So, I sent a letter in the mail, but I don't know if you've gotten it yet. The first night here, I spent the night at a member's home in Ventura. It was huge! It was the nicest house I've ever been in, and it overlooked the ocean. Anyway, so then on Tuesday, we went back and received our companions and assignments.
My companion is Elder Trujillo. He is from Ecuador, and is fluent in Spanish, but he moved to Canada by himself when he was 16 and lived there for 8 years on his own. He is 24. but he looks 18. He has graduated from college, and is a certified fitness trainer, which I find a little odd, because he doesn't ever want to exercise. But he is a great example to me, and is working us hard. I do feel a little bad for him, because my Spanish is still far from adequate, so he ends up carrying most of the weight in our lessons, because I do not understand most of what the conversing is about.
We live in a small apartment, but its clean and not too shabby. We are serving in Santa Barbara in the LOS OLIVOS area. So basically, I went from the nicest part of rich Ventura to the poorest part of Santa Barbara, and the difference is crazy. People here have nothing, and they all live in either tiny apartments or most of them in trailer parks. I got a bike, and I love riding it. I ride wheelies all over Santa Barbara. It cost about 400 dollars for the bike, helmet, front and back lights, kickstand, and a lock.
Our area is like 5 minutes from the beach, and we can go look at it, but not go near it... It just so happens that this is one of the most strict missions in the world. Haha... perfect for me.
The members here are amazing and so nice. They all try to help me with my Spanish, and always insist on giving us something to eat, as well. They feed us a ton! A lot of the members are always looking for opportunities to come serve with us, and participate in lessons with us.
Cali is a lot different than Utah, that's for sure. The other day, we taught a lesson at the library literally 10 ft away from some 12-13 year olds smoking pot. It was like watching Marshall do drugs. It was so weird.
Anyway, we have had a lot of lessons this week, and have seen some miracles already! One man, Roberto was baptized years ago, but never went back to church, because he only got baptized in hopes that his ex wife would take him back. Now, he has many problems including an addiction to alcohol, and recently got kicked out of his apartment, because he doesn't have a job and has no money. We talked with him several times this week, one of which he had been drinking. But he is truly looking for a change in his life, and is really trying to understand everything we teach. He attended church yesterday, and he said that he could really feel the Spirit, and knows that this is what he needs to be doing for his life to change.
The second miracle was with a lady named Araceli. On Saturday, she called us, and said that she believes everything about the Church, but that she doesn't want to be baptized because she feels satisfied with a life of glory in the terrestrial kingdom after she dies. We felt really bad, and didn't know what to do, but Elder Trujillo just said we need to go see her. We went to her house and she expressed to us her concerns. We ended up having a really great lesson on her porch, and explained that God loves her and that these feelings of doubt can only come from one place, and it is not from God. She committed to pray and ask Heavenly Father if these things are true, and committed to us that if she receives an answer, she will be baptized on October 12th! So that was a miracle. She really does already know that the gospel is true, but I think her husband is just holding her back. It would be great if he could understand and give her some support. We talked to him a little on Saturday, as well, and he is a nice guy. He just doesn't seem to have very much interest in the Church.
All in all, it has been a great week, and we are looking to have even better this week. I want the Spanish to be better than it is, but I guess it is slowly coming along... Line upon line, precept upon precept, right?
We only get an hour for emails (We had 2 hours in the MTC) and 30 minutes of it is designated for us to email President Castro, so really I only have 30 minutes... so that might be hard.
Adios!
Elder Parrish
