We found a family!  I have been waiting my whole mission to find a really solid family where everyone is interested. For some reason, most of my investigators to this point in my mission have just been individuals. It's C-- and G-- and their 14 year old daughter. C-- is a mail-carrier in Ventura but she lives in Fillmore. Elder Carter and I actually found her while we were on exchanges in Ventura! She told us she lived in Fillmore, and set an appt. for us to visit her and her family. After the first lesson on Monday, they invited us back for dinner on Thursday and we were able to follow up on their reading in the Book of Mormon and answer all of their questions. It went really well and the whole family has committed to read the Book of Mormon.  She said she thinks it was fate that she just happened to run into a Fillmore missionary on her route in Ventura. She is really awesome with a way cool fam.  It turns out mailmen are people too! Who knew?

Elder Parrish  :)

My "ancestors:" Elder Trujillo, my trainer; Elder Griffin, follow up trainer; and Elder Barnett who was Elder Trujillo's follow up trainer.

B----'s baptism is being pushed back a couple weeks, due to some minor health details, but his baptismal interview is this upcoming Sunday. He really wants to get baptized and has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and its fruits. The baptismal service will be held around 5 o'clock pm in 2 -3 weeks.  He has not chosen who is going to do the baptism as of yet.  He came to church yesterday for the 4th time and stayed for all 3 hours and loved it again, even though he was very sick to his stomach.  

This week has been great. Zone conference was amazing and really helped me to come to solutions on a lot of things I have been pondering lately, especially about how I can be a better companion.  We also got right to work with our "JustServe" program, and were able to find time to do a bunch of service this week.

We have seen progress in a lot of our investigators this week. S--- came to church with M--- and D--- yesterday. along with J---- and B----, we had 5 total at church. All four of us missionaries here in Fillmore spoke in Sacrament Meeting, as well. We had our choice on topics between missionary work and the atonement, or missionary work and service. I chose the atonement, and talked about how because of the atonement we as members can overcome our fears of doing missionary work.  I used the example of Peter overcoming his fears.  The whole meeting was very spiritual and a lot of the members complimented all 4 of us missionaries.

I was also able to go on exchanges with the zone leaders in Ventura with Elder Carter. He is from Flower Mound, Texas.  It was an amazing day with many miracles. Elder Carter is a powerhouse example to me in all aspects of the work. I learned a lot, and am very grateful for the opportunity to exchange with him. Ventura was awesome. I want to serve there so bad someday.  We taught so many lessons and talked to so many people.  

Summary: pretty normal week. occupied with studies, district needs, investigators, knocking doors, gay guys coming out of the closet to me telling me they love me, giving a blessing to a girl while she was having a seizure and then all a sudden she wakes up and tries to kiss me, stopping drug deals, saving marriages, playing croquet, and stuff..... ya know, just the usual here in Cali.

We had 7 investigators at church yesterday!  Top 10 best weeks.  B---- came again for all three hours. He absolutely loves it, and is still progressing well. He came on Wednesday evening to the family history center and worked with Sister P---- to find some of his ancestors in Mexico, and she committed him to fill out the rest of the family tree sheet she gave him and come back again next week!  She is awesome. So B---- is doing well and is excited/nervous for his baptism coming up in 2 weeks.

E--- and her 2 daughters came to church. They fed us dinner last week as well and are practically already members for how active they have been in the church the past year. Baptism will happen and in the time of the Lord.

J---- made it to church with his girlfriend, who is a member of the church. He has attended church several times. He is in and out of town every couple weeks so we were able to make an appointment with him later this week.  He has plans of getting baptized in October.

L----, who has completely changed her life around the last couple months, was crying after Sacrament Meeting, because we have done so much to help her and got her a ride that she really needed.  So I went over to say “como estas,” and then WHAM, I got tackled against the wall and she hugged the living daylights out of me right in front of everyone.  Then, there was nothing Elder MacKay could do but stand there and take it - stiff as a board - as she slammed into him next.  Everybody just laughed, and the bishop gave us a thumbs up.

So we were helping L--- with her book and also going over the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price as she is preparing to take the temple prep classes starting in two weeks. Her daughter N--- has noticed the change in her mom and out of the blue became interested. We committed N--- on Saturday to come to just Sacrament Meeting of church the next day.  Right after Sacrament Meeting, the young women embraced her and got her to stay for Sunday School too!  Last night, she said she enjoyed it and wants to stay for all 3 hours when she comes in two weeks.  She also said she doesn’t like to read the scriptures, but loves to read poetry, so we had her open up to a random page in the book of Psalms and read.  It was Psalms 23, I believe.  She loved it, and said she wants to read more.  Now that she sees the scriptures aren’t as boring as she thought, we can introduce our master converter: The Book of Mormon!  

  
L--- came to church, as well, yesterday. He has came twice now with his friend and stayed for all 3 hours. From last week to yesterday, we noticed how much more he was reading and participating in class. He works on the ranch that is run by Brother F---, and works with some other members of the ward. We set up an appointment with him this week in the home of a member, so we are really excited for that.

We have an awesome district.  I love serving with them. We did a blitz with the zone leaders in Santa Paula on Wednesday to find Spanish investigators for the hermanas, and it went really well.  There were tons of latinos in the street picking up their kids from school. We gave them quite a few referrals, so hopefully some of them will be solid. 

Love,

Elder Parrish
******

 

Lake Piru, where B--- hopes to be baptized.

I love my mission. I wouldn't change it for the world.

This week was sweet. Elder Berg and Elder Lopez moved in with us, so now we are in a 4 man apartment, which is fine, because our apartment is huge.  Except now I have to share a bathroom with big old Elder MacKay.  Elder Lopez was my companion in Carpinteria, so I have been companions with all three of them.  We have a blast in the apartment. It’ll be a miracle if we make it through the transfer without getting the cops called on us.  Our neighbors like to call the cops on the missionaries if the floorboard creaks the wrong way.  

So B---- is super pumped to get baptized, and he really wants to get baptized in a river like Jesus did.  Unfortunately, we are in a drought and all the rivers are bone dry.. but there is Lake Piru.  So we went to go scout it out with our ward mission leader and found an awesome little pool that would be perfect.  We took pictures and everything, and are going to try and get permission.  Odds are pretty against us getting it approved, but it is worth a shot. Bernard has really righteous desires, and his motives are simply because he wants to do it in the way closest to Christ's baptism, so we had to at least try.   We’ve done a lot of service this week.  We changed the oil on B---'s new car too.  He came to church for all three hours yesterday again. He’s awesome. He got sick because of all the perfume the women wear, but his health is seriously 20 times better since 2 weeks ago when we gave him a priesthood blessing, and he knows it. It was the missionary farewell talk of S---, who has been B---'s fellowship and coming with us to help teach him. He really enjoyed it. We have taught all the lessons to him and gone over the baptismal interview questions with him, which he passed with flying colors, and now this week we will start to review all the lessons again. He wants to come to the church this Wednesday and meet with our ward family history consultant to start his family history work too!  I have never had an investigator that was so willing and eager in every aspect of the gospel.

 E-- is still non-committal, and we don’t know if her insistence to push her baptismal date back until after her oral surgery has just been a way to avoid it and lower the pressure from her family and the ward.  Her dental work is happening next week, so we have faith that she will be ready to finally join the church with her family. She has been to church every week for over a year and has no reasons not to become a member other than she is struggling to give up her Catholic traditions.

We have done a lot of service this week as well for investigators and also for members. We have mowed lawns, changed oil, cleaned carpets, dug holes, and moved furniture.  You name it, we do it.

Missionaries and Mechanics

The district is doing great, and everyone is super excited for the miracles this transfer will bring.

Our District

I love my mission. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Every day is mind-blowing, blasting me with perspective that I know couldn’t have come any other way. 

 Love,

Elder Parrish

Elder "Pear-ish"

 

It was a good week. We’ve continued to see miracles with the less-active R--- family and especially their daughter, L--. She sang in the stake choir yesterday! Last night, we stopped by and she was so excited to tell us about how she did some missionary work! She helped a homeless man Saturday night by getting him some food, and then invited him to Stake Conference, and he came and loved it.  So the Ventura elders invited him to come back for the Sunday session, and he showed up for that as well, and now has scheduled appointments to meet with them and take the lessons. L-- was so excited.  She started crying talking about it and how good it feels to possibly help someone find the truth.  Then, last night she told us she wants to meet with the bishop to see what she needs to do in order to go to the temple and take out her endowments!! That’s the best thing a missionary can hear from their recently-activated member! 

Speaking of the temple, our investigator B---- is doing wonderfully. We have taught him all the lessons, including the Laws and Ordinances from chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel, which went really good! It makes me wonder why we haven’t always taught chapter 5 before baptism...(they recently changed that).  When we taught him about the temple and vicarious work for the dead, it just really helped him look at everything with a completely different perspective, and help him realize that we truly do have what no other church has. It seems to me like that could/SHOULD be the driving force behind so many more people's desire to be baptized, so there’s no use in waiting till after baptism to teach it! He did have some trouble accepting tithing at first, but after a couple days he told us that he wanted us to know, even though he doesn’t necessarily understand all the why's behind tithing or agree with it one hundred percent, he still wants to pay it, because if that is what God has commanded then he will do it, because he knows obedience is the most important thing. I love him! He really wants it! So I am extremely grateful Elder MacKay and I have 6 more weeks here to help him.

Unfortunately B---- was not able to attend Stake Conference in Ventura, but we have had lessons with him every single day this week, and a couple of those inside the church building with members present. He is absolutely loving the gospel and it shows. You can see it in his face. Plus... he really wants to be baptized in the ocean or a river... fingers crossed:) thats my dream!!

B---- is our only really solid investigator at the moment.  His mom and sister are on the verge of investigating the church  as well, and we are still working with a couple part member families as well, but we definitely need to step it up when it comes to finding new investigators. That will be our main focus this transfer. 

Love,

"Elder Perez"

Methodist church next to our investigator's home.
It was in the movie, the Waterboy.

We had an incredible week. Yesterday was one of the best days of my mission. We had 5 investigators at church. B--- has a baptismal date for the 30th of August.  His case is nothing short of a miracle! He wants to be baptized and is so sincere, but since he has been sick the last 4 years.  He told us it would be impossible for him to attend church, let alone at 10 in the morning. So we had a great lesson and committed him at the beginning of this week to come to church, but then he was doubtful all week long whether or not he would be able to make it, just because of his health problems that cause him to not sleep until 4 am and not wake up before 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We have daily contact with him usually around 4 o'clock, and we pushed him through out the week by meeting with him earlier and earlier each day. We met with him one day at around 1 o'clock, and it was all he could do.  He just was super sick and looked terrible. On Saturday, we picked  him up with a member and took him to the church with his family. We gave his mom and sisters a tour of the church, and then we gave him a priesthood blessing.  It was a blessing of healing, and also that he would be able to attend sacrament meeting tomorrow.  He still felt sick after the blessing, but was hopeful and has a lot of faith.  We called him yesterday morning to wake him up, and then went with a member to pick him up. He was super nervous and not feeling well, so the goal was just to have him stay for the sacrament and 1 or 2 testimonies, and then take him home.  He got sick and we had to walk out of the chapel into the foyer a couple times, but he stayed the whole meeting and really listened intently to the testimonies (which were amazing).  I felt the spirit in every single testimony that was shared yesterday and I know B---- did as well.  He said he can't wait until he is baptized, so he can get up and bear his testimony of that day exactly, how we gave him a blessing and his prayers were answered, and he was able to come to church and learn the truth. I think every single testimony literally praised and thanked us 4 missionaries, (mostly Elder MacKay and I, but we'll give the other elders some credit too.)  It felt really good, and I think it just established an entire common feeling of trust between members and missionaries.  After Sacrament Meeting, B---- was greeted and welcomed by ALOT of the members, and it made him want to stay for Gospel Principles class too. Gospel Principles class went amazing and B---- really liked it.  He was answering questions about the plan of salvation and participating left and right. He ended up staying for all 3 hours and absolutely loved it, even though he wasn't feeling too well, and he wants to come every week!  He is definitely an elect son of God, and his sickness these last 4 years have just been preparing him to receive the gospel and he knows it. 

 

Exploring the River Bottom

L-- is a less active member we are working with, and she got up and bore her testimony for the first time in 10 years yesterday! She was just balling thanking Elder MacKay and Elder Parrish for changing her life and showing up at her door 10 minutes after she prayed for help. :) It really humbled me.  There were a lot of wet eyes in the chapel.

 

The district is excellent as well.  For district meeting last week I was able to arrange for Bishop Jared Lee from Santa Paula to come and talk to us about how we can be a "blessing not a burden" to the bishop, and also work more effectively with the ward council and members.  It was highly successful. I loved it and learned a lot that was great to apply in our ward council meeting yesterday.  We also arranged for Garrett Medley (one of Hermana Wallace and Hermana Halliday's recent converts to come to district meeting and help us practice teaching, and he actually gave the other hermanas a real life referral in the role-play. He is going to be a great missionary some day.  All is well in Fillmore and Santa Paula, and I am extremely grateful to my Father in Heaven for the chance to serve here.

Love, Elder Parrish

******

Oh, and we sang a song in the ward summer music festival, "I'm glad they called me on a mission."   ayayay, I still hate all that musical artsy drama garbage. I about strangled the lady that was running it. But we performed really good  and everybody loved it. You might get some emails from our ward mission leader with pics/video.

We had an awesome week. We met the "standards of excellence."  Ya'all dont know what that is, but it's 7 member present lessons, 10 other lessons, 5 less active/recent converts, 20 declares, 4 people at church, and a bunch of other stuff like that.  We met all of them!  So it was a perfect week!  Also, we set Bernardo with a baptismal date for the 30th of August!  Sorry no time..  Love, Elder Parrish :)