Week 1 - "Greetings from Delft Netherlands"

Hello hello!

Wow where to begin....This has been the craziest week and a half ever. And also one of the most tiring weeks of my life! The last few days in the MTC and now the other side of the world! Love it. The real mission has begun and I couldnt be anymore pumped to get out the door and go to work! Well here are a few little highlights from the week and a half.

Sunday:
Sunday was my last day in the MTC and to say the least it was soooo busy! Both an amazing day and a bad day all in one. The good stuff first, This gospel couldnt be anymore true! It is just 100% amazing and i love it! We had one last district testimony meeting which was soo soo cool! I want you all to go and watch this video called "Missionary work and the Atonement" and you'll see why it went so good. The bad news, well we were all getting ready to go into a leadership meeting when a security gaurd came and took one of the kids from our district and said his parents were here for him...well he didnt come with us to say the least. And that was soo sad for all of us its crazy how close you get with people in such a short amount of time here. And lastly can I just say that I love Elder Jensen, It was so nice having him in the MTC with me and that last night with him was such a stong spiritual experience!

SC Warrior Missionaries at MTC before most of us flew out!

Monday:
5 AM comes along and we are ready to leave the MTC and head to the airport! Ahh so crazy right? We grabbed our bags got on the bus they took us to the train then off to the plane. I have no idea how missionaries travel with so many bags and a bike, the bags were hard enough. But we made it to say the least. Flew all day and pretty much skipped monday.  It was so good talking to my family that day.

Tuesday:
We landed here in Amsterdam at 8 am and got going! The two APs (who are absolutey awesome btw) and President and Sister Robinson were all there to pick us up and take us to the mission office. We had to fill out tons of paper work and visa stuff but I don't remember any of it because I was so Jet lagged.

We all got the Famous windmill picture and then ate at the BEST PANCAKE place I  have ever had in my life all of the rumors are true this place is amazing. Went to the mission home and then found out where we would be serving. Guess where I got? THE Most beautiful city ever!! DEFT, Netherlands.  It's right by Den Haag which is actually apart of my area as well. Its absolutely gorgeous here!

Wednesday:
Woke up and we were moving, Back to the mission office for a little bit of training and then we got to meet our Trainers. My trainer is Elder Hulet from Cedar City. He is an absolute stud of a kid and I love him already. After meeting our trainer we were booted out the door before I even knew what was going on haha, gotta love missionary work! So yeah on the way over to our appartment I totally lost my backpack in all the crazyness but luckily our zone leaders found it. What a good way to start off right.  We took all day looking for a bike and had no success so that was great. But on the brightside I contacted some people today..SO hard and I had no idea what they were saying but I tried anyways:)

 Thursday:
The bike search continued today but rather looking in Delft we took a train to Den Haag which is so pretty as well. We looked for a solid two hours and never found one which you'd think it would be easy being in the biggest biking city in the world but everywhere we went they were either super expensive or the store was closed because of their 3 month vacations and what not. But then we had a meeting with the ZLs about the zone vision and they took us around in their car after and we finally found a BIkE:) Its great haha. We then drove to a member house Sister Kelly and we all gave her a blessing such a cool experience, she said she instantly felt relief:) ahh so cool.

Friday:
Had my first coorilation meeting with the ward mission leader Brother Scherjf.  He is so cool and helpful! I lucked out I hear. Then after that we had our first twelve weeks thing and then contacted for the rest of the day. I decided Dutch is hard hehe.

Saturday:
Market day in DELFT. So I thought you would all like to know that the rumors are true and fresh stroop waffles are SOOOO good!! Nothing compares to them. After that we went and I got to meet two of our investigators both Chinese students going to TU here and they are awesome but leaving on vacation so thats kinda hard all of our investigators are gone until the end of this month.  So looks like we have to find new ones which will be great!  I also met another one named Micha and he is so crazy but so nice.  He hates God but thinks our religion is true so Idk how that works but hopefully we can work on him a little. We made brownies with him tonight, America Brownies he was so excited. Love this work already:) But it can be sooo hard at times.

Sunday:
First sunday here in the country. They do everything backwards its so weird, First they have priesthood then Sunday School and then Sacrament.  And to add to that, It was ALL in Dutch so I had no idea what was going on. That was kind of hard for me. Tonight we had a dinner appointment with the Johnson family  an older couple, they are so sweet :) And on our way we got soaked it was awesome! But once again everything was in Dutch and I didn't really understand much. That's been difficult but I learned how powerful prayer is because of it.  God is ALWAYS there for us no matter what and he want us to be happy and will help us and comfort us. Prayer is incredible and Can really change lives.

Well thats kind of what happened here the first week a nice little summary. I am excited to be here serving in Delft and serving my father in heaven. I love this gospel and all of you. I hope you are all doing fantastic and thanks for the support and prayers!

Love Elder Parr

#ReturnWithHonor

The following pictures are from when Elder Parr first arrived in Netherlands from the mission blog.  I am so grateful for the pictures and TLC that they show to these missionaries.

At the airport in Amsterdam with the Mission President.

Filling out the paperwork at the mission home.

Off to the best pancake house to Welcome the new missionaries to the Netherlands

Looks Delicious

At the mission home reading their first assignment area and companion

Delft Netherlands with....

Meeting his first companion Elder Hulet

Monday August 5 - Dutchies fly to the Netherlands

Monday August 5, 2014 was the best day!!

We waited patiently with my phone in my hand waiting for that handsome missionary of ours to call us.
He called when he got to the airport and it was SOOO good to hear his voice.  My cute "Kanga" whom we love so much.

Elder Parr shared the missionary purpose with us in DUTCH and he sounded so good!  With only being in the MTC for 40 days he did a wonderful job.  I recorded it too :)

The best part besides hearing his voice and how happy he is, were the pictures he sent us from the airport.  It made the day!

We sent him a disposable cell phone to talk to use so he wouldn't have to search for a phone at the airport.  It was priceless.  He was able to send us a few fun pictures.

Elder Parr and Elder Steenblik

Part of the Dutch District at the SLC Airport

Of course I tracked the plane as they flew to Detroit :)

Elder Shaw, Elder Parr and Sister Fredrickson on the flight from SLC to Detroit

They had a little lay over when they landed in Detroit.  I was able to search the layout of the airport and find a few suggestions for them to eat dinner at before their next long flight to Amsterdam. 

And we got to talk to him again.  He is so ready to get out in the field go to work!  He had a wonderful experience at the MTC and met some wonderful people that he said will be friends forever.  We are so proud of you Elder Parr. 

They boarded he plane and we were able to send a few last goodbye texts and pictures.  The phone only worked for 1 day and only in the USA.  I am so glad I have these pictures of my handsome missionary.

Selfie on the plane heading to the Netherlands.

Elder Shaw and Elder Parr ready for their long flight.

 Yep you guessed it I tracked his plane as he flew over the ocean. My heart was at ease once he landed.

On Tuesday we received an email from his mission president saying that they had arrived safely.  

Dear Families of our New Missionaries:

Sister Fredrickson, Elder Shaw, Elder Steenblik, Elder Andrew and Elder Parr arrived safely here in the Netherlands this morning.  They are currently getting some legality work done and will soon be to the Mission Home for a well needed nap.  This evening we will have a testimony meeting and fireside.  They will receive their first area assignment and who their trainer/companion will be for the coming transfer.  Please keep up with what is happening in the mission on the mission blog:  belgiumnetherlandsmission.blogspot.com.

President and I are very impressed with this group.  They are solid young people.  They will be great assets to the mission.  We love them already and are so looking forward to working more closely with them.  They will fill you in with more details in their email home to you this coming Monday.

Thank you for your missionary.

Sister Robinson

** They attached a few pictures from the mission home.  Look at the windmill.  :)

Elder Parr at the mission home on Tuesday August 5, 2014

The MTC District at the mission home when they arrived to the Netherlands.

My sister came down and surprised me on Monday with her 5 kids.  She knew I needed a hug after talking to my cute missionary and knowing he would be flying across the country.  The cousins sure love him and look up to him and my cute missionary Sora Parr in so many ways.  We are truly blessed.  We took a picture with a few cousins, sisters, and one of his best friends for Elder Parr to receive in his inbox on Monday.

Week 5 MTC - Last Week! Fly out Monday

Hello Everyone,

Holy cow has time absolutely flown by here at the MTC its been so great and I have loved every second of it! It's weird to think that in less then a week I will be in the Netherlands! So I can not wait for Monday! FOUR more days left here in the MTC that is crazy for me to think about I feel like I just barely got here.  As good as this place has been I am not going to lie I am beyond excited to get outside of the walls of the MTC.

Wednesday:

Last week I went and did sealing's in the temple for the first time. We got to proxy as children and can I say that was such a cool ordinance! The lady who was acting proxy for the Mom said when I got sealed as one of the Kids she saw the Mother rejoicing in heaven when she saw that I was able to help seal her son to her. That was super powerful to me and sooo cool! I love going to the temple its an amazing place!

Thursday:

Today we got to Skype for our T.R.C today and that was really cool. Good experience. One thing I really liked about today is what some of our teacher who just got out of the field told us. We can and DO have success in our mission. If we go out there and do our best we are going to have success. Put our faith in the lord and good things WILL happen. I just really loved that. 

Friday: 

Well since its our last week here we have decided to teach both investigators every single day rather then every other. That has been both difficult and super super incredible at the same time. Teaching has grown to be one of my favorite things to do. Even though they are fake investigators it helps me so much. WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PLANS TODAY!  So we fly out of SLC at 11 and fly to Detroit were we have an 1 1/2 layover and then fly to Amsterdam and arrive in NETHERLANDS at 8 am the next day! I am beyond excited to get out there and "GO to WORK". 

Saturday:

Today was a little different then the other days that we have had here. More so we didn't really have a super spiritual lesson or talk. Today was a full out immersion in the language. We haven't studied and practiced the language as much as we did today since I have been here. But that helped me soo much which is really good. We learned alot of the word and such we need to know for contacting then practiced that over and over ha ha. Now i'm just excited to get out there and go and do it! 

Sunday:

Sundays here are absolutely amazing love them. Priesthood, Sacrament meeting, Temple Walk, District meeting and Devotionals. SO great. The devotional was kind of just on how we can become better successful missionaries and what are goal is while out in the field. The true highlight of today was a District Inventory that we had....that's not something we usually do it's typically just Comp. inventory. But this meeting that we had was sooo spiritual and amazing. We kind of just went around the room and talked about the strengths of each individual and I know that everyone in there heard something that they needed to hear that day to help them with their struggles. Absolutely amazing thing to do for a change. 

Monday:

Soccer!!!!!! These past couple of week we have been having huge games of soccer with all the zone. We got a few people from England who are way good and so fun to play with. I never realized how much fun soccer could be ha ha. Oh and how competitive it can get at times I love it though. Well once again we taught both of our Investigators today which both of the lessons went really well. The language is getting better and better every time that we teach allowing us to bear a much more powerful testimony. That helps a lot. One of our goals for this week was to practice contacting role plays. Funniest yet most helpful thing. We all played some super funny characters and some really snotty ones just to get a bunch of different outcomes and experiences. I decided little goals like that help out so so much!

Tuesday:

We finally committed our other investigator to be baptized! It's weird how happy you get over committing a fake investigator, so in the field it must be incredible! We had really been struggling to get this investigator to commit so this lesson we decided to take a step back and talk about the Holy Ghost again, best lesson and idea we had! Taught tony about the law of chastity today and I decided those are some hard lessons to teach! But it was good to be able to practice. Well since it was my last week I couldn't miss choir and I am glad that i did't. The choir director shared something really cool with us. So imagine this both the BYU football and basketball stadium completely full, every class room packed full. That's a ton of people right. And the Likely hood to be picked as a later day missionary in heaven was ONE out of all those people. This wasn't by chance we are all here now it was by Selection. Christ individually picked each and everyone of us one by one. That's powerful! Well other then then that the devotional tonight was fantastic it was by John H. Groberg former 70 presidency he just talked about the Importance of bearing testimony and the power behind that. Really good.

Thank you all for your love and your support. I hope all is going great for each for each of you! Love you all. Next time you will be hearing from me i'll be on the other side of the world, pretty exciting to think about that. But thanks again!

Love Elder Parr

#ReturnWithHonor

Elder Jensen, Elder Parr, Elder Esplin - SC Warriors

P-day = Laundry Day

This is for Sora Parr my sister who does not like snails.

Ready Set.....

Go....Elder Parr doing back flips

Elder Parr and Elder Steenblik

Our Zone

Week 4 MTC - Almost Done & ready to Fly to the Netherlands/Belguim

Hallo Idereen, 

This week has probably been one of the best weeks that I have had here. And thats hard to say because every week here has been absolutely amazing! I'm Learning so much here and making some great friends and amazing memories as I do. So here are some highlights from my week!

Wednesday:

Well since I have been here every P-day the temple has been closed. Not this week!:) Today I got to go to the Provo temple with my zone and do and Endowment session. I saw the brand new video and that was really good! The temple is a whole different experience when you are in there with 60 other missionaries, so cool!! And can I just say that EVERY time that you go you learn more and more and more. Amazing place. Well besides the temple, we got 12 new Danes(Denmark) this week. They are awesome elders!

Thursday:

A few quick highlights from today, so this morning we taught our investigator Tony. But we did it different then we usually do. Instead of just poring a message out to him we listened with love and just tried to help him. Let me tell ya, that is the way to do it! The spirit was absolutely INCREDIBLE as we taught him and truly tried to help him.T.R.C this week was cool because we got to teach a family that was from the Netherlands! They were here on a vacation so we just chatted with them and it was really really neat.

Friday:

Today we taught our other investigator Lieka about Baptism, and the Holy Ghost. That went so well and she wants to be baptized so she's gonna pray and see if she needs to.  Tonight Elder Jensen and I played some pig in my room and lets just say he might of said that he beat me but really he needs all the practice that he can get! I love being able to have my best friends in the MTC with me, it great!

Saturday:

I think today I decided that even though our investigators are fake, I really LOVE teaching. I grow from it just as much as those we teach do, its great. But the real highlight of tonight was A lesson that we had with Sister Moses. "Just as important as what you do is who you are!" I really loved that. For all you missionaries reading this or future missionaries, God called YOU to be a missionary he didn't call a robot missionary version of you he called you! We are called to represent one our Families and Two Our savior Jesus Christ, our first names not on our name tag we aren't here to represent ourselves so keep that in mind.  So we got challenged by Sister Moses to make a "Conversion Map" of our lives. Starting with birth then events that happened in our lives that made us who we are today. If you were to take it off you wouldn't be yourself. Try it, its amazing!

Sunday: 

Best part of today was definitely the devotional that we had. T.C Christensen gave it, and he is the one who filmed 17 miracles and a lot of other church films. Favorite part of that was a little parable of the wolves. We are surrounded by them and we are attracted to them we test ourselves and see how close we can get. But what we don't know is those things will kill us. So the two ways to deal with it 1: GET out of there! but if you cant do that 2: We have got to stand strong and get in their faces and Intimidate them, make them never want to come back! 

I loved that haha. 

Monday:

This morning was a sad morning! Today we had to say goodbye to all the Sweeds! 26 of them! That was sad because I have grown so close to them! But the best part of today was a role play, yes a role play we had with Brother Norton. I didn't think that it was possible you could be so in tune with the spirit in a role play when I got here I always thought those were really not realistic. Well boy was I wrong, the goal of this specific one was to recognize and relying 100% on the spirit. We had 0 lesson prepared and we had to go in and teach. Well we did just that and that was by far the best lesson that we had, i'm not saying don't prepare but rely on the spirit! Coolest thing for me personally. 

Tuesday:

Two main Highlights One: We committed Tony to be baptized on August 9th even though it was fake it was a really cool experience. And Two was the devotional tonight. It was given by Elder Ellis of the Seventy and his wife and kids. One last analogy haha so he told us " We are all on a Train Or Canoe of the kingdom.( I like the boat so i,m going to go with that). There are going to be times in our lives when we want to get off, DONT DO IT! we will miss out if we do. We are blessed to be on this boat. Once you get off its not always easy to get back on. Yes we are going to have to do our part to get this Canoe moving, but if we give it our all the lord will do the rest and make the journey worth it!" That was something that I personally really liked so I thought I would just share it.

Well, that's about all that went on this week, other then of course the good times in the RES, Hall after class when the Elders and I always find something fun to do. Whether telling jokes, nerf guns, games or just good talks always a good time. I hope that all of you are doing great! And thank you all for the support and prayers. You're all great so thanks again.

Love Elder Parr

#ReturnWIthHonor

Our Mom's, Family and Friends sure LOVE US!!!

Elder Fetherstone, Elder Jensen, and Elder Parr

SC Warrior Missionaries
Elder Tom Jensen, Joe Empey, Hunter Lindsey, Josh Parr, Navy Dalton, Bowman Loo, Braxton Kunde, Weston Esplin

Week 3 MTC - Half way Done! "Called to be District Leader"

Hello Everyone!!

Another absolutely amazing week here at the MTC! This week has been full of spiritual moments as well as funny moments. I dont have a whole lot of time so I am going to try and keep it short.

Wednesday:

So last P-day after I had finished all my stuff a few members of my zone and I got into a conversation with a lady here who is actually an investigator. We all just talked to her and got to know her a little bit. It was really neat find out her perspective on the church. A really cool experience. 

Thursday:

Today was my first day of TRC which is when members who speak our language come and we teach like a FHE lesson. Our first one didn't go so hot but our second one was so good! We just discussed the power of prayer. As we testified of that the power of the spirit filled the room and was so strong. Highlight of my day!

Friday:

Highlight of today was a lesson that was given by Broeder Norton. We had a discussion over the first lesson first section. Had an amazing spirit there as we taught about Gods love for us. Alma 5:45 talks about how EVERYTHING good comes from God, showing his love for us in all he has done for us and all he has givin us. Also a lesson with Lieka on baptism and families. She loved it, which was good!

Saturday:

Well first off we had to say goodbye to our very first investigator and one of my favorite teachers! He has been here for three years so his time was up. But I loved him while we had him! Got a new investigator today (Tony) aka Broeder Klippel. We just contacted him and gave him the Book of Mormon and asked him when we can teach him, just short and simple little things to practice contacting. 

Sunday:

Very good day, I was able to get a lot of my reading done I made it to 4 Nephi so I think I'm going to be able to finish the challenge that our ward mission leader gave us. I got called as a District leader today so thats exciting! Our devotionals have been at the BYU basketball stadium the past couple of weeks because the Gym is getting redone so its been fun going down there. The devotional was on charity. Incredible talk and the spirit there was unreal. Loved it, charity is an amazing thing an soooooo important in missionary work! Also it was the Danes last night here before they flew out to Denmark so we decided to have a little fun back at the Residence hall and have a massive squirt gun fight! So much fun!

Monday:

Woke up at 5:25 to say goodbye to the Danes which was sad. Today was my half way mark I have been here 20 days!! crazy huh? The time has flown bye, But i have loved every second of it!! Today our district got to host the Senior Missionaries which was super fun! I loved just talking to them about missions and such they were so cool and had great advice. Today I memorized the purpose in dutch

"Anderen uitnodigen om tot Christus to komen, Door uw hulp het herstelde evangalie aan te namen, met geloof in Jezus Christus en zijn verzoening, bekering, de doop, de gave van de heilige geest en volharding tot het einde toe."

So that was really cool. One last thing we got leika to commit to come to church with us!

Tuesday:

Amazing day! We got Tony to believe in God and Christ and got him to read Alma 32 and pray over it to learn more about faith for himself. Amazing chapter!! The spirit was so strong during that lesson, as I listened truly wanting to help him It told me what to say, truly one of the coolest experiences since I have been here! The best part was the Devotional tonight! Highlight of my week! Elder Brown was the one who gave the talk and it was on The Sacredness of His Name. And he just talked on how we every lesson we teach no matter the title is about Christ. Our whole purpose here is to help other gain their OWN testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel. We talked about how just bringing up the Saviors name in a conversation if done so in sincerity can completely change ANY meeting! We do EVERYTHING in Christ name and we should never forget the sacredness of his name, cause he is our savior!

Well That is all for this week, I love you all, and thanks for all you guys do for me! I look forward to talking to you next week!

Love, Elder Parr

#ReturnWithHonor

Week 2 in MTC - Two Weeks Down!

Elder Josh Parr - Belguim./Netherlands - "YES" I got the map picture for my missionary wall.

Hello Everyone, 

It's been another amazing week! Can I just say that the weeks fly by here at the MTC! It's crazy, I love it here I am learning so much and am having such a fun time doing it. 

The language is finally starting to come along and I can Talk to people in broken Dutch but non the less we can have a conversation and it's amazing. This week has been full of memorable and spiritual moments!

Wednesday:

Well That was my P-Day so we didn't do a whole lot our zone did get in a big Spray bottle fight though and that was so much fun being able to kind of have a day to relax for a little is always nice. We also came up with an amazing game haha. So if you can get another Elder to flinch then you flip a coin and depending on the side it lands of they do push ups or not. It brings a lot of entertainment and some fun, so that's good.

Thursday:

Tuesday was a great day for my companions and I. We decided to go in and teach our investigator Robbert for the first time without bringing any language books with us. That was such an amazing experience! Can I tell you that the Gift of Tongues is real and that if you have faith and the courage to open your mouth knowing that the Holy Ghost will fill you will the words you need to say, it will happen! That lesson we were finally able to get Robbert to come to church with us and read and study the scriptures. Also, Today was the first time I was able to say an actual detailed prayer in Dutch without using a book and it was absolutely incredible! I love this Gospel!

Friday:

Fourth of July! Wow, Friday was awesome! I was kind of caught off guard though when I walked into class that morning and saw "Robbert" sitting there and finding out he was another one of our teachers. Ya, we had no idea! Well, the highlight of today was the Devotional, it was incredible. We usually don't have any on Friday but since it was a holiday we did. 

There were three piano musical number who all did so amazing and brought the spirit so strongly! Then they were followed by a little more funny performance since it was the fourth they said they wanted us to have fun. There were 3 fiddlers and 1 pianist who were absolutely amazing and hilarious at the same time. Why they were in the middle of the performance a Senior Sister went and grabbed a fiddle and just started playing with them, it was the funniest thing the whole place roared when they saw!

We then had a talk about what true hero's are, and that they are disciples of Christ. People who follow in his footsteps it was really good. Well guess what else...yeah we all got to watch a full length movie! 17 Miracles, and might I just say that, that movie is absolutely incredible and so inspiring and so spiritual. I loved It! Well since it was the 4th they all let us go out and watch the Stadium of Fire, fire work show! That was so much fun! We could hear Carrie Underwood finish up and then had a great view of the fire works. So we didn't miss out on too much fun haha. During the Fireworks all the missionaries sang The Star Spangled banner and it was so cool! 

Saturday: 

Today was really spiritual for me. Our teacher Brother Robinson aka Robbert taught us an amazing lesson on how we need to rely on the spirit 100% when we are teaching. He taught us how to find out the need of our investigators through certain questions. It was so good. We talked about the power and revelation you  can receive by planning with the spirit both in companionship and personal planning.  It truly makes all the difference!

Sunday:

First fast Sunday at the MTC! Today was good for me I was able to get a lot accomplished with my reading and learning more of Christ and his Gospel. Fast and Testimony meeting was phenomenal, probably one of the strongest times I have felt the spirit since I have been here and that's saying something! I felt prompted to share my testimony so I did and it felt amazing, I love sharing my testimony with others, even if its just in simple forms! For the evening devotion we had a famous concert pianist\returned missionary come perform for us and speak. His name was Josh Wright, and he was so amazing on the piano and did some remix's of church songs and such and they sounded so amazing! Music can bring the spirit so fast, I love it! Funny story, so this Elder in my district Elder Hammond, was dead asleep in a part of this meeting and his head was bobbing for a solid 15 minutes and the whole row was giggling and we would try and wake him up then he would just like slap himself where we were touching him the drop again. SO funny, good times.

Monday: 

Service day, Me and Elder Hammond got to scrub three flights of stairs for service at 6:15 this morning it was fantastic. Well we learned the best ways to start teaching investigators today and that was super helpful! I mean we got a new investigator Lieka and totally nailed the first lesson! Also we gave all of our teachers nicknames today! Brother Klippel (Brouder Erste Dag), Brother Norton (Brouder Haar) , Brother Wells (Brouder Married), Brother Robinson (Brouder Niet Robbert), Brother luis (Broeder Drie week), Sister Moses (Zuester Kort) and Sister Roseland(Sister Wij weten niet). So funny they all new exactly which ones they were. 

Tuesday:

Two great things about today.

 1)

 We invited Lieka to get baptized and she said that she would! soooo cool it was only the second lesson but she said she would commit if she came to know that our message was true, it was such a neat experience!
2)

Niel L. Anderson came and spoke to us today!! Holy cow, can I tell you that he truly is a man of God! It was absolutely amazing. Well Him and his wife spoke to us on the importance of the spirit and the power of the spirit in our lives! I loved this thing he said "Dont ever do something that will disallow the spirit of the Holy Ghost to be with you cause whatever it was\is its not nearly as important as having Gods most amazing gift. " I thought that was amazing he also said " We represent things that are unseen but are true!"  If we don't have that spirit in our lives to testify to those we teach, that these things that are not seen are true....well good luck. Having the Spirit is a MUST!! That was an incredible devotional and night. It just made me want to be that much more careful and striving to do my best to Always have the spirit in my life. It will be a guide for us and teach us things we need to be taught. It will be a comforter to us, a testifier to us, a companion to us and a way for us to be able to know what God wants us to do. I love the spirit that I have felt here thus far. 

Well I love all of you guys! Thanks so much for all that you do for me and for the prayers. I hope that I can make you all proud as I strive to be the best missionary Elder Parr can be!

Love, Elder Parr

#ReturnWithHonor

MTC Dutch District

4th of July Fireworks from Stadium of Fire

SC Warrior Buddy - Elder Hurt 

YES!  Elder Tom Jensen has arrived.  Elder Weston Esplin got to
escort him and I was waiting for him.  SC Warriors!

Week 1 in MTC - Holy Cow!

Well guys I survived the first week of the MTC! It has been an incredible experience thus far and I am learning to love it here! 

WEDNESDAY: Well to say the least the first day here was quite hectic. I Walk into class to people only speaking Dutch to me and having absolutely no idea what they were saying haha! My district has 6 people in it 5 elders and one sister. I found out I was in a trio companionship with Elder Andrew and Elder Steenblik, they are both super cool so I lucked out. We have had some pretty funny bonding moments the first day. After I found out who my companions were we all got introduced to our zone and let me tell you our zone is straight up the best! One of my Zone leaders actually is from Dixie, Elder Featherstone and we knew some of the same people and have gotten really close over the past week which is awesome he is a stud! Every night our residence hall has like rap offs and sing offs its hilarious!!. Our very first day like 2 hours into the MTC we already started learning how to teach investigators, we went to 3 different thing called "people and purpose" and as a group of the new missionaries taught 3 different investigators.

THURSDAY: Day two was awesome I kinda got to get some of the stress out playing some ball with the zone. There are some people who can play so its super fun! It was also the first time I had to teach a lesson to the class the teacher asked me to go over a slide show with the class.  We got to meet with the branch presidency to today and talk a little more about the purpose of being a missionary and that was an awesome experience the spirit was so strong as he explained to us the power of being of good missionary and fulfilling our purpose. I'm sure all of you know all the little things elders hide in the outlets and stuff well we looked tonight and found some long going traditions, juggling balls, nerf guns and all sorts of weird stuff. Oh and heard about the rumors of "Magic Tuesday"....Yeah that was just ehhh.

FRIDAY: The hard stuff hit hard. Our very first class we just started pounding though the language and trying to learn all we could so we could teach "Robert" our investigator in DUTCH. Yeah crazy huh?! third day in an already trying to teach in Dutch. Well That was quite the experience but for only being here for three days and already being able to testify of the truthfulness of the gospel to him and that God loves and know him individually in Dutch was was incredible. With the help of a book of course. Also got my first packages and letters today which were super nice and makes me feel loved:p Thank you :) Everyone here is just so loving and friendly and willing to help! I love it!

SATURDAY: Saturday came so fast it felt like I just got here and the next thing I knew it was saturday. Thus far the MTC had been really good but hard at the same time. I mean the spirit is everywhere here which is amazing but its also hard adjusting to a WHOLE new life so fast. We had our second lesson with Robbert today and we taught him about the book of Mormon. It went a little bit better then the first lesson. We could say and understand a little bit more which was helpful. 

SUNDAY: WOW! Sundays here are super nice because you can kind of relax from your language studies and class and really have time to study and learn more about the Gospel which was super nice. Our branch president challenged us to have the Book of Mormon finished by the time we left the MTC so I was just studying that. Sunday night devotional was really good. It talked about how everyday we have a choice to decide whether its going to be a good, bad or great day and how when everything is saying that you can't we need to find the part of us that is saying we can! That statement was sooo cool the whole room instantly was filled with the spirit! One last thing we were told is to "Finish EVERY race that you enter" that was awesome!

Sunday night Film. HOLY COW!! it was absolutely amazing. It was a talk given by Elder Bednar titled Characteristics of Christ. Yeah he kind of ripped us apart and told us a whole lot of amazing advice you should go watch it cause its amazing!

MONDAY: First day of service in the MTC. We got the "opportunity" i guess to clean some bathrooms yay so fun lol. In class today we just learned about the fundamentals of being a good missionary. And we taught Robert about faith in the lord Jesus Christ and can i tell you that the Gift of Tongues is soo real its amazing how the spirit can work through you.

TUESDAY: yay for magic Tuesday.....yeah if you don't know what magic Tuesday is you wouldn't understand but those that do would know how ummm yeah weird of an experience that was.  Today we taught Robbert and we could talk to him better but it seems like he forgot all we had already taught him which kinda sucks.. so hopefully he will come back around. Me and Elder Higby went and sang in the choir for the devotional today. I saw Bow Bow there too so that was fun. Can I just say that the choir is amazing and music is sooo powerful! The speaker for the devotional was given by President Snow a former 70 and he did a really good job! 

Key Points:

1. Study in Faith

2. CONVERT to Christ

3. Draw near to him and he will draw near unto us

4. There is to much at stake to live the gospel halfheartedly in this day in age 

5. If you are going to make the choice you Need to place the filters

7.  When we allow Christ to change our hearts he can empower us to change others

8 Make sacrifices to become closer to Christ. 

9. Return with honor

Well to say the least I am Loving it here! An incredible place to be at this time in my life. I do miss St.George and all of you but I know this is where i'm supposed to be! 

Love Elder Parr

#returnwithhonor

Trio Compantionship - left - Elder Adams right - Elder Steenblik

In my Zone - Elder Featherstone from Dixie

My MTC District

SC Warrior Missionary Buddies