Feelin pumped........ready to call some peeps......plan some proselyting parties........and pounce on potential service projects.......and then........our phone goes HAYWIRE.
Yup. In the middle of weekly planning.
SHUUUUUUUUUT DOOOOOOOWN.
So we sit there........processing.......
........Click........oh! FB MESSAGING! Right??
WRONG.
The SAME day our phone goes to pot, our ONE FREE WIFI ACCESS IN THE APARTMENT DISAPPEARS. It's like Satan hates us or something.....the dirty little devil trying everything he can to put us 6 feet under.
Jerk.
Hahaha! Sooooooo....we managed to get through the rest of "planning" which consisted mostly of hypotheticals, suppositions, and hopefully's:) while the weekend was more like running down to the city
buildings at 7am in the morning (temps at 20 degrees) to get email updates on missionary meeting times for that morning, trying out how many times we could awkwardly use Subway wifi without buying anything, and having our testimonies in this church solidified because all the chapels have free internet access.
Church MUST be true.
Despite not having a working phone, we managed to get some service and teaching in, which was a total miracle:)
I also was cursed this weekend by an old cavity filling popping out and a last-minute dentist appointment having to be set up. BLAH.
(FYI, fact about Sis Parker: I HATE going to the dentist. #understatement)
Luckily, this appointment turned out to be a little more humorous than I expected. After enduring x-rays and a whole lotta waiting, the dentist finally comes in and we start chatting for a bit.
OF COURSE, I bring up the fact that I'm out of state serving as a full-time missionary for my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The dentist the gets wide-eyed, laughs, and says,
"No way! I have a patient in the next room over who's also a Mormon! Wanna meet him?"
Heck yea I do! haha! So he disappears for a minute and comes back with this teenage kid on his heels, Blake, who introduces himself and come to find he's in the ward that shares the building with our ward.
Mormon world is SO small:)
Of course, we keep chatting and talking about his mission plans (he's 17 years old), missionary moments he's had recently.....y'know, the usual kinda convo you have between a future missionary and a full-time
missionary:). Eventually the dentist comes back in, leans back, arms folded, and with a grin on his face says,
"Man, leave them chatting in here for two minutes and then ya can't get them to stop."
Well, this just got awkward. THEN, he shuffles Blake out of the room with, "You can get her contact info after I'm done with your teeth. I know, you don't want to let a girl like that go!"
I don't think he gets the definition of MORMON MISSIONARY............let alone age difference. hahaha! THEN, he finishes with Blake and comes over to do my filling, but before starting, goes off on a lengthy
tangent about how Blake is "such a good kid," "with so much potential," "from a really good family," "really nice people," "planning on going to BYU too," "will do really well in life," and "he's so talented....did he tell you he plays the guitar??"
YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?
I'm a Mormon missionary getting set up with a high school kid 3 years my junior, probably the only other Mormon youth this dentist knows.........................
PEACHY.
Welp....A for effort, right? hahaha! If anything, it added flavor to the usually miserable experience of tooth fillings;) #dentistdonegood
The rest of our week included member service that was also (how do you describe it)....... COLORFUL ..........
#feelindomestic
We also got to teach some beautiful lessons this week.......those lessons that you get out of knowing that the SPIRIT was the one teaching.....those are the B.E.S.T.!
We met for the first time with an investigator who is trying to overcome a smoking addiction. She sought us out at a community service project we were helping at, and asked us to pray for her. We jumped on
the opportunity to meet and teach her, and she accepted!
Going into the lesson, I was kinda nervous, since I've never taught anyone so far on my mission that has had a serious addiction problem. However, as we listened and loved, the spirit filled our minds and
mouths with what to say and how to help her. It was POWERFUL! She felt of our love and tears came to her eyes as we assured her that through the power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, that she CAN DO ANYTHING!
It really confirmed to me just how powerful He is and how important this message is that we as missionaries share! It is THE GOOD NEWS! Whether our "bondage" be to sins or habits, great or small, the atonement can truly help us overcome ANYTHING!
We taught this principle again to Dawon this week as we met and discussed how to deal with trials and hardships. I feel like as a missionary, I'm called to teach, but in doing so, I'm CALLED TO LEARN. I get out of those lessons realizing that I'VE been taught through teaching because of the spirit. It's truly the best way to build a testimony--share it!
Sis Teare and I were also ALL OVER the women's conference on Saturday! Seriously......SO GOOD.
#mormonsoap #passthebonbons
Aaaaaaannnnnddddd......one of our less-actives who hasn't stepped foot in the church for a long time, CAME!!! #missionarywin! The talks were so uplifting and inspired too! I really felt their messages resonating with our less-active as well as a potential investigator who came. Again, CHURCH MUST BE TRUE:).
(The whole humming at the podium/stand up and sing thing.....totally didn't see that one coming:) haha! But, it was great!)
Lastly, we enjoyed meeting with Yolanda and her sweet boys (a.k.a. my brothers:) again this week! Can't get enough of those kids! Evan (age 8) cuddled up next to me on the couch this week and asked, "You're not gonna leave, right?" Thinking about transfers coming up, it just about broke my heart! IDK how I'm e.v.e.r. going to leave these sweet families and individuals who I love with ALL MY HEART! They mean the W.O.R.L.D. to me!
#missionheartbreak
Not gonna think about it..........not gonna think about it.........
OK........so lastly......(for reals:)......this week I finished the Book for Mormon, cover to cover, for the first time since coming out on the mission. President issued a challenge to all missionaries at Christmas to start the Book of Mormon over again, and read the entire thing before April General Conference.
Reading it again as a missionary has truly been such a powerful faith-building experience for me! I finished it this morning, and when I ended, I WEPT. This time around reading it, I was so powerfully
touched by the lives of the faithful men and women who dedicated ALL they had so that I could be blessed by this sacred book of scripture!
In the past, when I'd finish the Book of Mormon, I'd say a prayer asking again for a witness of its truth. I guess it was just a habit I got into over the many times I'd read it. And of course, every time I received a confirmation if it's truth. This time around however, I knew--I KNEW-- with all my heart that it was undeniably true before even finishing it! Asking for a confirmation of that almost seemed wrong:)
THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO TRUE!!!!!!!!!!
As I finished it this time around, I was compelled to go straight to my knees, crying tears of joy and gratitude for this book--a book that means more to me than ANYTHING else! I KNOW it is true!! And never before have I felt such a desire and duty to share that knowledge with all the people around me!!
If you have never read it, READ IT! It will change your life and bring you more happiness than you can imagine!!!! I PROMISE YOU THAT! You will NEVER regret it! It means the world to me, so the world's gonna hear it from me!!!!!!
This is the greatest work on earth!!!
Onward and upward!
Sister Anna Parker
