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