Week 29

There wasn't a whole lot out of the ordinary this week. For the most part, standard misionary work.

One thing that's different here is that it's way more spread out than Bangkok. There are fewer people, and fewer places that often have a lot of people, so it's a different work style. I didn't expect it, but I kind of miss being able to walk around the streets and talk to a hundred people every day. It's a bit harder to do that here. That makes us much more reliant on the memebrs, and their assistance in helping us find investigators. Sometimes, that's kind of tough.

Less-active work is different here too, and I had my first couple experiences with that. One woman we visited hasn't been to church in a couple months, so we gave her a call and tried to meet with her. When we got there, we taught a simple lesson on the basics of the gospel. She was very grateful for the visit, and she said she was really happy to see that we were calling.

I'm starting to see more and more that it really comes down to the basics of the gospel. The people who are strongest in the gospel and most happy with their life are the people who read their scriptures and pray every day, people that go to church. It's all driven by faith, this hope that the things they just feel to be true are indeed true. I love to hear their testimonies, and the many ways that the gospel has changed and improved their lives. Joseph Smith was pretty smart coming up with all of this.

I met a woman at the grocery store last week. She mentioned "mormons," which doesn't happen very often on an invite. I found out that she'd learned with elders before, but didn't go back after the first lesson. I talked to her for a bit, and she wasn't really interested in coming back, but she spoke of her experience with the missionaries with...fondess, sincerity. She kept telling me that I'm a good boy, and she knew that I was a good boy. I don't know what was stopping her from going to church, but I could see that she knew this organization was good.

I've recently discovered leechy nuts. It's been a bad thing for my wallet. They're sold in huge bunches, and it's so justifiable to eat a kilo of them in one sitting. I keep eating them all before thinking to take a picture though.

Thanks for all of your support and love!

Elder Parish

Pictures: How to eat a mango

1. Get a mango

2. There's a long skinny seed in the middle. Cut on either side.

3. Make 2 vertical cuts from top to bottom, down to the skin but not through the skin.

4. Make several horizontal cuts down to the skin.

5. Push the bottom side up and turn the mango inside-out.

6. Eat it.

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