First Lesson Taught

Wow! This week has gone by pretty fast, but I guess it hasn't been a full week since my last email. So I have been in England for a little over a month now. It's strange. I don't really know how I feel about it all. I honestly can say that I feel like I have been away from home for 40 years. Hahaha It's been the longest month of my life. Sometimes when we are biking down the road I feel like I am in salt lake on like an exchange with the missionaries, then I realize they I am the missionary and I'm not in salt lake....I'm in Bedford England. 

So we have struggled this week finding and teaching. White washing is really hard! It's seems like a lot of people know who we are and what we do. When we walk through town centre, everyone tries to somewhat avoid us. And if you ask them if they know anything about Mormons and they always say "yes! It's all rubbish!" Haha but there are a few nice people that I love talking to. So many old ladies that have been members of the Church of England for like 50 years but are seriously the sweetest. They always ask where we are from and say that we are so handsome and courageous for serving these missions. It makes me miss Nana and Grandmother so much. 

So we taught P. the plan of salvation on Saturday. It was my actual first lesson I have taught on my mission!!!!! It was a little scary haha because Elder Fisher just knows everything. But the lesson went really well, except when I started teaching about the 3 kingdoms P just started laughing and it kind of killed the spirit. But he apologized and it was all good. So ya! My first lesson went pretty well I guess. This week we did a lot of less active visits, and I mean a lot.....like 20 on Tuesday and 20+ on Wednesday and another 20 on Thursday. Only 2 answered the door but that's alright we just dropped off the Meet the Mormon Flyers and went on to the next. 

We have done a lot of bike riding, I have so much more respect for bike riders now. We rode like 30 miles one day and oh my goodness it was hard. We were going to a dinner appointment at a members home wayyyy out in the countryside and it took us 2 hours to find this house and we were super late. The member, Brother S, was watching the rugby World Cup game, he told us that he wasn't going to turn it off because it was the opening game, England vs. Fiji. We taught a quick lesson to the kids about the walls of Jericho, watched the game for like one second and had to leave. It was a great night. 

Saturday night we watched Meet the Mormons as a ward! It was wonderful. But we had no investigators or less actives show up, and the sisters had like 6, man! Sister missionaries are awesome!!!! They are so good at what they do. We need more of them everywhere in the world. I'm so proud of Jordan, she's a great example of a wonderful sister missionary. Sister missionaries are the bees knees!!! But ya the movie was great, it was soooo good to watch some American football in the segment with the  Navy football coach. Dang I miss American sports! All the members were saying how crazy football was and that every game is like way to over the top and that Americans are crazy. Ahhh how I miss that blasting roar of Rice Eccles stadium when Devonte Booker rushes for a touchdown, or when Travis throws deep to Clay in the end zone. Glad the Utes are getting it done. 3-0. Pac-12 championship this year. 

Well that's basically my week. It has gone faster than the last few. A friend sent me this quote, "there are no bad days, just good days and hard days." There will be hard days, like almost every day the last month haha. But there will always be good days that make up for hard days. I'm grateful for that. There are a few lines in the song Come Come ye Saints that really motivate me. 

LORDS HAND:

I have seen the lord’s hand in getting one of the less active members to church on Sunday! His name is M. B., we visited him two weeks ago and invited him to church and he said he would never come back, he has some problems with how the meetings are run and some other things. So we were impressed to call him Saturday night and ask if he wanted to meet us at the church earlier for a quick lesson, right away he said he would love to, we met him the next morning, taught a quick lesson and then he stayed for sacrament meeting! It was a blessing! He said that he felt the spirit rekindle his testimony. I am grateful that the Lord can soften everyone's hearts. 

I love you all! I miss you and I pray for you. I miss working in the yard on Saturdays and just being with the family. Keep working hard!! I love you!! 

Elder Parkin        

NO SHORT CUTS

Answers to my questions... 

1. Mom, so shopping, we basically just buy all the food we need on Mondays, we usually have like 3 dinner appointments a week which is soooo good!!! But ya for dinner we just make chicken and rice or pasta, or eggs and toast. 

2. Our schedule just varies, we don't have very many appointments because we don't have any progressing investigators. So we just visit less actives, knock on doors, Come home for lunch around 1-2. We do the first 12 weeks study for an hour or so. Then we go out and find around the embankment or town centre. Come home for dinner around 8 and then plan for tomorrow make some calls to the district and go to bed haha. 

Cold Chinese Food, Basketball and Learning to Budget..or NOT!

"At least the ducks listen"

So this week has been good! It has gone slow, but fast in some ways. The weeks feel like days and the days feel like weeks. So I haven't taught one first discussion yet, it's seems weird, coming from the MTC teaching them every single day to not really teaching them at all! But that's okay!! We will find some great people that want to hear this wonderful message that we have to share, it's more important to love, serve and help the people of Bedford, the time will arise for someone to hear our message, I have a testimony of that. 

We had district meeting/P day on Tuesday. It was fun! But we went to this Chinese place for lunch and it was soooo nasty hahaha it was a buffet and all the food was just cold and it cost 10£!!! It was a joke! I could have bought like 3 Big Macs and a large fry for that much...that sounded much tastier. Then we went and played basketball with the district! It was fun, but i was the best player and that's saying something haha, I'm lucky to have grown up next a basketball freak like hank haha, he taught me some moves the past 7 years. We played in a pretty sketchy part of Bedford and we got some funny looks from a lot of people haha, it was awesome. 

So right now we have two investigators, G from Poland and P from Brickhill, haha i don't know where that is. But we haven't had lessons with them yet because they are so busy, we have met with them but we haven't had the chance to teach any lessons so it's hard sometimes. A rule that the London mission has is that we have to get our investigators to church 3 times before they can be baptised. So that makes it harder because most people can't make it every week in a row so we may have to move G's baptismal date.  But she is doing pretty well, we took her to the chapel the other day to show her around and we had a member who speaks polish come, it was a great meeting even though Elder F and I didn't say much at all.  So the lesson went pretty long and we walked G home and if was pretty late. She said to us, "you know elders, I'm really tired, hungry, I have a headache, but I feel really good inside my heart right now." This was wonderful to hear! We knew she had felt the sprint and we told her that the good feeling she had was the spirit telling her that the gospel was true! It was an awesome walk home that night! So P wanted to meet at 630 in the morning the next day haha and we knew that he needed the lesson so we told him we would meet him at the town square in the morning. We woke up at like 530 to plan and study for a bit, got outside our flats, prepared our awesome bikes, and right when we started riding over in the freezing cold P called us and said that he couldn't make it! DANG! Hahahaha that was rough! So we went back to the flat and listened to a few GC talks. It was a great morning!!!!!!!! 

We had a pretty awesome stake party on Saturday! Except we had to travel out to North Hampton which is like 1.5 hours on bus and it's like 11£. And I have a problem with my credit card that the mission gave me, I only have like 35 dollars on there because I forgot to bring my recipts to the mission home to get reimbursed for the travel costs, and then I came home and I couldn't find any of the recipts. So yaaa I'm basically going to starve mom lol. It's stressing me out, but I'll figure it out haha. Classic greeny move I know. But ya, the stake party was great! We played games with all the members and little kids! If was super fun! But it made me really miss the Bonneville Stake, nothing can beat the Bonn stake and everyone that is a part of it. There is so much love from everyone and we are honestly like a huge family. I love it so much! BONN. STAKE FOREVER! 

 I remember what Clark Seninger said about his mission, something he said was "find yourself, and go to work" ya sure! I will lose myself in this work! But I am also here to "find" what kind of missionary I want to be and how I want to represent my Savior Jesus Christ. and by finding my role in this work, I will lose myself in this service. I have a testimony of that. 

THE LORDS HAND:

so, I see the lords hand everywhere out here in the mission! I see it with the loving support I have from family and close friends, I see it through just small things every day! I saw it on Friday when Elder F and I were dropping off the Polish Book of Mormon to G! She told us she wouldn't be home but that we should just drop it off at here flat through her mail slot. So we found where we thought her flat was but we weren't 100% sure, honestly we were like 10% sure it was her flat. Anyways, we were about to drop the Book of Mormon into the mail slot, like it was half way in, when she came around the corner and was so excited to see us. We gave her the Book of Mormon and she was honestly so happy!  I could see it in her eyes when she held the book. And yes, we were at the wrong flat haha. I saw the lords hand in our lives that day, he makes sure that we are in the right place at the right time, and it was perfect timing! I am so grateful that G was able to get that Book of Mormon, because it was our only Polish one and the other copies were all the way in London! It was a mini miracle haha. 

Well I still can't believe I'm in England haha, but yaaa I am haha. I've decided I don't want to come back with an accent, I'm proud to be an American, and I always will be! Oh and I get made fun of a lot out here for being from Utah haha, especially salt lake, but ya it's whatever, I love Utah so much. He weather here is just like i was told. But it's even worse because I'm in the country. I think I have seen the sun 2 times the last 2 weeks and it wasn't very long. It's pretty crazy, when he sun is out I swear everyone around me is 100 times nicer, and right when the clouds cover, everyone gets grumpy, haha it's interesting. 

I love you!! I hope all is well at home! Work hard in school, enjoy it! Because I miss it! Love you!!!   

P.s. Brinton covey is a freekin beast! That's so cool that he's doing well! I saw a few videos and he's so quick! That's really cool! I saw that the Utes won! I'm looking forward to the summary from dad, I loved that last week. 

Elder Parkin 

NO SHORT CUTS 

First week in the field...BEDFORD, ENGLAND

So this email is long I have a lot to say! The last few days have been really long and tough. But I have never learned more. So on Wednesday we couldn't email because we were super busy! We had to wake up at 4:30 on Wednesday because the London south group was leaving before us. It was really hard saying goodbye to those guys. I'm going to miss district Lehi so much!! 

The bus ride from the MTC to London was about 4 hours. We drove right through the center of London and it was crazy!!!! So many cars flying by each other almost crashing. Massive old buildings on both sides of the road! It was super cool. So when we arrived at the Hyde Park chapel, President and Sister Stevens were there waiting for us. They are the nicest people!!!! It was sooooo good to finally meet them and talk with them. They fed us lunch and gave us some training stuff, our iPads, and then our trainers!!!!! 

Jacob's flat is in the top of this home

So my trainers name is Elder F from Australia! He has been here for like 15 months. He was a zone leader in London before this. He is pretty awesome! So after we were paired up we went out finding in the streets of London for like 30 minutes, Elder F placed like 2 Book of Mormons in like 10 minutes, he's got skills haha. I was trying to learn from him, all it really takes is confidence. But a lot of it...after finding we were sent off to our new areas. The train ride was rough though, it was a massive walk from Hyde Park to the station....all in the rain. Then a 2 hour bus ride from London to Bedford. So ya haha fun stuff. We got to our flat at about 10:55pm and just went right to bed. It felt so good! My area is a little town called Bedford. It's a classic English town like the ones we searched on the computer mom. It's super cool. There is this canal thing that surrounds the town basically. My area is pretty big!!!! It goes all the way out to the country. We have bikes so we can travel farther and faster. But the bikes are pretty crappy and my butt is soooo sore oh my!  

Thursday was basically just a training day so we planned and went out finding with not much luck at all. People here are a lot nicer than in London, but still really grumpy haha so it's hard. A cool story was we weree walking and Elder F asked which way we should turn. I was prompted to say left. Not knowing why, we walked and walked and walked and I was somewhat irritated at my decision because there was no one, but after about 30 minutes of walking we ran into a lady named G! She was from Poland and had been looking for the missionaries. So this was cool!!! We gave her a lesson the next day and committed her to baptism on the 10th of October If she was ready by then! I was super happy! 

On Saturday we helped a member move 1000 bricks from his neighbor’s house to his, it was a lot of work but it made me miss the days at home helping dad work around the house. I miss that so much. I want to just be able to build and clean and fix everything around our house, just to be with the family on those Saturday mornings. I love you guys so much! 

Sunday was fast Sunday! We have a good ward, but nothing can even compare to ours back home. I love the Bonneville 2 ward so much, the love that is there is out of this world. I hope all is well within the ward. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have my dad as the Bishop! I love you dad.

There have been some moments this week where I have been struggling pretty hard. The people here aren't the nicest, well some of them at least, others are super kind. But there are a lot of grumpy people. I have talked to a lot of Hispanic and Chilean people!!!! They are seriously so kind! I love them. But my Spanish is awful so it's hard to talk sometimes. When I was struggling this week, which was quite a bit, I read this email that Johny (his good friend serving in Argentina) got from his uncle a few weeks back. "I kind of found the mission to be a lot like body surfing or boogie boarding.  Sometimes you are on top of the wave and sometimes you are at the bottom.  Then again sometimes you are on top and all of the sudden you get slammed to the bottom of the ocean and you find yourself picking sand out of your teeth.  I think I ate more metaphorical sand in the first six months of my mission than I had during the first 19 years of my life." I have felt this metaphorically and physically haha and it is beyond true. I really am looking for the best of things here and that's helping a lot, but sometimes it's hard. I have really learned to rely on the Lord for strength and help. I have seen him give me the slightest bit of comfort to help me push through the hard times. 

THE LORDS HAND:

This week I have seen the Lords Hand everywhere. It has been hard. But I know that I can pray to him for help and guidance. A friend told me that I need to pray to our Heavenly Father like he is our best friend, talk to him, tell him everything, cry unto him, and that's what I have done. I have felt his comfort when I am at my lowest point, and sometimes it's not a lot of comfort, but it's enough to get me going, I know we have trials of our faith to strengthen us. I know that this gospel will swell within my heart as I work hard, just like it says in Alma 32:28, I know this gospel is a "true seed" and I am ready to spread this "good seed" to those In England. 

I love you guys all so much!!!!! I miss being at home so much, I want to fight and argue with you all I miss that, I love you so much!

NO SHORT CUTS 

Elder Parkin GOOOO FREEEEKINNNN UTES BABY! There was a kid from Michigan in the MTC I told him they were gonna lose haha love you all!!! 

I saw the Utes one!!!! 🙌🏻

Leaving the MTC

MTC District

I am on the bus to London right now. It’s about a 3 hour drive so I will write this and get some sleep.  We had to wake up at 4:30.

So! Overall it has been a pretty solid week.  The MTC experience was not what I expected.  I won’t miss all the class time…but I will miss my district.  I had to say goodbye to Elder Katieli, Elder Wright and Elder Johnson this morning.  It was hard. I struggled letting Elder Johnson leave haha! He has honestly been one of my best buds. I never thought I could become so close with someone I have only known for 2 weeks.  I wouldn’t have made it without him. 

Last night we had a testimony meeting. I was the first to speak because no one else would go first. Haha But it was a marvelous meeting I have to say. The spirit in the MTC is like nothing I have felt before. Because it is so small, you know all the elders, and when they share their testimonies, its like the spirit enters the room with great force.  It’s the coolest!

My favorite thing about the MTC was probably the Book of Mormon study with the district before bedtime.  All we do is find a chapter and read and talk about it.  I never knew that after 12 hours of class each day, we would be so excited to read.  It was hard for me to read each night at home, but now it is something that is the best part of my day.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  It has all the answers. We just have to be willing to find them.

So some funny things that have happened in the MTC…Elder Johnson and I in some ways didn’t really go well together. We are way too similar to be with each other because sometimes it gets out of control.  We were always slapping each other as hard as we could in the face before class so we wouldn’t fall asleep or stealing loads of apples and bananas and juice for when we get hungry in class.  One night, we stole, well borrowed, a ping pong ball from downstairs and we played like this crazy shot game in the bathroom that night.  It was awesome! I seriously love my district so much! OH! By the way, I’m like a baller at football now.  We played like everyday in the MTC. Elder Mecham played for Lone Peak (who was pretty good) and he is sooo sick we will all our games.  It’s lovely.

 The Lord’s Hand

This past week I have seen the Lord’s Hand daily. I see it in my district, the spirit that we bring is something that I will never forget. I see the Lord’s Hand in my personal prayers, I have personally felt his comfort and love for me. I know that He knows me by name and that He wants me to succeed. I have seen the Lord’s Hand in the safety of those I love. I am grateful that he blesses my family with love and care.  I love this Gospel.  I love my family! I miss you!

Elder Parkin

NO SHORTCUTS

On the bus to London

London!!!!

He knows whats important...Harrod's

Trainer Elder Fisher