The Christmas Tree I decorated!

Hello everyone! Can you believe it?!?! This will be the last letter I write as a missionary! It has been such a pleasure and a great building opportunity to serve the Lord! I had no idea what a mission does to a person! On my mission I have found testifying about Christ magnifies a person's strengths and weaknesses. I have truly learned a lot! So, for this purpose I will quickly review my week and do something that I do with Michelle every week in my personal email with her. We tell each other 5 things we have learned from the past week and 5 things we are excited for the near future. This time... I want to share things I learned from my mission as a whole and things that I'm excited about for the future RM life!

Ok! So it was a slower week with Thanksgiving and getting last minute errands done before ending my mission this week. It was quite funny because Tuesday and Wednesday were COMPLETE opposite in what kind of day it was! Tuesday was full of driving to appointments and dropping clothes off at the Visitor Center. We then had to drive home during rush hour... It took us 2 hours to get home!!! (Whereas on Friday morning there was NO traffic and it only took us 45 minutes to get to the Visitor Center.) Luckily we got there in time for our 6:30 dinner appointment! Wednesday we stood ALL day long helping Marilyn can soups and chili for when she has her surgery. It was fun, but LOTS of work! It was funny because we thought we would get a break while Marilyn left to go to her doctor appointment... But nope! She gave us orders what to do while she was gone. Haha. To say the least... We were pretty dead by the time the day ended! 

Thanksgiving was a BLAST! It was the best day of the week! We went over to the Owen's house for Thanksgiving and Marilyn was able to come! We all had so much fun eating and chatting away. Marilyn made herself at home and told us all about sailing! Sister Owen now wants to take her family sailing! Haha. After dinner we helped decorate their Christmas tree! Boy was that fun!!!! Marilyn even helped by telling us where to put things, since she can't stand on her feet for too long. It made me so happy to hear how much fun Marilyn had that day! She now wants to go to the Relief Society activity in a couple of weeks at Sister Owen's house! 

Saturday was a really fun day! We had the Ward service activity. We went to different Ward members' houses and helped rake their leaves. We FINALLY conquered sister Adams leaves! Thanks to leaf blowers and 41 bags later... Her lawn is finally finished!!! We also went to 3 other houses. One of which was the bishop's house! They had a HUGE backyard! It's like a mini forest! Luckily we only needed to do the front 1/2 of the backyard! All together with the 4 lawns we did... We had around 95 bags of leaves! Both Saturday and Sunday nights we had Thanksgiving dinner! So... I'm feeling pretty stuffed right now! Haha 

Monday we went to tour the naval academy! That was a lot of fun! Our tour guides was an elderly couple who served in the Navy. It was so neat to hear the husband's stories from serving in the Navy. I now have lots of respect for those who served and are serving in the military... I couldn't do that! I learned a lot today about the Navy. One of which is if a flag is hung upside down, that means the crew is in distress and they need help. Also the quote,"learn the ropes" came from Midshipmen learning the ropes of the sail boat! Bro. Okerson, who severed in the Navy, told us a story when he and his crew had to save 6 people in the ocean. Their plane failed and they had to make an emergency landing. They were able to save 5 of the 6. It was really sad about the person who died. He was finished with his mission and was ready to get on a plane to go home. But, the person who was supposed to navigate the plane got sick, so he replaced him and ended up dying for the cause. On that sad note, we got 4 6 pound milkshakes to share as a district! I think we were able to drink it all! Haha 

Alright! Now to the spiritual part of what I wanted to share! 

Some things I have learned from my mission: 

 1. I learned the Atonement covers way more than just sins. I never understood that until I came on my mission. Back in the Rockville ward they talked a lot about how the Atonement can help us feel joy and to be able to overcome every negative feeling that we feel here on earth. The Atonement allows us to have the power and the strength that we wouldn't be able to have on our own.

 2.I learned that service can mend a broken heart. When I had the roughest time on my mission it was through service that I was able to feel joy again. Service can also help soften other peoples' hearts. That is how Jan got interested in wanting to learn more about the church and eventually got baptized. 

3. I learned the power of prayer REALLY does work, even if it's the simplest of requests! There are countless times where my companion and I have prayed to be able to teach someone through tracking and we've been able to teach a lesson on the doorstep or on the streets. Also through prayers I have been paired with companions who were able to help me and grow into the person I needed to be. I just love the idea of prayer and how we LITERALLY can talk to our Father in Heaven who is ALWAYS waiting to listen to us 24/7. 

4. I learned there are people out there who is ready to hear the gospel! When I came out on a mission, I knew that it would be hard. So I thought every person I taught would be difficult to find and teach. But, there are always people ready to hear the gospel. Even people who are willing to just listen for five minutes and feel the Spirit. It's a really an amazing experience to be apart of!

 5. I learned while being on my mission I have grown a greater appreciation for the priesthood power. It truly is the power that can seal things on earth to heaven. It is the power that links us altogether. The priesthood power is what allows us to live with Heavenly Father again. Finally, it allows us to use God's power to be healed (both temporally and spiritually). What a blessing it is to know that using God's power of the Priesthood, would be like as if He was doing it himself. 

Things that I am excited for:

 1. To never be separated from my family again! From the first 2 weeks of my mission, I have felt a sliver of what Heavenly Father feels about sending us to earth. I know He misses us a ton and wishes for us to return back to him! Those first 2 weeks were hard, but I overcame that struggle through prayer and priesthood blessings.

 2. To be able to go back to college again and receive my degree in deaf education at UVU.

 3. To be able to call and text people that I have met on my mission and remain connected to them. There are many people who have touched my life!

 4. When the timing is right, to become a mother and wife. To be able to raise my children and have them be my "investigators" as I teach them the gospel!

 5. To be able to use my missionary experiences and apply it to my life. I'm excited to continue in reflecting back on my mission and to realize more of the things I've learned from it. 

I love you all a ton! Thank you so much for being with me these past 18 months. I have felt so much love and prayers from everyone. Thank you for all you have done for me. I am excited to see you guys again and to continue our friendship with each other! 

For the last time, 

 Sister Parker