Sooo... did anybody else have a 2 hr mission wide live concert with David Archuleta, Brook White, and Kendra Lowe last night?.... or just me?...  :)

Haha.  So they called a surprise mission conference yesterday and everybody had to drop everything and drive to Ventura for a "special meeting" and to NOT bring cameras....   We were all expecting President Uchtdorff, because he is supposedly going to be in the area this weekend, or at least a general authority or something, when out of nowhere in walks this short little kid with black hair.... haha.  I may be ashamed to say I recognized him right off the bat - David Archuleta.  Nobody else seemed to recognize him at all until they announced it.... all those years of family bonding time watching American Idol paid off, eh?:) (And Sorry Maddie he's way too short for you.) haha, Brook White too.  They were in the top 5 together...  She lives in the mission in Westlake.  It was kind of a letdown at first, since we were all expecting Elder Uchtdorff.... so when I saw "Brother Archuleta," at first I was just kind of chuckling to myself since we drove over 2 hours and missed a whole Sunday afternoon and evening of proselyting time for a stinkin’ musical performance.... But of course it turned out to be awesome and the Spirit was super strong.   He shared some experiences from American Idol with Brook, how he would bless the sacrament for them every week since they couldn’t go to church and a bunch of other cool stuff.  He talked a lot about his mission in Chile and the difference it has made in his life and just some of his favorite scriptures, and bore his testimony by singing songs after each little story or scripture.  Man, that kid has some pipes, just in case you forgot from American Idol 4 years ago.  He sang:

Come, Come Ye Saints -part in Spanish, which was the best-

Be still my Soul

Amazing Grace -duet with Brooke White

I Believe in Christ

Glorious- the final song on Meet the Mormons. 
              (Go here to see the video: https://youtu.be/GytW_rgr0RM)
 

But it was a really cool meeting, and he’s a really cool and humble guy.  And of course it was funny to watch all of the sisters and hermanas just swooning in their seats being serenaded by his angelic vocal cords, haha.  :)  Check the blog for pictures.  

(Thank you sister Felix for the pictures and for keeping such a great blog at http://thecaliforniaventuramission.blogspot.ca)

David Archuleta, accompanist Kendra Lowe with Pres. & Sis. Felix, Elders Kanenwisher and Atkin.

The Santa Maria Zone with David Archuleta, Kendra Lowe

Well, I would just like to testify of one of the things that the Spirit hit me with from Brother Archuleta last night.  When he sang "Be Still My Soul," I loved the lines "Thru thorny ways, leads to a joyful end.  Be still my soul, thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past."  I think about everything that has ever happened to me in my life that could be considered "a joyful end," and not one of them came without first going through a thorny way.  Everything that is good in this life and the next has a price to pay and we have to be willing to pay it, but it is all worth it.  It is easy to feel the Spirit confirm that truth when we are in a spiritual meeting hearing David Archuleta sing it with his angelic vocal cords, but I don’t know why it seems that we forget that just as easily in the moment of trial and tribulation. We shouldn’t.  There is no reason to ever doubt or ever lose hope.  Just keep on chugging along and put your faith before your fears.  Or in the words Elder Lewis, who recently shared with me from the Doctrine and Covenants, "Be of good cheer, fear not... and see the salvation of God."  So I invite you all to just put your head down and go hard to do whatever God wants you to do, and I know you won’t regret it :) 
(Listen to David singing this song to the Mo Tab here: https://youtu.be/pV3DEtJtho8)

Ha, and I know you probably don’t care about this as much as hearing about good ole Davy, but here is how the rest of our week went!

Santa Maria is doing really, really great.  We had an awesome lesson with part member family, M---.  So far, we have only had lessons with just him and his wife, but on Thursday we invited his 2 sons ages 14 and 11 to come and participate as well.  We taught about testimonies, and then everyone went around and took turns sharing their testimonies. His wife brought the spirit super strong as she shared her experience of the first time the missionaries knocked on her door, and then it was the first time the 2 boys had ever born their testimonies.  The younger one even said he knows the Church is true because he knows that Moses was a prophet.   So they were both very simple but still powerful.  The Spirit was there and it touched J---'s heart. He bore his testimony, as well, that he knows the Church and everything we teach him is true because of the way it makes him feel.  He is so ready for baptism and has a date in May, he just has his job that makes him work on Sundays so we have a little bit more work with that.

We had another awesome lesson with G--- this week and he came to church! We taught the Word of Wisdom and he believes it all is true, but does struggle with alcohol. He committed to live it and he also has a baptismal date in May. 

We taught the C--- family the whole Restoration and they accepted to be baptized once they read the Book of Mormon and know it is true. The procedure with their daughter went really well and they were very grateful for the priesthood blessing we gave her.   These investigators are all doing well, and the members are involved with all of them! So we are very pleased :) we are just trying to keep working hard and maintain it.

"The Triforce"

For this transfer, I am staying here in Santa Maria with Elder Clarkson, and Elder Moreno is going to train in Lompoc.  I am so blessed to have been in the tripan this transfer with Elder Moreno and Elder Clarkson.  I like to call them James and John Zebedee, or in other words- The Sons of Thunder.  They are just pure greatness wherever they go.  Elder Moreno was born to train an excellent missionary in Lompoc, and Elder Clarkson and I are going to do everything we can to keep the snowball rolling with the members here in Santa Maria.

Holy cow this is long!

Love, Elder Parrish