To the ER and Back.....

"Say tomorrow.....you meet a boy…… A BOYFRIEND. He tell you, he loves you. You love him. He want to marry you. He has job at Google in California. He say, ‘come with me, get married.’  What do you say to this???"

Well, there’s a reason “Sorry Mister, I’m a Sister”   is printed on t-shirts.

Oh, the questions we get asked as sister missionaries!!

And yes, it was Lev that popped that question during our weekly English lesson. How is that relevant??  I don't even know. He just sat there and shook his head, wide-eyed, and flabbergasted when I told him we don’t even DATE for 18 months.

“Strange…..strange…….” was all he could say after 5 minutes of disbelief.

Don’t worry, I’ve only been proposed to ONCE on the mission….and he didn’t work at Google or live in CA, so obviously that didn’t work out;) lol!  

On Tuesday, we were able to attend the temple for our bi-annual visit, and I’m OBSESSED. It was a beautiful session, and I thoroughly needed the peace and love that can’t be felt anywhere else but the temple! It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.! (Aaaaaaannnnddddd……Sis Woodbury took us on a tour of the sealing room…….that’s not nerve-wracking or distracting at all…..until one of the elders whispers to the group, “Next stop”:)  Then we all get the jitters.

After our temple visit, we went to pick up the car from the shop (it was getting re-fendered from our car accident last week). We showed up, grabbed our keys, and were about to head out the door, when the shop owner, Wayne, started striking up conversation with us. He’s seen “hundreds” of missionaries come through his door to have their cars fixed, and had “an arms-length stack of Book of Mormons sitting in the corner” but he’d never really been told all that much about how the gospel could bless him personally.

I was kinda shocked that he’d had so many interactions with missionaries and yet had never understood what we were about. So…..we told him;) An hour and ten minutes later, he’d committed to read the Book of Mormon, visit Mormon.org, attend a church “party,” and said that if there was more for him to gain, he’d accept it.

S.C.O.R.E.

Honestly, spontaneous teaching opportunities are my FAV!  It also taught me that there are some who just need more…...more time, more information, more love, more interest, or more opportunity in order for them to accept the invitation to read, to pray, and to be blessed beyond what they currently have. Sometimes, the Lord is good enough to me to let me be that person for someone.

That night, I called up the elders in our ward, “Hey, ya wanna go give out free lemonade with us on Thursday??”  Not the elders’ first pick at proselyting activities, but they clambered on board, and come Thursday, you could find two sets of missionaries, standing out on a corner in downtown Libertyville giving out free lemonade………….EPIC.

Not gonna lie, some of the responses we got from people were h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s…….

“Want some free lemonade?”    “Only if there’s Vodka in it”

“Hey would you like some lemonade?”      “Would I like to get poisoned??”

“How does some free lemonade sound?”    “Like you’re trying to sell me something the stupid way”

“It’s hot out….want some free lemonade?”    “You Jehovah’s Witnesses…"

“Would you like some free lemonade?”    “Sorry, I’m from out of town”    Aaaaaaaaaaaand?

Never thought it’d be so hard to give out free lemonade:) Well, by the end of the day, we’d found three people to visit……so it was successful;) One of the men who gave us his info, wasn’t actually a passer-by. He was working across the street painting a building, and we decided to go over and offer him lemonade. When we came up to him, and offered him the glass with, “Looks like you’re working hard out here! Would you like something to drink?” he was a bit speechless, but immediately started thanking us, and asked us why we’d help a stranger like that?

Glad you asked……..

So we ended up telling him about our role as missionaries, gave him a Book of Mormon, and he, in turn, told us he’s been “looking for God” since he’s going through a tough divorce and has two daughters relying on him. It’s incredible to see the way in which the Lord puts people in our path who need the gospel, SO desperately!

It’s was well-worth it standing out on that corner for three hours, getting weird looks from strangers, even weirder looks from the cops that drove by, and even getting made fun of by “strict atheists.”

We found the 1 outta the 99;)

And now for the re-cap on my first (and last:/) 4^th of July on the mish. One word: UNFORGETTABLE.

That morning, I wake up, roll over, turn off the alarm, crawl into a ball for prayer, get dressed in workout clothes, and start tearing it up in the living room doing sit-ups, push-ups, and Russian twists. Then I stand up and…..oap….no new news…..I PASS OUT.

My companion eventually comes out of the bedroom, freaks out, and CALLS  9-1-1.  I’m starting to come around as she’s talking on the phone, and I soon realize she’s not talking to a mutual friend….she’s talking to a 911 operator.  

Joy.  10 minutes later, we can hear loud footsteps outside, and “Hey! The apartment’s over here!” before hearing pounding on the front door.

I’m still lying on the floor, shaking and kinda confused, while six  guys come rushing in, and started asking me all sorts of questions (including “were you out drinking last night?”  ummmmm……NO), taking vitals, asking my companion question after question (she actually remembered my entire birthdate…….SO proud;), and telling me I need to go to the ER.

Sooooo….off we go. Once in the ambulance, they get an IV in me( and a whole lotta blood on me in the process:), hook me up to monitors, and strike up conversation with “Yea, I have to work all day on the 4^th……and usually we don’t get calls this early.”

Sorry, champ.

Rolling me into the ER, one of the EMT’s said, “Hey, I heard her (pointing to my companion) call you ‘Sister Parker.’ Can I call you that??”

Don’t mind if you do…….I  get that a lot:) So for the rest of their time with me, the EMT’s kept calling me Sister Parker which totally confused the ER nurses but…..oh well! Pg. 9…..White Handbook:)  lol

 Once in the ER, I get asked three times again if I’d been out drinking the night before. For reals??  I guess a girl can’t be in the ER with her hair still curled at 7am in the morning, without being guilty of gracing the town the night before.

#soberstatus 

So they run all the tests they’ve run in the past…AGAIN. More blood tests, more x-rays, more EKG’s, more…more...more.

Meanwhile, the nurse who was taking care of me started asking me, why I was from out of state. Good story, actually:) So I start into the missionary shpeal. We talk about the Book of Mormon, believing in God as our creator, and how we can come closer to God by reading His word and praying to Him. She took a card, and agreed to order a Book of Mormon online by saying, “I’m always looking for more spirituality in my life.”

 Ya got it.

2 hours later, the doctor comes in and tells me (AGAIN) that everything’s “normal” and I can go home.

Gees….I’m so glad I came to the ER this morning:)…….I’m NORMAL!

Riiiiiiiiigt.

Sure didn’t feel normal, but what can ya do?? AND because we’re car-less (Sis Bishop rode in the front of the ambulance to the ER), the Zone Leaders had to come pick us up. I felt  S.O.  B.A.D.!  

By the time we got home, I crashed on the couch, totally exhausted and miserable, BUT I thought a lot about that nurse who I got to talk to.Maybe the Lord needed her to hear that message that morning. IDK all the reasons for why stuff like this happens, but I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason (especially in the life of a missionary:) so maybe that morning wasn’t all a waste…….

I feel like I’ve been getting worse since then, so please pray all will work out well in the end……I’m exploring options right now, and I’m not sure what to do. BLAH.

Anyways, that night, we got to go proselyting in a park near our apartment with our ward mission leader. It was a GREAT finding opportunity….they’re all stuck there…..can’t run, can’t hide;) By the end of the night, we’d gotten one potential new investigator and a service project hook-up.

#steezy

Then, our ward mission leader, walked us back to our car, but not before stopping by a group of policemen, and saying, “Here’s Libertyville’s finest, and lucky for you, here’s God’s finest to chat with you!”

I guess that’s our cue…..

The policemen were a bit confused, but we struck off a good convo with them and they each took a Mormon.org card (and I was just glad that the cop who showed up that morning to our 911 call wasn’t one of them;) haha! That  would’ve been awkward….”Heeey….long time. no see!:)”

Though, just before we were about to walk away, one of the cops cocked his head at us with, “Oh wait, I know you guys…you were the ones giving out free lemonade yesterday, huh?”

Uhhhhh…..yep.  Dat’s us…….Guilty as charged.

He couldn’t gather why anyone would do that, so he just laughed, and waved us off. Hey….at least now we know we’re getting an image in public, cops and all;)

We got home that night, did planning, and then…….come to find……we have one of the best views of Libertyville’s firework show….from our front porch. So we stepped out for a few minutes, to watch the show……and it was the perfect finale to our day (PLUS, it was my ten month mark day, so I’m sure that’s why the fireworks were extra spectacular:)....Aaaaannndddd....my boss of a comp, made me SMOOTHIES....Ah! My FAV;) 

The only bummer (second to our ER trip) for week, was a text convo we ended up having with one of our investigators. Saturday night, he called us, and started reading some anti-mormon literature to me over the phone. My heart SANK. It legitimately breaks my heart when people are led to believe lies about God’s church and the truth that is available to them. He agreed to meet with us the following day at church and to bring his materials with him to “show us we were wrong.”

Instead, he texted us again that night, and began RAILING on Joseph Smith and our beliefs. Everything from swearing to cutting remarks to anger he dished out on us over text. He told us we’d been taught lies our whole lives, that Joseph was an imposter, and he blatantly refused to read any of the Book of Mormon.

It was in that moment, that I discovered the depth of my testimony. Even amidst all his anger, and accusations, and attacks…I was FILLEDwith a peace and assurance that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God.  His words were hard to take, but it made NO difference to me and my testimony. I came away from that conversation realizing just how firmly I know this gospel to be true.

Elder Holland’s words just kept sounding in my ear,

“Tell me whether in this hour of death these two men  (Joseph and Hyrum Smith) would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that!   They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

“For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”

The gospel is true. Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon stands as evidence of that. And God Himself leads this church today. Some may try to deny it, to fight against it, or to attack those who believe it, but no accusation of man can change truth from God.

And despite what anyone may say, I KNOW IT IS TRUE!!!  Like Joseph, I know that God knows I know it’s true.

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done!”

Onward and upward!

Sister Anna Parker

My comp made me smoothies...mmmmm...my FAV;)   #luvher

#itsamerica    #redwhiteandblue

Best. Comp. EVER. She's a gem:)

Round 3......and I still hate IV's:)

Can I Get an Amen?!

The prospect of working out gets me out of bed in the morning……..yea I’m a freak. 

SO….Wednesday morning, I pull my companion out of bed, grab my Saucony’s, and head out the door, convincing Sister Bishop that this workout is going to be e.p.i.c.

Not 10 minutes out, we’re blazing down an oak-lined street, and I’m happily jabbing away while Sis Bishop is still trying to wake up…..when I feel “drops” coming down from the tree we’re under.



I look down at my shirt and IMMIEDATELY…...... start KRUMPING.



Poop.



And it’s not just on my shirt. It’s on my shirt…..AND my pants…..AND my head (!!!!!). What on earth is that bird doing up there?!? 


One thing’s for sure…..we never got home faster than we did that morning. And after a thorough shower……I ate eggs for breakfast to show that peep what I’m capable of;) hahaha!


That same morning, we head out to district meeting and the sky was SO close with tons of huge gray clouds moving SO fast and billowing like crazy…….(don’t worry….I took a video of it for the awkward-RM show-your-slides night when I get back.)

By the time we got to the church building, it was starting to rain. Soon the thunder came, the lightening started flashing, and we could hear tornado sirens screaming in the distance. At the end of our meeting, our district leader turned to me and asked me to accompany the group in “Onward Christian Soldiers.”



The one time in my life I’ve had legit background music.



That lightning and thunder could have been bombs going off for all we cared…..EPIC. Probs one of the coolest mission moments I’ve had……it made up for the non-epic-ness of the morning workout;) lol



By Saturday, we thought out adventures were more or less over…….never been more wrong in MY LIFE.

Right before we’re supposed to start personal study, a member of our ward, Sister G., calls us frantically:

“Sisters! I need your help! My one daughter (Amy) is in town for the week, and my other daughter (Jessica) is flying in from Hawaii right now, and Amy doesn’t know….it’s a surprise for her! I need to go pick Jessica up from the airport, but Amy needs help with the kids and with our yard sale while I’m gone. CAN YOU HELP??”


Sure thing. I’m always up for surprises.


So we fly out the door 10 minutes later, show up, and meet our member who’s outside setting up the yard sale. We whisper and laugh for a few minutes over the up-coming surprise, and then Sister G. instructs us to go inside to help Amy.

We walk in the back door, and the first thing Amy says to us is:

“Sisters! How did you know to come right now! You’re a miracle! Don’t tell my Mom, but my sister is flying into town right now from Hawaii and it’s a surprise for her! It’s a total miracle that you showed up when you did, because I have to go pick them up from the airport and Mom needs help here with the kids and garage sale!”


Housten……we have a problem.



Sister Bishop and I were D.Y.I.N.G.!!!! Hahaha! We decided to play the fool and let it all play out on it’s own, so we didn’t fill Amy in, but just went with it.


Eventually, Sister G. comes in and Amy tells her she has to run a quick errand. We could totally see the wheels turning, jamming, and then re-turning again in Sister G’s mind;) lol!

As soon as Amy left the room, Sister G turns to us and says, “I’ll bet you anything, she knows about it, but doesn’t know I know about it!”


Word.


Sister G kept it a secret till Amy picked up Jessica and her family and got home ……. PRICELESS. Gotta love a family with secrets;) lol

When our work was done there…..we headed right off to our next service project:



Earlier in the week, I’d looked online for community service opportunities and found a Cancer Walk for Life happening right down the road from us.

PERFECT.

So we get hooked up with the committee and show up Saturday morning to start lining stages with purple plastic, taping signs up, and hauling tables, gift baskets, food, and equipment to all sorts of places out on the HS football field. We were having a blast, acting as the DJ’s pre-run audience, chasing down run-away papers in the wind, and meeting people from all over the community who were uber nice…….like Mormon status nice;)


We even met a long-time less-active, Russell, who seemed excited to be in contact with “church people” again (he’s less-active because his wife is not a member)…..we were obviously meant to be there …….K.A.R.M.A…..


After about 6 hours of event prep…..everything was almost finished and families were showing up, setting up tents, putting out lawn chairs, and decked in their team colors and accessories.



And then it HAPPENED.



One of the committee members comes hurrying onto the field, telling us that a MAJOR STORM WAS HEADED OUR WAY. Torrential rains, winds up to 50 mph, etc……the whole nine yards.


Well SNAP.


So we frantically started hauling gift baskets, raffle prizes, food, and equipment into a small brick shed nearby. After that was done, we headed to the DJ stand with Russell to help cover the sound equipment in black trash bags.

By the time we’d finished, the rain was POURING down in sheets and we agreed we didn’t want to get soaked by trying to head for the shed.

DEAL.

So we sat down, right then and there, with Russell while the wind was howling and sirens are blaring in the background, and did what current full-time and past-time missionaries do…….we shared mission stories.


Makes sense.


He started telling us all kinds of stories, and we could see the light in his eyes as he recalled his mission. That light…..as well as the light from the now-turning brownish-green sky. We’d been out for about 15 minutes when the group huddled in the brick shed started screaming at us. We turned to see all of them flailing their arms, signaling for us to come, and trying to yell over the howling wind.


Russell: “Crud. Well….guess we better go.”


SO…..despite our desire to stay out and watch the storm…..we ran for it and YES…..got SOAKED. We’d barely gotten inside when one of the twelve wet and terrified woman in the shed pulled the garage door down and we all stood there confusedly blinking in the dark.



0_0



All you could hear were twelve jittery women fluttering between, “TORNADO!…….funnel winds! ….touchdown!….green sky!.....too young to die!….we’re going to get hit!……(and then a whole lotta) get down on the ground! Get flat! Get down on the ground! My husband always says….get down flat! Green sky, get down!” and one pessimistic DJ muttering in the corner...... “my equipment’s going to get RUINED. Blasted tornado.”


Sister Bishop and I couldn’t help but suppress laughter…..all the while one of the 60 year old woman in the group crouched down with her head poked out under the garage door, giving us weather updates every 2 minutes.


And THEN…..the prompting came.



“Offer to pray”



Sold. They've got no where to go:) So I waited for my cue (a huge crack of lightning and boom of thunder…and subsequent terrified squeals), before announcing, “Would it be ok if we prayed for our safety and the safety of those out in the storm??”


Unanimously the women harped, “Yes! Oh yes! Yes, yes, yes!” and started forming a circle in the small 10x4 foot area we were in, each holding hands with their neighbor (yea, and Sister B ended up holding hands with Russell…..

(btw…it’s not awkward holding hands with non-mormon guys in a prayer circle, but holding hands with member guys…esp. returned missionary guys….in a prayer circle….now THAT’s awkward;) lol)


BUUUT…..before I could begin praying, a woman in the circle shouts, “Ladies! 10 HAIL MARY’s! 10 HAIL MARY’s!”


And again…..unanimously the women harped, “Yes! Oh yes! Yes, yes, yes!”



GREAT……..Well…THAT backfired on us.



So off they go: “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women…..” Over and over and over again…………While the three of us Mormons (two of us wearing the nametag of SISTER) just stand there speechless.


Now what??


Eventually, the lead woman stops and says, “Hail Mary, full of grace…ok! Ok! Ok! ……that’s probably good enough, right??” 


I’m thinking……WRONG.


So…..the Spirit of course….nudges me and I muster up, “Would it be ok if we (pointing to Sister Bishop and I) prayed?”


More unanimous “yes’s” and we bowed our heads in prayer. As I began that prayer, I was immediately struck by the difference in the Spirit that came. It filled that small brick shed, with a dozen wet and scared women huddling together while a tornado swirled around outside. I KNEW I was talking with GOD. HE was the one I was addressing….that I was going to as my FATHER…..who I needed help from and who I knew was listening to my prayer.

I wasn’t talking to Mary…and I wasn’t turning to my iPhone to find assurance from the Weather Channel that I was going to be safe…….I was turning to HIM. God Himself. And through that prayer, I knew we’d be granted safety, and that He was with us.

When I ended, there were quiet, “Thank you’s” and “That was beautiful.” They felt it. They felt the difference. The conversation suddenly went from “we’re going to die” to “God is with us.” One of the women who just moments ago was crying, “get down on the ground! Get down, get down!” stood there calmly next me and with her arm around me said, “Trust in God and it will be ok….that’s what my mother used to tell me. He’s with us.”



I looked at her straight in the eyes and said, “HE IS!”   And I knew it with all my heart!



After the funnel winds passed, the rain eventually died off, and we left the shed. EVERYTHING we'd set up....tents, stands, tables, signs.....were trashed around the field, some stuff floating down the field with the rainwash and other items strewn every which way. It was kinda depressing.


Unfortunately, they had to call off the whole event an hour before it was supposed to start, but hey, we got more service in afterwards, helping with clean up:) #blessingsindisguise


AND....we gave away our number to a number of the women that were in the shed with us, AND we got a dinner appointment with our less-active! I called it a good day:)



Sunday came and so did Bethany WITH her MOM!!! We were stoked! Her mom ended up staying for all three hours too!! What what! Afterwards, we gave Bethany a tour of the baptismal font and walked her through the program. When we first offered to have her mom say the prayer at the baptism, she declined, but after we'd showed her the font, and talked about Saturday as such a special day for Bethany, her mom said, "Well, I was actually thinking, maybe I should say the prayer, so I can be a part this for you, Bethany."

#happinesshigh

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the Spirit works on her and she can see the difference its making in her daughter's life! Gonna happen.....



Oh...another Sunday occurrence......we went to a dinner appointment at a member's, and at the end of dinner, their boys tell us that the elders were over yesterday and had a go at pogo sticking. We got visual proof too.

Classic:)

Sister Bishop and I turned to leave just as their sons pulled out the pogo sticks and handed them to us with, "are you better than the elders?" Can't let the elders outdo us now, can we??


SO....I pogo sticked in a maxi skirt.   




 YOLO




And we proved that pogo sticking in a skirt takes more skill than pogo sticking in slacks. #sisterswag #whatupelders 


So we're keeping busy, serving with a smile, and teaching with the spirit.......and it's A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!!



I'm continually reminded that The Lord calls the weak things of the world (MISSIONARIES) to do His work, because they easily rely on Him. The Lord doesn't expect us to be perfect. A mission teaches you how far from perfect you actually are:)

BUT it also teaches you just how powerful you can become because you're representing HIM and can tap into His power and blessings if you're trying your best!




So....just "try a little harder, to be a little better!" (President Hinckley)




Onward and upward! 



Sister Anna Parker