On Monday, June 22nd Jay took off work and we both hovered near a phone all day! Lol No other incoming calls could be answered because we needed to keep the line open for the highly anticipated call(s) from our missionary son as he traveled to Italy!! It was very exciting and we actually got a call from pay phones in both the SLC airport and the JFK airport in New York!!We had an entire hour with the SLC call but the NY call was very brief. It was sooooooooooooo wonderful to hear Elder Parker’s voice and know for ourselves how happy and ready to go he truly is!! Here are a few things from the notes I took while we talked that we thought you would enjoy…
There will actually be 4 boxes of stuff he sent home! Lol He sent the first one himself, he asked the Sister Missionaries to send another one and he had to leave 2 with notes that will hopefully be sent as well!
His MTC teacher, Ftlo. Garlick’s wife was in the Philippines for a study abroad program and discovered the “hi-chew” candies that we discovered in Okinawa and she loves them too! So when I sent Elder Parker a stock supply of these (from the Oriental Market here in Roy, Utah!) he shared one with Ftlo. Garlick and he was thrilled to be able to take these home to his wife! =o)
When President Clegg (of the MTC Presidency) gave his permission for Elders Parker and Kinzie to attend Giuseppe’s baptism he was firm in his conviction that “I know, these Elders need to go”!
The Italian guy who works with the Italian Government for the American Government told them “You are the Royal Army of God!”
On the flight he planned to catch up on journal writing, letters, study Italian and sleep! He said they were up very late packing and then up at 3am so not much sleep the night before! and they were told they could sleep on the flight but also to share the gospel!
In the tradition of the “goodbye books” they make in Elder Ryler's mission (whenever someone transfers) Elder Parker got a special book from the MTC bookstore and had Giuseppe write in it!
It was on his exact 2 month anniversary that we spoke on the phone so he said “Happy 2 months in the MTC anniversary!” I hadn’t specifically thought about that and still can’t get over how fast this time went!
He said they were tested at the MTC for their language fluency levels and were told most missionaries leave the MTC at a 2-3 on a scale of 1-7 and he was assessed at a 5! He said that was only possible through the Lord’s help!
He said Giuseppe’s baptism was held in a font that’s in a classroom at BYU in the Joseph Smith building! He couldn’t get over that! and quipped: “Picture a BYU class with the desk at the front and the professor beginning with the usual instruction then he says, but first does anybody want to get baptized? Because we have a font right here!” ;o)
We learned a little more about Giuseppe and his conversion… he coached the Italian National Volleyball Team in Italy so he's VERY good! A friend who is a gold medalist from Beijing came to his baptism! Elder Parker explained that although our family had been to many convert baptisms (mostly in Okinawa) it was so incredible to be at one he had participated in the conversion of!! He said Giuseppe was just glowing, it was the coolest thing! He said a friend that coaches volleyball with him at BYU performed the baptism. He told us how Giuseppe’s testimony afterward just blew them all away and he even mentioned the missionaries who played a part in his conversion so that was awesome for them! Elder Parker’s MTC teacher, Ftlo. Garlick met Giuseppe in Milan (presumably when Ftlo. Garlick served his mission there) and it was through that friendship and Giuseppe’s willingness to help Ftlo. Garlick to help the missionaries learn the language that Elder Parker had this amazing opportunity to have his first baptism while still in the MTC!!
He said he’d heard that P-days in Italy are on Wednesdays, so if that’s true we may not have to wait too long to hear from him once he arrives!!
He said everyone told him that time was strange in the MTC, that the days go by slow but the weeks and months fly by so fast, he didn’t understand that before but now he does and he said it’s so true!!
He said his toes are healing but doing some strange things as he continues to scrub and apply medication so hopefully that will not become a new problem. Please keep him in your prayers for this specific need! Thank you!
I asked how they test to find out if they have swine flu and he said that test is awful!! They poke a Q-tip into your sinuses and they go soooo deep and it really hurts! He only had this test once and thankfully did not test positively.
The respirators they had to use were "like a flu shot on steroids" and since they had inhaled this strong med they were told they wouldn’t need to use face masks when they travelled.
He said he loved the MTC cafeteria! And they were assigned to do their service in the cafeteria and so they saw the huge amounts of food that were prepared on their behalf and he said “they took good care of us!" He said he loved how on Wednesdays aka “new missionary day” and on Sunday afternoons the meals included ice cream from the BYU creamery!
Italian vocab lesson –
disgusting = skeefo
(this probably came up in reference to his toe problems! Lol)
not too bad = non chal mall ay (rhymes with tamale!)
He talked about keeping his 501 in his carry-on to study on the plane and when I asked what that was he said it’s the big book of 501 essential Italian verbs and all their conjugations
He was disappointed that when he was so sick and had to stay in his room he missed the devotional where Elder Bednar spoke! But the others told him what he talked about and the main message was this:
In answer to the question “how do I know if its me or the Spirit”, the answer is “yes!” lol Elder Bednar then counseled them to “be a good boy or be a good girl and if you are doing the right things and you feel impressed to do things that lead to good then more than likely its from the Spirit! And if it would lead to bad then its not!”
Speaking of that, I recently came across a really good Ensign article about that same thing! Click on this title and SCROLL DOWN to read more about how to know when you have the Spirit of the Lord with you: “Don Norton, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Aug 1978, 30–33
Elder Parker said he talked to all the Elders who were going to the Japan Fukuoka mission and gave them notes to give to his brother who would more than likely be the one to pick them up from the airport!! =o)
In the RC (referral center) he met a Brother Sorenson that our family knew in Oki as Elder Sorenson who served in the Gushikawa Branch when Jay was BP there and he sent us a message of gratitude through Elder Parker so that was really great to hear!!
He said one of the MTC teachers who served in Italy showed them a picture of mummified monks from his mission and told them that they had this to look forward to seeing as well as some very questionable signs and beliefs that just illustrated more clearly how far from the truth some had gotten and how important it would be for them to share the fullness of the gospel with the people of this land!
It wasn’t too bad saying goodbye because we all felt pretty confident that we’d get to talk with him again at the next stop and we did!!
This call was much shorter though and Elder Parker said they’d had some stress getting ticket problems fixed and staying together when some worried they were going to miss their flight but it had all been resolved and things were fine by then. He said the 6 of them sat 3 together on 2 rows so none of them got to sit with others they could share the gospel with and things were so rushed they didn’t have time to really talk with anyone in any lines either. Hopefully on the long flight over the Atlantic…
The connection wasn’t that great on this call and he had to go so quickly that not much else was said except to try and reassure him of our love and support and to not stress if he couldn’t call us from Rome (which he didn’t) and to wish him lots of luck with his new life in Italy! As we said goodbye we all consoled ourselves with the happy thought that it would be just a short 6 months and we could talk again at Christmas!
For some reason I had pictured the 6 Elders would have some older leadership with them to guide and help them along their way probably because when Elder Ryler flew to Japan there were couple missionaries that flew over with him so that must have been in the back of my mind but with Elder Parker it was just the six 19 year olds and I couldn’t help but worry about how they would figure everything out esp for those flying international for the first time!
I remember my first time flying solo from Oki back to Utah and then back to Oki and I had Jay write out a very detailed instruction sheet to help me every step of both ways and my worst fears were realized on one trip when my flight was delayed in a Japanese airport and I had no way to communicate in Japanese that I needed help! It was VERY STRESSFUL!! So I had fears of them struggling like I had! But then Jay reminded me that 19 is adult age and these Elders COULD communicate in Italian if they needed help and I also knew that the Lord would be with them to help them safely reach their destination so that helped my Mother’s heart a lot! But I’ll still be very happy to get that first communication from Italy and know for certain that all is well! ;o)
not too bad = non chal mall ay (rhymes with tamale!)
He talked about keeping his 501 in his carry-on to study on the plane and when I asked what that was he said it’s the big book of 501 essential Italian verbs and all their conjugations
He was disappointed that when he was so sick and had to stay in his room he missed the devotional where Elder Bednar spoke! But the others told him what he talked about and the main message was this:
In answer to the question “how do I know if its me or the Spirit”, the answer is “yes!” lol Elder Bednar then counseled them to “be a good boy or be a good girl and if you are doing the right things and you feel impressed to do things that lead to good then more than likely its from the Spirit! And if it would lead to bad then its not!”
Speaking of that, I recently came across a really good Ensign article about that same thing! Click on this title and SCROLL DOWN to read more about how to know when you have the Spirit of the Lord with you: “Don Norton, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Aug 1978, 30–33
Elder Parker said he talked to all the Elders who were going to the Japan Fukuoka mission and gave them notes to give to his brother who would more than likely be the one to pick them up from the airport!! =o)
In the RC (referral center) he met a Brother Sorenson that our family knew in Oki as Elder Sorenson who served in the Gushikawa Branch when Jay was BP there and he sent us a message of gratitude through Elder Parker so that was really great to hear!!
He said one of the MTC teachers who served in Italy showed them a picture of mummified monks from his mission and told them that they had this to look forward to seeing as well as some very questionable signs and beliefs that just illustrated more clearly how far from the truth some had gotten and how important it would be for them to share the fullness of the gospel with the people of this land!
It wasn’t too bad saying goodbye because we all felt pretty confident that we’d get to talk with him again at the next stop and we did!!
This call was much shorter though and Elder Parker said they’d had some stress getting ticket problems fixed and staying together when some worried they were going to miss their flight but it had all been resolved and things were fine by then. He said the 6 of them sat 3 together on 2 rows so none of them got to sit with others they could share the gospel with and things were so rushed they didn’t have time to really talk with anyone in any lines either. Hopefully on the long flight over the Atlantic…
The connection wasn’t that great on this call and he had to go so quickly that not much else was said except to try and reassure him of our love and support and to not stress if he couldn’t call us from Rome (which he didn’t) and to wish him lots of luck with his new life in Italy! As we said goodbye we all consoled ourselves with the happy thought that it would be just a short 6 months and we could talk again at Christmas!
For some reason I had pictured the 6 Elders would have some older leadership with them to guide and help them along their way probably because when Elder Ryler flew to Japan there were couple missionaries that flew over with him so that must have been in the back of my mind but with Elder Parker it was just the six 19 year olds and I couldn’t help but worry about how they would figure everything out esp for those flying international for the first time!
I remember my first time flying solo from Oki back to Utah and then back to Oki and I had Jay write out a very detailed instruction sheet to help me every step of both ways and my worst fears were realized on one trip when my flight was delayed in a Japanese airport and I had no way to communicate in Japanese that I needed help! It was VERY STRESSFUL!! So I had fears of them struggling like I had! But then Jay reminded me that 19 is adult age and these Elders COULD communicate in Italian if they needed help and I also knew that the Lord would be with them to help them safely reach their destination so that helped my Mother’s heart a lot! But I’ll still be very happy to get that first communication from Italy and know for certain that all is well! ;o)
While waiting for these phone calls we also tracked his flights on the computer and that was fun to see the map view of his plane flying over the US but once he was over the Atlantic we never did find a website that could track those on a map, some even said the flight had been delayed but I think we were confused by the different flight number assigned by the Italian airlines and in the end we just had to trust the Delta site with no map but just text that told us these flights were "on time" or "in flight" or had "arrived". It will be great to hear from Elder Parker and finally know what actually did happen!
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