Cheers....

Question of the century.....did you know that there's a lego comic book edition of the Bible??? Yea, didn't know either until a couple days ago when we were at a members home and their two boys brought it out to show us. They were so absorbed in reading it, that their parents had to keep telling them to shut it and be sociable.

And word on the street has it that there's a Book of Mormon version too.

Someone is brilliant. Expect convert baptisms to soar.

hahaha! Hey...if it works, it works. Those members' kids now know the bible better than I do:)

Anyways....gosh, this week was something else! Tuesday morning kicked off with loud banging on our front door and, "It's your neighbor, let me in!" We opened the door and let our 5 ft african american neighbor, Jamie, into our kitchen. She had her dog in one arm, and a water bottle and ding dongs in the other.

"Girls....i just heard from my agent...and I'm finally going to be able to move into my new apartment! So we're gonna have a toast....with water...since that's all you guys drink.....and then i need to you brush my hair since I'm going out today...."

Mmmmkkkkkkk.

So at 8:15am on a Tuesday morning, we had a water toast, brushed our neighbor's hair (while she kept saying she was "tipsy from that shot so early in the morning":), and ate ding dongs. Hey, at least she now knows how we celebrate Mormon style.

Yep, this is my life.

One of the highlights of my week, though, happened on Wednesday when we were dropping by some less-actives. We'd finished visiting them and made our way back to the car just as I saw a woman walking her dog on the other side of the street.

[Spirit to Sis Parker moment]

.......and I knew I was supposed to talk to her. I drove down the street, still doubting the prompting, but by the time I'd hit the stop sign, I knew I needed to go back. So we flipped around, drove up, and we tried engaging in a conversation, but it ended up not going anywhere. We drove off again, and I was stumped.

Anyone who's been a missionary knows what that feels like....following a "prompting" only to have it go absolutely nowhere and then subsequently feeling confused and a bit defeated. I eventually brushed it off and we went on with our day. By the evening, we had one more less-active to visit, and they turned out to have no interest in the church. As we were walking away from their house, though, the spirit prompted me to go and tract their neighbor's house. I was SO close to brushing it off since it was cold and dark, and I already felt beaten, but at the last moment, I was reminded of my willingness to follow promptings earlier that day, even if they didn't amount to much, "If you can do that, you can knock on this door..."

So I made my feet turn and up to the door we went.

We knocked just as a guy with his 5 year old daughter came to the door. The spirit filled my mouth with words about eternal families, Christ' ability to strengthen those relationships, etc. and Mike, the dad, responded as soon as I'd finished, "I'm actually VERY interested in this. I've been looking for a church for a long time now, and I'm looking for answers and opportunities for my family."

He gave us a return appointment on the doorstep, and promised to read the pamphlet we gave him. We were both ecstatic walking back to the car after that!! As we got in, the spirit spoke to me, "You received that prompting to knock on his door, because you were willing to follow seemingly unfruitful promptings before."

In that moment, I was SO grateful that I had listened to the spirit that day, even when it seemed awkward and even when nothing came of my efforts. Those other promptings were preparing me to receive and follow a prompting that mattered MUCH more.

I believe the Lord was testing me to see if I would follow His instructions, even if I didn't know the results of those actions. Since that first initial contact, we've met with Mike once more, and after answering his many questions and giving him an overview of our beliefs, he looked us in the eye and said, "Where do I go from here? What do I need to do to take this a step further? Can I come to church? Do I need to meet with your pastor or someone? How can my girls get involved too?"

Oh my gosh! We were floored!! We gave him a book of mormon, and he agreed to come to church, and our plan is to extend a baptismal invitation to him next time we meet! By the end, he also told us, "I can promise you guys, I will give this [holding up the Book of Mormon] a sincere try. I really want to know...."

What if I hadn't listened to that prompting?? Ah! I don't even want to know! I am just eternally grateful for the Lord's quiet promptings and for my ability to follow them and show my faith! NEVER ignore promptings! Even if they don't seem to yield immediate results, perhaps the Lord is preparing you for something greater!

Mike is golden and his heart is sincere! We are SO excited to start helping him down this path to find his answers, peace, and happiness with his family!!

Last minute moments of the week:

- My little hometown of Merrimack NH was trending on FB this week for issuing a warrant for the groundhog who said 6 more weeks of winter. REPRESENT. #merrimackhomies #atleastitwasn'ttrendingforsomethingworse:)

- On P-day we braved the transit system with the Hermanas and went DOWNTOWN!!! We visited the Shedd Aquarium and managed to get two potential investigators along the way:) #ballin

- We had a Linger Longer social after church on Sunday, and I'd just sat down to eat when I heard someone come up next to me and ask, "That looks really good. Can I have some??" I turned to see JAMES KUMAR!!!! Oh my gosh!!! No girl was ever more surprised and never more HAPPY!!!! Turns out, he was dropping off his son at his mom's house in Westchester and popped on over to the church to see if I was there by chance! Ahhhh!!!! I felt like I was home in BG again and it felt SO good to reconnect, talk, and laugh like we used to!! That was definitely a tender mercy for me and a HIGHLIGHT of my entire WEEK!!!!!! It's crazy how you realize how much you care about and love people when you see them again after being away for so long!! Ah!!! James told me he's now received the Melchizedek Priesthood and has been made a 7/8 yr old primary teacher and I couldn't be more proud! And then, like good old times, his phone went off when we were talking and of course....his ringtone is Mo Tab:) My convert is still the coolest convert out there:)! hahaha! #feelingproud #feelingblessed

Anyways.....so yes, it's been a week. I still can't believe that my time is running out. It's kinda terrifying actually. But like Elder Holland said, "It's not over till it's over." So here we go.........another week of living the dream:)

Onward and upward,

Sister Parker