Guilty As Charged

Guilty as charged.........yes, I didn't post last week.

Oops.

It was one of those weeks that just kinda got away from us......nah my fault:) So anyways.....here's my attempt at make-up:

We were sitting in district meeting this past week while our district leader taught about the importance of obedience and submitting our will to the Lord's when one of the elders from the back of the room raised his hand and said, "If I may, I'd like to compare this to my favorite movie.......[PAUSE].......Princess Diaries."

 Did he really just say that??

Straight up

The look on our district leader's face was p.r.i.c.e.l.e.s.s.....nuff said. It was taking everything in him not to burst out laughing but his contorting face just made it harder for the rest of us to stay sober while the elder continued, "Y'know....the whole obedience factor. The way he's always saying, 'as you wish'.....y'know it just shows his willingness to obey her every command."

[awkward silence and confused glances]

Finally one of the elders said, "Ummm....dude I think you're talking about the Princess Bride......NOT Princess Diaries...." and THAT'S when we all lost it!!! bahahahaha   oh my gosh.

funniest moment of. my. life.

geez elders......i worry about them sometimes:P

So anywhos...we've been all over the map this week. On Thursday we were finally able to meet with Dan, the one who said he wants to serve a mission. We brought one of the young women in the ward with us and the lesson went SO well! By the end, after we'd testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, we asked him if he'd pray to know for himself. He responded, "Yea, sure. You guys know it's true, so now I really want to find out if it is too!"

Golden

He took a Book of Mormon and agreed to read and pray about it! I swear, these young people are so incredible! They're actively seeking out truth and have such a willingness to accept it when they find it! It's amazing!!

And talking about young people, we also met with Allison, Dave's daughter, to answer her questions in regards to religion and gospel doctrine. She's only a junior in high school yet the questions she kept asking us were so profound and she was so ready to listen and learn.....ah! it was almost too good to be true! We spent nearly and hour and an half teaching her doctrine from almost every lesson as she kept asking questions: "What's the point of having trials?" "What happens to those who don't know about God when they die?" "Why is smoking or drinking wrong?" "Why is the Bible so hard to understand sometimes?" "Why don't we have prophets now?" and on and on and on!!

We were BLOWN AWAY by her dedicated search for truth! And there was no better feeling than when we'd answer her questions and she'd sit back, wide eyed and say, "Yes! That makes sense! I get it! That totally makes sense!!!"

Best. Feeling. EVER.

Basically....she's incredible and we're SO lucky to be teaching her! The Lord really is preparing hears to hear the truth and these young people are proving it!

...........on a more serious note.........

.......ok....so........here's more on why I didn't get a post up last week. My health issues began acting up around Tuesday when I woke up completely exhausted. I began losing my appetite and the exhaustion continued throughout the week, meanwhile I fainted probably 2 or 3 times before the weekend hit. Then, Saturday morning, I woke up after struggling to sleep and started off the day, but had like zero energy so I eventually ended up back on my bed before starting personal study. I stood up to get dressed before I knew it, I'd passed out.

From what I'm told, I had some type of seizure (muscle spasm thing...idk what) that lasted about 15 seconds and thoroughly terrified my companion. After I'd laid there for 2-3 minutes, Sis Carroll called our ward mission leader and some other members for help. Basically.....the rest of that morning was a blur. I was completely WIPED. Our ward mission leader and his wife came to our rescue and headed over to make sure I was ok. I ended up resting for the morning, trying to regain some strength, but by noon I was plain stir crazy and against my companion’s suggestions, we went out to work.

Yea, idk if that was the best idea physically, but mentally I was content:) I HATE being cooped up and especially as a missionary....its the WORST:] By that evening, we made it to stake conference where I was accompanied three sisters from the stake on a musical number and THEN.....Pres Woodbury also asked that James Kumar, his brother, his dad, me, and a member who assisted in teaching James come up and do a live case study complete with testimonies. James was the first to speak, and he shared his complete conversion story.

Sitting there, feeling SO physically weak and drained, yet hearing him bear witness of the truth which he's found in the gospel, testifying to how it has changed and continues to change his life, and how he knows of himself that the church is undeniably true......AH!!! I've rarely had a happier moment in my life!! Watching him stand in front of hundreds of people, bearing his testimony with such conviction......I was SO proud! SO PROUD!!!

When his brother (our current investigator) then got up to talk about the changes he's seen in his brother since he's joined the church....man! The spirit was SO strong!! You could just feel the power and love that surrounded all us on that stage!! I then got the chance to talk about what it was like to teach James and that was SUCH a precious moment for me! James really was a miracle in my life and continues to be such a blessing!! Testifying of that to the world from that podium.....PRICELESS!

After we'd all finished our testimonies, President Woodbury got up and said only a few words, "Brothers and sisters, do you feel that? Do you feel that love? Do you see it? Remember what you've felt and seen tonight. The gospel is about love. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Out with a bang! AH!!

It was one of those 2% moments that I LIVE FOR!!

 I don't think I'll forget that night for as long as I live!!!!!!! It was truly POWERFUL!!!! And we also found out that night that......I'M STAYING ANOTHER TRANSFER IN BG2!!!! That'll be half my mission in one area and I couldn't be happier to be staying!!!!! It's almost unheard of for a sister to stay in one area this long, so I know it's a miracle that I'm getting another 5 weeks here!!! yaaaaaaa!!!

The Lord is oh SO good to me:)

The health issues are still a challenge and I don’t know yet what’s going to happen, but I know it’s in His hands. Through it all, I've felt a powerful peace that it's all going to be OK. As I've thought about what to do to deal with these trails, it's been difficult to know what the best path to take is. The medical issues make me feel like I'm incapable and weak….like I can't do as much as I think and wish I could. And it's FRUSTRATING.

However, these trials have been teaching me to rely more on the Lord, to seek His help more earnestly, and to realize that I can’t do this work alone. I’m not meant to do it on my own. And only with His help will I succeed in overcoming these obstacles. I’ve come to realize that these struggles are helping me prove myself to Him. Even when it’s tough, even when it’s not easy, even when I’m exhausted, weak, and confused……do I still give Him my best, whatever that may be? Do I recognize His answers to my pleas for help? Do I turn to Him and say, “I can’t do this alone, so help me do it with your strength”?

Yea, these challenges aren’t easy. They’re not enjoyable. But they’re teaching me lessons I need to learn, and through it all, my relationship with Him is growing stronger and stronger.

I still don't know what’s going to happen or what path I should take, but I DO feel a strong reassurance that everything will be alright.

It’s in His hands.

So onward and upward!

<3 Sis Anna Parker

do whatchya gotta do when you only have 10 minutes to paint your toenails #sismishlife 

ok so we tried to make origami temples on night.....yea.....we followed the same instructions and ended up with two COMPLETELY different temples.....#howdoesthathappen

Sweetie (the doll behind me in pink) said she wanted to take a selfie with us making "cool faces".......so we did;) #thatshowwedoit #2cool4school

p-day shopping haul.....YES to F21 and BandBW  #shopaholic #lotionaddict

leave it to me to find this shirt in Bass Pro Shops;) Yea...we were like the only two girls in the store #noshame #cowgirlatheart #lovememyguns

don't ask......last district photo   #wthelders #strange

Make Me a Match

Sooooo…….

Got my first brother-in-law this week.


No biggie. JK it was kinda a huge deal (check out my other blog www.sandandsunshine2.blogspot.com for more on this later!:)!

So yea....my sister has graduated to wife lyfe......and it still blows my mind that my best friend is actually MARRIED......(btw, trying to wrap your mind around that as a MISSIONARY is ten times harder than trying to do it in real life....just sayin......#lockyourheart #preskimball;). Congrats Julia and Zach! You two deserve the best!!

After helping out at an investigator's house for a couple hours this week, packing boxes, moving furniture, etc.  we got ready to head out the door, when our investigator showed us to the door where a brand new pair of UGGS were sitting, and said, "They're too small for me......want 'em?"

Is that even a question??

Basically, I'm most definitely serving in Libertyville (where else to people hand out Uggs for free??) and service most definitely brings blessings:) haha! #spoiled #luvourpeeps

Our next service project was actually more packing and moving....and yes, it all happened on the same day. This time, we showed up to a member's apartment, and one of the first thing she says is, "Ok girls....how good are you at playing Romeo and Juliet??"

Uber confused.

All I was thinking was, "well....i'm pretty good at the whole fainting thing....but the kissing thing....eh.....a little outta my league right now..." Sis Carroll just looked at me REALLY confused, so we just kinda did the awkward laugh and, "Uhhuh....what??"

She took us out to her balcony and explained, "So rather than taking all this stuff up and down the stairs to the car, I was thinking we could just lower everything over the balcony, Romeo and Juliet style."

  

Good thing I do push-ups in the morning. hahaha

We actually pulled it off surprisingly well, despite really weird looks from the neighbors, and we even managed to give away a mormon.org card in the process. #likeaboss

As I was about to take down a box, our member opened it to find why it was so heavy and found their spare change jar. She then grabbed my purse, with, "Here! open your bag!" before dumping nearly $40 worth of coins into my already too-full Coach purse.

Ummmmmmm. ok.

What she didn't know was that trying to get quarters to do laundry here can be such a pain, and now Sis C and I are are set. for. life. Yep.....service brings blessings;) (even though it took me a day and a half to dig through my purse get all the coins out:) haha! we love our members<3

On Saturday night, we carpooled with Ally to a district bonfire testimony meeting at a member's home. All the missionaries in our district invited less-actives and investigators to attend and we hoped that it would give them an opportunity to share/discover their testimonies in a more intimate setting. We showed up, ate dinner (a.m.a.z.i.n.g. homemade pizza.....mmmlicious:) and the elders headed out the door to "start the fire."

After 20 minutes or so, we followed wondering why it was taking them so long. We walked up and........let's just say my scout master dad would've been appalled. I'm no Boy Scout......but......i know for certain that's NOT how to start a fire.....#tomboy #noshame #comesinhandy

So I stood there, wondering what to say, while the elders kept devising ways to torch the pile of sticks. Yea.......guess where this is going.

GASOLINE

of course

The member hosting the bonfire, Bro K., came splitting through the ring of onlookers with a gasoline tank, DRENCHED the wood before anyone could say anything, and then one of the match-happy elders struck up and......yea.....we just about ALL got our eyebrows singed.

 And.......of course.....the fire only burned for under 2 minutes before going out with a poof. Next idea? The elders WOULD have Axe cologne in their car, now wouldn't they. Yep.....that came next. At this point, I feel like Sully watching Boo's costume going through the trash machine. Shoot me.

What are they gonna think of next??

The Axe-and-lighter technique only went so far before we heard an engine buzzing and turned to see the member walking over with a leaf blower. This is getting out. of. control. But no......in comes the leaf blower, and the fire lights up, THEN the leaf blower turns off, fire dies down, AND leaf blower goes on, fire goes up.....and so on and so on.

this is going NO WHERE

Finally, after 45 min of trying to get a fire started, one of the women of the group went to her car, pulled out a packaged fire log, and shoved it into the dying fire. ONLY then did the fire perk up and stay lit so we could manage to have our testimony meeting around an actual fire. Geez laweez.

Luckily, the testimony turned out to be fantastic!! The spirit was so strong and while Ally didn't bear her testimony, on the way home from the bonfire, she opened up to us on why she wants baptized! In her own special way, she was bearing her testimony to us--just us--for the first time, and it was SO incredibly heart-warming! I love that girl with all my heart and felt like a proud mama seeing her identifying her testimony for the first time! #priceless

We had another miracle moment this week, when we decided to do more leaf raking for those who needed it. The elders chose an investigator to serve and we showed up to help just as she was walking out the door. We told her why we’d come and asked if we could be of service. She stared at us for a moment then said, “What have you guys been taking??” This just got awkward. Fortunately, she laughed, and continued, “How did you guys know to come? Today was one of those days when everything is going wrong, and I was about ready to just cry! Then you all show up, and my day is completely turned around!!  You guys must be heaven-sent!"

tru dat

It was one of those moments when you’re like, “Yes! I’m doing my job!”  We got to talk for a while, and after serving her, the elders were able to teach her and she’s accepted the invitation to be baptized!! Service=miracles

Sis Carroll and I got creative with the whole service thing and decided to drop cookies off to some of our investigators, but make it anonymous.  Ok……well actually…….we rigged it so it was kinda like “I’ll bet I can guess who left these cookies on my porch, so maybe I should think of coming to church to thank them” type of deal.  I know. Brilliant;) hahaha! Either way, Sis C and I had fun swaggin our ninja costumes (black leggings and inside-out sweatshirts;) while doorbell ditching with treats (see below for pics…..they about sum up our lives;) haha

And last but not least, we had a prompting to drop by a potential investigator this week, and we walked up the driveway to find Dave (our investigator) sitting outside with a friend, Dan. Dave came up to us and we had a really friendly conversation about missions, what we do as missionaries, and why we do what we do. Dan sat quietly to the side, not really talking much, but clearly listening. After we’d shared with Dave a bit more about ourselves and missionary work, Dan got up, came over and said,

 “I wanna serve a mission. How do I do it??

*blink blink*

Come again??

He handed over his number, said to call him, and when we started talking about other kids he might know from the High School, he became even more interested and kept saying, “Yea! I guess I just need something more in my life.” Even Dave nudged him and said, “Yea, Dan, meet with these girls….they can help you find a path in life.”

Well, y’know Dave, we could do that for you too;) hahah! We left feeling SO grateful that the Lord had put us in the right place at the right time. This work is truly inspired. The Lord is clearly leading us to those that need us, and it’s hastening!

(Ok....so I know.....this email is getting REAL long....but just wanted to send a shout out to all my blog readers;) I love getting your letters and messages! They keep me going and I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing about how it's helping you decide to serve and join in the work! <3 ya peeps)

Keep on keepin on!!!

Onward and upward,

Sister Anna Parker

Ok....so we had a girl's party at our apt on P-day with the sisters in the area.......it was definitely a pinterest-worthy party......minus the pinterest:) #missionarystatus #missmypins

this pic just looks like it BELONGS on pinterest;) 

YES. We did donuts on a string. Mom...you should be proud;) the other sisters weren't down....so.....we made fools of ourselves on our own;) lol 

Yep......bout sums us up:) lol

We got into an intense convo with the elders this week on whether or not ghosts are real. Don't ask. Day after, we found this in the library. PMG should add this to "questions of the soul" cause apparently the elders think they're legit. #boys

We then took these photos and told them we'd actually caught a ghost in out apartment.....#immabeliever

.....i do pretty good as a ghost....

isn't this kid just the living end?!?!?! AH!!! Never wanted a kid more in my life:) haha! #heartbreaker #futuremissionary

Drama Much??

Ok so I’ve never actually played Russian roulette…. (duh)

BUT I can imagine it’s something like getting phone calls as a missionary (that might be a slight exaggeration, but whatevs…). It’s like every time the phone blows up, we panic slightly wondering which investigator has had another life tragedy, why the mission office would be calling at late at night unless it’s an emergency, what teaching assignment the district leader’s gonna slap us with, or which ward member’s calling to cancel dinner……

TRAGIC.

And then there’s the occasional missed call from our landlord, with a voicemail, “I need you to call me back ASAP. We have an issue we need to discuss.”

Good feeling’s gone.

I frantically called her back…..expecting the worst:  I left my towel on the space heater and the complex is now burnt to a crisp…..those nuts I left out for our wannabe pet squirrel has now caused a rat infestation….we left the sink running and our downstairs neighbors are now using all their pots and pans for their non-intended use……or …..yeeeeeaaaaa…….all of those are actually VERY likely;) hahaha

Instead, I call her up and she tells us she has a favor to ask: “So there’s been some neighborhood guys that have been hanging out behind your complex , causing some ‘disturbance,’ and smoking who-knows-what so we’d like you to call the cops anytime you see them out there.”

(0_0)

ummmmmmm………okkkkkkkkkkk

don’t know exactly how I feel about this.

AND of COURSE……the VERY next night….we pull in at 8:58 pm and there they are….just like she said.   GREAT.

(oh and did I mention  that I didn’t see them out there till I  H.A.U.L.E.D.  it across the parking lot and up the stairs to our apartment, holding my purse, dinner leftovers, and a service project change of clothes, trying to make it back by 9pm for curfew……yea, way to make an entrance, Sis Parker…….;)

Anyways…..so we get back to the apartment, spend 5 min debating whether or not to make the call, then call the “non-emergency” 3-1-1 line (WHICH…btw….no one ever answered), then our landlord to get the police dept number, and then finally dispatch, until an officer showed up and the backyard boys went scattering, before the cop even left his car.

And THAT is the extent of mission life DRAMA.

Needless to say, the picnic table behind our complex was “uninstalled” the next day and we haven’t seen the neighborhood band since………

true story

This past Sunday was Invitation Sunday in BG2…. a.k.a. the Mormon equivalent of bring-your-kid-to-work day…..

(btw….. before this all went down, I was totally having de ja vu to jr high when I invited a friend to church and (of course) the YW lesson turned into a sit-down all about the law of chastity…..I’m still surprised to this day that she ended up coming to Girl’s Camp with me after that….:)

Anyways…..Sis Carroll and I ended up playing I SPY from our pew counting all the non-members in sacrament meeting……and ended up with 15!!!  (though there was no answer sheet in the back of the program so there was probably more;) haha

After the meeting, the RS president brought her friend up to meet us, and we struck up a conversation. Turns out, she was scheduled to have brain surgery the next day and we offered to walk her dog while she was recovering. (I’ve never loved dogs more in. my. life. ;). Two days later, we showed up at her house, walked her a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. puppy, and ended up having a Restoration lesson with her afterwards! It was amazing! She’s committed to pray, read the Book of Mormon, and ask God if baptism is right for her!! She’s golden and was definitely an answer to our prayers to find more people to teach:)!!

Monday, we went to dinner at a member’s home who’s two less-active tween sons are BMX boys…..so of course…..first thing I do when we get there is plot down on the couch next to them and they start showing me the entire catalog of pegs, grips, rims, sprockets, and frames.......you could say boys have a special place in my heart…..yea.

#tomboy  #6brothers  #nahmyfault

we definitely made a “unique” connection that night, and by the end of dinner, I’d gotten them both to commit to come to church on Sunday (bribing using Starbursts MAY have happened….but hey….whatever works;)! In return, they filled me in on the newest J-Biebs news……namely that he’s getting 

DEPORTED.

Huh……miracles do happen when you’re on the Lord’s errand. hahaha

We also had a sit-down with our Russian English students this week. We’re reaching that point of I-have-no-idea-how-to-explain-this so we decided to break the news to them that we couldn’t continue lessons (it’s also become a time-consumer, with not a lot of gospel teaching opportunities :/). I thought breaking up with my first boyfriend was bad. Yea……try breaking up with two 60 year old Russians.

 It. Doesn’t. Work.  

Instead, we got a month’s probation. Yep…that’s exactly how it went with the boyfriend too. Geez laweez. So for now, we’re scraping the barrel trying to teach the difference between “complimenting” and “buttering up”……(yes, that was the first question they had come our next lesson….)……and doing our best to sneak sacrament meeting invitations in after each class session.

stylin

And finally…..CONFERENCE.

ok....let's get real.....watching conference on the mission is NOTHING like watching it when you were a kid. You're not allowed to make forts and tents in the living room using every bed sheet in the house.....there's no conference "store" to cash in your "listening points".......no sub sandwiches and Cheetos for lunch between sessions...... and no "name that apostle before their name shows up on the screen" shouting contests.....

#missingthosedays

I officially take back every complaint I had as a kid.

Now throw "adult" as well as "missionary" into the mix of general conference..... and..... well...... it comes down a notch or two. For the first session we crashed the YW's "Prophets and Pancakes" party so we could watch it with our two youth investigators, Ally and Katy. THAT was a good idea....complete with cinnamon rolls and OJ.......sold.

And while we were probably the only ones in the state of IL wearing skirts while everyone else and their dog was at home watching GC in their pajamas.....it was still an amazing session! Both Ally and Katy both said they enjoyed it and they ended up watching more of the sessions from home as well.

Second and third sessions, we watched at the church. We walked in for the 2nd session and the chapel was packed empty. cept for the elders from the other ward. sitting there, we were like "sooooo....this is what it feels like to not have cable:)"

between the four of us....it made for real awkward during the intermediate hymn when you're all not sure if you should sing or not, and if so how loud. the elders eventually just struck up conversations:) haha

#noneofthat #singlesolos #theyretheworse

Luckily, all four of us brought conference snacks to share so we got our few hours of kid status in. It actually felt really satisfying to munch on snacks in the chapel...

#noshame #kid@heart #graduatedcheerios

Honestly, though, conference was my spiritual soak. mmmmmmmm. This round, I was reminded again just how much I love this gospel. It just makes sense. Prophets and apostles are SO critical in today's world. Sitting there, listening to them speak....I've never believed it more. Pres Monson.....I just love that man. Every time he speaks, I feel like he's talking straight to me and it's p.o.w.e.r.f.u.l.

Yea, I’ve heard it before from many people on my mission…why would you choose to follow a man, who claims to be God’s prophet on the earth, but who has no evidence of his divine role?? Why commit your life to keeping commandments, living principles, or sacrificing personal wants, to follow his advice?

How do you know what color is unless you’ve seen it?

You have to experience it to know it’s real. Same with following a living prophet. Believe and obey. God has blessings in store for all of us, and it’s through living prophets that we discover how to unlock those blessings.

I’ve tried it. Living as they direct does bring happiness. It brings security, peace, and lasting rewards from heaven. It takes faith to act, yes. But once you put your faith in God’s prophet…..He’ll never lead you astray.

This weekend reminded me again just how blessed I am to have the knowledge that I do!!

…….Time to go share it with the world………

Onward and upward,

Sister Anna Parker

you've got mail!!!!  we did a re-enactment of the best two years...."elder van pelt.....elder van pelt......elder van pelt..."

conference junkies;)

yes.....we went around the block twice so we could toss coins into the fireman's boots........it was TOTALLY worth it;)

watching GC with my peeps<3

we went downtown to visit our ward mission leader who's in the hospital