Elder Parrish

Hi everybody!

It sounds like McKay did an awesome job on his farewell talk. I wish I could have been there to see it! I'll bet he's happy to have gotten that over with, though.

It still amazes me how fast time is going. July is almost over already. I am now pretty familiar with my area and am loving it. It is an area that requires a lot of faith, boldness, obedience, and also patience. We have seen the Lord's hand working miracles this week.

The first few days, we spent almost all day walking, and struggled to get into many houses. On Friday, we decided to go visit a family that we had contacted a about a week ago named Ballardo and Marlin. They told us that they were only home on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but we felt like we needed to go right then. When we got to the house, we were surprised to find them both there! Ballardo's boss decided to give him Friday off, because there wasn't much work for him that day. They immediately let us in, and seemed so comfortable and happy to have us there. Marlin told us that her parents had talked with missionaries when she was about 12 years old. Marlin had gone to church lots of times with her parents. However, when her parents were right about to get baptized, they were forced to move and lost contact with the missionaries. They told us that they are attending another

church at the moment, but ever since the first day we talked to them, they felt like the Lord put us in their path for a reason. We explained our purpose as missionaries, and got to know them and their 3 children. Without even having taught the first lesson, we felt like we should invite them to be baptized. They told us that they are willing to be baptized if the Lord answers their prayers and they feel like the things we teach them are true. They accepted a baptismal date for the 31st of August. We shared our testimonies with them that if they continue listening to our message, keep the commitments we leave with them, and pray with faith, that the Lord will respond to their prayers. Unfortunately, Marlin works every Sunday, but we know that if she receives an answer to her prayers and acts with faith that the Lord will bless her. Last night, we taught them the message of the restoration and they understood it really well. They promised to pray about it. We have an appointment with them on Wednesday.

On Saturday, we went to the house of a less active member who presented us to one of her friends and her 2 sons. Her name is Natividad (Nativity) and her 2 sons are named Eiden and Teofilo. They are from Belize. In Belize, the majority of the people speak English, but Natividad's mom is from Guatemala, so she grew up knowing Spanish and English. Natividad got married to a Nicaraguan about 8 years ago. After living in Belize for a while, they decided to move to Nicaragua. They have only been here about 8 months, but her sons already speak Spanish better than I do! Natividad and her 2 sons came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it. Yesterday afternoon we went to visit them and get to know them a little better. Natividad and her 2 sons expressed their desire to join the church and be baptized. Natividad wants her sons to have good friends that will help them live righteous lives. The 3 of them accepted baptismal dates for the 24th of August. We still haven't been able to talk much with Natividad's husband, Alejandro. He attends a different church with some of his family members, but told his wife that he would be willing to get to know a little bit more about the church and talk with us.

Needless to say we are really excited for this week. The Lord has put in our path many people that He has prepared. I know the Lord blesses us as we are obedient and never weaken in our faith, no matter what challenges we might face.

This week we also had a mission leader council meeting with President Russell and his wife. On Friday we had zone meeting, and it went really well. We are excited to help the zone increase their faith and continue working efficiently.