Week Two of the MTC

Hello everyone!! What a week this has been. There have been so many ups and downs, I don't even know where to start. First off, before I forget, I leave the MTC next week on the 16th, so Monday! I have no idea what my P-day will be for that week, or if I will have one at all, but just a heads up :). Also, if you have been trying to right me on Dear elder, my box number is 106. Last Tuesday we had a devotional with the General Young Women's President, Bonnie L Oscarson. SO COOL! She gave an awesome talk on missionary work and all the places her family has served. and what some of their advice was to us. It was amazing. On Wednesday we got a new district in our zone, the girls are so awesome!! I haven't got to know the elders well at all, but they all seem great too. We also found out that day that Brother Coutu would be leaving our district and teaching another :(. I have loved him as a teacher and will miss him tons. Thursday and Friday were pretty uneventful days, I mean as uneventful as missionary life can be. We had some great lessons with our investigators, Patricia, Harper, and Daniel. All of them came so far this week in their faith, and have come so close to Christ and using his atonement in their lives. We also did some family history work and that was so cool!! People on both sides of my family have been pretty darn busy, the geneology records go back so far!! There is still much work to be done, but it is so fulfilling. The flu has been reeking havoc on our district, so keep them in your prayers!! On Sunday I went to choir and it felt sooooo good to sing again. I have missed choir and music so much! My favorite time in the day is when we sing opening and closing hymns :). We had a devotional by Kelli Mills, who is the director of all of the MTCs around the world. He made us laugh, and I think that was the best part. I needed a good laugh. We watched Legacy after, and boy, is it different watching it with 60 plus missionaries who have been deprived from the outside world for weeks haha. Saturday was probably the worst and best day of my mission thus far. I have been very patient, seeing gods hand in my life everyday, and trying to love everyone i meet. I have been pretty content and stress free thus far, but Saturday was my breaking point. The stress just hit me, i was angry and impatient with myself, and feeling completely and utterly alone. I am not one to cry in front of others, but I think I had been holding it in so long I couldn't take it anymore. So, I turned to the only person I could at that point, and that is god. I have never prayed so fervently and desperately in my entire life. At first, I prayed for understanding, and for a softer heart, and to feel like I was enough. I prayed and prayed, and while when I finished I felt better, I didn't feel as though my prayer was answered. Just after my prayer Sister Holt and I went into our final appointment with Patricia, and the spirit was so strong, and she committed to baptism. I was so shocked, she was so ready for christ to be in her life, but she had so many doubts. We left the lesson so full with the spirit, and I was feeling a lot better. After that, We went to our class with brother Griffiths, and my role plays throughout the class went PERFECT. And I am not good at Role Play, so that was so awesome for me. Then, Sister Holt and I had companionship inventory and since then we have been working amazing together. Our evening appointment with Harper went amazing, and she too committed to baptism! Holy Cow! We were so excited! And then, after that, our investigator, Daniel, also committed to baptism! We had our final lesson with Brother Coutu, and we spent the last hour reading Alma 7, and talking about God and Jesus' love for us and the atonement and sacrifice of him. I don't think there was a single dry eye in the room. I wept. I was so overcome with the love Jesus has for me, and a desire to use repentance more in my life. The spirit was so strong, and that night I truly gained a full testimony of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. God answers the prayers of those who have a sincere heart, and ask with real intent. I was at my lowest, and by his mercy, I was lifted up and answered in a miraculous way. I know he can answer all of our prayers, and if we just turn to him, he will open his arms wide to us and shower us with love and blessings. My favorite scripture this week is Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live; but not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." I love being a missionary!!!! I Love you guys, and I miss you dearly. Thank you for all your prayers, they mean the world! Sister Parry

WeeK One of the MTC

Hello to the other side! I don't even know where to begin, my first week at the Missionary Training Center has been such a crazy one. I've laughed, I've cried, I've had little sleep, but most of all I have felt the spirit the whole way through. I am so happy to be here, I am so happy to have this gospel, and I am proud to call myself Sister Parry, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The only true church on the face of this earth. Wednesday, the 28th was a crazy one! I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my entire life. But the moment I stepped into the MTC I was filled with peace and a willingness to start working immediately. When you first get your name tag they put an orange sticker on it so other people can distinguish you as a newbie. We call it your dork dot. When people see that they are so willing to help with your bags, where to go, and EVERYONE says "welcome to the MTC!". Everyone. But it's really nice, makes you feel right at home. As everything settles down you meet your companion and district. Sister Holt is my companion. She is a short sister of Jewish descent with a very sweet spirit. We are definitely alike in some ways, but our many differences make us a good companionship. After that, you go to a meeting and meet the heads of the MTC. We sang songs like called to serve and army of heleman and I cried like a baby. Music always gets to me. We also had a meeting that evening called "people and my purpose" where we taught a new investigator, who could be a member or not. That was scary, getting thrown to the wolves the first night, but it was a great meeting. Thursday was another mad rush day in the MTC, packed with classes galore. On average, I spend easily about 10 to 11 hours studying and in the classroom a day. It's so easy to get overwhelmed and stressed, but surprisingly I haven't felt too stressed. The Holy Ghost has helped me so much to just know this is where I am supposed to be and I can learn everything I need to with him. We met our teacher ,brother koutu (kuh-to), and he is so spunky and fun. He teaches so strongly with the spirit and has such a passion for the work that it motivates me to do my best. It's weird to think just abut every teacher here is about the same age as me, just fresh out of the mission field some of them. Gives me hope of how much I'll change. Sister Holt and I gave our first mock lesson to our investigator John and it went better than I thought it would, but needs much improvement. We met our branch presidency, who we go to church with on Sundays and they are AWESOME! President Metcalf is the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Sister bird and sister Metcalf are so awesome, and love us so much it hurts. They want to help as much as possible. Friday was a very tough day. I found myself getting really mad all the time and I can't explain it. I just feel angry. But after a lot of praying and reading the scriptures, I realized that it was a sign I was really stressed, and I was taking my stress and getting angry at those around me. The MTC is no walk in the park. I am not going to lie to you. Some days it is so tempting to just jump out the window and run away, and sometimes you will not be able to stand your companion, but it gets better. When we strive to be christ like and love others even when it's hard, we are blessed. Friday we had our first exercise time and it is by far my favorite part of the day. It's fun to just relax and hang out, and helps to relieve stress a ton. Sister Robison, a sister in my district, loves volleyball just as much as I do and we have some killer games with other missionaries, even though we can't keep score lol. The only think I remember about Saturday was that Sister Heiders mom sent the sisters in our district a box of sparkling apple cider, cookies, and poppers and it was the best. We had our own little new year celebration and it was so comforting to get something from home, even if it wasn't my own. If you have ever heard the phrase "make it to sunday" as it pertains to missionary work, it is soooo true. Sunday was an awesome day! We had fast and testimony meeting and that night we had a fireside by a brother who is in charge of church proselytizing. It was a great message, and later that night we watched a devotional by David Bednar which I quite honestly tell you what was about because I fell asleep haha. we also walked to the temple and took pictures and that was really nice, to not be inside for once lol. Yesterday Sister Holt and I received our first two real investigators to teach. It is really satisfying to know that your message, and your words could change someone's life. It's really big shoes to fill, but the knowledge that I am set apart and that god trusts me with the salvation of his children is a huge comfort to me. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! This morning we got to go as a district to the temple and that was much needed. I love the temple and the blessings we receive from going, and it's even more fun to go as a missionary. I am going to tell you one very important truth about the MTC. Most of the food is pretty much like what I imagine prison food is. If your mother ever cooked even remotely decent for you, the food is not very good to you haha. To get my point across, I have a scripture to share with you and it's Jeremiah 4:19-20. I know you'll get a crack out of that because I almost died laughing when someone shared it with me. Overall, I am loving the MTC. It's hard, but this has been the most fulfilling week I have ever had. All the hard times are worth it because I know if I work hard I will know how to help so many other people when I am finally in Pittsburgh. My other teacher, brother Griffiths, shared this quote and it goes "in a comfort zone, there is little growth, and in a growth zone, there is little comfort." How true that is. But I am so grateful for all the things I have learned so for and will continue to learn as a missionary. I love all of you so much, and I know God loves you ever more! Love, Sister Parry PS. I can read your emails through out the week whenever I want to, I just can't respond until Tuesday. Also, there is this really cool site called dearelder.com where you can respond to my emails on or send packages and it gets hand delivered to me every day :)

The Last Frontier

Hello readers!


WOW, it has been a while, and I am so sorry for that! It has been really crazy around here, and I mean it this time! I hope all of you had an awesome thanksgiving and got to enjoy some time with your family.


This post is just going to be an update post I guess, a lot has happened. On the 18th I flew back to Alaska! For those of you who don't know, I was raised in Alaska and lived here until just before my freshman year of high school. After my Senior year, my parents made their escape back to Alaska.

They love it here, and so far I have really enjoyed being back home. It has been awesome to be with them again, but its going fast! I only have two more weeks left here, and then I will be heading down to Utah to wait out the rest of my time until I report to the MTC. I will not be with my family for my 19th birthday or Christmas because we wanted to make sure I wouldn't get stuck in Alaska due to weather, and that's kind of a bummer. But at the same time, it is a small price to pay on my journey to spreading the gospel in Pennsylvania. This is what I must do.


Alaska is....AMAZING. It is so pretty and SO COLD!!! Port Graham, the village they live in, never gets snow and when they do it melts quickly. I had told my mom I hoped it would be different just this one time so I could have a white holiday season and LO AND BEHOLD ITS SNOWY.

This is the view from my house, and I don't know if it can be beat. It is so beautiful and I am sure its even more gorgeous in the summer.

One of the greatest blessing I have received from coming back home in the environment I live in to prepare for my mission. Port Graham is very small, and very much excluded from the hustle and bustle of life. It is calm, quiet, and so serine. Because it is just so peaceful I have been able to listen to the spirit more and have had lots of time to read my scriptures and prepare to teach the gospel.

I think that sometimes a get away is exactly what everyone needs now and again. You probably don't need to fly to remote Alaska to find a peaceful place, but we all need that peace. Life can get so busy, and for a lack of better words, LOUD. I challenge each of you to just unplug once in a while. Turn off your phone, turn off the tv, and just go somewhere peaceful and listen for the spirit. He too often gets smothered by the static of the outside world, and that's a shame.

President Faust puts it a lot better than I do, watch this awesome video!

Today I am thankful for the spirit. I couldn't be half the missionary I hope to be without him!

Here are some more pictures of my frozen home :)