Week Two on Fanning Island

January 15, 2017

Thanks for the email! This week on Fanning Island was definitely a lot better than the first few days that I got here. Things aren't perfect yet, but I'm sure that things will continue to get better as we settle in. I really like the members here, but there are some problems in the branch because there is only one place for church and most people don't have transportation. It would be nice if we could hold church in multiple areas or if there were transportation. Getting either of those is a lot harder than you would think, but we will see what we can do.  We are also feeling the effects of having no missionaries here for a month. Most of the investigators that they previously had lost interest or even moved to different places. We found TONS of new investigators this week, but it's too soon to know if they will progress. We should have four baptisms coming up in about the next month, but after that I have no idea.

My companion, Elder Murri, is awesome and I get along with him really well. We finally found some kerosene on the island so that helped us to be able to use our little camping stove.  Now that we are settling in, we are starting to get some more dinner invitations and so we are getting enough to eat.  I'm almost done with the New Testament and then I think that I'm going to try to read the book of Mormon again.

Believe it or not, my birthday was seriously one of the best days ever. There happened to be a ward party on the night of my birthday.  It was planned for the kids, but they kind of surprised me and turned it into a birthday party. There was dancing and speaking--someone even made me a birthday cake. I got TONS of gifts including three of the local-made swords that can only be obtained here on Fanning. They are made of fish bones and stuff. It was an awesome birthday and I was so grateful to all of the members. I wish that I could send pictures, but the internet is terrible here. 

Fanning is interesting because I have found some American candy in the small stores, but I haven't seen any toilet paper on the whole island. We live in the village called Te Reitannano.

I love you and I hope that you guys have a good week! 

Elder Parrish

Hello from Fanning Island!

January 8, 2017

Hello from Fanning Island!

Well, I made it! It was a four-day trip covering thousands of miles, but I'm here on Fanning Island. I feel so far away from home (Tarawa). I can't believe that I will be turning 20 this week--my last birthday in the mission.

 

Our trip consisted of a one-day stay in Fiji and a one-day stay on Kiritimati Island before a one-hour flight out to Fanning Island. My new companion is Elder Murri who is from Utah (my first Utah companion). He has been out about three months. There are actually four elders on Fanning Island. Elder Tiakia (from New Zealand) and Elder Jim (from Micronesia) are working on the other half of the island. Fanning is one HUGE island and probably about less than half of it is inhabited. There is a HUGE lagoon in the center with several breaks around the island. Our different areas are separated by a break that takes a boat to get across from one side to the other. We hardly see the other Elders. Our area is about an hour bike ride from end to end. If I could guess, I would bet that there are anywhere from 1,000 to1,500 people in our area. It's relatively small.

We work in a branch that has anywhere from about 60 to 80 active members. As with every branch in Kiribati, the branch has many problems. Our living conditions here are okay. We live in a stick house with no running water and no electricity except for solar panels which charge portable lights. We also have an inverter that enables us to charge things with an American cord. In our stick house, we live in the open air and sleep on mats. Our bathroom is a Kiribati bathroom with a solid piece of cement but there is actually a real porcelain toilet seat--believe in or not. I haven't seen any toilet paper anywhere on the island haha.

There are few remains from the NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line) when it used to come here about 20 years ago as one of its famous cruise stops. These days, probably only one or two cruise ships come a year. This island is very different from other islands of Kiribati and it is definitely taking some getting used to. Hopefully things will pick up as we get more settled in. Many of the investigators went cold when the elders left the island for a month to attend the conference in Tarawa.  Hopefully, we can change that!

 

I love you guys and I hope that all is well. We will be together for my 21st next January!

Elder Parrish

Hello from Fanning Island :)

January 2, 2017

    Wow!  I have absolutely no clue where to start. So much has happened this past week. All of the Kiribati-region missionaries came to the main island of Tarawa for Christmas and a conference with Elder Haleck, a visiting General Authority.  90 missionaries on one tiny island made for a crazy week, but it has also been one of the best and most rewarding weeks of my mission. 

    I learned I am getting transferred from being a Zone Leader on Tarawa to an outer island off of Christmas Island called Fanning Island or "Tabuaeran" in Kiribati. Missionaries have only recently been permanently assigned there because its airport was just finished this year. I will be the fourth elder to stay permanently. My companion will be Elder Murri.  He’s from Utah and an Alta High School graduate. He has only been out about three months, but he is the man. I’m super excited.

    Because of the extreme distance from here to Fanning Island (and it’s the only route), I took a three-hour plane ride from Tarawa to Nadi, Fiji today. I am currently staying at a hotel in Fiji (where I had my first hot shower since the MTC) waiting to catch a four-hour red eye flight tomorrow night to Christmas Island before catching a small plane for a one-hour flight to Fanning Island the following day. To give you a little bit of an idea where Fanning is, it is located about 1200 miles directly south of Hawaii. The work is AMAZING and I’m so excited to get there and get to work. There is a strong branch there of 80 members (many of whom came there from other Kiribati islands). We will be living in a stick hut with no running water and nothing but a solar panel for electricity and we will communicate by radio. 

    Leaving Tarawa today was hard, but I was so grateful for members who came to the airport and showered me with gifts before I left. Although leaving was hard, it’s comforting to know that I could get to see Tarawa again before I finish my time.

    This past week was incredibly busy.  We had three marriages and five baptisms in the busiest week of the year. We honestly had the most beautiful baptismal service with great member support.  I was so grateful for the service. We had a family get baptized--Tony and Tiebo were the most beautiful family. The Lord answered my prayer a month ago when I prayed and had faith that we could baptize a family before we left Buota. He led us to them--the most golden family I’ve ever taught. They were taught, married and baptized in less than a month. I am so grateful. We also baptized Taakoa's wife, completing that family. Remember Mikaere, the security guard who we almost dropped? He made such big changes and was baptized. The bigger miracle? His newly married wife, Kamoia, changed her mind and has come to church two weeks in a row and asked when she can be baptized. She used to run away when we would go to their house. Picture how that looked when President Haleck came to church in Buota and saw those beautiful recent converts receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Elder Haleck of the Seventy visited our mission this past week.  It was so awesome to be so close to him and to interact with him. We met him at the conference and then he came to church in our branch in Buota.  We also had a leadership meeting with him. He is such a humble man. 

    The highlight of last week is when all of the missionaries were invited, along with President Haleck and our mission president, President Larkin, to the home of the President of Kiribati to have dinner with him on New Year’s Eve. We went to his house and watched authentic Kiribati dancing while sitting next to the ocean sipping cold drinks that were being served to us. We all met the President and danced and had a great time eating and enjoying the Kiribati culture. Definitely a first for missionaries in this mission... Our baptisms and that experience made for one of—if not the best—days of my mission. 

    I’m so grateful to be here and to be serving. Change is hard but there is absolutely no growth without change. I know who I am, where I’m from, and where I’m going. I couldn’t ask for much more. I’m so excited for this next and possibly the final chapter in my mission. I love you guys and I hope to hear from you soon! 

    Elder Parrish

Mission Leadership Council following their leadership meeting with President and Sister Haleck.  Zach is in the middle of the back row.  

Zach at the airport in Tarawa waiting for his flight to Fiji.

December 18, 2016

December 18, 2016

Hey guys, this is going to be a wayyy quick update.

Last week wasn't our best week in terms of teaching, but we had three solid baptisms and I'm super grateful for how it all turned out. Takaio is so solid and it was so awesome to see him come into the waters of baptism and to overcome his biggest fears. Toora and Kamwakin were also great and it was just a great baptismal service to see Takoa (our Recent Convert) baptize Toora and bring her unto Christ. This week our branch also had a Christmas party and it was a good opportunity to gather with the members and to eat and to have fun. The end of the year is coming up so quickly but Elder Peeti and I believe that we can make some things happen in the next few weeks.

Tony and Tiebo are still the most golden family that I have taught on my mission. They fasted this past week and have overcome the Word of Wisdom and they came to church again. They are just working on their marriage and they should be set for the 31st of December. We think that we could have a potential of four baptisms on the 31st if all goes well. It would be a great way to end the year. All missionaries in the mission will be coming to Tarawa and it will be great to see some old faces and to have a chance to prepare for President Haleck, a member of the Seventy who is coming on the 30th of this month. All is well and I love you guys! Hit me up with a line! Merry Christmas from the Central Pacific!

   

         Elder Parrish

WOW

December 11, 2016

Holyyyy cow... One more week and I will be Skyping homeeee. I haven't even skyped for like a year and it will be way good to chat with you guys for a minute <3

Things are going well here in Buota. We have a lot of plans for things that are going on for the end of the year. We are trying to finish up everything that we possibly can and we are trying to get some baptisms completed because we are pretty sure that either Elder Peeti or I won't be here next year depending on how this next transfer goes. We think that we will be able to get seven baptisms by the end of this year. We should be having three baptisms this week if all goes well. There are some exciting things going on in this branch. 

One of my recent converts Taakoa just received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and is going to be called as the YM President which is pretty exciting. He will be baptizing his 18 year-old sister this Saturday.

Another exciting thing is Taakaio who is the man... Such a big change and so cool to see him grow closer to the Savior and to really show faith and overcome his biggest fears and challenges.

I also mentioned a family last week that we found.... They keep getting better and better. Tony and Tiebo are legit the sickest family ever. They came to church yesterday with their kids and they are progressing so well. They have a baptismal date for Dec. 31st and I think that they will be able to make it.  They are SO willing to change. They are progressing faster than we can give them commitments. They aren't perfect but they are overcoming all of their challenges and it is helping them to gain a strong testimony of the gospel as they continue to make changes and to see the peace and the spirit come into their home. They will be getting married in a few weeks and will hopefully be baptized soon after.

So many little cool things that are happening every day with our investigators. I guess for a quick little spiritual thought:

Here in Kiribati, the main religion is Catholicism and the next largest is Protestant. Things are going crazy here because the Protestant church got in a huge fight over the name of their church and they ended up splitting into two different churches.  Both churches teach the exact same doctrine, but just have different names. There are police watching chapels and ministers with the exact same faith and belief getting in huge fights.  There are also kids getting kicked out of school because of the church they chose. I have been reading and studying the New Testament and it just been great. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ (3 Nep. 27) where things are the same worldwide (1 Cor. 1: 10). It's been interesting to see how this Protestant church is falling because it it is run by imperfect men (Acts 5). Anyway, hopefully dispute will lead to many converts for the Church of  Jesus Christ  of Latter Day Saints once these people can overcome the hardness of their ways.

 Love you guys.

Elder Parrish

Update from Elder Parrish

December 4, 2016

Hello guys!

This last week in Buota was probably one of my favorite weeks here in this area. Elder Peeti and I feel like the work is going well and that we are hitting our stride. We feel that there is a lot of potential for this area for the rest of this month and in January. We just didn't have enough hours in the day to visit everyone that we would have liked to visit this past week. We were able to get a new branch presidency called this past week.  We were also able to get 40 plus lessons and over 10 new investigators. We also had eight investigators come to church last week and we feel that several will be prepared for baptism by the end of this month.

Last week I mentioned Taakaio and he is staying strong. His wife is crippled and can't walk, but shared with us that she had a dream a year ago where Elders came and brought oil in a container and told her that it could heal her from her sickness that she has had for over six years.  That was pretty amazing since she is Catholic and had no clue what a priesthood blessing was.  We were able to give her a blessing last night, which was a very cool experience. 

The rest of our investigators are doing great and we were able to pick up another family this last week who seems pretty golden.  The wife and children came to church. 

I'm super grateful to be a missionary preaching the restored gospel. I love you guys!

Elder Parrish 

Yo

November 27, 2016

Dear Friends and Family:

I guess another quick update from Tarawa! This past week was another great week. It just seemed like another dayyy and then it was Monday again. Transfers are finished, but we had to do some other stuff when a couple of missionaries in our zone were taken off of an outer island due to a sick Elder. We were bouncing between the hospital radioing the outer island and the airport and stuff so that was interesting.

I was able to see my MTC companion Elder Zamora for the first time in a year and we were able to work together this week and go on splits while Elder Peeti went and worked with a member of the Elder's quorum. He's the man and we were able to get over 40 lessons as a companionship, which was pretty good. The work is a day-to-day grind. Marriages and the word of wisdom continue to be the biggest problems that we experience. Mikaere, whom I mentioned 2 weeks ago, is staying strong and is getting married in the next few weeks and then hopefully baptized after that. We think that we should have about 4 baptisms this next month if all works out, which will be a great way to end the year. The story that I would like to share today involves our investigator Taakaio.

Taakaio is a 40+ year old man who lives in the middle of the forest.  The reason he lives there is because he is SHY-- so shy that he hates being seen by people. He lives there with his wife and no one else. We found him a while ago and he wasn't progressing very much if it all because he was too shy to come to church. Anyway, this past week we were lessoning and he told us that there was something that he wanted to tell us about. We said okay and he proceeded to tell us about a crazy dream that he had. To make a long story short, he saw Jesus in his dream and Jesus brought him up to the clouds and told him that he wanted him to become a teacher and help people and teach them the gospel. He never thought that he could fulfill his calling because he was so shy and he would have to overcome his fear, but we talked with him about the importance of church attendance and he came yesterday. Crazyyyy. God works in mysterious ways.

Give me a what’s up next week. Love you guys!

Elder Parrish