We are doing really good. We had 11 member presents this week, most of which were with the youth, but after church yesterday we had a bunch of the adults come up to us and ask if they can come out with us this week, so we are super excited.   President Felix came and announced in Sacrament Meeting that were not allowed to knock doors, only find through members, and that the members have to step up.  I am really happy that I get to stay with Elder Griffin and have our area be the guinea pig of the mission for no more tracting. It’s gonna be sweet. 

Our investigator L--- is doing really well.  He is 33 years old, working in the fields here for the past few years all by himself. He is so childlike and humble. Reading is hard for him and he basically has zero education, so his comprehension is slower, but he is so anxious to learn. I love it. He came to the baptism of D--- on Friday and really liked it. L---- had never seen a baptism performed by immersion before, and the spirit was super strong. He went up to the edge of the font with all the little children during the ordinance and it was really cool to watch L---‘s face light up during it. D----l bore his testimony after the service like he did in Sacrament Meeting, and it was really powerful.  L---- told us that later that night he was thinking about the baptism and said a prayer, promising God that he would get baptized "adentro de 3 meses" !!  So we set a date with him for February 14th, and he wants us to come teach him every day. 

We had 2 investigators at church yesterday, a new investigator named C---, who actually has a granddaughter in the mission field, and the son of a part-member family named F----.  Unfortunately, F--- doesnt seem too interested after yesterday, but C--- is really excited to meet with us this week!

Elder Griffin and I are stoked to stay together this transfer.  We were companions exactly one year ago for the holidays back in Santa Barbara when we were both new missionaries, and it’s incredibly awesome to be experiencing a little de-ja-vu and do it all again!  We are a little more seasoned this time around and a whole lot more comfortable with our Spanish, so we really are loving every second!

I know how important the Spirit is as a missionary. Last night we were walking to go visit an investigator, and I was just thinking about the stories you always hear about people getting those super strong promptings that come 3 times to them, and then they act on it and some great big miracle happened.  Then, the scripture popped into my head, "Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth," and so I said that to God in my head. I said, "This is kind of random, but if you have a prompting to send my way, then let me have it.. I’m ready." As we were waiting for the crosswalk so we could cross the street, I got the thought- “Don’t go to the apartment complex we were heading to.  Don’t do it.  Don’t cross the street.”  So I battled within myself for a couple seconds trying to decide whether or not that was an actual prompting or just me creating my own situation because of the thought process I was having... but right as the crosswalk light came on, I told Elder Griffin, "I don’t know why, but I got a feeling that maybe we shouldn’t go over there."  So we talked it out and decided of course we needed to follow that prompting. As I turned to walk back the way we came, Elder Griffin suggested we take the cross walk the other way, and walk back to the car from that way, so we did.  On the other side, we met and "Shared the Gift" with an awesome humble little family walking who agreed to let us come into their home and share a message about the true meaning of Christmas. Now that’s just a small little miracle, but it’s crazy how none of that would have happened if we crossed the street.  None of that would have happened if i didn’t ask God to give me a prompting.  At the same time, it wouldn’t have happened if I was by myself because I would have turned and walked the way we came, while Elder Griffin was guided to cross to the left and run into the family. Even though I had the best intentions of following what the spirit whispered to me, my companion took it and magnified it, and then came the miracle. Maybe nothing will ever happen out of that street contact, but we learned a little more about being led by the Spirit as we find and teach.

For service, we did 5 hours for Foodshare. Rather than lifting heavy boxes and doing manual labor like we usually do, they had us at a desk doing paperwork and organizing a bunch of their administrative stuff they are backed up on because of the holidays...... it was good, but if nothing else came of it, I learned yet again that I much prefer lifting heavy boxes than doing paperwork. 

I haven’t been able to play sports with members/investigators my entire mission... till last week they changed the rule. :):):) I literally cried tears of joy I was so happy.  We played soccer with the ward on Tuesday. 8 goals later, I scored, I got a big ole sweet black blister on my foot. It was totally worth it.

Love, Elder Parrish******

P.S.  You may remember me telling you about J and L T---- a few weeks ago.  They were the golden English family we found and referred over.  Well, they are getting baptized this Saturday and they asked me and Elder Griffin to be the ones to baptize them!  Pray for them this week!