This week was a little different. I had a great Thanksgiving but I missed home. We had two dinners. One with the Livasay’s who are a great family who cooked a kajin (sp?) style dinner. Our second dinner was at the Bakers and it was more traditional. Both were great and Bro. Livasay is going to send an email with pictures to you guys next week. He would this week but he is out of town. I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays. It did make me miss home though. Everyone know that I love you and I ma very thankful for all that you have done for me and for the prayers and love you have shown me or just for reading some of my emails.
This week hasn’t had too many huge developments. We had interviews this week which were great. I love talking with President Saylin and counseling with him on how I can be better and how our area can do better. We will most likely be moving in a few weeks to a more northern part of our area. Our area is very spread out and the place we are now is not the best location for the work. It still gets done though.
We are teaching a new family and they are great. They are a family of three and they are extremely nice people. The parents are willing to listen to our beliefs but they put up the wall of being Catholic. But their daughter is very intrigued. We talked about how you can know for yourself if something is true if you ask and seek the answer with a sincere heart. She feels like she can seek and know the truth for herself. I hope that the parents have softened hearts to just experiment upon what we teach and to pray to know if it is true. They are very nice people and I pray for them to except the gospel because I know that it will bless them forever.
I really don’t have that much to update this week. Many things have happened but nothing huge. We have gone through a lot of different things this week. The Lord has been testing our faith and how dedicated we really are. It has been tough but I know that the Lord has made promises with us and that this area will see miracles and great blessings. Elder Robertson and I talked about how we can do better. We are looking at things a different way and are really trying to sacrifice anything we can think of to be better. Obedience brings blessings. That is the truth. We have been obedient. But also working smart is an important thing to do. We have been trying to work smarter and it has been tough to come up with different ways to do things but we are coming up with some great ideas with the Lord’s help.
I love my mission with all of my heart. I am also so grateful for all of the letters and packages that I have received lately. I will try to write you but this P-day is really busy. We have to go to Alvin and also to the bike store because my bike broke but that is another story. Well I guess I’ll tell it.
One day my bike was acting strange but it was doing ok. Then we are riding one day and I’m not going off jumps or doing anything crazy and Elder Robertson yells to me on the street. Several parts from my bike just fell off. Some of the screws and bolts fell off and it left my bike unusable. Luckily Elder Maw one of the zone leaders has a car so they were able to get his bike to me and I am borrowing it until my bike is fixed. We are going to the shop today so that should be good. On Elder Maw’s bike two days ago I crashed. Luckily I didn’t damage his bike at all. We were on a paved path kind of like a sidewalk and we were going along and I went off the path for a split second on accident. So I corrected and tried to get back on the path. There was a lip in the path that my tire caught on. The next thing I know I am flying through the air and hit the ground filling my shirt pocket with dirt. I laid there for a moment laughing. Elder Robertson just about died of laughter. About 2 seconds before my crash Elder Robertson called me a nimrod. Then I crash. He was laughing so hard. We both did. Luckily no blood or bad wounds but that is the story of my first mission bike crash.
One of the coolest bike accidents that I have heard of is one by Elder Adams. He was biking along and gets hit by a car. The car drives off and he is on the ground. At this time his companion is talking to someone on the street. So his companion and the man on the street see this and Elder Adams gets up and starts talking to the man on the street about the gospel. He is a dedicated missionary. He was actually an atheist before his mission and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Then the missionaries met with him and a year later he is on a mission. He is one of the best in my opinion.
Well I got to go but you all have a great week and enjoy this holiday season. I love you all and I hope that you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
I am so excited for the best tasting holiday of the year. I will miss having Thanksgiving away from home. It is one of the best holidays of the year. We are having two dinners too so it will be an adventure. I love food. Just as an update I have gained about 20 pounds on my mission if I haven’t said that yet. Not all of it is fat though but I am sure you don’t want to hear about all this.
The work is going well. We talk to a lot of people every day on the street. President Saylin really wants every companionship to talk to 20 new people every day when at all possible. It has been different but I love it. We have been challenged to do different things and it makes you look at the work in a different way. I like it.
We went on exchanges twice this week with our district leader and zone leaders. I went with Elder Kropp on Tuesday. His bike kept having problems and the brakes kept coming loose or something. We also mapped out new developments that he didn’t have on his map. It was really good. We had fun and we talked to some really great people. On Saturday Elder Maw came down here and we had a blast. We taught a lot of people about the gospel and had some really great interactions with people. A lot of new investigators have come out of that day. It is interesting to see how the Lord can bless you. No matter how good of a teacher you are or how profound you sound the spirit is what does the converting. The spirit can soften the hearts of others and help with the work more than anything else can. Elder Maw is not the best speaker and can even be awkward at times but he is humble and knows that it is not him who converts people but the spirit. He just has to listen and love the people he talks to. I love missionaries like that.
This week was good. Thank you everyone who sent me letters and packages. I love them a lot and it was needed. I was foolish this month and didn’t watch my funds. But the packages I got will more than keep me fed until my funds are replenished. I will try to send out more letters today. I don’t know what to send home from Christmas but I will try to send something. At least pictures.
So this week we had Zone Conference. It was really good but long as always. Richmond zone wasn’t there so I only got to see a few missionaries that I know. Luckily Elder Sharp was there. He was Elder Voek’s companion after me. He is way cool and we were able to talk. Our mission absorbed part of a stake and the areas in it so he is out there. Pasadena and stuff. I think…. Anyways it was really spiritual and really uplifting. One missionary bore his testimony and told us that his father had passed away that week. He knew that his family would be all right and that his father would want him to stay out here. He was sad but he knew that because his father was a good man and that they had been sealed in the temple that he would see him again and it would only be a short amount of time before he saw him again. In the grand scheme of things. It was a powerful testimony. It lets you realize how important the gospel is and the peace it brings to the heart. He is a strong missionary.
On a different note church was very different this week. There was a scouting event that went through Sunday. Also the Bishop and his family were out of town. So there were only about 100 people at church. Brother Livasay (High Priest group leader) presided and President Stanton (Elder’s quorum president) conducted. It was different but I liked it. The members of the church here are very friendly and love each other a lot. The Bishop is a great man and knows that the spirit is what will progress this work more than anything else and he knows that missionary work will only enhance the members spirituality.
I love this area and I love this mission. It rained this week and we got pretty wet. I am not used to rain and this colder weather. I am going to freeze when I get home. Your body just gets used to it I guess. I love you all and I am glad to hear from some of you. I hope that everything goes well and remember that the Lord loves you and if he is putting you through a trial then it is for a reason.
Love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
P.S. Happy Turkey Day
The work is going well. We talk to a lot of people every day on the street. President Saylin really wants every companionship to talk to 20 new people every day when at all possible. It has been different but I love it. We have been challenged to do different things and it makes you look at the work in a different way. I like it.
We went on exchanges twice this week with our district leader and zone leaders. I went with Elder Kropp on Tuesday. His bike kept having problems and the brakes kept coming loose or something. We also mapped out new developments that he didn’t have on his map. It was really good. We had fun and we talked to some really great people. On Saturday Elder Maw came down here and we had a blast. We taught a lot of people about the gospel and had some really great interactions with people. A lot of new investigators have come out of that day. It is interesting to see how the Lord can bless you. No matter how good of a teacher you are or how profound you sound the spirit is what does the converting. The spirit can soften the hearts of others and help with the work more than anything else can. Elder Maw is not the best speaker and can even be awkward at times but he is humble and knows that it is not him who converts people but the spirit. He just has to listen and love the people he talks to. I love missionaries like that.
This week was good. Thank you everyone who sent me letters and packages. I love them a lot and it was needed. I was foolish this month and didn’t watch my funds. But the packages I got will more than keep me fed until my funds are replenished. I will try to send out more letters today. I don’t know what to send home from Christmas but I will try to send something. At least pictures.
So this week we had Zone Conference. It was really good but long as always. Richmond zone wasn’t there so I only got to see a few missionaries that I know. Luckily Elder Sharp was there. He was Elder Voek’s companion after me. He is way cool and we were able to talk. Our mission absorbed part of a stake and the areas in it so he is out there. Pasadena and stuff. I think…. Anyways it was really spiritual and really uplifting. One missionary bore his testimony and told us that his father had passed away that week. He knew that his family would be all right and that his father would want him to stay out here. He was sad but he knew that because his father was a good man and that they had been sealed in the temple that he would see him again and it would only be a short amount of time before he saw him again. In the grand scheme of things. It was a powerful testimony. It lets you realize how important the gospel is and the peace it brings to the heart. He is a strong missionary.
On a different note church was very different this week. There was a scouting event that went through Sunday. Also the Bishop and his family were out of town. So there were only about 100 people at church. Brother Livasay (High Priest group leader) presided and President Stanton (Elder’s quorum president) conducted. It was different but I liked it. The members of the church here are very friendly and love each other a lot. The Bishop is a great man and knows that the spirit is what will progress this work more than anything else and he knows that missionary work will only enhance the members spirituality.
I love this area and I love this mission. It rained this week and we got pretty wet. I am not used to rain and this colder weather. I am going to freeze when I get home. Your body just gets used to it I guess. I love you all and I am glad to hear from some of you. I hope that everything goes well and remember that the Lord loves you and if he is putting you through a trial then it is for a reason.
Love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
P.S. Happy Turkey Day
Monday, November 16, 2009
"I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bike"
A long week. A good week. I will try to go in order of things that have happened this week.
First we went to the park on P-day last week. It was alot of fun. We also played Monopoly and I lost first both times. I am not that good.
Random story. Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes near an elementary school that we live by. We saw some birds in the distance on the ground that looked pretty big. As we got closer we saw that it was about 10 vultures. We got up to about 5 feet away from them and all they did was look at us. They were eating something but it was strange that we could get that close to them without them flying away or something. They were pretty gross. I am not a huge fan of a lot of birds.
So we had lunch with the Bishop on Wednesday. He is a great Bishop. He is very focused and has a great family. He is a testimony to me that if you follow the council of the general authorities you will be blessed. He is a nice man. If he was younger I would be his friend for sure. I say that about a lot of people though. I have realized out here that the world has a lot of good people in it. Him and his family are some of those people.
Funny story: I love popcorn. So I bought a box of 24 bags on Monday. I popped a bag and Elder Robertson and I had a race to see who could eat 8 pieces of popcorn the fastest without using their hands. It was pretty fun. HE recorded it on his camera and it looks ridiculous. I lost by about a fifth of a second.
We had our zone meeting this week and I was able to see some Elders that had become my friends from serving around them before. It was a good meeting and I was really happy to see them again. There are a lot of obedient but cool and fun missionaries in our mission. IT is very hard working. I believe that that is something that President Allred definitely did for his mission. Hard workers. I trust all of these missionaries to do a great job.
Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes to visit some members when we started talking to a guy on the street. He was a nice guy but liked his church and didn’t want to change. He said that his last name was Rigdon. And that he was an ancestor of Sidney Rigdon. (If you don’t know who this is ask a member of the church) So that was pretty cool. We talked to a lot of people on the street. Many people here do not want to change or even listen to our message. But I know that we have people in our area that are prepared by the Lord to ask Him questions and that truly want to know the truth.
Stake conference was this week and it was a good one. The Friendswood stake has a great stake president. Also the Temple President spoke at the adult session on Saturday night. He was hilarious. He made some really funny Utah jokes. He was quicker witted and naturally funny than stand up funny. But he talked about genealogy a lot. When I get home I really want to look into it. Especially using the new web site. We also had our investigator fireside this past Sunday. One of our recent converts and a few others gave their testimonies of the gospel. One of them received a witness that the church was true. This was when he was 25. He didn’t feel like he should be baptized because his wife was EXTREMELY against it. So he called the stake president and talked with him about it. He was told that at some future point that he would be baptized but that he should focus on his family for that time. HE said that the hardest thing he ever had to do was to wait. He waited for I believe 26 years. He was alone with his wife then and had several children and grandchildren. His wife got sick and had to spend some time in another state. The spirit told him that this was the time for him to be baptized. He went to Salt Lake city for a week and was baptized and confirmed by the missionaries who taught him 26 years prior. He then went back and told his wife. She attacked him on it and was mad at him for a while. He said that for a year it was the hardest time of his life. She would do things to keep him from church and such. Then one day she walked in front of him with a few backs packed and said; ”You have to choose. Me or the church.” He says that it was the hardest decision he has ever made. He loves his wife with all of his heart. But he said; “I cannot deny what I know to be true. God told me that this is true and he knows that I know. I cannot deny what I know to be true.” So she left. HE was then called on a mission in Salt Lake and received his endowment there. His wife 2 years later talked to him and was very ill. He came and talked with her for a while. She told him that after she had passed away that they could be sealed together in the temple. Two days later she passed away. A year goes by. He performs the ordinance in the Salt Lake temple. At this time his children and grandchildren hate him because they blame him for the separation. But in this time one of his grandchildren is living with him. The day that he preformed that ordinance he baptized his grandson that afternoon. He made sure that we knew that he knew the gospel was true and no matter what happens that we need to stand strong and the Lord will bless us. He also told us that even if something very huge is asked of us that we should do it. Even Abraham was told to do something huge and he was willing to do it. We all have things that we must do and they are always hard. But you will receive blessings for doing what is right.
Love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
First we went to the park on P-day last week. It was alot of fun. We also played Monopoly and I lost first both times. I am not that good.
Random story. Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes near an elementary school that we live by. We saw some birds in the distance on the ground that looked pretty big. As we got closer we saw that it was about 10 vultures. We got up to about 5 feet away from them and all they did was look at us. They were eating something but it was strange that we could get that close to them without them flying away or something. They were pretty gross. I am not a huge fan of a lot of birds.
So we had lunch with the Bishop on Wednesday. He is a great Bishop. He is very focused and has a great family. He is a testimony to me that if you follow the council of the general authorities you will be blessed. He is a nice man. If he was younger I would be his friend for sure. I say that about a lot of people though. I have realized out here that the world has a lot of good people in it. Him and his family are some of those people.
Funny story: I love popcorn. So I bought a box of 24 bags on Monday. I popped a bag and Elder Robertson and I had a race to see who could eat 8 pieces of popcorn the fastest without using their hands. It was pretty fun. HE recorded it on his camera and it looks ridiculous. I lost by about a fifth of a second.
We had our zone meeting this week and I was able to see some Elders that had become my friends from serving around them before. It was a good meeting and I was really happy to see them again. There are a lot of obedient but cool and fun missionaries in our mission. IT is very hard working. I believe that that is something that President Allred definitely did for his mission. Hard workers. I trust all of these missionaries to do a great job.
Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes to visit some members when we started talking to a guy on the street. He was a nice guy but liked his church and didn’t want to change. He said that his last name was Rigdon. And that he was an ancestor of Sidney Rigdon. (If you don’t know who this is ask a member of the church) So that was pretty cool. We talked to a lot of people on the street. Many people here do not want to change or even listen to our message. But I know that we have people in our area that are prepared by the Lord to ask Him questions and that truly want to know the truth.
Stake conference was this week and it was a good one. The Friendswood stake has a great stake president. Also the Temple President spoke at the adult session on Saturday night. He was hilarious. He made some really funny Utah jokes. He was quicker witted and naturally funny than stand up funny. But he talked about genealogy a lot. When I get home I really want to look into it. Especially using the new web site. We also had our investigator fireside this past Sunday. One of our recent converts and a few others gave their testimonies of the gospel. One of them received a witness that the church was true. This was when he was 25. He didn’t feel like he should be baptized because his wife was EXTREMELY against it. So he called the stake president and talked with him about it. He was told that at some future point that he would be baptized but that he should focus on his family for that time. HE said that the hardest thing he ever had to do was to wait. He waited for I believe 26 years. He was alone with his wife then and had several children and grandchildren. His wife got sick and had to spend some time in another state. The spirit told him that this was the time for him to be baptized. He went to Salt Lake city for a week and was baptized and confirmed by the missionaries who taught him 26 years prior. He then went back and told his wife. She attacked him on it and was mad at him for a while. He said that for a year it was the hardest time of his life. She would do things to keep him from church and such. Then one day she walked in front of him with a few backs packed and said; ”You have to choose. Me or the church.” He says that it was the hardest decision he has ever made. He loves his wife with all of his heart. But he said; “I cannot deny what I know to be true. God told me that this is true and he knows that I know. I cannot deny what I know to be true.” So she left. HE was then called on a mission in Salt Lake and received his endowment there. His wife 2 years later talked to him and was very ill. He came and talked with her for a while. She told him that after she had passed away that they could be sealed together in the temple. Two days later she passed away. A year goes by. He performs the ordinance in the Salt Lake temple. At this time his children and grandchildren hate him because they blame him for the separation. But in this time one of his grandchildren is living with him. The day that he preformed that ordinance he baptized his grandson that afternoon. He made sure that we knew that he knew the gospel was true and no matter what happens that we need to stand strong and the Lord will bless us. He also told us that even if something very huge is asked of us that we should do it. Even Abraham was told to do something huge and he was willing to do it. We all have things that we must do and they are always hard. But you will receive blessings for doing what is right.
Love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
Monday, November 9, 2009
TRANFERED!!!!!!!
SANDRA SEGRIN GOT BAPTIZED LAST SATURDAY!!!!! I am so happy. Even though I was transferred far away a member gave us a ride back to Rosenberg for the baptism. I took pictures so I will make sure that I send some of them home. It is so cool!!! Also in our mission we get to go to sealings or endowments of former investigators. I know that she will stay active so it will be great to go to the temple in a year’s time. I am so happy about this. But it is not what counts as a good missionary. Some missionaries here think that baptisms mean that you are a good missionary. That is not true. What makes a good missionary is someone who works there very best and as hard as they can to help others get closer to exaltation. It is great though to be able to see the blessings of the gospel in someone else’s life.
I got transferred. I got the call on Monday morning as you already know. I said goodbye to all my good friends in Rosenberg. I have pictures. They are small but I will be sending them home soon. If you can find a scanner you can maybe scan them into the computer. Anyways I will be sending those hopefully today or tomorrow. I love this work and I will miss Rosenberg. I already do.
I will cut to the chase. I have been transferred to the Friendswood 1st ward. This is about an hour and twenty minutes east of Rosenberg. It is way different. The people are different, the feel is different, the members are different, even the way the buildings are made is way different. I feel like I am in a different country. It is a bike area. It is pretty big for a bike area. I love being on a bike though. You get to talk to all the people on the street and you don’t have to worry about mile limitations.
So at transfer meeting President Saylin goes through the people and where they are going. He says that I am going to be with Elder Robertson. After the meeting Elder Robertson walks up to me and says “So how is the ward?” I say “Do you mean Rosenberg?” He says “It’s not your area?” Then Elder Call, one of the AP’s, walks up, hands us a map, and tells us that we are whitewashing.(Whitewashing is called different things in different missions. It is when both missionaries are transferred out of an area and two new ones come in there place). So we were handed a map, were told that an area book was on the table were we stayed, and good luck. I am so happy.
Elder Robertson has been out for 14 months. He got here two days before hurricane Ike. He is a great missionary who is a hard working and is trying his best. I am honored to serve with him. He loves pictures so we will be taking a lot of them. Elder Garcia is now companions with Elder Whippy. Elder Whippy is awesome too. He is from Australia. He is so cool. If I ever have the money I am going down there to visit him after the mission. Anyway Rosenberg has changed a lot too this transfer. There is another pair of Spanish missionaries covering Needville and Rosenberg south of the 59.
In our district there are Elders Persian and Kropp. Also we have Elder Maw and Nielsen, our zone leaders, in our district. They have a van. It is pretty cool. They are all pretty cool. I do miss the missionaries from Rosenberg because they are awesome and I will just miss there coolness. Elder Robertson and I are very excited to push the work forward in this area. The ward is very willing to help with missionary work. The Bishop here is doing a great job helping the ward and our ward mission leader is doing a great job as well. Our Bishop is very spiritual and follows the spirit in all that he does. This area has so much potential.
The past few days Elder Robertson and I have been visiting members and meeting them. This has been our main focus because we don’t have many investigators. Getting to know the members is always a great first step. Many members here are not afraid to share the gospel with their friends or families. It is great to see other people be blessed because of their willingness to share the gospel with their friends. Many people are scared that their friends really already know or they won’t accept it but when they put it on the line and talk to it about people they receive great blessings. I love the members in this ward.
So the other day we were riding our bikes to visit one of the members. We were riding down a residential neighborhood when I saw something strange. There on my right, just eating grass, was a huge pig. This neighborhood is a lot like my neighborhood at home. It wasn’t on a chain or restrained in any way. We got a good laugh out of how random it was to see this pig.
We live with a member. Her name is Magda Adams. It is strange because we can’t enter a single ladies home just us. But in housing situations it is alright. She is very cool. She is older and she has a good heart and is very nice. She is a great person to be around. She was baptized rather recently only a year ago. She told us that she would prefer it to send our mail to her address rather than the mission address. (It gets to us faster). So her address is
701 Mary Ann Dr.
Friendswood, TX
77546
I love this area. I love my mission. I love teaching people the gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is so great. It is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. The spirit ALWAYS has something that it can teach you from reading it. I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week. I look forward to telling you haw my first full week has been. I love you all and have a great week.
Love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr
I got transferred. I got the call on Monday morning as you already know. I said goodbye to all my good friends in Rosenberg. I have pictures. They are small but I will be sending them home soon. If you can find a scanner you can maybe scan them into the computer. Anyways I will be sending those hopefully today or tomorrow. I love this work and I will miss Rosenberg. I already do.
I will cut to the chase. I have been transferred to the Friendswood 1st ward. This is about an hour and twenty minutes east of Rosenberg. It is way different. The people are different, the feel is different, the members are different, even the way the buildings are made is way different. I feel like I am in a different country. It is a bike area. It is pretty big for a bike area. I love being on a bike though. You get to talk to all the people on the street and you don’t have to worry about mile limitations.
So at transfer meeting President Saylin goes through the people and where they are going. He says that I am going to be with Elder Robertson. After the meeting Elder Robertson walks up to me and says “So how is the ward?” I say “Do you mean Rosenberg?” He says “It’s not your area?” Then Elder Call, one of the AP’s, walks up, hands us a map, and tells us that we are whitewashing.(Whitewashing is called different things in different missions. It is when both missionaries are transferred out of an area and two new ones come in there place). So we were handed a map, were told that an area book was on the table were we stayed, and good luck. I am so happy.
Elder Robertson has been out for 14 months. He got here two days before hurricane Ike. He is a great missionary who is a hard working and is trying his best. I am honored to serve with him. He loves pictures so we will be taking a lot of them. Elder Garcia is now companions with Elder Whippy. Elder Whippy is awesome too. He is from Australia. He is so cool. If I ever have the money I am going down there to visit him after the mission. Anyway Rosenberg has changed a lot too this transfer. There is another pair of Spanish missionaries covering Needville and Rosenberg south of the 59.
In our district there are Elders Persian and Kropp. Also we have Elder Maw and Nielsen, our zone leaders, in our district. They have a van. It is pretty cool. They are all pretty cool. I do miss the missionaries from Rosenberg because they are awesome and I will just miss there coolness. Elder Robertson and I are very excited to push the work forward in this area. The ward is very willing to help with missionary work. The Bishop here is doing a great job helping the ward and our ward mission leader is doing a great job as well. Our Bishop is very spiritual and follows the spirit in all that he does. This area has so much potential.
The past few days Elder Robertson and I have been visiting members and meeting them. This has been our main focus because we don’t have many investigators. Getting to know the members is always a great first step. Many members here are not afraid to share the gospel with their friends or families. It is great to see other people be blessed because of their willingness to share the gospel with their friends. Many people are scared that their friends really already know or they won’t accept it but when they put it on the line and talk to it about people they receive great blessings. I love the members in this ward.
So the other day we were riding our bikes to visit one of the members. We were riding down a residential neighborhood when I saw something strange. There on my right, just eating grass, was a huge pig. This neighborhood is a lot like my neighborhood at home. It wasn’t on a chain or restrained in any way. We got a good laugh out of how random it was to see this pig.
We live with a member. Her name is Magda Adams. It is strange because we can’t enter a single ladies home just us. But in housing situations it is alright. She is very cool. She is older and she has a good heart and is very nice. She is a great person to be around. She was baptized rather recently only a year ago. She told us that she would prefer it to send our mail to her address rather than the mission address. (It gets to us faster). So her address is
701 Mary Ann Dr.
Friendswood, TX
77546
I love this area. I love my mission. I love teaching people the gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is so great. It is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. The spirit ALWAYS has something that it can teach you from reading it. I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week. I look forward to telling you haw my first full week has been. I love you all and have a great week.
Love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr
Monday, November 2, 2009
TRANSFERS: GOING OR STAYING
Transfer calls were this morning!!! I"M GETTING TRANSFERRED Ahhhhh!!!!! I am excited to get to my new area. However I am sad that I will be leaving Rosenberg, Elder Garcia, and all of the awesome missionaries in our zone. I have had a lot of great memories made in Rosenberg, Especially this past week. Life is so good right now. I will try to express a lot of stuff that happened this week. IT was a good week indeed. I have an idea of where I am being transferred.
Our mission absorbed a few areas from the Houston Texas Mission. So we have 9 new missionaries. Some of these missionaries are not accustom to the way that our mission does things and some of the different things that we do apart from other missions or the special inspired trainings that we have received on teaching certain parts of the gospel. So I feel that I am going to be sent into one of these areas to work with one of the new missionaries. I truly have no idea but I am excited to go somewhere were I will be stretched more than I already am. The Lord knows what is best and wherever I go is where he wants me to go.
So I received a call on Saturday from Elder Voeks. He called to wish me a late happy 6 months. I was under the impression that your six month mark is six months from the time you set foot in the mission. I felt like a looser. Anyways I HAVE BEEN OUT FOR SIX MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is crazy I still feel like I just got out here. I am a quarter into my mission. WOW. Time doesn’t exist out here at all. I also want to wish everyone a happy HALLOWEEN!!! I forgot to buy cards and stuff so I am sorry about that. I haven’t written letters in a while and I am sorry for not writing back to the great letters that I receive. I am sending pictures home this week. Our district is taking pictures today and we have our money replenished today. Wow six months.
So great news. One of our investigators is getting baptized this Saturday!! I hope that my new area isn’t too far away from here so I can be there. I am so excited. Her name is Sandra Segrin and she has been getting taught for a few months. She gained a testimony early and has been studying the church and reading her scriptures and giving things up so that she can be baptized. I am so proud of her and how her life is going to be blessed forever because of the decisions that she has made and the covenant that she is about to make. I will send home pictures of her baptism if I am there or not. She is a great lady and she is always very positive and looks for the good things in life.
We moved some things into Cathy’s apartment this week that her friend gave her. She gave her an “L” couch that is really nice a really nice bed and covers and on top of all of this she is giving her a laptop. Cathy is so sweet and is so filled with charity that she had a hard time excepting her friend’s gifts and kindness. It makes me happy to see people who care about others above themselves. I don’t think that Cathy has one thing about her that is bad except that she smokes. And she is trying to quit and get over them forever.
The past few days Elder Manning and Elder Sorenson, our zone leaders, have been living with us. It has been so good with them. Because of new church-wide protocol there will be no more 4 man apartments so this was a taste of what that would be like for a few days. They are both great. We stayed up late telling stories and stuff on Halloween. Also we played games over at the Spanish Elder’s apartment. On Halloween you have to be in your apartment by 6:00. If you were out knocking doors especially people might think that you have a really good Mormon missionary costume. Halloween night Elder Garcia dressed up as captain Kirk and I couldn’t find anything to be so I took my tag off and was a Jehovah’s Witness. There are a lot of Jehovah Witnesses around here. Whenever we go knocking I would say 70% of the people think that we are Jehovah’s witnesses.
(RANDOM) The zone leaders moved out this morning into a member’s home in Richmond. It is a cool old country style home. They are going to like it there.
On P-day last week we carved pumpkins. I did the same one I did last year. But Elder Leichman is a really good artist so he drew out then carved the first vision. It was awesome. We had fun as a zone. Elder Voeks kept bringing up his theory on were the Book of Mormon took place. I am convinced of his theory. It is hard to explain over emails but when I get home you can attack me on my theory on where it all took place. I would say that this theory has the best chance of being the location. If you want to investigate the theory more than look for a Joseph Smith quote on what the west sea referred to by the Nephites is. Anyways enough with the random theories and unimportant stuff.
I am very excited for my new area and the people that I will meet and teach there. I love you all and I will be giving a good update on my new area and companion in my next email. I love you all and have a wonderful and blessed day.
Love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr
Our mission absorbed a few areas from the Houston Texas Mission. So we have 9 new missionaries. Some of these missionaries are not accustom to the way that our mission does things and some of the different things that we do apart from other missions or the special inspired trainings that we have received on teaching certain parts of the gospel. So I feel that I am going to be sent into one of these areas to work with one of the new missionaries. I truly have no idea but I am excited to go somewhere were I will be stretched more than I already am. The Lord knows what is best and wherever I go is where he wants me to go.
So I received a call on Saturday from Elder Voeks. He called to wish me a late happy 6 months. I was under the impression that your six month mark is six months from the time you set foot in the mission. I felt like a looser. Anyways I HAVE BEEN OUT FOR SIX MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is crazy I still feel like I just got out here. I am a quarter into my mission. WOW. Time doesn’t exist out here at all. I also want to wish everyone a happy HALLOWEEN!!! I forgot to buy cards and stuff so I am sorry about that. I haven’t written letters in a while and I am sorry for not writing back to the great letters that I receive. I am sending pictures home this week. Our district is taking pictures today and we have our money replenished today. Wow six months.
So great news. One of our investigators is getting baptized this Saturday!! I hope that my new area isn’t too far away from here so I can be there. I am so excited. Her name is Sandra Segrin and she has been getting taught for a few months. She gained a testimony early and has been studying the church and reading her scriptures and giving things up so that she can be baptized. I am so proud of her and how her life is going to be blessed forever because of the decisions that she has made and the covenant that she is about to make. I will send home pictures of her baptism if I am there or not. She is a great lady and she is always very positive and looks for the good things in life.
We moved some things into Cathy’s apartment this week that her friend gave her. She gave her an “L” couch that is really nice a really nice bed and covers and on top of all of this she is giving her a laptop. Cathy is so sweet and is so filled with charity that she had a hard time excepting her friend’s gifts and kindness. It makes me happy to see people who care about others above themselves. I don’t think that Cathy has one thing about her that is bad except that she smokes. And she is trying to quit and get over them forever.
The past few days Elder Manning and Elder Sorenson, our zone leaders, have been living with us. It has been so good with them. Because of new church-wide protocol there will be no more 4 man apartments so this was a taste of what that would be like for a few days. They are both great. We stayed up late telling stories and stuff on Halloween. Also we played games over at the Spanish Elder’s apartment. On Halloween you have to be in your apartment by 6:00. If you were out knocking doors especially people might think that you have a really good Mormon missionary costume. Halloween night Elder Garcia dressed up as captain Kirk and I couldn’t find anything to be so I took my tag off and was a Jehovah’s Witness. There are a lot of Jehovah Witnesses around here. Whenever we go knocking I would say 70% of the people think that we are Jehovah’s witnesses.
(RANDOM) The zone leaders moved out this morning into a member’s home in Richmond. It is a cool old country style home. They are going to like it there.
On P-day last week we carved pumpkins. I did the same one I did last year. But Elder Leichman is a really good artist so he drew out then carved the first vision. It was awesome. We had fun as a zone. Elder Voeks kept bringing up his theory on were the Book of Mormon took place. I am convinced of his theory. It is hard to explain over emails but when I get home you can attack me on my theory on where it all took place. I would say that this theory has the best chance of being the location. If you want to investigate the theory more than look for a Joseph Smith quote on what the west sea referred to by the Nephites is. Anyways enough with the random theories and unimportant stuff.
I am very excited for my new area and the people that I will meet and teach there. I love you all and I will be giving a good update on my new area and companion in my next email. I love you all and have a wonderful and blessed day.
Love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
