The highlight of the week was watching The Testaments with L--- with another family in their home. After the movie, we had a super spiritual testimony meeting with the members. L--- just stayed and hung out with them for a while after we left.   It has been so awesome to see all of the members step up and fellowship him.  They all love him. He seriously has over 10 fellowshippers!  We can’t fit them all in the "member fellowship" box on the progress record every week! His little sister just got here yesterday from Mexico, so we are super excited to start teaching her, as well and baptize her shortly after L---!

 It has been fun to brainstorm with Elder Griffin again this transfer as we came up with zone goals and prepared for MLC.  It is always interesting to me the process of receiving revelation or guidance from the Spirit with these things.  It seems like it’s always necessary for us to struggle to collaborate a bunch of ideas and nothing seems to be really very good.  Then right when we think we just about have what we want to do, all of a sudden we get a totally non-related thought that we feel is from the Spirit, and so we decide to take things a completely different direction.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just get those thoughts first right off the bat?  Ha, I guess some people can.  For some reason, for us, it always requires filtering through all the wrong things/ideas first, before the Lord finally blesses us with what he wants. It’s probably our own pride or something, but I am grateful Heavenly Father always lets it turn out alright in the end and for Elder Griffin's patience and diligence.  Here is what we came up with for zone goals this transfer:

1- Work together with the ward council to help one RC/LA do baptisms for the dead for the first time.

2- Work together with the ward council to ordain one prospective brother to the priesthood.

3- POWERHOURs with members! 

Yesterday during the 3rd hour of church, we had a combined lesson with Bishop Quezada because he wanted to address some matters with the ward.  This last week, a brother from another ward committed suicide.  Bishop really just focused on and taught the doctrine of the atonement of Jesus Christ (using Alma 7:11-12) to the ward.  The Spirit was super strong.  

It’s so beautiful to me that no matter how many times I hear or learn or study about the atonement, I can feel the Spirit every time.  It never gets old, it never gets boring.  It’s the single greatest and most important aspect of the gospel.

For service, we helped a member clean out and organize their shed.  She was expecting it to take like 2 hours and we did it in about 20 minutes.  So this week, she says she has a real project for us cleaning out a toy-hauler trailer they have packed with odds and ends of construction stuff.

Love,

Elder Parrish