Email April 19, 2014

Qué pasa? What's up mi familia? 

Okay, answers, just so that I don't forget to answer them.=)

I just sent you a picture. Sorry I haven't sent any yet. You can only send 1 at a time here cause the file size is too big and the hour we have goes by too fast! 

One other companionship is going to Puebla North with my companion and I. The other two, H' bullock and H' Powell are going to the Monterrey East Mission. We actually just met another sister on Wednesday who's going to the Puebla mission with us. 

Rochelle sent me a package and I was surprised that she had sent me a CTR ring, I love it!!!  I’m going to try and write her a thank-you note before I leave the MTC.

Guess what? I got my travel plans!!!! Yay!!!!!

We're all super excited! We leave next Monday. Our first flight is at 12:45, we'll fly to Houston, Texas, then we'll fly from Houston to Puebla at 6:32. I won't even be in Puebla until 8:30ish. I'm super excited though! :D 

We aren't doing to the Easter hunt thing until tomorrow because we get to do a Zone activity each Sunday. Since we all got plastic eggs from our families and Hermana Ramirez got candy from her mom, we decided to do an Easter egg hunt with the Elders that day. We're all pretty stoked! 

Ooo speaking of Easter, guess what? We get someone awesome tomorrow who's going to come speak to us!  I don't know who yet but I can just feel it.  Rumor has it that it's gonna be one of the First Presidency but no one knows yet. It'll definitely be one of them or a member of the 12. I'm so excited! Not to mention we're in the choir as well so we get to sing for whoever is coming!

On Sunday, the BYU Men's choir came and performed for us. They're the largest all men choir in the USA. They were amazing! They sang a couple of hymns but mostly none traditional songs. It was music to my ears...literally. They sang "Lean on me" and they did it in a very Southern style that was sooo much fun! Then they sang an African song that was amazing and a New Zealand song that was beautiful. They did a war dance that was kinda like the Hakka. It was awesome! Especially for missionaries that haven't heard anything but the sound of their own voices for the last month....or 3 months. Some missionaries are here forever!

On Tuesday, Neil A Anderson came and talked to us! I know! Neil A Anderson! He talked about the Atonement and about the importance of knowing where in the scriptures the Atonement is mentioned in the Book of Mormon. 

We taught Leticia for the last time yesterday. It was really sad. Of course we didn't treat it like a last lesson but it was still sad. We were able to teach her all of the lessons and she was soooo close to being ready for baptism! Ugh, aw well, I'm glad we got the chance to teach her. She was amazing and very open to the gospel.

This next week we'll be teaching each other as we take on the role of a investigator. I thought of the person who would be the most difficult and give me the best view of what an investigator sees. So I became Justina.  It's fun, and super cool to feel the power the other missionaries have. Especially the ones who feel like they struggle the most. The Spirit is so strong here it's amazing!

I love you all! I'll let you know how Easter went! 

Finally a picture :)

Email April 12, 2014

Conference was amazing. There's something incredible about being in a big room of missionaries listening and learning from the prophets.

I'm so glad Jeff Terry is doing better. Thank you for letting me know that he is in the hospital. Please tell them I will be praying for him and their family too.

I actually will probably see Cailey Jeppson on the Sunday after she arrives and the Sunday before she leaves. Let me know how the farewell goes.  Also, please thank Sister Jeppson for me when you see her next. In her loving kindness she sent me an Easter package that I'm very excited to start. She also gave me things for my Easter basket and my companion's. Hermana Ibarra was so grateful that she wants to write a letter with me to thank them. 

Oh Dad, thank you so much for your letter. I'll be writing you back but I just wanted to let you know that it brought so much comfort and answers to the questions I had sent in a letter to you the day before. I am so grateful that you listened to the spirit and knew exactly what to write to help me!

On Sunday, we watched General Conference and then found out that we still had a devotional that night. Oh man, were we all bummed. We couldn't take sitting anymore. At least, that was until we realized who was coming. VOCAL POINT!!! They're an amazing accapella group from BYU, all members, all return missionaries, It was amazing. They would share a thought with us about missionary work and an experience from their mission and then they would sing a hymn for us. Oh my goodness. I don't know how they're going to top that one.

We got a new investigator this week. She's our TRC investigator which means she could be a real investigator or not. Regardless, she's amazing. She's very kind, very attentive, and very receptive. We love teaching her. Our lessons with her are amazing! We were talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her and ending up talking a lot about baptism. She had a sister who died as a baby and wasn't baptized. Her mother was so upset and still sad about it because she had been told that her daughter was lost in limbo. I don't know how we did it but through the power of the Spirit we were able to pull out scriptures from the Book of Mormon that explained all about infant baptism and were able to teach her in great detail and were able to address what she needed. It's amazing. We taught her yesterday about the Plan of Salvation and she was just so happy about it. Hermana Ibarra and I both felt reminded about why the plan is so important and just how much we want to be with our families forever. 

On Thursday, we got to have a really good lesson with Brother Dolbin. I know I talk about his lessons a lot but really, they're some of the best. We were outside and he was answering any of the questions we had through the scriptures. It was only Hermana Ibarra, me and Hermana Powell and Hermana Bullock. The other two were at the doctor all day. Anyway, the lesson was amazing. He answered some of my questions without me even having to ask them, like questions I had forgotten I had. He explained about personal study and how important it is that we use at least part of our personal study for ourselves, to not just study for our investigators. 'We can only convert someone up to the point of our own conversion.' Using this amazing knowledge I decided to try it out on Friday, I studied about the glory of God and what exactly that means. I'm learning about it but D&C 93 is amazing for this topic. The verse I want to share isn't about the glory of God however it's about us. Verse 45-46 say, "Verily I say unto you my servant Joseph Smith Jun. or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me -- I called you servants for the world's sake, and ye are their servants for my sake" When we try to serve others, whether or not we have a calling in the church, we become his servants. Let us all not only do our best to be his servants but may we all strive to be worthy of being called His friends. 

I love you all! May the Lord bless you!

Hermana Parslow

"Continue on your journey, for I am with you even to the end." --the Lord.

Email this week came early due to Conference this weekend

Hola, mi asombroso familia!

Thank you so much for sending this email on Monday. Some of the Hermanas here were worried that since we were doing our P day this Thursday, they wouldn´t have letters from their family. However, I wasn´t concerned. I knew my family loved me. =) 

 I´m sorry Dad´s not been feeling well. There must be a spring bug going around. Some of the missionaries here have caught something, myself included. Tell him to drink plenty of orange juice and to get plenty of rest. He must stay in bed and watch the entire Star Wars....or Lord of the Rings trilogy (Whichever is preferred) and cannot get out of bed, except for potty breaks and snack trips, until the entire series is over. Hermana Parslow´s orders. =D  

 I´m glad the funeral for Sister Graham went so well and that Dad was feeling well enough to sing for it. She was so strong. I admire her very much, I was very sad to hear about her passing. 

 We actually didn´t get to see the Women´s broadcast, however, we´re apparently going to watch it in the evening while the Elders watch the Preisthood session. We´re all really excited. We get to spend the WHOLE DAY at Main Campus. It´s going to be AWESOME! We all can´t wait.

 So, life here at the CCM (West Campus version of the MTC) is pretty good. It was a rough week at the beginning however I got a good lesson out of it. I learned this week that Satan really does not want me on a mission. I thought before, "If I can just get to the MTC...everything will be fine." I don´t think I could´ve been more wrong! If anything he´s tried harder while I´ve been here. He tells each of us in all of our lives that we´re inadequate. We´re not good enough. We´re not qualified. We think that we´re just not enough. WRONG! The truth is that honestly, when we feel that way, it is a sign of just how adequate and good and qualified and strong we are. Satan would not try so hard and the Lord would not let us be driven so low if we weren´t strong enough to pull ourselves back up. The Lord knows us better than ourselves and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. I got taught that this week that we should never feel less that someone else just because their strengths are different from ours. 

  I have such wonderful leaders here. Right when I was struggling, I got to have an interview with my District leader and my Sister Training Leader (that´s the equivalent calling of a Zone Leader for a sister). They´re actually Hermana Ramirez and Hermana Wells. The other district in our zone left for their missions at the beginning of this week so we´re all alone. A lone little Sistrict. Yeah. I know. Sad. Anyways, I got to meet with them and they were so kind and somehow knew exactly what to say to bring me back up. 

 I also got to meet with my Branch President yesterday, President Stewart. He´s such a wonderful man. He´s like a mix of Gordon B. Hinckley and Grandpa Buttars. I´ll have to make sure I get a picture with him before I leave here. He came all the way to the CCM just because I asked to meet with him. He was so kind. He told me that he was surprised I was struggling because all of the reports he had gotten about me from my teachers and my companion were all great. Aren´t they all just so sweet? He told me that he could tell I was going to be a great missionary and that although he would rather have me for 18 months, he´ll gladly take the 6 weeks. I´m sure he says that to everyone but it still makes one feel pretty awesome. =) 

 Oh! I almost forgot! Guess what? So on Sunday, there was a "Going away" devotional for all of the missionaries leaving the following week. At that devotional, the President of the MTC told everyone that the Sunday devotional that week would be one you would seriously regret forever if you missed it. Of course word got around and naturally so did the rumors. Everyone thought it would be an apostle speaking to us or even President Monson. Well....we were all kinda disappointed when we got there and the board read Richard Elliot. Atleast, we were all disappointed until he started the devotional. He´s the organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and is absolutely amazing. He played songs and talked a little about the reason he was playing that individual song right before he played it. He played a song mostly with his feet! What?! I know! It was amazing. Then as icing on the cake, guess who showed up having gotten home from his mission not the Wednesday before? Go ahead guess....David Archuleta!! Oh my goodness, he was just as amazing as Richard Elliot! They performed "Be Still My Soul"..oh my goodness, it was so beautifully done. It was a devotional to remember!

  We get to watch a "movie/film" after a devotional on Sundays and this last sunday we watched "Legacy". It´s an older pioneer film that was actually really well done. However, you can definitely tell that all of us missionaries are media deprived because everyone would cheer and clap and "Ooo" and "Ahh" and just the right parts. Yeah...I know... it´s kinda sad really. 

  Let´s see, what else....Oh! We were talking in class the other day about Christ and why He is an example to us. Elder Christoffersen said, "God gave you your agency and Jesus showed you how to use it." Powerful right?

  I don´t know if you were told but I got a letter from Candace and Becca yesterday. Becca had been in primary on Sunday and the lesson had been Missionary work. She walked out of class with two pictures and said, "Mommy look! It´s Me and Carlie as missionaries!" Oh my goodness, that just melted my heart. Candace sent both of the pictures to me and they are now hanging up on the wall of my bedroom. I´m tempted to put them on the fridge however, I wouldn´t want the other Hermanas to be jealous of my niece. =) If you get to see her before I write back to her please tell her that I am sending a letter to her as soon as I can. 

  Our Tuesday devotional was done by Elder Scott Whiting of the Seventy. He talked alot about missionary work, being obedient, and power vs authority. He was a really good talk. My favorite thing he said though was "Focus on the Wonders of the Work". I think that when any of us are having a bad day we should just focus on the wonders of the work. Whether it´s God´s work and his creations or the work He has call us to do. 

  The last thing that just crossed my mind as I was about to finish writing was, remember, when the Lord asks you to do something hard, it´s not just because he wants that hard thing done but it´s because he wants a better you. He asks you to do hard things because they will make you better and stronger and exactly what the Lord needs. 

  I love you all! Good luck Camille! You´re going to be amazing at your games this weekend! Please give my dog my love! You´re all amazing!

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 with JST Translation. 

 

Hermana Parslow

 

P.S  Please tell Camille that the cookies were absolutely delicious and everyone loved them.

Oh, btw, guess what?! We get 4 new elders added to our zone this coming Wednesday! Yaaaay! We´re all super excited! We´ve decided to give them the "Bubble Salute" when they arrive! =D Thank you Madre Parslow and the Parslow family for providing the bubbles!