Quick Update!

April 17, 2016

Dear Family and Friends:

It`s been a while strangerrrz since I've been able to do a group email.

This is gonna be a quick update 4 you all. I am alive and I like living in a hut and sleeping on a mat.  I can`t remember what running water and light switches are like, but I think I like this better.

I have a nice little belly going due to steady doses of fish and rice. Exercise in the morning has been a struggle. There are no basketball hoops here if anyone was wondering. I got my hair chopped off today by some guy while I was sitting on the ground. Safe to say yous (My Australian companion is rubbing off on me) won`t be seeing any pics for a while.

We have been trying to walk this large island for the past three weeks given the fact that Elder Vaai`s bike broke and there are currently no bikes available in the whole country.  I would say we walk an average of like five miles or more a day. Street contacting has been going well given the fact that a coconut tree hasn`t said no (since that`s about the only thing we see walking for long stretches between villages).

The work is going well despite the transportation. We had eight investigators at church yesterday, which I think sets a personal record. We also threw a party for all of the members of the church here. Elder Vaai killed and cooked a pig in a ground oven and there was Kiribati dancing and games. It was a goooood time! Lots of trials and lots of struggles and lots of times where we continually fall short, but an overall feeling of joy and happiness. Two more weeks with Elder Vaai and it will be time for a new companion. 

Quick Story:

Acting as Branch President has been an interesting thing. Right now we are holding church at five locations on the island. Transportation has been a big problem. We went to bed Saturday night not knowing how to physically get sacrament meetings done the following day. Safe to say that the sacrament was GOING to get done somehow. Yesterday, there was a lot of running through stretches of nothing and walking and not knowing where transportation was going to come from.  But we felt blessed that the 60+ members who go to church got their weekly chance to be filled (3 Nephi 20:8).

Love yous all and wish yous were here!!! Too many storiessssss.

I best be hearin` from yous all soon!

Elder Parrish