Everything
that we can control as missionaries is going very well. We are seeing a lot of miracles and success
in our sphere. However, there are
definitely many things in the branch that are out of our control for the time
being that are impeding the work here in Santa Maria. Our investigator from a part-member
family, J---- is doing great and progressing towards his baptismal date for
April 18th. We had a little
bit of a conflict with some in the branch yesterday. It turned into a lot of finger pointing, but
we just tried to be respectful and still express our concern to work more
unified with them. I have never run into
anything quite like this on my mission so far, but we did end on good terms. We came to the conclusion that the spirit
wasn’t there, so we needed to regroup and try again later in the week having
fasted and prayed.
My
companions are amazing. Elder Clarkson is so passionate and does everything he
can to magnify his calling. Elder Moreno is a Self-Mastered champ.
I know that
the Lord is mindful of us in all moments. We listened to a talk on our way to the Z----
baptism (which was amazing) by President Eyring about praying for trials and
mountains to climb. I was feeling pretty spiritual and gung-ho, so I said a
small prayer in my mind telling the Lord that I would like to be able to learn
from whatever mountain he wanted me to climb and that I was ready for a trial! And
whaddya know, the very next day I got one.
So I definitely know the Lord answers prayers, and praying for trials is
one sure way to get an answer! I think I’m going to keep in mind the idea
of asking our investigators to pray for trials so they can know for sure that
God answers them! (ha ha!)
Service has
been good. We translated some documents
for Catholic Charities here in Santa Maria, which was really fun!
Love,
Elder
Parrish
