Two weeks ago, we got a referral from the mormon.org website. I’ve gotten like 50 of these throughout my mission, and have never gotten a single solid investigator out of so far, so we didn’t think too much about it... but of course we go to contact it anyway and turns out they lived just down the street from us. Their names are J--- and L--- with their two sons, ages 7 and 10.  We knock, the husband comes out, looks at us, and says, "My wife must have made an appointment with you guys.  Let me go get her."  They invite us in and we sit on the couch and start talking. They are Catholic, but have gone to several different churches looking for the truth.  She told us she has a friend who is an inactive member of the church, so they are already pretty familiar with the church, and that she managed to somehow borrow a copy of the Book of Mormon and start reading.  She said, "It just keeps pulling me back!  I can’t explain it, but I love it!"  She went on to explain how she has been praying and trying to contact the missionaries for several months now.  She always tries to flag them down on their bikes, but they always just waved and rode on by, eventually she found the website and put in all her info!  

We did some "how to begin teaching," just like Preach My Gospel says.  It was the best experience on how to begin teaching and establishing expectations I have had on my mission so far.  We explained how we like to begin and end each lesson with a prayer, suggesting that we would offer the opening, and we would like one of them to offer the closing. I prayed, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for letting us be here in the home of the ---- family. Please let us feel of your love as we talk about your gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  (One of the things we learned from the brethren from the missionary department who came to our Missionary Leadership Conference two weeks ago is how we should pray with investigators- so simply that they are 100% positive they will be able to offer it at the end.)  It was amazing how powerful the shortest prayer I’ve ever said was. We continued the lesson to answer their questions, explain the Book of Mormon, testify, and invite them to be baptized- which they anxiously accepted and invited us back last Friday for a BBQ.

The BBQ was awesome, and they are the funniest people in the world!  We were laughing our heads off.  We answered a lot more of their questions about what they had read from the first 10 or so chapters in the Book of Mormon and L--- told us she’s been praying all week and already knows this is what she needs to fill the missing gap in her life.  We taught about the restoration and they just soaked everything in. They committed to come to church (which was Stake Conference in Camarillo.) We went to set them with a baptismal date, and they said, "as soon as possible, just not this Sunday, because there's going to be so many people at Stake Conference!"   We set them for the 20th of December.  Because they speak English, we let them know how the English elders would be coming to teach them next time, and how we would introduce them tomorrow at church. Then L--- started crying, saying how she wants us to teach them because she prayed for months and months to be able to talk to us and we finally showed up at the perfect time and everything feels so RIGHT even though they have only talked to us once.  It was obviously bittersweet because this is seriously what I have been fasting and praying for my ENTIRE mission-to find teach and baptize a family that will undoubtedly be sealed in the temple.  We expressed our love for them as well and how much we enjoyed teaching them, but tried to explain that the other elders are awesome and how it was best if they continued to be taught by English elders.  Even though they were crying, she just agreed and said whatever it takes, we know this is where God wants us to be.

 Two days later they came to conference, and we introduced them to Elder Gregory and Elder Gerrard, and they set up an appointment for later in the week.  They loved Stake Conference, and are literally the most prepared and elect family in the world!!  It is so awesome and we are so excited for Elder Gregory and Elder Gerrard to teach and baptize them!   Now we just have to find someone like them that speaks Spanish!!

Love,

Elder Parrish