Happy almost New Year!



Exhausted Office Elders

I don't have a lot to say seeing as how I just talked to you all on Tuesday...but there were a few things that happened that I could tell you about!

Gift Exchange

On Wednesday and Thursday we had the multi-zone conferences for all the missionaries in the mission. IT WAS STRESSFUL! Haha. It was a lot of work getting everything planned and organized, but it turned out really well.

The day started out with a spiritual part where the Monestel family and a few missionaries shared messages. Then we had a really great lunch, and after lunch is when all the games and activities started! I will upload pictures, so that you can see them. I still don't have all the pictures we took, because I took a lot on the mission camera, but next week I'll send the rest of the pictures that were taken.

MTC boys

Today we have the baptism of Alberto at 3, which I'm super excited for! It's incredible how the gospel can completely change people's lives. Alberto has overcome some very rough addictions to be where he is at today, and the Lord is really blessing him! After the baptism, we have the annual ward dinner to celebrate Christmas.

Velcro Mitch

 

It was really fun talking to you all over skype! I was nervous because I thought it might be a little awkward but I just felt normal talking to you all. I was weirded out when you all told me that my voice sounds different and that I talk with Nica accent!

 

I'm sorry this email is so short but I've gotta go! We're going to go eat lunch now and I am very hungry :)

 

Love you all!

Elder Parrish

 



 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas !!!!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful Christmas season. I have to admit that without snow it just doesn't feel like Christmas time to me! This December has definitely been the fastest one of my life. There's no time to sit around and wait for Christmas to come! This month we have been serving a lot and trying to help everyone to focus on the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas season.

This past Wednesday was transfers. Elder Pinto and I were almost positive that we weren't going to have transfers, because we only had one transfer together, but we got surprised! I received my new companion, Elder Payne, who I am training to be the new general secretary of the mission! Elder Miller's old companion, Elder Cruz, who was the retention secretary, left the office to train a new missionary and so Elder Pinto became Elder Miller's new companion. The office is changing a lot! In my time here I've gotten to see so many missionaries come and go, so it's weird to think that I will soon be leaving. I'll probably be here like 2 or 3 weeks training Elder Payne and then I'll have transfers! I have no idea where I'll be going after leaving the office.  (Haha.)   Elder Payne is from Cedar, Utah, and has the most orange hair I've ever seen! He is awesome and will make a great new secretary for the mission.

They also put two new missionaries in the San Juan ward. Our area got divided into two sections, San Juan 1 and San Juan 2. We gave the bigger part of the area to the two other missionaries because they aren't in the office and have more time to work in the field! The sad part is that we are no longer teaching Jordan, Samantha (Bryan's wife), and Emilio and Emily because they are in the other area. I was a little bummed out because they are all so close to baptism and we had gotten to know them so well! But the other two missionaries are great missionaries so I know they'll help them get baptized. Jordan now has a baptismal date for Jan 5, and Samantha for Jan 12.

The good part is that we have witnessed ANOTHER miracle here in area. The Lord really is blessing us as we've been diligent. We have a baptism for next Saturday, the 29th, of a man named Alberto. I'll have to tell you about Alberto in our phone call because his story really is incredible.

This week we have to prepare all the stuff for two big Christmas conferences that we are going to have on the 26th and 27th with all the mission. So it will be a BUSY week!

 

I love and wish you all a Merry Christmas!! I know that in this time of the year it is easy to get distracted by all the gifts, lights, etc., but I hope we can all use this time of the year to remember the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We will feel a lot more joy as we look for opportunities to give, share, and serve others.

Love,

Elder Mitch Parrish

Well, we're halfway through December! Can you believe it? Next Wednesday is transfers which means we've been getting everything ready. The mission just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. This transfer, 9 are leaving and 14 are coming.

Well, tomorrow we have a baptism!! Whoo hoo! We got to know a less-active family that has a 12 year old son named Jordan. Jordan was baptized about 3 years ago, but for some reason was never confirmed a member of the Church and never received the gift of the Holy Ghost. As we know baptism has two parts, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Without both parts, the baptism isn't valid. Seeing as how about 3 years have passed and the church has no record of him ever being baptized, he will need to be baptized again and confirmed. We have been preparing him for his baptism and confirmation this week, but he's been actively going to church for 3 years so he pretty much knows all the doctrine already! We are excited for our first baptism here in the San Juan Ward.

 

My companion and I are getting along great and working really hard. I am learning a lot from Elder Pinto and know that we will continue to have success as we push ourselves and do all we can to help these people come unto Christ.

 

We are still in the process of helping Samantha get baptized. She has to work every Sunday now, but has been talking to her boss about changing her work schedule so that she can come to church every Sunday and get baptized.

 

Emilio and Emily still have the desire to get baptized and are praying that their parents hearts will be softened. We are too!

 

We have lots of other investigators that we have found and started teaching. The Lord has blessed us with little miracles as we've been dilligent.

 

I love and miss you all! Gotta go!

Love, Elder Parrish

Oy!  Well, tomorrow I will officially be 20 years old! It's weird to think about...but someday I'll get used to it.



Today, the Monestel family took the 6 missionaries in the office on an awesome P-day trip to celebrate my birthday and the birthday of Elder Cruz, and Elder Puente who also have birthdays in December. We went to the Masaya Volcano and caves. The volcano is an active volcano that is pretty famous in Nicaragua. Learning about it was a very interesting experience!! A few hundred years ago the volcano was thought to be a God by the Nicaraguan people and was known as "la boca del infierno." According to what the museum and tour guides told us, the people used to do human sacrifices at the edge of the volcano, until a group of Spaniards came and placed a cross at the side of the volcano teaching the people that Jesus Christ was our God, and that they should focus their lives on the atoning sacrifice of Christ. From that time on the human sacrifices stopped. Now it is a preserved natural park with lots of history behind it. The cross is still there and people can walk up to it.  Unfortunately, today the volcano was spitting out a ton of smoke, so the trail to walk up to the cross was blocked off. The caves we went to were caused by lava flows from eruptions that happened a couple hundred years ago.

Last Monday, our zone had an activity and we went paintballing!  Normally, the office missionaries don't get to go to the zone activities because our pday is on Saturday, but the zone leaders talked with President Monestel, and he gave us permission to go paintballing with the rest of the zone on Monday. I never thought I'd go paintballing on my mission but it was really fun!

 

This week we have been working hard with our investigators. Bryan and Samantha got married and now Samantha is really excited about getting baptized. But of course Satan is trying really hard so that she doesn't get baptized. Her work changed her schedule on her and now she has to work every Sunday from 9 until 6...talk about frustrating. We have encouraged her to pray about what she needs to do so that she will make the right decision.

 

We are teaching two investigators named Emilio and Emily who are siblings. Emilio is 15 and Emily is 18. They have both gone to church about 5 times now and are more than prepared for baptism. They are both INCREDIBLE, smart, and have really important callings in their Evangelic church, along with their parents. Through a lot of praying, coming to church, and reading the Book of Mormon, they have received answers to their prayers and know what they need to do. I admire them a lot for their courage and because they are willing to follow what the Lord wants them to do, even though it is going to be very difficult for them. The struggle right now is that their parents won't give them permission to be baptized. Elder Pinto and I have been praying a lot so that the hearts of Emilio and Emily's parents will be softened and so their parents will realize that the answers that Emilio and Emily have received are from God.

 

Right now we are really optimistic for this month and for the success that we know the Lord will provide us as we continue working hard!

 

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!

Love, Elder Parrish

 

 

It's December!

This week, we have been working with our investigators a lot and are really excited for the progress that they are making. Bryan and Samantha are getting married tomorrow afternoon and then next Saturday is her baptism! We also have a few other families and other investigators that are progressing at different rates, but I can already tell that this month will be a great month!

Yesterday, our zone had interviews with President Monestel. My interviews with President always have helped me a lot to learn how I can improve and become the missionary that the Lord needs me to be.

 

This morning, Elder Pinto and I went to Granada and Masaya to give some materials to missionaries that they have been needing, so we didn't have time to go buy our food! So now we're going to go buy food for the week. Sorry this letter is so short but I've gotta go!

 

Love you all!

Elder Parrish

Rio San Juan

Elder Parrish sent these beautiful pictures of Rio San Juan. 

 

Out of curiosity, we looked up this information: 

Rio San Juan, or the San Juan River is a 110 mile long river that flows east out of Lake Nicaragua into the Carribean Sea.  A large section of the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica runs on the Southern bank of the River.  Rio San Juan is home to freshwater bull sharks that also go into Lake Nicaragua.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Monastel Family Christmas Tree

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving this year. My Thanksgiving was definitely a little different than normal. Firstly, because we ate McDonalds, and second, because I wasn't with all of you guys. But it was still a great day and I felt gratetful for all that the Lord has given me. I don't think there is a better way that I could have shown him my gratitude than by going out and feeding the Lord's sheep, so that's what we did. :)

 

This week Elder Pinto and I have been getting to know our area better and all of the investigators. We are teaching a really positive part member family named Bryan and Samantha. Bryan has been a member for about 6 years. Bryan and Samantha started dating about a year ago and Samantha is about 2 months pregnant right now with their first child. This week when we went and visited them Samantha told us that her top 3 goals right now are: 1-get married, 2-get baptized, 3-get sealed in the temple at the end of next year. Woo! Needless to say this is an awesome family. They are planning on getting married on December 2nd and then Samantha wants to get baptized the following Saturday, December 8th, and confirmed the next day, December 9th. Watching this family get married, baptized, and confirmed will be a great way to celebrate my birthday!

 

We have lots of other investigators that we are just getting to know. It's been hard to make time for all of the investigators, recent converts, and members since we have limited hours to work in our area, but hopefully by the end of this next week we will be settled into our new area. The mission has started doing a new thing that is called "mini-lessons." A mini-lesson is a short 10 minute, spirit-filled, inspiring lesson taught to members. The point is to help them feel the spirit, become more doctrinally sound, and excite them about helping us in missionary work. So far the ward members are really excited to work with us and find new people to teach. We have already received lots of references of friends and family members that are very willing to accept the gospel!

 

My new area, San Juan, is really similar to Hialeah, seeing as how it's just right across the street. It's basically just a big neighborhood with a ton of little houses packed in close. I'll have to take a few pictures so that you can see it!

 

I am very grateful for all the love and support you all give me! I feel very blessed to be where I am, serving the people I have grown to love.

 

Until next week!

Love,

Elder Parrish

Well hello everyone!

This week I received my new companion, whose name is Elder Pinto. He will be the new materials secretary here in the office. He is from El Salvador, and we both came to Nicaragua in the same group, so he's got about the same time as me! So far we get along really well and we have become friends instantly. I have a feeling that Elder Pinto and I are going to work really well together.

 

 

 

Introducing...

Elder Pinto

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This transfer they also closed an area in our zone, which moved everything around! Elder Pinto and I moved to the area that the zone leaders were in, which is called San Juan, the zone leaders moved to a different area that is called Las Colinas, and the assistants to the president took over Hialeah which is now also combined with another area called 380. I had no idea it was all going to happen! I'm not going to lie, being here in the office I already knew who my companion was going to be...but I had no idea I was going to be getting a new area as well! So, now our new area is called San Juan. The funny thing is that it is just right across the street from Hialeah, so I didn't move far at all! I am also in the San Juan ward now so we will have church at 11 instead of at 2. We are the only missionaries in the ward and the ward is HUGE so we are really excited.

 

Elder Pinto and I went to the church Thursday night to meet the bishop and talk to him about the goals that the ward has. We had a really good meeting with him and afterwards he showed us were a lot of the members, recent converts, and investigators live. Yesterday, we did divisions so that I could show Elder Puente, one of the assistants, the area of Hialeah. I took him around to all the members, recent converts, and investigators. It was sad having to leave Hialeah because we had made such progress and have investigators really close to baptism! But luckily the assistants are really good missionaries, so they will continue working hard there. I was able to take a few pictures with a few members, recent converts, and investigators, but I will have to go back another day to say goodbye to those who weren't home. I also feel very blessed because I am the district leader of the office missionaries, meaning that every now and then I can go on splits with the assistants to work in Hialeah with them!

 

 

Right now in our area we are teaching a part member family named Bryan and Samantha. Bryan has been a less-active member for about 5 years but is recently starting to go to church again. We met him on Thursday night. Samantha has a baptismal date for the 8th of December. She is pregnant right now and has been sick, so we still haven't been able to meet with her.

 

There are also a few other investigators that we know of, but haven't been able to visit yet. We are basically getting to know the members and are going to work with them to find lots of people to teach. I am really excited to work with Elder Pinto in my new area!

 

This morning Elder Pinto and I had to go to Diriamba and Masatepe to drop some things off to missionaries. (New mattresses, phones, a dresser, etc.) And while we were on our way there we passed a little place that is called El Crucero. It is basically at the top of the mountains and has a gorgeous view. So we found a little old house on top of a hill and met the owner who let us take a ton of pictures! I attached a few of them here. :)

 

I am really excited for this week! I am loving my new area and can't wait to get to know the people and start finding people to teach.

I love and miss you all!