Parley Turned 12 in Louisiana

 

parley celebrated his birthday with us in Louisiana.what a treat for us!! He was interested in everything he saw from the minute he set foot off of the plane. We spent the first day with the missionaries at interviews. We know for sure that Parley is missionary material because he sat for 7 hours listening to scriptures and great instruction on the skills and faith of missionary work, and didn't complain for one minute. We celebrated his birthday with the missionaires cake and all. After interviews we took him to "Raising Canes" The best chicken finger place in the country. He loved it. The next day we drove back to New Orleans and went to the Aquarium . It was a lot of fun, we went from there to the Imax and saw "wild ocean" It was awesome. Then it was time to drive to the bayou and take a two hour swamp tour. WE saw 15-20 alligators and we even watched our guide reach over the boat and kiss one. It was beautiful and at the end parley got to hold a baby alligator. We had a blast. We took Parley to our favorite Italien place "Fat Gregs". He loved it , bread pudding and all. We got home in time to play a few rounds of "trouble" Bill's and Parley's that is, because I beat them. The next day was Sunday and Parley went with us to the Covington branch where Bill and I spoke. Bill introduced parley and asked him to bare his testimony. He stood up there like a little missionary and bore a beautiful testimony of the Savior and the blessing of being ordained to the priesthood. We were so proud of him. On Monday parley experienced Louisiana rain all day. WE went bowling with a new convert, Helaine, and her son Raymond. Their conversion story is a miracle. Parley and Helaine locked into a serious competition and she beat him by one point. You can see the agony of defeat in the slide show. That evening was the highlight as we had Rachelle, Danny and their family on Skype and Andrew , Tammy , and Andrews mother Susan, on speaker phone so they could participate in Parley's ordination to the priesthood. Bill had Susan offer the opening prayer, then he ordained Parley. He asked Rachelle to share her feelings about Parley. He asked Andrew to share his feelings. He then asked Parley to bare his testimony and asked Cooper to say the closing prayer. It was a joyous occasion. Parley was very happy to recieve the priesthood and was prepared by the good choices he has made to stand for truth and righteousness. Parley and I flew to Mesa the next day because Grandpa Haumont had been in an accident and was in ICU and I wanted to see him. Parley 's visit will be one of the highlights of our mission. We love him. He is a kind , fun, creative , honorable young man. He is a blessing