Crazy Week!

June 26, 2016

Quick Update:

Crazy week with some of the biggest ups AND the biggest downs. Let's start with the positives:

Three Baptisms: 

Rootia went from a Book of Mormon burning Pentecostal member to a baptized and confirmed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this week. The best part? She did it right next to her 20 year old son.

Bakoanuea (a teenager) also was baptized this week. Pretty crazy to see him baptized knowing that he has lessoned with Elders for about three years. He's got what it takes to endure.

Riona (Liahona in English) and his wife are going to get baptized this week despite INTENSE persecution from family and THE ENTIRE village. People are telling them that "they want to be rich" and that they are "scared of fundraising" in the protestant church and that they are running away to "Te Moomon."  They are seriously SO solid and just NOT phased. It just goes to show that if you've found the truth, then you'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES. Love that fam!

Negatives:

One family that we were lessoning with was visited by the Catholic missionary and was told that they couldn't lesson with us because "they already have a religion."

Lessons with another family were going well until the father got a call from his dad in Tarawa who said if he lessoned again with us then he would have to find a new place to live. 

There's a pretty large amount of Anti-Mormon stuff floating around from religious leaders of other churches. They are all things with no credibility that have been started/made-up by Catholic Fathers etc. It's difficult because these Kiribati people believe things when they hear them since they have zero idea of America and have a hard time discerning truth from lies.  Here are some of the biggest lies floating around:

-Joseph Smith stole gold to start the church.

-He was killed in a prison after he broke a bunch of laws.

-He went to get the plates on a horse and there were no horses in America when Joseph Smith was alive.  HAHAH--that's a well thought-out one.

That's only the start, but I've got a great idea of what Joseph Smith felt in the 1800's when people were "carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Eph 4: 11-14) and had a hard time finding the truth because of the bashing going on. The gospel is going to rolllll forth as Daniel puts it.

Love you guys and I hope all is going well at home!

Elder Parrish