10/31/11

Hey!

  That was perfect! Thank you mom.  Yeah we got your cookies and I think they were the best batch ever. My companion commented that they were addicting then another treat that was made for us this weekend was muddy buddies!  Needless to say I became a bit weak and ate some of the sugary goodness that was given to me this weekend. Man o man those Little's are so precious. They looked good! Peights picture in the bushes was intense. He's quite the soldier:) If you would please thank Peight for his testimony again. He's a powerful soldier for Heavenly Father as well. So what were the good candy's he gave up? That's be hard! They are some faithful kids. Dad looks great! Hey mom could ya do me a huge favor and give dad a huge hug for me and a big kiss and just tell him that I love him then tell him that he's hugging you for me:) One way that I feel Heavenly Fathers love each day is through the mom and dad I have. Thanks for being so great.

 

All is well here. We had a great week full of so many miracles. Our ESL class went really well both days. The rest of the week we tracted and tried to find those that have desires to come unto Christ. So Nblia Chang is one woman that we tried to teach when Elder Clawson was here. We found her in the phonebook. Then after a few visits she didn't seem to want to do much. She was very nice. Well then after about a month is when we decided that starting an ESL class would be good for the work and the community so we made fliers and hung them up in Hmong markets and laundromats all over town. We got a call one day from a woman who wanted to learn English and it was Nblia. So she began coming and has been for the past 4 months. When we've taught about principals of the gospel she's asked great questions and she started praying the day we taught about prayer. When we taught about fasting she did that as well. Her husband won't let her come to church. Maybe I've explained this before but the men still buy their wives so the women "have" to do what their husbands say. Last week we went to her house and while we were visiting she had to leave to go pick up kids from school so that left us there with her husband. He's very nice. We politely asked that if Nblia wanted to come to church would he allow it and he said yes. We were so excited! So Sunday came around and Nblia was a bit nervous but she came! She had a great time and one of her six children came and enjoyed primary. The Hmong members were very excited to see her there. Some members told us that they shooting squirrels in their backyard due to them burying nuts everywhere (Same members that gave us muddy buddies). The Hmong people love eating squirrel. During a few months of the year it's legal to kill them so we called the Ze Lor family and asked if they would want the squirrels he shot to eat and they were excited about it so we take the squirrels he shoots to them. I'm really sorry for my grammar. I feel like my vocab is very elementary.  I hope that all makes sense. This member was doing it just to keep them from burying all kinds of stuff and now he's excited to have more reason to kill them. 

 

All is well here:) I love being a missionary! I really do. The work is always great and there will always be fruit if your truly trying your best to live worthy of receiving revelation then being diligent in following it. Elder Sandall and I are having a great time together. He's one good Elder. Thanks for all you do for me and please let me know if there's anything I can do for you all. I love you all very much. Please hug and kiss the Little's for me:) 

 

Love Elder Paramore 

10/24/11

Hi!

     Thank you mom for taking the time to write:) I am always so excited and feel so grateful to read about what happened in your lives. Landon's quite the man. I hope he and dad are ready to play 21 at the elementary when I get back. Man we're getting old! Landon will almost be 27 when I get back. He's probably better then me by now, I hope he takes it easy on me:) Oh my goodness! The primary program was this weekend for us too! There's nothing quite like hearing those children sing. I always think of Peight and Haiz first when I think of any little children. I really love them so much. Thanks mom and dad for loving all of us and thanks for having at least two more unplanned children before you tied the chances of anymore! Ha just kidding, but seriously. I am so happy Jenna came over. Her and Carlos Sr. are too awesome. I can't imagine a more awesome couple and holy cow I bet their baby is the cutest little guy! Thanks for saying hi to my friends for me and thanks for calling sister Hamblin she called me right afterwards and let me know. She's a neat woman. I don't need anything but those bags sound great! Thank you. 

 

All is well here:) One of my most favorite things to do is to Remember the Savior in all that I do. Lately I've been more tired and more beat up then usual. I love it though. I won't get into specifics I just hope ya know that I really am trying my hardest to do what the Lord wants me to do. I don't try and please anyone else, I never put on a show or justify a little disobedience to convenience me or too fit in with others. I'm happiest when I'm doing those things that invite the spirit and it's fun to strive to do all the small things. Obedience brings a peace of mind that nothing else can. When I do this I feel and know that I'm also doing what's best for all those around me. If we know true principals we should do our best to apply them. We can show those around us how much we love them through obedience to God and through always trying to repent and become more like the Savior. Life is too good. Repentance is fun ha. We've had a slow week full of great effort and many prayers. We don't have a lot of people to teach right now but the ones that we are teaching are doing well. There is a woman who we just taught about fasting on the 14th and she's been praying already for the nerve to ask her husband if she can go to church. In their culture the man still buys the woman so it's up to him completely. When we taught her about fasting she was excited and just last Friday we followed up with her at our ESL class and she said that she had fasted and prayed. When people are willing to follow and show faith miracles always happen. They happen for us everyday. We'll finish up a list today of about 300 Hmong people in Chico that we've organized from our area book. We're anxious to knock on doors and really just love them. The work is great. I feel blessed to have the companion I have and have had in the past. I've been here since 1 Feb 2011 so come 21 Nov 2011 we'll see if I'll stay again. This area has gone up and down with those who have desires to change and we always feel confident we'll find them as we're obedient willingly and prayerful in remembering the source of our potential. 

 

I hope you know I love y'all and if there's anything I can do for ya let me know. Please hug and kiss the Little's for me. 

 

Love Elder Paramore

 

PS. I look forward to the Chili Verde and the package thank you:) Yay! for righteousness:) 

10/10/11

Hi!

 Hello mom and dad:) All is well and thank you so much for the email. It sounds too me that our family has turned into some hikers. That's great! Apparently you all are learning a lot of lessons out of it too. Nothing makes me happier then to see someone overcoming weaknesses and temptations. I don't think Landon realizes how far reaching his faith will be. I sure do love him and we're lucky he's a part of our family. Yeah I got two wonderful emails from my beautiful sisters and they seem to be doing well:) Transfers were today actually and I'm staying in Chico. I really do love it here. Elder Sandall is still such a great companion and is always just willingly obedient and strives to change through the atonement each day. We have a lot of fun together and work hard. Lately we've enjoyed memorizing things so we'll keep doing that. Mom and Dad I love the Atonement. I love change. Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I don't even know how to think or feel but I enjoy pushing through and remembering our family both those that came before us and the faith they've shown and my family in the future. I enjoy thinking of the Savior when I recognize another weakness then change it with a prayerful smile. Being tired for the Lord is the best tired. We have a beautiful family:) I know that Lord needs us to continue being so faithful. There's always work for us to do and growth to be had and it's wonderful:) We didn't get to see Steven this week. We have great plans for this week and transfer though and we're excited to do all we can to dedicate ourselves in all the small ways to see if we can't find the elect:) Life is indeed good. Mom and dad I love you more then language can explain.

 

There is only one thing you can do for me and that's to continue to love the Lord in all things 1st. After that I don't need much. Right now I live with Elder Scott and Elder Adams then my companion. Elder Adams just got transferred though and Elder Garner is coming here:) We email at the Family History Center. Love ya and please let me know if there's anything I can do for you. Love ya.

 

Love Elder Paramore

10/3/11

Hey!

     Thank you thank you! I love you all very much. I'm excited to hang out with Landon as well and hope we'll get to spend good time with one another. I sure do love him. It sounds like you all had a great week! I especially liked the experience P had with climbing the hill. He's too awesome. I can never choose a favorite talk either but I will say that I loved when the Children sang families can be together forever. I think of Peighton and Haizlee whenever I hear children then I also think of my own children and how much I love them. I loved Sister Daltons talk on fathers. During times of weakness I think of my father, I think of my wife, I think of you and  all and our ancestors. We've been blessed with such an incredible family and I draw so much strength from you all and the faith you show. 

     We too had a great week. It was a week full of unknown but diligent preparation. I don't always know what to do but I do know that if I'm prayerful and have a willing heart to be exactly obedient, even in all the small things, then everything will be alright. And it was! We didn't go to the Hmong New Year:( Maybe we'll get a chance to go to Yuba City's or Oroville's. The leadership meeting went smooth. Our district meetings always go well and ESL was very successful. We're teaching one lady that has great desires to be apart of the gospel and church but she can't because her husband is old culture and will not give her permission to join. Some buy their wives:(  Hmong women are so sweet, strong and so hard working. I learned a lot about myself these past couple weeks. I love the atonement. I love change to become more Christlike. Life is too good. My companion is doing great! He's still willing as ever and works hard. He sets good goals and reaches them. We had a neat experience while walking in downtown Chico the other day...We ran into a group of homeless hippies and as we were talking with them the ones who weren't too interested kind of filtered out so eventually we were talking with a man named Steven. He expressed his love for truth and continued by letting us know that the streets call him wise and refer to him as an Elder. We bore testimony of a loving Heavenly Father and felt it'd be best after promising blessings to check his desires and dedication by setting up a return appointment to the same bench on the corner of 3rd and main. So after the morning session we walked back to that bench and found him there. After a few radical ideas we were able to steer the conversation to heart changing truths by talking about the Book of Mormon and they way it came forth. I recited the first vision and after only doing it in Hmong for the last little while it was tough but my companion was praying for me and it came out fine. He then described what he felt. He said the feeling was as if the one you love most, gently brushed their fingers down your spine. His heart was open! We invited him to ride his bike the 30 minutes to join us for the last session of General Conference and he did. We'll meet with him again at that same bench tomorrow. There really are so many people out there that if they will just open their hearts and show faith their lives can be changed.  They can go from no hope to everlasting hope and happines. We never know what's going to happen with people like Steven but we do know that if we're prayerful and strive for exact obedience then we'll be taught what to do. We can only pray he'll have and nourish that desire to know and do more. We just keep looking for people. We have great plans and are excited to work hard this upcoming week. 

     Our running is going well. He runs hard and I try to keep up. There really is something so attractive about someone who works hard at living the word of wisdom. I know there are real hidden treasures of knowledge that lie within the word of wisdom.  I'm grateful for revelation and the guidance it is for us. I enjoy not worrying, but just doing my best in being obedient willingly trusting that promised blessing will come. I love you all very much. Please hug and kiss the littles for me. Tell Peight I sent out his rings so people all over know his testimony and wear that CTR ring. He doesn't remember Anna but she was so grateful to receive it and she too knows that the church is true and the Heavenly Father lives and loves us very much. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you all. 

Love Elder Paramore

9/25/11

Hi Hi Hi!

 

     Oh goodness! Life really is too good:) so this week is packed:) It seems as if everybody planned everything for this week. We'll have a district meeting a leadership meeting, we'll teach English as a Second Language, we'll get to go to conference and we've set up two Hmong dinners:) Oh yeahhhh ha. Oh and it's Hmong New Year here in Chico this Saturday and Sunday... Life really is good mom and dad! I've been here in Chico for 8 months now and i've seen  women have there children and those children are almost walking. The babies that were around a year have grown so so much. It just reminds me of the littles and how much I love them. I think it's awesome that you go to the school! I'm sure Peighton just loves it!  You, Landon and Dad are too cool. Keep going strong, there really are hidden treasures of knowledge in living the word of wisdom to the best of our abilities:) It takes a lot of faith too. Tell dad i'm excited to find trails to hike with him:) I remember Holloween two years ago... It was on a Saturday and that was the day Bishop sent my papers to the Stake President. We had a ward party under the pavillion and we ate chili:) P was spiderman. Do the littles have any idea of what they want to be this year? 

 

     Oh man when I read about the wallet incident I thought it was so cool that everything worked out the way it did. I hope that lady is ok too. I wonder what caused her to make the decision to steal it and then after getting caught I wonder if her desires changed at all??? I sure hope so. Chandis should have born testimony of the power of the Atonement and promised her that she could change and be happy ha:) for real. The only way to set our desires right are through the atonement. 

 

     This week was good for us, Elder Sandall is getting a little more confident in every aspect:) He's great. Running is tough! So right after I emailed you I change my goal. So instead of running 3 miles in under 20 i'm shooting for a 5:30 mile. We run 3 miles on most days and the other days are different running workouts and one long day which is on preparation day. It feels so nice to take care of your body and eat right. You really begin to understand more of the blessing your body is to you and the love our Heavenly Father has for us. We were able to go to the Relief Society Broadcast as well! We had 3 non-members go and a few less actives. It was so neat. I've never been but I sure did enjoy being surrounded by righteous women! I thought about my wife and how she was watching it somewhere. She left with a greater desire to become more converted to loving our Savior first in all things:) I just know it! She also probably left saying I want 10-12 kids and my first sons name will be Zebedee:) Crazy! Jk. All is well. I still love it here and hope I can stay a few more weeks:) The members here are the best. I sure do love you all. Thank you for all your faith. I know that Sister Williamson will be alright:) Thank you for your prayers. Please keep showing your faith:) Tell Landon I love him. Give him a 3 minute hug for me. I know you never forget but please hug and kiss the littles for me and let them know that I really love them. Thanks for all you do and let me know if there' anything I can do for you all. 

 

Love Elder Paramore