello all! This week has been a really fun one! I had the opportunity to do a lot of service this week, which is always fun. A few days back I helped one of the people I'm teaching move a bunch of wood off of his property and cut down a bunch of blackberry bushes (they grow naturally here, kinda like the kudzu of Washington but tastier) because they were starting to grow up and over the roof of his house. We ended up taking a giant bag of blackberries home which was super awesome.

We also helped someone paint the inside of their house! They like to change up their living quarters a lot (I visit them 1 time a week and every time the furniture is set up differently), and this time they decided white walls were boring, so now they are all blue! It was fun getting to know the family and their roommates better and help them out.

The best part of all of this though was the bonds and the happiness that came from helping others out. It is really cool to see how much joy a simple act can do and make someone's day go by better. I know that as we serve the people around us we are not only just serving others, but we are serving our Heavenly Father and fulfilling his commandment to love thy neighbor. Even when service may seem boring or something you don't want to do, I know that if you step up and help someone out, you will be blessed and will not regret your decision. Anyways, that's all for this week! 

Till next time, 

Elder Parker