Week 17 Eindhoven - It's Christmas Time in the City...

Hello Hello!

MERRY 'almost' CHRISTMAS! If you can't tell we are totally in the Christmas mood on this side of the world. The lights are beginning to come on and of course the Christmas music has been going for the past couple of weeks (months...). The paper snowflake are beginning to fill the house and the spirit of Christmas is alive! To say the least I love this time of year and it's sure a blessing to be able to tell other people in this country why I love this time of year. Families, the gospel, the laughter, the food, the memories made and most of all the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Just like the new video says, "A Savior is Born" so we can always be filled with peace and love. It doesn't get any better then that!

I have a lot of bitter sweet feelings right now. Last night we got the phone call about transfers and I am going to be saying goodbye to one of my best friends. It has been to much fun serving with Elder Da Silva, I have truly made a life long friend the past 4 and a half months. But the sweet is that I get to stay in Eindhoven for Christmas!! I am getting Elder Wilson a stud of a man from Canada. It is going to be a lot of fun serving with him!

Here are just a couple quick highlights from this past week:

So last week Elder Byers and I got let in while knocking doors to a man named Francis. I believe I included that in my last email. So this week Elder Da Silva and I taught him the plan of Salvation and guess what!? Eindhoven finally has a baptismal date!! We got him on date for February 13th and wow we were so excited!!!

We had an awesome Zone Christmas Conference down in Antwerpen. Got to see a whole lot of friends. And get this, the Sister in my MTC group gave her dying testimony.....So weird. I felt like we all just got out here and now she is flying home this week. It was pretty sad to be honest. Time flies!!!!!!!

Jacky aka Shakira taught me how to make some amazing Peruvian rice this week. SO GOOD! Mom you will enjoy that one when I get home.

Working with the ward is beginning to improve a whole lot. We are doing a big Christmas thing with them and were given time during Church yesterday to teach them how to invite people to come, it was great! I love this ward.

We got to go carol to a couple of less active and completely make their entire day!

The list goes on and on. This week was one for the bags. I am loving this work and loving my mission. I know 100% this Gospel is true. I love you all so much and am so grateful for everything you do for me. I hope you have an incredible Christmas season as we remember why we celebrate it in the first place. Have an amazing week!!

Love,
Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

Our Happy Family Love these guys.

Week 16 Eindhoven "Sinterklaas, December, Adventures

Hello hello,

This week has been loads of fun! I don't even know where to begin and i have about 10 minutes of typing time....so sorry but this one will be super short. Eindhoven saw a lot of miracles this week it has been so awesome!!!! We are beginning to see the fruits of our labors. Ah I just love missionary work so much, there is nothing else like it! Here are just a few of the highlights from last week.

I was able to go up to NIjmegen and work with Elder Hill there and we had an absolute blast together and saw some really cool things happen. They have been struggling a little bit getting some appointments. They ended up having to drop a lot of investigators because they just didn't want to keep commitments. So Elder Hill and I made a goal to find two people and set up two appointments. That's exactly what we did. We met two really cool people on the door and were able to have nice conversations with them and set up a return appointment. The Lord was really blessing us. And fun fact I got fed a MASSIVE plate of Fufu made by a Ugandan. Yumm....

Wednesday Elder Da Silva and I worked together the first have of the day and saw miracles! We got let in and had an awesome lesson. And had a lesson with a potential we had found the week before. Had a nice lunch with Jacky aka Shakira and had a good lesson with her as well. Then we split with the Ap's and I got to work with Elder Bonner again. So fun, we have become really good friends. But we recorded a Christmas song with brother Stewart and it was so cool. Wow he can sing!!!!!

Friday I got to work with elder Byers in Eindhoven and we had 2 more people open the door and let us right in. We were able to teach the restoration to them both and set up new appointments. The Lords work is hastening! I love it! I also got to cook for Zuster Van Der Riet again. It was great.

We got to celebrate Sinterklass this week with the Van Empels. Man I love that family so much. They do so much for us it's incredible. Sinterklaas was awesome we all got a couple of fun little presents from them and had a really fun evening with one another. We also had to right our zone transfer report that night...I won't even say how late we were up. But we still made it to church on time and had a beautiful Sunday!!!

I love you all and am thankful for all the prayers and support. I hope you have an amazing week and enjoy the Christmas spirit. And always remember the true Meaning of Christmas. Our Savior lives and loves us!

Love,
Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

P Day Ballin

Week 15 Eindhoven - Oh The weather outside is frightful.....But I still love it here

Hello Hello,

How are you? or maybe I should say, Como Estas? Or Como Voce esta? Or Comment allezvous? Or hoe gaat het? So we met a couple of people who speak the 5 languages Elder Da Silva speaks and so I got to sit there and feel like a greeny all over again. It was awesome. But on the bright side I am learning some Spanish again. I am loving my life in the mission field, this is the place to be. It's true what everyone says, we are engage in the best work on earth. And serving with Elder da Silva is so much fun!

Here are some quick highlights from last week. It'll be short cause I don't have a lot of time:

Thanksgiving over here was so much fun! So on the actually day of thanksgiving we were all able to go and enjoy some delicious Peruvian thanksgiving, so good! Then Friday for our MLC lunch Zuster Bunnell had made a big thanksgiving lunch for us all. And it was incredible!!!! She is a dang good cook. Then last night members had us over and fed us another thanksgiving meal. I was just in heaven this week. Probably ate way to much food but it was just amazing. Got to love that turkey. And I hope you all enjoy your turkey sandwiches for the next week:)

This past week we were on a whole lot of exchanges. On of the days I was able to work with Elder Stanworth, he is actually from Hurricane and played sports and all that. So we played against each other. But we had an awesome exchanges. Got out and were able to work super hard set up 3 solid appointments it was great. But it was super funny, so we looked up this lady, who I thought was an investigator. And we get talking for a solid 30 minutes on the door and she thought I was the funniest person in the world. I was talking to her like an investigators. Well she shut the door and elder Stanworth said you now that was a less active. I just started dying and it all made sense why she though i was a goofball. But hey it worked, we got an appointment haha.

Saturday I was on splits with elder Crowder one of the elders living with me. And we saw some really cool miracles. First off we just had a super fun day working with one another. But the coolest part of the day is when we re-exhanged and our appointment fell through so we drove them to go do their last look up and we would just knocked some doors on the other side of the street. And within 30 minutes Elder Da Silva and I had made 3 appointments with all new people. It was such a cool miracle. the lord definitely led us to these people.

I love my mission and am so grateful for you all. The love, prayers and support! I am so blessed to have you all in my life. The gospel is true! Have an amazing week.

Love,
Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

Week 14 Eindhoven "American Soil, Winter, Zone Training and Miracles"

Hello Hello,

What a CRAZY week this past week has been. I don't even know where to begin. So I will start with the weather cause that seems to be something that dutch people LOVE to talk about. And I think it is starting to rub off on me. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....the weather over here is starting to get nice a frisky. The wind has turned into the chill clear to the bone type of wind that you can't avoid. But hey jackets keep you nice and warm so nothing to complain about over here. Life is great.

Here are some of the highlights from this past week.

Elder Da Silva and I were able to give our zone training on Tuesday and it ended up being so good! We are focusing on Chapter 9 of Preach my Gospel this transfer which is finding. So we picked out theme to be "Finding Nemo" because we thought that fit. And made the coolest zone vision. I was able to talk a lot of about how our efforts are never wasted and I learned a lot by having the opportunity to study that the past couple of weeks. I will share two cool parts about the training though. First, we had the entire zone convinced that we had brought an investigator to participate in the "first vision" role play. The idea was to make it as real as possible and oh how it felt so real. It was great! If only you could of seen everyones faces when we said he was a member though, to die for. Second, we had a really cool experience when we were all planning for the Zone vision. And the Idea "Find YOUR Nemo" came up. Which means, Elder Da Silva, Zuster Twiggs and Myself prayed and came up with a list of 30 names. We ended the training by telling everyone that they are going to draw a name and that name will be their Nemo and they are going to pray about that person everyday and Go find their nemo. It was super powerful and got everyone pumped! Solid training all around.

We were also able to go on a couple of really fun exchanges and splits this past week. Elder Da Silva and I went up to Tilburg for a Baptismal interview, the Lady was SOOO cool. She got baptized this past week. But we then went and joint taught with the sisters to one of the coolest guys ever. He is pretty much a professional soccer player and his son is being trained by PSV coaches to play for them in the future. Super smart guy and super sport minded. We got along great and had a really powerful lesson with him!

Elder Da Silva and I were able to find some really cool new investigators this past week. I will share one of the stories. So we were out contacting and we were knocking doors and such and were about to leave the area to head to look up some more people and we starting walking the only way we knew. Then I was like I am pretty sure you can take a short cut. So we flipped around and the second we walked around the corner we saw a young guy standing there. So we stopped him and got talking to him, he is HILARIOUS by the way, and he was so ready and willing to listen to what we had to share. We had a lesson with him last night and it was so good. We are already like hero's to him he said he wants to be just like us. But He wants to come to church and make a difference in his life. God led us to him! He truly does lead his work.

Last but not least, guess who stepped foot on American soil on the other side of the world this past week. This kid! Saturday we were planning on working in Maastricht then they gave us a call and said their ward is having a turkey bowl in the morning and we could join. So we did. But the twist is the ward is American and we played on an American Army base. We had to get all these passes and stuff and it was nuts. So after the turkey bowl we even got fed REAL hamburgers. Angus beef and everything. And the bag of chips.....are they always that big. Elder Clemet and I were blown away at how big they were. And Root beer what is that stuff....wow It was incredible. Well then one of the members asked do you want to go to the store on base, we couldn't say no. We walked in and just about died. You don't pay for a shopping cart, the store was massive, American food everywhere. It was like a massive Lin's pretty much. Then the member said we could all get $5 dollars worth of stuff and it would be their Christmas gift to us. We got some cereal, REAL Gatorade, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, Ben and Jerry's and a couple other goodies between the two of us. To say the least I was in paradise. I totally forgot what it was like.

So the terrorist threats and the situation in Belgium and France have been going on. We got a call last night and this is what is happening here. All Belgium missionaries and two cities in our zone just have to stay in their cities, avoid crowded areas and trains. I almost feel like I am living an action movie. It is heart breaking to see what is happening in the world. They need the Lords message that we all bare! The Gospel is true!!!!

Well that was my week for you all in a nut shell. Thanks for all the prayers and support! I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Love,
Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

American Food :)

American Army Base Escort Pass

Week 13 Eindhoven "Transfers, Rain Storms, Chaos and Laughs"

Hello hello,

What a wonderful week it has been this past week. But wow has is been a crazy one. Pushing for time, going from place to place and enjoying it in the process. The first couple days of this week were quite fun. Here are some of the highlights of the week. Sorry that this is so short the 'emailing mood' wasn't to be found today...haha.

Olliebollen are back! Monday night I had my first olliebollen of the year. It was heavenly. I was even able to eat one with My son (Elder Gleave). His first one and oh he was all over it. I know this might sound crazy but I would have to say that it is much much better then Herring. It is some sort of a heavenly round donut just to give you and idea.

Transfer happened! And get this, we were out of there by 2 o'clock!!!! Can you believe it. that NEVER happens. We were sure running a much tighter ship that day then the previous transfers. It was nice to be able to get back to our own city and still have time to go and do some work. We actually were able to have a lesson with a really cool lady. The way it worked out was awesome. So Elder Bringhurst and I had found the women and Da Silva and I went back and were just about to start teaching her when one of her friends came in. And we got talking with her and it turned out that she was the reason why we were led to there. She was searching so hard to find a way to rid the guilt and sorrow that she had. We ended up having an amazing lesson with her and are pumped to see her again this week.

P.S. Lindsey the little daughter gave us some jelly beans and they were the kind that looked the same but were either really good or really bad. I had bad luck 3 times in a row.....Baby whips, bogger and dog food. SO GROSS! we all got a good laugh out of it though.

We also met with the super cool couple that Elder Bonner and I found when we were on exchanges. Man they are just awesome. We actually had our lesson here in the church and it went so so good! They are super interested and have so much potential. It just made me so happy to see people who are willing to put our words and promises to the test. Warms my heart because i know if they do that God will answer them. It was pretty funny they had this super nice tandem bike and I mobbed it with Dave after our lesson and we were hauling. I never realized how fast you could ride one of those things. We had a good laugh. I love the people of the Netherlands!!!!!!

We also were able to find a few more new investigators this week and that has been a blessing. We got let in and taught a super cool guy from Sira Leon. The Lord is starting to pour out His blessing on Eindhoven. This city is boiling with potential and we can't wait for what's going to come next! I LOVE this work.

So the reason this week has been hectic is because on top of making sure we are out and about doing our missionary work we had to plan a zone training, calendar and new zone vision all in 3 days. But we did it! Da Silva and I can't wait to show our missionaries the new zone vision. It's going to bring miracles. You'll hear more about that one next week.

I am so grateful that I was called to serve here. I know I am where I am meant to be! I love this gospel and this work and these people and this ward. the list could go on and on! The church is true!!!!

Love you all. Have an amazing week!!

Love, Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

Elder Gleave and I enjoying our Olliebollen

Week 12 Einhoven - New Mission Address

Hoi!

“Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved." Thomas S. Monson

What a fun adventurous week this past week has been. Every week just seems to bring more smiles and more fun memories. Missions are the best. We are so blessed. Hey that rhymed haha. It seems like you can't even blink out here without the time just disappearing. Just to many good things happening. I love it. But I don't have tons of time so I will be a limited in what I can share. So here were some of the highlights of this past week.

So I got to go down to Maastricht this week and work with Elder Walker and we had an absolute blast with one another. First things first, wow that city is absolutely beautiful. So if any of you ever plan on coming to the Netherlands, Maastricht is a must see. We spent a lot of day contacting by the international university campus. Can I just say it is so hard to contact in English! About every other contact was English so i got my fair share of practice in though. We ended up finding some really cool people. We were walking on the remainder of a wall that used to boarder the city and ended up talking to a young 18 year old kid from Germany and had an incredible conversation with him. The spirit totally led us straight to him. He was so prepared to receive our message it was amazing. Then as we were heading back to the stairs to go down there was a girl like sleeping and I was just messing with Elder Walker and said "Hey contact her you wont" Well he did. And she ended up being from D.C and is here studying and was also super interested in the gospel. It was weird hearing an American accent though. We actually ran into two that day. Well we also went and taught a super cool college kid. Him and his friends were all pretty curious. And at the end of the lesson he is like i am taking this to Berlin with me and am going to read the whole thing. Pretty cool. Then to end the night I got to go to Germany!!! It was so much fun. A member from America lives in Germany and works at the base there and he had us over for dinner. SO GOOD! Felt at home haha. I even rode in a mini van. So American. Love it!

I also got to work with my home boy Elder Bringhurst this week!!!! Reunited at last. It was so much fun being able to work with him again. And oh we sure made the best of it and had a dang fun day! We found a lot of awesome potentials. Taught some Turkish kids how to play American football and it was SO GOOD!!! They were all like "hike" and we had people snapping the ball and everything. We were dying! Then we saw some guys playing basketball so we had to keep up the tradition and go ball some people up. We did of course:) And get this, Broeder Stewart can sing like a boss. We had dinner over there and found out he writes music and sings. So we got him to do it for us and wow was he good! Just a solid day. One to remember that's for sure.

We were also in Tilburg this week doing Sister support day with the sister and saw some really cool miracles. So we were walking through the centrum and a girl runs up and stops elder DA Silva and I and was like hey do you remember me. So it was a girl we had met on the train about two weeks ago and she lived in Tilburg. We talked and now she is going to be taking the lessons from the sister there! Super cool. Then as we were heading back to our car I got challenge to go stop these two Asians who were already way past me. So elder Da Silva and I take off running and catch up to them. Well guess what. They wanted to take the lessons too!!! How cool is that! Just full of miracles.

There was also a big thing called glow Einhoven going on this week. Da Silva and I had planned to go centrum contacting and found that out so we went and took a look. It was unreal. There were some pretty amazing things that they had. Just huge light shows that would make building look like they were collapsing or dancing and just crazy stuff like that. There were TONS of people too. We were able to have a blast and still find a couple super solid potentials.

This week was just amazing all around. I love missionary work and this mission! And I almost forgot mom, I am staying in Einhoven with Elder Da Silva!! We are both so excited to go do work again! The Church is true!

Love,

Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

They Drafted Me ;)

Week 11 Eindhoven - "I've got a pocket, gotta pocket full of sunshine"

Hello Hello,

I love my mission! This week has been an amazing and adventurous week to say the least. But on a mission that's not unique because every week is amazing. I love the Netherlands, this place has my heart. It really truly does.

None of you will believe what I am going to say next, but I promise you that it's the truth. It didn't rain a single day this entire week!!! Which is great but I have to admit I was just beginning to really like the rain. But I love the sunshine. So I thought I better enjoy the nice weather why I can. Hence the title haha.

Here are some of the things that made this past week so good:

Monday we did it again! The missionaries ended up on top in our soccer tournament. (Even though most of the kids were like12-15 but you don't need to know that). I love the soccer culture of this country. It is so much fun. I mean when you have 5 soccer fields in every neighborhood its always fun to be able to play a little pick up game here and there. And after a year and half I am finally starting to get somewhat good with my feet. I don't look like a complete dufus anymore. To much fun!

Elder Bonner and I were able to work with each other here in Eindhoven and have some more fun. I love that guy. We were able to see some pretty cool things happen. We had all of our appointments cancel as we were heading out the door but saw cool things happen because of it. We ended up getting 6 pretty solid potentials. It was cool we were walking in the centrum and the first two people we stopped ended up being interested in the gospel and invited us to come and share what we believe with them. It was a great way to end the day!

Funny story, so there is this elder in our mission who can get a dinner appointment with anyone I swear. I was with him on splits and I told him to show me how it was done and it blew my mind. He could literally get people on the street to invite him over for dinner. So of course I had to get it a try and got shut down so hard core. Like five times in a row. I guess he's just got the magic touch. Maybe one day I will master that art. But get this, we asked some guy what typical dutch food was he looked at us and said 'bread' and kept walking. Bread for real, we were both dying.

We are teaching a super cool young couple Theo and Silvia and this week we had an awesome lesson with them. It was great we first walked in and they had this card game on the table and
called us out. We couldn't say no. It was a game for like 5 year olds. You all would lay down a card at the same time and when exactly five of the same fruits were on the table you would ding the bell. We got so into it. It was so much fun. Just picture 4 adults playing this game and it being intense, to good. But they are both doing great. Hopefully we can get them both on date here pretty soon.

So Elder Da Silva and I were doing some doors and we saw two older guys playing some ball. Literally this was like the first time in forever someone was playing basketball and it wasn't a Sunday. So I had to go play them. It was to good they were all messing with us talking about how we were in the wrong clothing and all this stuff. But we got playing and it was great. Break in some ankles even in a shirt and tie. We all had a good laugh. And they wanted us to join there street ball team, we were dying.

Halloween was a blast. Renatta and Angeliqe had us all over for a Halloween party and they went all out. The place was looking good. We all dressed up (even Harry!!!!!) and had a good time.

Driving in Europe has got to be one of the most adrenaline rushing things in the world. IT IS INSANE! The streets are half the size and windy, yet people drive twice as close and nuts. It is an adventure every time we step into the car. But it's been fun being able to experience that as well. And oh the funny looks that people give us when someone backs up the car. To die for let me tell ya!

I love my mission to say it twice! I love the people of the Netherlands and Belgium and and so grateful I get to serve them. This work is amazing and the message is true!

Thanks for all of the prayers and support! I hope you all have a great week. And happy November!(almost thanksgiving which means almost turkey bowl!!)

Love,
Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

Week 10 Eindhoven - Een beetje overall geweest

Hello Hello,

Wow, another week gone by already. Can you believe it. I must say, this week has been one full of adventures, laughs, hard work and good times. Elder Da Silva and I were able to go on quite a few exchanges this week so we got see a lot of the other cities and missionaries and that has been an absolute blast. The weather went from a record breaking week of being cold last week. To a nice warm, blue skied country this week. It has felt so great these past couple of days! Blessings.

It was fun this week we were able to go up to be apart of Breda's district meeting and then I got to stay and work with Elder Lott. We had an absolute blast together. It was quite funny, so we were out knocking doors and Elder Lott was in a sweater because he was confident that it wasn't going to rain. Well once we bike all the way out to the place the heavens just opened up and began to pour! On top of that there was literally nowhere where you could stand and not get hit by the rain. So he go pretty wet. Thank goodness for rainproof coats. But we were able to talk to a lot of cool people and have a fun exchange with one another. Saw some cool miracles. And then to end the night we even got to play a little horse. It had been a while so it took some time to get back on my game but...ha ha just kidding. It was great though. I love this place.

Wednesday was also super fun. That morning we were running around on the trains trying to re-exchange and then exchange with another companionship. So while we were waiting in the station I was playing 'come thou fount' on the piano and a member heard it and came over and talked to us and thought it was so funny to meet us in the station. It was awesome. But Elder Crowson and I finally made our way back to Eindhoven and had a killer day. Our bikes were broken so we walked a lot, but it's healthy right? So they say. My feet beg to differ though ha ha. But Elder Crowson and I saw some cool miracles. The fist door of the day was the coolest potential ever followed by an awesome less active lesson. And just a good fun time.

Well by the time Thursday rolled around it still felt like Tuesday. But today Elder Da Silva and I made our way up to Amersfoort to work with them for the day. And you will not believe what they fed us for lunch. Lamb balls......how gross is that. And guess who the mastermind behind the whole thing was Elder Bringhurst. That's where the other two elders got the idea from. Man i love that kid. But that was quite interesting but honestly not so bad before you know what you are eating. Well we had an awesome day in Amersfoort and really saw some cool things happen. Then it was off to the races to make it back to Eindhoven grab our suits and hop on the train to head to Den Haag so we could be to MLC the next day on time. We ended up sleeping with Elder Steenblik and Elder B. It was the funnest night.

MLC was incredible. The only thing I want to say about that is that Mission Presidents are inspired and the mission home is a holy place! I love this work!

Well Saturday night was so great! We finally had the singing elders come and do a concert in Eindhoven and it was AMAZING! The whole zone saw so many miracles happen. The spirit was so strong and the turnout was great. We also saw some miracles for Eindhoven. Got a couple of new investigators and are going to start teaching the husband of a member. God is good. I LOVE THIS WORK!

This week was just overall amazing. Thank you all for you love and support! I hope you all have another amazing week.

Love,
Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

HE got the Package from Allie and Heidi.  He having fun with the googly eyes and laser guns.

Week 9 Eindhoven "Temple, Service and Stake Conference"

Hello Hello,

Wow what a crazy week it has been this past week. I know that I say this almost every email, but I think this time I mean it. This past week was the fastest week of my life! The past couple of days we have been all over the place doing all sorts of different things. And oh how it has been a good one. So the weather is continuing to drop as we approach the winter season. There was actually snow in the Netherlands and if it would have fallen one day earlier it would have broken the record for earliest snowfall since the 1970's. That was pretty great. But instead we just got some cold rain. So I must say to whoever came up with umbrellas and true waterproof jackets, Thank you! Even with the weather we have managed to stay pretty warm and dry so that's been great! 

So this past week we were able to do some pretty fun things. It all started off on Monday evening. We got a call the previous day saying the new senior couple will be driving down to Eindhoven Monday night and we were to prepare the apartment. So us and another companionship decided to not only get it ready but to have dinner on the table when they walked in to their new home. So that's what we did and oh how great it was. If only you could of seen the smiles on the face's of this new senior couple. It was just an amazing way to start off the week! We all sat around the dinner table and we able to get to know one another and have a good chat. It was a good night that's for sure. 

Then Tuesday came along. The day that all of the missionaries have been waiting for for months. Why is that? Because we finally got to go to the Temple again. Wow, I don't even know where to begin with that. Is all I can say is I know without a doubt that the Temple truly is the House of the Lord. The spirit there is amazing. It is a house of revelation and a place where you can find true peace. I love the Temple! 

On top of that we were able to go to stake conference this week for the stake of Antwerpen. Those were two days just full of smiles and laughs. I was able to see a lot of missionaries that I had worked with in the past. But on top of that I was able to see all of the members from Genk again. It's amazing how once you make a bond with someone it never breaks. I love the members of that ward. I was also able to see Laticha again and she is doing so good. She told me that she has almost read through the Book of Mormon for the second time. It's amazing to see how much she has changed. What the Gospel has done for her in her life. The church is true. 

Well we were also able to work in a couple of different areas this week and that was great. It has been a lot of fun working with other missionaries and making new friends. This work is moving forward and there is definitely nothing that is going to stop it from doing so. Don't you love that. We are on the winning team! 

Thanks for all of the love and support! I hope you all have another amazing week! Love you all!!!

Love, Elder Parr

Return.With.Honor

Week 8 Eindhoven - "Love One another as I have loved you"

Hello Hello,

It was pretty funny when I sat down on the computer and opened my email my buddy Tom's was one of the first ones I read and the first thing he says is "I am not in the emailing mood". Today I know exactly what he means. As amazing as emailing is today I'm not in the emailing mood. But I will try to at least give you something short and sweet!

This week has been crazy. My feet feel like they are going to fall off and the hands are beginning to numb when you walk outside. And I feel like I could sleep for 20 years. But oh how I wouldn't trade this mission for anything! MISSIONS ARE AMAZING! The church is true and there is nothing better in the world then having the knowledge of the gospel. This gospel is truly where you can find everlasting happiness.

So Elder Da Silva and I have been pretty busy trying to create a new teaching pool here. And oh how the Lord is blessing us for our efforts and helping us along the way. We have been able to find many new potentials this past week and have high hopes for the short future. The potential is beginning to boil and hopefully here soon will begin to overflow.

Oh cool story. So Friday night we went and played some indoor voetbal with all of the young men and young women. And they were all convinced that they were going to destroy us. We four missionaries were a team and there was a total of 4 teams. So we started playing king of the court and we ended up destroying everyone! Looks like the Americana missionaries (And the one Portuguese professional soccer player missionary) aren't so bad after all. We were all pretty excited.

I hope that you all have an amazing week this coming week and remember that the Savior loves you and is always by your side to bare you up! This church is true. Thanks for all the love, support and emails. Sorry to those of whom I couldn't get back. I will try and do it next week.
LOVES!

Love,
Elder Parr
#ReturnWithHonor

Elder DaSilva and Elder Parr - currently companions :)

Week 7 Einhoven - "Get on the old ship zion and stay on it." - Elder Ballard

Hooi Iedereen!

What a crazy past week this week has been. Holy cow, I've been going 100 miles an hour non stop it feels like. But that is what it's all about. Loosing yourself in the service of the Lord. Man you got to love missions! It doesn't get any better then this!

Well this week I had my last two days serving with Elder Gleave. I was so glad I was able to serve with him. It amazing what you can learn from your companions. Even when they are brand new in the field. I had some great experiences with him and a great transfer. It's pretty cool that we are still in the same apartment though. Kinda weird coming home but with another companion. To good.

But the adventures of this week all started on Wednesday. So we had to go to Utrecht Central and be there all day waiting for all of the members of our zone to make it to their cities. Some of the elders left some bags so Elder Abankie and I (and elder I used to serve around) got to go up to the office and return. So I pretty much got to see everyone in the mission it felt like. And that's always fun. But after a long day of running from train to train with suitcases and bikes we finally made it home haha. Got to love transfer days.

So this week we were busy making our zone vision and then we just thought we should stop and go and work for the rest of the night, even though we weren't even close to being done with our zone vision. But we decided to do it anyways. We got home and just started to walk the streets and we were about 10 or minutes into it and we caught a young couple right before they were going to go inside. We sparked up a conversation and it just took off. They were super interested in what we had to share. And we talked for a solid 10 minutes about the gospel and they invited us to come back and share more. That was a cool testimony builder to me about always following the promptings of the spirit. Even when you think what you want to do is better, or whatever reason. Always be willing to submit you will to the Father. Then you will be an instrument in His hands.

We had some other meetings and such to try and get everything ready for this coming transfer and it all went super well. I am excited to see the progression that is going to take place in the coming weeks. It hit me really hard this past week that Preach My Gospel is such an inspired resource. And helps us missionaries is so many more ways then I thought.

So Saturday we were trying to go to a baptism for someone that Elder Da Silva taught and it seemed that everything was just trying to keep us from getting there. There were no trains running or they were all super delayed, no buses going there and it just wasn't going to work out. And unfortunately it didn't. But it was cool to see what happened after that. After having not the best day being frustrated and sad that Elder Da Silva didn't make it to the baptism. Where he was actually supposed to do the confirmation. He was still able to put his shoulder to the wheel and push. Even though everything was pushing right back at us. It was just cool to see the dedication of one of the Lords servants. That's how it's meant to be.

CONFERENCE was so GOOD! I was only able to watch the Saturday and Sunday night sessions but those two were amazing. It was so cool listening to the inspired speakers and hearing their inspired message. Three big spots were filled by some amazing new apostles. They all delivered such amazing talks. I just felt the spirit so strongly that they were all called of God. We are so blessed to have living apostle and a living Prophet. The church is true!! I just really loved Ballard's talk about the old ship Zion. It was cool to think how I and we as missionaries but also members not only said in the ship ourselves. But also get to rescue those who maybe have fallen overboard. What a blessing that is.

Thank you all for the prayers,love and support! I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Parr
#Return.With.Honor

Week 6 Einhoven- Mensen 8, Transfers, service and the rain!

Hello Hello,

Holy cow this has been a fun week! So much has happened and it's just gone by so stinking fast. But it has been a great one nonetheless. I have really come to realize that on a mission. That you choose whether or not you have an amazing week. It all comes down to your attitude. You can be down and sad because you aren't seeing the success you feel you deserve. Or you can go around always with a smile on your face being grateful for all that you have been given! And no matter the circumstances still serve with you heart. Attitude is a little change that makes a big difference. I love it.

Well this week we had the opportunity to work with a the singing elders in our mission and that has been pretty great. They are putting on a big fireside here the end of this coming month and so they were here sharing about that this week with our investigators, members and Less actives. It has been super fun working with them. I think that they are going to help give the work a little boost here by sharing that talent they have.

This past Friday we were able to have an amazing lesson. I was here on exchanges with Elder Roberts and we were going to teach a former investigator named Jennifer. She used to meet with the missionaries about five years ago. But she said she wasn't prepared at the time to accept what they had to offer. Well about 4 weeks ago she had an experience in her life and she came to know and see heavenly Father as a father figure in her life. Then randomly after how ever many years we the missionaries randomly show up on her door again. She began to tell us how she feels she has been prepared to accept our message that she couldn't accept years ago. We had an amazing lesson with her and the spirit was so amazing. Then we had these elders come and sing I am a child of God to end. The spirit filled the room and touched her heart. She was very open and accepting to what we had to share. It was great to see the way the spirit can work through us but also through music. It was an inspiring appointment.

We were also able to get our hands a little bit dirty this past week and do some service. That's always fun to do. Especially when you really see how grateful the people you serve are. The spirit of service is something special.

Well last night we got our phone calls for transfers. President called us and told me that I will be staying In Eindhoven but switching companions to Elder Da Silva and becoming a Zone leader. I am super excited to see what kind of lessons and opportunities this is going to bring me. I feel sometimes I am not really qualified, but I know that with the the help of the Lord it will all work out.

Thank you all for the love, prayers and support. It means the world. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back to all of you. I will try to next week. But just know I am thankful for your email. I hope you all have an amazing week and remember the church is true! LOVES!

Love, Elder Parr
#ReturnWithHonor

Elder Gleave and I in our natural habitat:)

Week 5 Einhoven - D & C 4:4

Hoi hoi!!

What a week it has been. Man I just love the Netherlands so much. I just got to say I know 100% that this is where The Lord needed me and I am supposed to be. Missions are just so amazing. The lessons that you learn, the relationships that you build, the testimony that you develop and so much more. And that's just scratching the surface. There truly is nothing else in the world that is quite like serving a mission. What a blessing it has been to have this time to serve my Heavenly Father and how great it is to have even more time to serve.

This week we were on the bikes a lot and even took some buses for the first time in ages haha. But I am dang grateful for bikes. they are keeping me whooped in shape. Because the members here feed us so much and it's pretty much every single day. More then any other season. So if it wasn't for my handy dandy steed (bike), I'd probably be looking a little different haha.

So this week was pretty cool Elder Gleave and I were just biking and were actually not planning on going to look up a lady named Jennifer. But as we were biking I just felt that that's the person that we needed to look up so we headed that way. We knocked on her door and the next thing you see is a big smiling face. She was so happy to see us there. We were able to talk a little bit and get to know each other. She is pregnant and is just totally in the right time in her life to listen to us. We were able to schedule and appointment with her for this week. I am excited to see how she excepts the Gospel.


We were also biking around and were passing by a building that had a less active member we wanted to look up. And Elder Gleave say's hey lets stop and go look this lady up. So we headed over and rang her bell and she picked up excited to hear from us as well. We made an appointment with her as well. So there are a couple of things we got going to us. We are going to leave this place better off then we found that's for sure.

There we also a lot of other cool tender mercies that happened throughout the week. It really just helps me realize and recognize how much our Father in Heaven loves us. He is so aware of His children and wants nothing but the best for us. It's amazing.


This Sunday we had the singing Elder group in sacrament. They are going to be here working with us this coming week so that is going to be great. Really feel that that will be able to give the work the boost that it needs.

Oh yeah, last Monday we had to say goodbye to the beloved Bulters. Due to some health conditions they decided that is was probably better that the be home. That was so sad. They were some of the funniest people in the world. Such good examples to us all. It's been different with out them here. But the short time that we had together sure made an impact on me so I am very grateful to them.

Thank you all for the prayers, support and emails. You are all amazing. The church is true, God lives and loves you. Never forget that.

Love,
Elder Parr

#ReturnwithHonor

Best Group Ever!

Week 4 Eindhoven - What a week!!

Dames en Heren hello hello,

I know this week was an amazing week but holy cow I am having one of those memory failing mornings if you know what i'm talking about. Don't you just love those days when you wake up and feel like you have slept for a year. That has been today. And on top of that I forgot my journal and stuff to give me a refresher. That's what a companion is for I guess. Love Elder Gleave he's a great son! But I'll do my best to throw some highlights out there.

The first thing that comes to mind is an awesome door we knocked this week. Elder Gleave and I have been looking up a lot of less actives and formers and working in their areas after. Well this week we went and knocked on a door and a lady from syria and her son answer the door and said that the lady we were looking for didn't live her here anymore. Then she's like come in. And we are like okay sure. And we sit down and she's like do want something to drink? We got some water. Five seconds later, do you guys want some ice cream. And she continued to serve us two huge bowls of ice creams. We were being treated like kings! Those are always the best doors if i'd say so my self haha. But the door slam is also necessary, those ones really help you grow and come to know what kind of missionary and person you are. Are you going to quit or work even harder? But anyways we continued to have a cool little lesson with them and will actually be seeing them tonight. Great little miracle.

the next day elder hills and I knocked on a door and this lady gave us all of these crackers and juice boxes and was just so nice to us. unfortunately she wasn't interested in our message but she sure knew what it meant to love your neighbors. Great example to me.

Other then that this week consisted of a lot of finding and look ups. Which is keeping us pretty busy. We are praying that it will pay off and we'll be blessed with people to work with. And fulfill our purpose of helping people come unto Christ.

We also had a day of messing with bikes. Man I don't know what the people over here were thinking. they bike more then any country yet make it harder to fix a bike then a car. But we were able to get our bikes working. Harry actually got a flat tire so he left his bike at our house. We had to fix it and then I got to Ghost bike it for 4.5 kilometers back to his house. that was an adventure.

Well thanks for all of the love and support you all give to us missionaries. I love you all!! Have an amazing week and remember, the church is true and God loves you!

Love,
Elder Parr
#ReturnWithHonor

Week 3 Eindhoven - Late nights, herring round 3 and A'dam

Hallo Iedereen!

Goede Morgen! Or Afternoon or night, whatever time it might be were you are at haha. But oh what a week it has been this past week! One full of adventures that's for sure. Elder Gleave and I were all over the place this past week. But that's always a nice feeling when you walk into the apartment at night hit the bed and are out cold within seconds. Then you got the beautiful sounding alarm that screams at you at 6:30 the next morning saying time to go and do it all again. But oh how I love being a missionary. It's something that has changed my life and opened my eyes. There truly is nothing else in the world like being a missionary. And on top of that I get the best mission on the planet!

This week were able to go on a couple of exchanges with some of the elders in the district and it was great. On Thursday I was down in a place called Heerlen working with Elder Perry. We had a blast together. But what's cool is we found out that he went and played rugby with SC when they went to New Zealand so he knew all of the boys back home. We had a good little laugh. But we saw some awesome miracles happen while we were there, taught a less-active they hadn't taught for a long time and ended up getting two referrals from her and teaching her friend who was there. Wow, that was just so cool to see her open up and start referring her friends. Super cool experience.

This week we had some pretty crazy adventures. So here is the first, Elder Gleave and I were biking to an appointment about 7 kilometers from our house and about 1 kilometer aways I hear a wreck behind me and look back and Gleave is laying on the ground. It looked a lot more dramatic then it actually was. But his chain snapped and just got a couple cuts on his hands. Not to bad. But the adventure was bringing the bike back home so they didn't get stolen. So elder Butler drove us to the bikes at about10:15 to go and pick them up. Well Elder Gleave put his bike in the car and I got to ride mine home. So I pretty much just pedaled my little heart out for a solid 7 kilometers on a one speed bike to keep up with the car. We were flying haha. But we made it home safe and sound.

And on top of that Saturday I got to go to Amsterdam. IVETTES BAPTISM WENT THROUGH! I was so happy that I got to go up and see that. It was a great service. I was able to talk with Ivette afterwards and she was super excited that she finally made the decision to be baptized. I asked her how she felt and she said she super good, the words can't describe it. There was such a sweet feeling that was there. Every time I see a child of God take that step of faith I just can't help but get overwhelmed by the spirit. I know with all my heart that this work is Gods work. And this church, is true. It's such a blessing to be a member of this church and to be in the Lords army right now. I also got to see Elder Bringhurst and that was great. I've missed that kid. My boy is growing up haha.

But here is a quick funny story, So the first Monday of every month there are big alarms that go off to make sure they work. They are used to tell everyone that the dikes have broken. Well we were just sitting here emailing and Elder Gleave looks over at me and goes, what's that noise. I look over to elder Da Silva and say "oh crap man that's the dike alarm!!" We both jump out of our seats and go sprinting down and grab Steinbeck we grab all of our stuff and start running to the car. We all just played it so good and poor Elder Gleave bit super hard. Then we get out and are about to get in the car and he's like wait a minute, it's the first Monday of the month.....and just dies. He's such a trooper, love that kid! But we were all dying afterwards too good!

Thanks for the love and support. The church is true!!:)
#ReturnWithHonor

Ivette, Elder Bringhurst and I:)

Week 2 Eindhoven - Accidents, conferences, BBQ's and Biking

Hello Hello,

Man this week has been full of crazy adventures, crazy days, funny stories and hit the bed dead tired! I was just barely here on the computer typing up my email last week.

But oh how I got a good story for you. So about 45 minutes after I send my email last week we were on our way to go to the centrum to hang out there for a little bit. We were driving the car and having a good time, just talking at a red light then all of the sudden BAM! We all shot forward and looked back and we go rear ended by a van trying to pull a mini cat. Luckily non of us were hurt and it wasn't to bad. The car took a little beating but nothing that can't be fixed. The Lord is watching out for us!

This week we had a great zone conference with Elder Timothy J. Dyches. I learned a lot just listening to him. It was totally different then any other conference I have been to. But it was a good one. I was definitely re-motivated to work even harder then I am. There is always something that we can improve on to become better. And I am exciting to keep on trying to make those changes to become the best person that I can become while I am out here on my mission.

Guess who I got to see this week!!!!!! So there was a big stake BBQ for the Antwerpen stake so we got to go. Well we get there and we start walking to the place and right when I get there I see three little girls running up to me. And I was just SO happy! It was Laticha and all of her little sisters! Broeder Knoops was also there as well as the Peters and a couple other members from Genk. It was easily one of the best reunions ever! I can't even begin to tell you how much Laticha has changed since I met her. She said that she has read through the Book of Mormon twice since her baptism and Is planning on serving a mini mission for a couple weeks here in the Netherlands and eventually wants to serve a full time mission. This Gospel is true. It changes people! I love this Gospel!!!

Well this week we did a lot of biking look ups and contacting. But we did see a couple of pretty cool miracles. Elder Gleave is killing it with his dutch and for only being out here a week. He is such a stud of a companion. And Harry, oh were to begin with him. I just love him to death!:) Best trio out there that's for sure. But we received a HQ referral this week and we went and looked him up and it was a family and the dad had been to the temple in Hawaii. They were so positive and really open. They just had a baby so we are going to meet with him in a couple of weeks. But I am so excited to see what happens with them. We were also knocking doors and we ran into a super cool family who has been going from to church to church to try and find one that is family oriented. And we just told them and testified that it was no coincidence that we ran into them. We were led there by a loving Heavenly Father. They were very receptive and are willing to listen to us and come to the church. It is going to be neat and great opportunity teaching a family. I am excited to see there response to Our Heavenly Father's message. Because I know it will change their lives if they allow it to. Being a missionary is an incredible blessing.

Thank you all for the love and support! Have an amazing week!

Love Elder Parr
#Returnwithhonor

The original MTC Gang is back again :)

Week 1 Eindhoven - New Area, New Companion, District Leader = will be the best transfer!

Hello hello,

What a week it has been! So much has happened but I am sitting here with so little desire to actually write it all down. But Mom, because I love you I will do my best to write some down.

Well this week began with my last couple of days serving with Elder Bringhurst and Oh how we had a blast with each other. I loved every single minute of serving with that kid. And we sure made some memories to last a lifetime. Monday we were able to Go the the Zaanse Schaans and it was absolutely beautiful. If it didn't take years to upload pictures then I would show you. But It was probably one of the most beautiful places I have visited. Saying goodbye to Bringhurst stunk but, I know I am going were the lord needs me to be and that he will keep the work rolling in Amsterdam. He actually called me and told me that Ivetta one of the investigators we were working with said she wanted to be baptized this coming Saturday! I was freaking out! I will probably be able to go up and see it too:) I can't wait. This is Gods work.

Well when Wednesday morning finally rolled around I hopped on the train and headed to the Golden Tulip to pick up my new companion. His name is Elder Gleave. He is from South Jordan Utah and Is a stud. I can't wait to get to know him better and see some miracles with him. It is going to be a good experience I can already tell.

We are serving in a city called Eindhoven with two other elders. Elder Steenblik and Elder Da Silva. It has been so much fun being with Steinbeck again! Love that kid so much. So we are in for a treat this transfer.

We also have a personal 85 year old GPS named Harry. He has got to be one of the funniest, coolest, craziest people I have ever met. He works with us everyday and has our work set out. Which has actually been pretty nice because we are reopening part of Eindhoven and he's been a huge help!

We are working our hardest to find some new people to work with as well as get back in contact with all of the old investigators.

Funny story, So on Sunday we went and had a great appointment with a less active and then we walk out to hop on our bikes and head back home. Well it was pouring rain and we kinda forgot our rain jackets because when we left it was beautiful weather! So we biked 8 kilometers is the pouring rain and came home dripping head to toe. It was quite the bonding experience!

Thank you all so much for the love and support! I hope you have another amazing week. This church is true, don't forget it!! God loves you and is there for you all! I love this Gospel and this work!

Love,
Elder Parr
#RetrunWithHonor

Sweet Ride haha

Our GPS Elder we love him.

Elder Gleave and Elder Parr after the pouring rain.  Welcome to the "Netherlands Elder Gleave.

Week 6 Amsterdam - Fastest 6 weeks of my life!!

Hello Hello,

What an crazy, fun, hot, cold, humid, exciting week it has been! Missions are amazing. It doesn't get any better then being out here serving the Lord in this beautiful country. This is His work and we are sharing His message. Incredible!

Well this week went by so fast I can hardly remember what even happened....so I'll my best to remember some of the highlights. We were able to meet with Peter and Evy this week and that was great! They are seriously the coolest people in the world. They have a heart of gold and are so nice. On top of that they love this gospel. They tell us every time that we go how badly they want to go to the temple so they can be sealed to each other. How cool is that? Golden!!!! But it has been a little harder to meet with them, his job is keeping him pretty busy and she has been sick with her pregnancy. But everything is still going good there. There papers should finally be on there way here pretty quick so they can get baptized! I can't wait:)

This week was full of some good exchanges too. I was in Leiden, Alkmaar, and then we worked with the Amsterdam sister. But, Elder Bonner and I were working in Alkmaar, a very dutch city. Which is a hard place to see success. But we were determined to see some success. And we worked out butt of the whole day and ended up having an amazing lesson with a family. It was so cool the mom made all of her kids come in and sit in on the lesson. And on top of that we found 5 pretty positive potential investigators. The Lord was blessing us for our efforts that is for sure. I know He is right there watching over me!!

Elder Bringhurst and I had a super cool night a couple of days ago. So we rushed down to the outskirts of the city to go to an appointment and it ended up falling though. It was already late and we would of only had like 20 or so minutes to work and it was raining. So the temptation to just start making our way back was there but we didn't. We started knocking a some doors. The first door was a JW who just tried to wreck us. But we weren't going to end with that so we kept on knocking and the next four doors were some of the coolest potentials I have probably ever met on my mission. One lady was like " Whenever you two are in the area you are welcome to come by grab a snack, some water, etc." Another was a young 18 year old boy who was religious but not in a specific church and who LOVED basketball. So we just talked for a solid 20 minutes and he was like "You want my phone number so we can meet up one time. And I would also love to go to the church with you two. You two are cool guys." The coolest kid ever! And then as we were heading back to the metro we stopped on last guy and he was so cool! We talked for another 20 minutes and we invited him to a ward BBQ and he just lit up and said "if it was today I would of been there yesterday!" haha. So we ended up setting two appointments and getting 3 phone numbers!! What a 'God testifying night' as we would say here haha. I know 100% Heavenly Father is aware of me and is aware of all His children. He lives!

Well this week was also transfer call week. We heard the news last night that Elder Bringhurst and I will be getting separated. He is staying in Amsterdam. I will be heading to a city called Einhoven, picking up another greenie, white washing again and staying DL. So these coming weeks are going to be crazy! It was a bitter sweet phone call. But I am excited, I know that is where the Lord needs me and I am going to go and work my hardest there as well.

Thank you all for the emails and the love and support! You are all the best. I hope you have an amazing week and for some of you and great first week of school!!

Love,
Elder Parr
#ReturnWithHonor

At Roos's house, Elder Bringhurst hard at work drawing:) 

Me taking a nap on the empty metro

Week 5 Amsterdam - What a blur!!

Hello hello,

I know I say this like every week but this week I am serious. I think this week set the new fastest week of my mission. It honestly was here and gone just like that. Even after a year I still don't understand the time thing out here. I guess somethings you never get used to haha. But it has been a good one non the less.

The weather this week was very different from the small storms and rain we ran into last week. We were blessed with some beautiful weather! Actually it was a little bit on the hot end! The humidity is killer, but it's still great. Oh and biking with helmets tends to be a lot hotter then I thought. I kinda miss having the wind blow through my hair. But it has been a good thing. Definitely getting easier as the days go by. Still get weirder looks and rude remarks every now and again, but for the most part you just soak it all in and love it. Love standing out and make the best of it. I will try and get a helmet picture to you so you can see what we mean when we say, ' safety has never looked so good'.

This week we had out interviews with President and Zuster Bunnell and those were just incredible. Those two are absolutely amazing people. It was great to be able to get to know them better. After Zuster Bunnell and I talked about St. George for a good half hour haha. It was great. But they are definitely called of God and inspired. It is going to continue to be great working with them.

This past week we were able to finally meet with a less active member named James Aidoo from Ghana. And we had planned to teach Temple Prep because that is what the other Elders had been teaching him. But we walked in and Bringhurst and I both felt super prompted to teach the Restoration so we did and it was incredible. The spirit was so strong and that is what he needed to hear. But the spirit didn't stop guiding us there. We could see something was wrong even when he kept on saying he was fine. We then found out he had terrible pain in his foot and the doctors didn't see anything wrong. We asked if he wanted a blessing and he just lit up and we were able to give him a blessing. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that I have the amazing opportunity to hold that sacred power to bless others lives. It is a huge blessing for me.

We were able to work with both the Amsterdam and Ijmuiden Zusters this week and had really cool appointments with both of them. It was really cool to see how sometimes it takes a specific person and their unique spirit to touch another heart. Bringhurst and I saw that while we were with them. That just puts a smile on my face, that God knows us and puts us in places for a reason.

Oh and this morning Bringhurst and I were able to go to the Anne Frank house. The house that her and her family hid in during World War 2. That was probably one of the coolest things. There was just something special about being there. It really made me grateful for the beautiful place that we live in. We truly are so blessed!

Sorry I didn't have a lot of time to write you individually but I will try to get to it next week. Thanks for all the sweet letters and the support. I love you all! Enjoy your last couple days of summer!

Love,
Elder Parr
#ReturnWIthHonor

We played some beach soccer today for P-Day.

Week 4 Amsterdam -Helmets, Soccer and Belgie

Hello Hello,

Where to Begin....This has been a pretty crazy week to say the least. We have been all over the place and have a had a good time doing the Lords work. It doesn't get any better right?? Love this work so much.

This week I got to back to Belgium with Elder Bringhurst and that was so much fun! We had to go down for some legal stuff and I got to get my license for Europe! Pretty exciting. But it was so good to be back in Belgium. I have missed that place. And of course we got some delicious Belgian waffles and some nice Belgian Fries. We sure made the best out of the trip.

But this week we were finally able to go and play some soccer with Peter, Evy and Pedro and it was so much fun! We got playing, Elder Bringhurst and I against Pedro and Peter and it was great. Then a bunch of Neighborhood boys showed up and called us out. So of course we accepted the challenge. Well we are all getting pretty into it and it got intense. And get this these two American non soccer players and Peter won all 3 games to 11:) Now that is what I am talking about. I love that family so much. They are so incredible and just have such a solid testimony of this Gospel. The adversary is really trying to stop them from coming unto Christ. But it's amazing to see them put their trust in the Savior and rely on Him. If only you could all see how much their countenance has changed. It would make your whole day. This Gospel really does come with a light. Just makes me think of Heleman 5:12 too. Build your foundation on Christ and You can overcome anything. That is so true.

This Friday was also pretty great. Elder Bringhurst and Elder Nye had a pretty incredible experience. So Elder Bonner and I were teaching a less active member that Elder Bonner had baptized a year ago and just had an incredible uplifting lesson with him and got him back on the right path. So we were just pumped. Well we exchanged back and Bringhurst tells me this story. They had just got out of our lesson and they passed a girl crying on the street and had a feeling they needed to go back and talk to her. Elder Nye began talking to her and she went on to tell him she was about to go end her life. God is so aware of His children. I can't even tell you the spirit that I felt just hearing that. I know 100% That God lives, He knows every single one of His children Perfectly and Loves us beyond measure. Never give up on Him.

So I don't know if I already told you this but as of this past week our mission has become a Helmet wearing mission:) So in this country the only people who were helmets are competitive bikers or 2 year old kids, sometimes not even them. So In all honesty already having gone a year without a helmet this has been great. And this change is already been a humbling experience for me. The rude remarks, the laughs and the pointing fingers has been hard. But If God wants me to wear a helmet, I'll wear a helmet. And me and Bringhurst even came up with a nice little motto, Safety has never looked so good:) So now we got 150 more helmet wearers in this country. It's great.

Thank you all for the sweet emails and all of the support!! You are all amazing. Remember this church is true, God loves you and is always there. Have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Parr
#ReturnWithHonor