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Sunday, April 30, 2017

Hey fam!!

This will be a quick email.  We got news for transfers this week! The big news is that I will be staying on Fanning Island for my last full transfer as a missionary. I was really torn because I want to go back to Tarawa before I finish my time, but we have so many exciting things going on the next few weeks and I would have hated to leave before our awesome investigator families are baptized. I guess the good news is that I now will be here to see that happen.

This last week we had a baptism for Arawatau, a 24-year-old single dad who has two kids.  He is such an awesome recent convert and was so prepared for the gospel. He changed tons as we lessoned with him and I think that he will be a strong member for a long time.

Like I said, we have some super exciting things going on the next few weeks! This week we have a couple getting married and then they will be ready for their baptisms the next week.  They are in their 50's and have a daughter. The cool part is that they have a 17-year-old blind son who has been a member of the church for a year who has led his family to the church. He will be performing the baptisms this week and I think that it will be awesome to see.

The week after this week, we have two more families getting married and baptized with their children for a total of 8 baptisms. So many miracles have been happening out here with these investigators quitting smoking and drinking. Our investigators have had some of the hardest lives before, but they have all changed so much. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be here and to see all these people that I have started lessons with come enter the waters of baptism.

So many exciting things happening and I'm so blessed and happy to be here. I'm so grateful that I can continue to stay away from the world and the thoughts of going home and that I can stay here for another transfer on Fanning Island.

I hope that everyone has a good week!

Elder Parrish

Monday, April 3, 2017


Dear Fam and Friends;

     Yesterday we had 20 investigators at church. We FINALLY broke 20! That's so manyyyy investigators that it was a little overwhelming.  It's a bit stressful to be at church when you have 20 investigators there and you can only sit by a couple of them.  The Gospel Principles class that we hold has more people than the Sunday School class that the regular members attend. These investigators are all like members--we don't even worry about them coming to church. They all have various problems, but I have faith that they will all get there.

     Within in the next few weeks, we should definitely have some baptisms. One couple is getting married this week and we have an older couple who will be baptized the following week. The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) missionary came back to Fanning Island after being gone for a while and was shocked to find that all of his people were going to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. To make a long story short, it's been like a quiet battle. We will visit the people and then he will visit them.  He will try to take them to his church on Sundays and we will try to take them to our church. But I'm happy to say that yesterday all of the former SDA members came to our church.

     One of my favorite investigators who I haven’t before mentioned is Mireta. She is literally a golden investigator. What we teach is so familiar to her and she believes everything. She only has one problem. Her husband is the President in the local parish of the Catholic Church (a really high calling) and an Anti-Mormon... The Catholic Church has such strict rules on marriages that if you are married in the church and then go to another church, the rest of the family is tied up because you went to a different church. To make a long story short, it's been difficult because she has wanted to come to our church for so long, but hasn't known what to do.  And she hasn't been able to talk to her husband because he has been on a different island. Yesterday, she came to church. I'm not sure what will happen if her husband finds out, but it was such a cool experience to see her come. She bears her testimony to all of the members of her fund-raising group in the Catholic Church and she's just the best. It was definitely a big step for her to attend.

     This is kind of a scattered email, but I hope that everyone has a good week!

     Elder Parrish