12/19/2016

It was a solid week out here in Duston! Life is good! It was a quick week and I still cannot believe that we are really skyping this week. It seems like just yesterday we were skyping on Mother's Day and also on Christmas. But I am super super excited for it. So be ready! It's always such a special time of the year. Especially as a missionary. I love the chance I have to share the message of Christmas with everyone. It has been so powerful to share the video with everyone on the street and just see it lighten their mood. It's such a powerful video.

 

We had our Christmas conference this week! Ahhhh it was so good. President and sister Stevens are the best. Seriously, I love them. They shared and bore powerful witness of Jesus Christ and really shared their own testimonies. It was so powerful! They really just have so much love for all the missionaries! I hope that one day I can be like them even in the slightest. They are so humble and loving. So I really feel so happy and blessed to be here with them. We also had some super fun activities at the Christmas conference. Elder Lindsey and I planned them all out and it was just super super fun! We had some wicked sweater olympics and it was super super sweet. Our district won by the way, hahaha we beasted out. But overall it was a super super great Christmas conference. I was sad leaving, I couldn't really believe that it was my last one, it made me sad. It seemed like just yesterday that Elder Ammermon and I were in St Albans last year. But it was fun and we all had a good time.

Sweater Olympics

The Winners!

The rest of the week was slow to be honest except for Sunday. We had a whole day of contacting on Saturday which was so gooooooood! Ah it was the best, but to be honest we didn't have much luck, at all. And I don't even want to complain because I know Andrew is just out beasting out in Russia. He is a great example to me. But we faced some major Opposition. And no one wanted to listen. It hasn't been like that for a while for me, it was a humbling experience for me for sure. I was grateful for it.

Cousin Andrew in Russia

Lords Hand

Well I really saw the Lords Hand this week in being reminded of my buddies and Andrew out in the field. I love reading Andrews emails and seeing his positive attitude and his ability to be happy. I couldn't even imagine trying to learn Russian. I saw the Lords Hand in being reminded that there is another parkin over here across the pond working hard to. I realized that in the Grand scheme of it all, we are doing the same work, no matter where we are, no matter what success we have. The Lord is mindful of what i am doing, what Andrew is doing, and all the missionaries are doing. I saw the Lords Hand in the knowledge that I have about Him, the knowledge that I know He lived, died for me, and lives now. I am so grateful for the chance I have out here 24/7 to become more like the Savior. It's the best,

I love you all! Sounds like the mountains got some snow. Hope everyone got some face shots and sweet lines up in the Milly bowl. I love you!!!! Talk to you soonnnnn!

No short cuts!!!

Jacob

12/12/2016

Well! What a week it has been! To be honest a lot of planning and not much time in our area at all...but it has been a solid week this week, we had some solid friends come to church and we also had some sweet miracles this week that we really were so beyond grateful for. So that was just brilliant. The Lord has been so mindful of us this week. Even with all the crazy things going on, so we are really really grateful. Life is good out here in Duston. It's so crazy that Christmas is coming so soon!!!!! Skype will be such a good time, I'm stokeddddd! But Christmas is always the best on the mission, I really have a testimony of that.

So first things first, on Tuesday we were blessed to be able to find 3 new friends that are way cool. One of them name is E and he is from Italy and is living with his family here! We were able to go and teach him and his sister on Friday and they both accepted baptismal dates! They are so willing and they love the Book of Mormon already. Tuesday night was a long night to be honest, we drove into London without satellite navigation, as it was stolen.....and it was an adventure to say the least. We did pretty well because we take the M1 all the way to central London, but once you get into central London it's a different story without a sat nav, especially trying to get to Kensington. Pretty sure 100+ taxi drivers honked at me and yelled at me but we just had a good time. We drove pretty aggressively and made it through, it was so brilliant though, we drove down oxford street and right past Marble Arch and everything was lit up with Christmas lights, so that was cool, we had a good time and to be honest it was meant to be that Elder Lindsey and I were together because we have spent about a year and a half in London combined so we could make our way through. But it did feel nice to finally arrive at the Hyde Park chapel. So that was a highlight of the week. We had a meeting and it was also super super powerful, I love President and Sister Stevens. They are the best. They always know how to lighten the mood and bring the spirit. They are special. We had zone meeting on Friday and it was nice to be with everyone in the zone all together!!! It was a powerful meeting and I learned tons.

We had a way cool miracle on Saturday. So we were helping a recent convert put up some curtain hangers, which was a bit difficult with the tools that we were given, but we made it work, it took a bit longer than we thought but it all happened for a reason because before we were leaving we started sharing the Christmas initiative video "light the world" and as we started it, a man came downstairs and we invited him to watch it with us. As we watched the spirit was super super strong. We left outside with the man and offered him a Book of Mormon. We talked for  quite a while about the Book of Mormon and the restoration. He was very interested! We were standing out in the English rain for about an hour testifying to this man about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was a lovely experience. We were able to extend a baptismal date and he accepted. He came to church the next day and expressed how he truly felt that this church was true and that it had to come from God. It was such a lovely experience. His name is "I" and he is a such an amazing guy.

Sunday was a sweet day. A, I, and a few other friends came to church! We had dinner at the Hirsts after church. They are such an amazing family, so over all it was a solid week!

LORDS HAND

I saw the Lords Hand this week in the ability elder Lindsey and I had to make it into London safely and on time, well almost on time. We were comforted as we knew where we were at certain moments and what we needed to do. I also saw the Lords Hand in "I", and how prepared he was to receive the message of the restoration. I saw the Lords Hand in the fact that it took us a bit longer to put up the curtains which made everything work out perfectly. I know that it all happened for a reason. It was so cool to see that the message of the restored gospel in a way, filled a gap in "I"'s understanding of religion in general. I love that the Book of Mormon is the converting tool through the power of the Holy Ghost. I have complete confidence that it can change the life of anyone that reads it to come closer to God and Jesus Christ, as long as we are truly willing to read and pray about its truthfulness.

Love you!

No short cuts

Jake

Teaching via Skype

12/5/2016

Another solid week here in Duston. Time is flying that's for sure. Sometimes I just can't even believe it. It freaks me out haha. But life is good. I'm happy. The mission is treating me well. We have seen some success this week in the small things I think.  But we are still pressing on and having a good time. It's been getting colder and colder each day. We are scraping ice off our windows in the morning which I love haha, every morning I hope to wake up to snow but it never happens. Hopefully one of these days. It's defiantly cold enough. J and K are doing super super well. K received the priesthood this last week at church! He is brilliant. He bore his testimony in church and is just a pioneer for his family. J is also a legend. He is learning so much and has sacrificed so much time even with all of his studies. They both seem happy and they really are seeing that the happiness comes from living the gospel. 

We are teaching a solid Chinese friend named A! He's a legend as well haha. He is from mainland China and he loves the gospel. He is learning so quickly but also has tons and tons of questions. He is really willing to act on his faith and do his best. He is such a funny guy. We love him tons! It's so crazy. I never would have thought I would be teaching so many Chinese people here. I love it. We have a cool miracle with the Christmas initiative! It is so powerful. I love it so much! We are able to use our iPads with Bluetooth speakers and play it on the street. It reminds me of last year and how spiritual it was and how happy it made people. I love it. It's truly inspired. The Christmas initiatives will really be so special to me for the rest of my life because of the impact that they have had on my mission! So anyways, we stopped this Romanian woman named "I" and she loved the video. She ended up coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon in Romanian and she loves it! So that was so cool! 

Lords Hand 

I saw the Lords Hand this week in "I"! We felt inspired to talk to her and it was so lovely to see that she was prepared. I have been finding it hard at times to teach people because of the language barrier with all the different cultures and languages here. But I've felt the Lords Hand in the ability we have to share everything in different languages with people on the street. I know that the Lord is mindful of all of us. It's the best! I love it. 

Sounds like it's dumping in Utah. Hahaha finally winter has come. Maybe it'll be a La Niña year. Which would be pretty sweet. I love you!!! Have a good week! 

No short cuts 

Jake 

11/29/2016

First things first! I'm staying in duston! So by the time I finish this transfer I will have served in the Northampton zone for 9 and half months of my mission hahaha. This is home!

What a week it has been! Hahaha a lot things going and and some crazy things happening. But we finished the week off on a high note and we are really happy. J AND K WERE BAPTISED ON SATURDAY! We were super super happy! It was a lovely service and the spirit was so strong. They both seriously expressed how good they felt. J was able to say that "he could not describe how he felt, they only way someone could find out would be to do if for themselves because it comes from inside" it was so powerful, K just expressed how pure and fresh he felt. He has come so far. He will be so committed and I am so happy for him. He is really going to never forget this day. We invited both of them to write it down so that they can always look back on it. So it was just a powerful weekend! 

K wearing Elder Parkin's name tag!

The week was a bit different than the weekend. We had a lot of lessons cancel and on Thursday morning we found out that our car had been broken into the night before. And the worst part is that a member who lives next to us also had their car broken into, our two cars were the only ones broken into on the whole street. We live in a dodgy area of town so we should have seen it coming. So that really was a bummer, I had left my bag in the car the night before because we were in a hurry to make some calls and I forgot to grab it. So that was stolen and my camera and usbs were in there. So I was pretty bummed. But we sorted it out and drove around for 3 days with one of our windows gone. I'll be honest, it was pretty dang cold. Haha I feel bad for elder Lindsey he was freezing. But we had the car fixed on Saturday, the guy showed up about 4 hours late right during the baptism, I walk out with all my white clothes on and this guy is pretty weirded out hahaha it was hilarious. But we got it fixed so that's all good. But when he fixed it, he put the panel on wrong so now elder Lindsey cannot open the door from the inside haha. So we will have to fix that. 

Elder Lindsey had a driving test out in Kettering so we drove out there to use a different mission car for the drive because ours wasn't allowed. The driving test went well, he didn't end up passing, just like me the first time. The instructor wasn't the nicest man on England to be honest, he didn't give much compliments, and he didn't like Americans and how we drive. So that didn't work out too well. So we both weren't too happy with him by the end of the drive to be honest. Some people learn languages on their missions and we learn how to drive in England. It's pretty difficult at time, but it's the best, it's a beautiful place to drive when the sun is out.

Lords Hand

I saw the Lords Hand this week in everything still working out. Our car was fixed during the baptism, the guy was suppose to come in the morning but showed up right when the baptism started, he was a bit weirded out seeing some of us all dressed in white haha but we kindly invited him to join and he wasn't interested but he was a nice guy, I saw the Lords Hand in elder Lindsey and I being able to find our destinations without directions. And I really saw the Lords Hand this week in J and K. I know that baptism is essential for us to return to our Heavenly Father, I know that the doctrine of Christ is what brings eternal salvation to us all. I love the simple and sweet truths of the gospel and the plan that is in store for us. I know that Repentance is real, it is a daily process of change and refinement. I have seen the conversion power of the Book of Mormon in myself and also in K and J, and that if anyone reads it wanting to know truth, they can find it. It answers all the questions we have. I love it. I've realised more than ever this week that the England London mission is where I am suppose to be, I am here to meet specific people. They have changed my life forever. 

I love you guys. Sad the Utes couldn't pull off the win, but, it is what is is. Life goes on. PAC 12 is still the greatest conference in college football. Haha I love you all and you're the best.

Jacob 

NO SHORT CUTS